The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-14


ment from him for publication. Mr.. j.
McCan Davis of Springfield. ILL.,, has,
however, recently persuaded Armstrong
to tell what he remembers of the broil
in which he was supposed to have
murdered a companion, and also OF the
trial in which Lincoln secured his re-
lease. Armstrong is now in his sixty
third year, and has long been respect
ed citizen Of the little village OF Ash
land. in which he spends most of his
time He has been, for several years,
a member of the Christian church. His
trial for the murder of Pres Metzker
is a subject he seldom talks about; he
would fain forget it, and those about
him have not often been inou!s1tlve.
DUFF'S ACCOUNT OF HIS FIGHT
WITH PRES" METZKER.
The accounts hitherto printed he pro-
nounces glaringly inaccurate. This is
his own story of the alleged murder
and of the trial:
1T was on a Saturday night, and
camp meeting was over for the day. In
the edge of the grove were three bars
where liquor WAS sold. Here gathered
all the men and boys who came to camp
meeting to drink whisky and have a
good time-and great many went for
10 other purpose. | had been at the
meeting two days and had been drink
ing much. but ] was then becoming
sober. 1t was probably 10 O'Clock when
/ found a big goods box not far from
the bars, and l stretched myself out
for a nights sleep. Up to this time
Pres Metzker and 1 had been good
friends but Pres had been drinking
and was in an ugly mood. He came
along, making a great deal of noise,
: n NJ
/ Then he grabbed N.Y. legs and pulled
me off. In a few minutes he jerked me
off again.
l said, Let me alone, Pres; I am
sleepy. He went away, but soon came
back and pulled me off a third time,
and took my hat, threw it upon the
ground and stamped 1T. He said l had
NO business there; that 1 ought to be
i at mime picking up chips for my ma.
| told him that was none of his bust
ness; and then I walked over to one
of the long counters and called for a
drink of whiskey He followed, and
/ just as I lifted the glass 10 my lips
he caught me by the throat, spilling
the whiskey. | set down my glass and
turned around and said to him: Pres,
if you do that again, I will knock you
down, if you are bigger than [ am
! II.
He had a loaded whip in his hand, and
was determined to have a fight with
me. / hit him a terrible blow, knock
ing the skin from one of my knuckles.
We clinched and Pres rather got the
/ best of me. / was strong for enc of
my size and was able to catch him and
! throw him back over me. He got up
/ first and came at me again. Then we
! fought like tigers. At last he got me
under him. More than a hundred
people stood by watching us fight, and
when the boys saw Pres was getting
| the best of me they pulled him off. We
walked up to the bar, each taking a
drink of whiskey; we bumped glasses
and We're friends again But Pres had
not gotten through with me- AS we
stood there, without any warning, he
hit me q blow on the upper lip. He
was going to hit me with glass, when
another man said: Set that down
| If you strike him with that glass l will
kill you Then we parted. Me,tzker
stole quilt from a buggy near by.
and wrapping it around him, walked
off to bed. I saw nothing more of him
until the next morning, when he walk
ed to the bar with the Stolen quilt still
around him. His right eye was swollen
shut He bathed it with a glass of
whiskey: drank another glass, and then
mounted his horse and rode away
/ Several days after that he died. Then
the officers came and arrested me and
put me in Jail.
II had a preliminary examination at
Havana, and was held without bail.
All the bad luck in the world seemed
to come to me now. On this very day
my father, Jack Armstrong, died On
his deathbed he said to my mother;
Hannah, sell everything TO clear Duff
These were almost his last words.
was kind of favorite with my ma
and pa both. always staid at home
with them.