The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-12-24
OR PISTOLS
Mere Saisfactorj to Nal, Wright Eul The
Drel Vas iieY;r Fought.
EXCITEMENT OYER AN AFFAIR OF ROSOR
Narrauiy Aycrtcd Duel Between
Mayer 4. ". Wright nnd Gr. j.
sfs fletcher Gny-Thc seconds were
thosea, thc Ttc!u Rea, hch but no
Agreement ,ou.d Lo Reached.

Suffolk. Va. Dec. 23-tSpeciaD.-It
was !. %iusi, llooi.ess aue4, put It
caused 2 whole lot of excitement. The
tu0e oui 10 the field OF
honor With the knowledge that they
might be 5rough: back on a bic. Bur,
Ssthsy wereL'.. Instead of being brought
! 10 toxin full of alr-holes and the marks
Fcfa bowie knives, slashed, bleeding and
ssdysrg, they came a.s they weni-I1t
much slower. Not scar nor wound
q fitAtheu .ne conn.ci. II WAS a auS. uI
~ p.ds--ged-hoi, fiery words. selected
With moe regard 10 force than &c
sgance.
About 2 o'clock this afternoon word
flashed over the Town tina; Major G. w.
might aud j. Letcher Gay had gone
sinto the country TO fight 4 duel. Ii
was not believed. Some deplored the
/ occurrences; Others laughed. lnves.iga-
sSion proved shat the men had In fact
gone TO. b.ickyard on the eastern sub
larbs for satisfaction of some kind.
i n We're armed, and eacl was acco.n-
B panied by man supposed 10 oflic.ate
sas q second.
ss Affairs were assuming 8 bus!ne :slike
md er,ous aspect. but to save the
anSious reader any apprehension Of
sfatal.ies, before he proceeds fu: Their
with the story ] will say rlgh. here that
mo one wa: hurt. No agreemeni az to
the weapon was even reached, though
Major Wright IS said not 10 have been
tchoice. eiHe sad knives, pistols, or most
would be far enough.
there were many witnesses TO the
4eEisGde, but on account of friendships
< and prejudices which may exist. Il Is
isdtfHenlt TO get an exat'. YER ion Of the
affair. ] have been able to find no
detail Some people look upon the mat
3 te:s IS farce--simply trip In the
scF,tntrT fnr , war 1f w>-ds-a -ama q.
Sbl9R Perhaps 1t is better so. for If the
q 8 W. pons n4d been drawn some hing
might have been ;piled. Here are The
Ecsplency az far az can lel:n:
Va Major Wright was standing on the
acorner OF Washington and Riddicl
Ssstreess, talking 10 COL ]. H. McLeary
when Letcher Gay drove up in his bug
A BY. Some hot words en- ued, and ar
3esnEsgement seemed immslen:, but Col
q tcl1e3ry KEEP. them apart Majo
II WRIGHT mad knife in his hand, which
1 fletcher told him to put in his pocket
& tsltter eptthets were used. Finally tn,
Il IA a5or suggested that they drive Gu, OF
town, and then Gay could ge: sa isfac
ton N any way he de:lred. They went
\ ~ ~ R3or Wrights horie was IN Ia mes.
4 I. very quickly. Gfy's was a'-e,dv hitch
ed, Gay Invited Tony Bradshaw. o.
Z Z ltttiT0od. TO go with him. Major Wrigh
was accompanied by Z. Patterson. Be
fore leaving, Gay tried o bar. ow Se-et
SAnes pistol He didn't get Ina. but
! borfowed one e,;ewhere.
fletcher arrived on the ground first
sIhe Major was not far behind. The,
the fun began. Major Wright is sad I,
soTered satisfaction with knives or pis
h tolsS the distance with the latter to b.
I ten PAGES. Some say ten feet was tn
/ distance named. Nobody measured tn
ground and nobody fought. There wer
$$tnxectlves ga,ore-almost enough to Civ
! q blush tint to the atmosphere. Still
they didn't fight. Some witnesses sa,
17thes Major reiterated the statement a
which Gay took offense. This point
disputed by others, who say the often
slvs assertion was used in a genera
Z rather than personal manner. After
while when j. G. Freeney saw there wa
10 be no duelllng he said: "Gol darn |,
III you amt going to fight shake hands.
/ But they didn't shake. a few NOR
WORDS end the contest was over. i.etche
sSGay drove to town. The Major lief, AT
ssterwards. Friends of both parties clar
that their man neved backed.
"a ajor Wright is former Town Treas
Enrer Of Suffolk. Mr.. Gay is Il whole
sale lumber broker. Both \men ar
well known and their prominence cause
4 the fair, TO be much discussed. Tn
s. blood.ess aduel.was caused by too niue