Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-05-15

AN EYE WITNESS TO THE In
SHIELDS DUEL TELLS ALh
r,, snectacIe of Old Abe ana the
Little freshman Fighti"s
Very Ludicrous.

Kansas City, May 1O.-A special 10 'ne
Journal from Topeka, Kan, says:
William l.. Souther. who Claims " nav
been an eve witness OIL the hlstoricai w.
between Abraham Lincoln ana 1enei
Tames Shields. has related 10 the 'o"i
correspondent what he purports "
Tho ..noissing historical data" OF the hls'oi
tool event. He tells an interesting stors'
which differs materially from the puoilen-
cd accounts Peculiar interest mas Oh ia'o
heen aroused in this affair throush
history of Lincoln running IN one VI
periodicals, in which the author lranN4'
admits that but meager details Cal
r,o,,,rad of what actually took place Wheh
the dueling party crossed the M'9soul
river and staked out the lighting srou.uI
~, oon,as the Topeka man with detail
o7 story of the whole transaction in which
he supplies the missing historical oata.
souther. who is 70 years old, has FOR the
mast IS years been a clerk in the olllce VI
the auditor of the Santa te rallroau
though the greater portion OF MS ire mas
been as a printer. Up to the time Oh .he
arrival of the duelng party at the Alton
ferry the story he tells is very simllar u
the other heretofore printed, but from
there it differs widely.
att was on the morning OF September
%. 1S43," says Mr.. Souther that Shleios
and Lincoln arrived at Alton. was theh
a printer and reporter on the Alton Iele-
graph and had received an intimatlon OF
the coming duel, which made me anxious
to see it if possible. The dueling pafty
took breakfast at the Franklin mouse anu
| about 1920 a, M proceeded to the ferry
| boat, which was owned and run by man
| by the name of Chapman. The boat was
propelled by two horses which worked
| around a windlass at one end of the boat
| deck, and l made arrangements with
| Chairman to drive these horses. Arriving
| on the opposite shore, which was wilder
| ness of timber spot partly cleared was
| selected as the battle ground. Shields
took Q seat on a fallen log on one side OF
the clearing and Lincoln seated himself
on the other at the opposite side. The
seconds then proceeded to cut pole about
| u feet long and two stakes were crotched
in the end. The stakes were driven into
the ground and the pole laid across the
| crotches so that 1t rested about three
feet above the ground.
side of the pole and fight across it, A
line was drawn on the ground on both
sides three feet from the pole, with the
understanding that if either combatant
| stepped back across his own line 1t was t.
be considered giving up of the fight.
After all these arrangements had beer
completed the seconds rejoined their prin
cipals at the different sides of the clear
ing and commenced to talk in low tones
Along with the Shields party was DR.. T
NJ. Hope of Alton. He was very mucf
opposed to the duel and reasoned will
Shields for long time. AS result Of hi:
talk several notes were passed between
the seconds.
Lincoln remained firm and said Shield
must withdraw his first notes, and asket
him if he was the author of the poem il
!, the Journal. When that was done he wa
ready to treat on the other side. Shield
was infleXible and finally DIR. Hope go
! mad at him. He said that Shields wa
: bringing the democratic party of Illinoi
and himself into ridicule and contemp
for his folly. Finally he sprang to hi
feet, and faced the stubborn little Irish
man and blurted out: Jimmie, you G.
d. little whippersnapper, if you don't sci
) tie this l will take you across my kne
and spank you
This was too much for Shields, and h
yielded. A note was solemnly prepare
and sent across to Lincoln, which inquire
if he was the author of the poem in quey
ton. Lincoln wrote a formal note
which he said he was not, and then mi
tual explanations and apologies followe,
i i watched Lincoln closely while he So
on his log waiting the signal to figh
Il His face was grave and serious. I couI
discern nothing suggestive of Old Abe Z
= we knew him. I never knew him to s
u SO long before without making some so
L of a joke, and l began to believe he ws
: greatly frightened. But presently l
: reached over and picked up one of Il
swords, which he drew from its sea
Il bard. Then he felt along the edge of IL
S weapon with his thumb like a barb
+ feels of the edge of his razor, stretch,
y himself to his full height, stretched o.
n his long arm and Clipped off a twig fro
II a tree above his head with the swor
There was not another man of us wi
could have reached anywhere near tn
K twig, and the absurdity of that lon
reaching fellow fighting with cavalry s
bers with Shields, who could walk und
his arm, came pretty near making II
howl with laughter.
After Lincoln had cut off the twig
3 returned the sword to its scabbard wi
a sigh and sat down, which was alwa
/ the forerunner of one of his inimitat
l. yarns, and I fully expected him to t,
T. a side-splitter right there in the shade
H. of the grave-Shield's grave. After thin
/ had been adjusted at the dueling grou
n we returned to the ferry boat, everybo
a chatting in the most friendly manner nc
d. sible"