St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-01
ONLY A PEACEMAKER.
Attorney Durmcnt,s Connection
With 81 "Fracas."

To the st. Paul Daily Globe.
Inasmuch your paper this morning, in
giving a report Of the difficulty occurring be-
tween some attorneys in the court house yes
terday, has inadvertently done me an injury
and failed to state fully my true relation to
the "fracas'' 1 beg that you will give this
letter place in the columns of your paper to-
morrow morning
After court had adjourned and 1 had gone
to the Office of the county attorney 1 stepped
into the hall in front of the county attorneys
Office. there found A. H. Hall and P. j. Nc
Laughlin standing three four feet apart en-
gagged in conversation. Both men appeared to
be excited and somewhat angry. l did not
know what had been said or what had taken
place between the two. l did suppose that the
difficulty grew out of the conduct of the Rich
ardson case in the district court. l am asso-
ciated with Mr.. Hall in defending Mr.. Rich
ardson, and, desiring that there should be no
trouble or difficulty, placed my hands upon
Mr.. Hall and asked him to come away with
me that there might not be any trouble After
the request, made once or twice to Mr.. Hall
by me, he started, as l understood it,. to 20
with me. Just as he started to go away he
said to Mr.. Mclaughlin: 'I did have an opin-
ion of you, and that opinion is now intensified"
III he said anything further, or If anything fur
ther was said, 1t was lost to my ear in the
commotion which followed. Immediately at
the time Mr.. Hall made this statement Mr.
Mclaughlin reached forward to lay hold of
Mr.. Hall with his left hand. I jumped be-
tween them, in front of Mr.. Mclaughlin. and
endeavored to keep him from laying hold of
Mr.. Hall. l may say at this point that Mr..
Mclaughlin at the time had cane in his right
hand which looked to me very much like a
blackthorn stick, and, knowing something of
the favorite use to which the blackthorn is
put, l feared serious injury would be done
Mr.. Hall. Immediately, by force of the con-
test was thrown some distance from be-
tween the two. When regained my euuiIib-
rum it seemed to me that Mr. Hall (who is a
much smaller man than Mr.. Mclaughlin. and
who would apparently have no more show in
the grasp OF Mr.. Mclaughlin than rat would
IN the grasp of a terrier) was partially down
upon the floor, and that Mr. McLaughlin had
hold OF him and was bending over him. OF
course, do not mean to say absolutely that
MI. Han was down upon the floor. So far as
could see, that was the relative position of
the two men. I deemed it nv duty TO inter-
fere and If possible to prevent any injury be-
ing zone to either of the parties. Mr. Hall
was at serious disadvantage. l had nv over
coat on and knew very well that I would have
but little weight in the contest with nv over
coat on me l Immediately threw off nv over
coat. Then Immediately went up behind Mr.
Mclaughlin and put my arms around him
arms so that he could not strike Mr. Hall. and
10 90 my utmost to break his hold upon Mr.
Hali. Immediately several other parties in
terfered, as l supposed, with the same object
had In mind, viz, to separate the parties
ana prevent trouble. / continued to hold on to
Mr. Mclaughlin until his hold upon Mr.. Hall
had been loosed, and Mr.. Hall had gotten
without his reach. Then 1 released nv hold
upon Mr.. Mclaughlin
Deg to state further that I did not strike
MIR. Mclaughlin, though 1 had an excellent
opportunity to do so with much effect If 7
had wished, nor did 1 strike at him or anv
one Neither did any one strike at me.
90 not think even lost my temper, and I
nave no recollection of calling any names or
using any improper language, or saying any
thing disrespectful to Mr.. Mclaughlin or any
one in the whole affair." So far as I am
personally concerned, interfered for the sole
purpose OF helping to preserve the peace
and to prevent injury being done to com
paratlVely weak man by an exceedingly strong
man. The occasion for my action would
have been the same, and my action would
nave been the same, If the party assaulted
nad been an entire stranger to me-
am exceedingly sorry that this matter has
gained any publicity, and should let it drop
with the report made in this mornings paper.
but for the fact that people might we'll be-
leve from the account given of the affair
that l was to blame in the matter, and had
In some way conducted myself improperly.
Edmund S. Durment.
st. Paul, Minn., March 3d. 1895.