The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-07-23
COL. HoYr REPLIES To MR.. RICH.
ARDSON.
G.eenville Mountaineer

G-eenvilIe Mountaineer
The Sundays issue Of the Gre-nvill'
DAILY News contains a personal com
municaiion from Mr.. }. +. Richard
son, It's business manager, who under
takes the task of rectifying the tangled
web into which the editor has fallen
by withholding the authorship of al
anonymous and libellous communica
tion.
He hal not read the editorial, and
while We discussed the whole business
I simply asked him 10 make state
ment of facts, showing my readiness
10 deal fairly with both sides. He wa
on Paris Mountain when the "circum'
stances" took place, and certainly
knew nothi. Z Of my actions until IN
formed by me. and why should l ask
him to make any 'explanation" OF my
conduct? AS he has seen proper to
enlarge upon the request made 10 him,
I will acqusiDt the puolic with the
facts:
Monday night. July 7th, ut 9:Sl
o'clock, Messrs. II. II. Evans and
o. X. Mauldin called ut my residence,
and informed me Of the alteration
that had taken place earlier In the eve
ming. asked Mr.. Mauldin 10 make u
statement Of the facts connected with
the affair, out be said that as he wa
not an eye witness Mr.. Evans could
better give me the DETAILS, and hisstate-
ment was substant TALLY incorporated in
the dispatch sent that night to The
State. The special was written imme.
diately after these gentlemen LETT the
house, and Invent 10 the telegraph Of
flee at 10 o'clock, when the manager
informed me that the office would not
close until II o'clock. Thereupon
wrote another special to The State
concerning the death of Col. Perry,
and held back the one describing the
fracas ut the News office. / went out
on Main street, which was practically
deserted, and found only two persons
who could give me any information,
one of them confirming from hearsay
what had been written. The other Wa
a boy who saw the difficulty, and with
q siigle exception, he agreed with
Evans account Of the affair. ! then
filed the special at the telegraph Office
and returned to my home ~ lG:45 p. IN.
The special sent 10 The Safe did MOI
purport to be "a true aud complete ac-
count" rs not q word IL said on tha'
line; Mr.. Richardson did not use The
phrase, "paipable Misrepresentation
but said that the account did q great
Injustice to the editor OF the News.
which Is a very different way Of ex-
pressing himself; Mr.. Richardson did
not tell me "be thought IL Was u very
remarkable piece OF journalism" thai
! should "have fathered the untrue
statement of Evans without any effort
To get nj the facts of the other side. ]"
This way Of putting II 10 altogether III
afterthought on the part Of MIR. Rich
ardsen, and the proof Of it IL that hr
know Q such language would have failed
10 secure compliance With the request
he had come TO make, To draw lt a
mildly a. pos lille. would not have
"cheerfully aequiesced" In PROPOSE
ton couched In such offensive language
from Mr.. Richardson or any one else.
and to say the least Of 1t the interview
would have ended then aud there.
Mr.. Richardson did meet me at :45
o'clock OH Tuesday, aud he did say tina,
he thought my account in The Stale
was unfair aud unjust tn the editor o.
the News, to which ! responded very
readily that any statement he wished
n make in regard 10 the matter would
he printed In The Mountsineer and sen,
nj ouee to The State, il he would fur
nish me with copies by o'clock that
nv paper went 10 press nj D O'cloc- ,
aud il would be necessary to have the
manuscript an hour before. He fur
nished me with one copy a few min-
utes before 6 o'clock, and mailed that
CODY to The State, q, The Mountaineer
llad already gone to press, and | wired
The State to send that night TO the
post office for II, which was done au,i
the statements appeared the next morn.
ing. Mr.. Richardson has since told
me that his statement was ready AT 3
O'Clock, and 10 he had sent 1t ut that
time il would have appeared that after.
noon along with the other account Oi
the scrimmsge.
The circumstances" have been given
already In detail, and the public CAL
Judge whether or not proper effort was
made to verify the account that was
sent of that night. Mr.. Richardson
says that could easily have rung ~
The News office over the telephone and
obtained the other story of the occur
renee, but he forgets that the News
office was "doing nothing" on thai
line Monday night, and that not q
word appeared the next morning about
the "occurrence" in the News or thres
other daily newspapers whose 'accre'i
tied correspondent" IL an attache %
the News He likewise fails TO state
that, on last Friday morning, when h.
suggested this very thing to me, l ask
ed him to whom application might
have been made, as | knew that h,
was ON Paris Mountain and hal hear
III It the editor was disabled. aud hs
made no reply. repeated the ques
ton and received no satisfaction what
ever from him.
Mr.. Richardson seems to be dissatis
fled with the fact that | did not en-
dorse the statements he gave me, bu
sent them to The Safe rs ~ sort O
aftermath" He has very short ant
imperfect memory, IN one of thes'
statements said II was "cOrrObOrated b.
several witnesses," but did not know
them and never heard their stories ant
why should I endorse them? Besides
the statements were sent out as eman
a,ing from the business manager ant
the editor OF the Daily News, and thi
would seem sufficient in any event.
Mr.. Richardson knows very well TN
reason why the statements furnishes
by him did not appear in the Noun
taiueer, because | went To him on Fri
..n;ntr and oailoi hiS stfpnt iOI