Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1902-02-23

! .,ous old duellns sro''iio IL 81
fail0 =. county. Missouri, will have
guar 'aad to exist. The shifting currert
' ,ne Mississippi river has attacked
ne !, little plot of land and it is rapidly
.nccun,Ding to the erosion of the wa
Ct Charles zlueling ground has
ITO scene of more affairs Of
y =. than any other one spot in
ostorn country It's chief fame
~ movor rests in the fact that there
,hr,bam Lincoln net James y
anto1ds afterward bIisadier general
- United States senator from tne
totes of Illinois. Minnesota aud Mis-
m aari saeees=i4a1y, in the oalz dael to
4h;cb he vas e#er provoked.
1il,5 rsa dnpffHg ground Is d.@@6 -
.rass f4e liTeIz fam this c.a3 IL III
a5rlr day e 5az ta= d 4=a aE#1
5aao5fea4e4i - tz3se vic 5.zgaeHs3#=
bo9or Taarisea 2iha.7 55f5
pistol O.. 's#1'A
= t5a u3aaa seen gave .e
t5fIo9 Tfa 'a8s o. IlliG9z as
loof ktad.=a33 DE- practice
and oresa=. .6a5 #aef Hs.ea
nr2efica a.a5 egsH tae=5aa= H45=azs.s
d fre.aata1. &.as Gid e. as9s55a
tba 4fafa 6afaFe 6.e Iosfll@ 8eetzas
With an ad4egs TIE fssa = -
son.i took ao roe.5zanea of tie dfeA
inc habit. ana II @as considered ptt
the Dropel. thing t4en to settle dis
mites bg the shedding of bioed
That Was in tie old days hoHe9el
4 more eAIfehtened spirit has since
prevailed in reference to such Gus
toms. and in consequence it has been
many years since duel has taken
place on the ST. Charles ground. It's
fame has made it conseeratad ground
in the memory of many llinois3eas
and MissoGrians. and a few years aft
er the var steps We're taken TO pre-
serve the elouGd in its original sh3pe,
GItiII25
inc. through which creek at enc
time wound its way This disappear
ed one summer and left nothing 10
shows it's former presence but its des=
olata bed and a number Of huge bowl
ders that the water had left sticking
up from the ground. Enough money
was raised by subscription to remov"
these powders. and erect an iron
fence around the grounds, and in that
condition they have remained ever
since
Mr. Lincolns meeting there with
Shields has furnished one OF the few
ludierous episodes with which the
dueling field has ever been credited.
Shields was then auditor Of the state
of Illionis The finances of the state
was in a deplorable conditions; the
treasury was empty; auditors war
rants were selling at half their nonlin
al value; no more money was TO be
borrowed. and the taxation Was dread
ed by both political parties me%e than
disgrace The currency of the banks
of the state was We'll nigh worthless,
but it was virtually the only circulat-
ing medium ia lllionis.
In the middle OF August. 1St2 tle
governor, auditor and treasurer issued
a circular forbidding the payment Of
taxes in this depriciatcd paper. This
ordos was taken by the Wigs as indi
eating CD the part of the officers a
keener interest IN tho integrity OF their
salaries than in tie public welfare
and it was therefore severely attacked
IN all the opposition papers Of tho
state. The sharpest assault il had %
endure. however. was Il conlmuDiea-
ton printed in the SanGamon Journal
which not only dissectcd the admins
tration circular with the most savage
astire, but covered the auditor with
merciless personal ridicule. 1t pur-
ported to have come from a farmers
widow who expressed in this fashion
her discomfort with the evil course OF
affairs
Shields was a man Of inordinate
vanity, and a corresponding irascibill
y. He was for this reason an irresist-
ble mark for satire. His fury at the
unknown author of the satire was the
subject of much merriment in Spring
1eid. The next week another letter
appeared. from a different hand, but
adopting the machinery Of the first.
n which the widow offered to make Up
he quarrel by marrying the auditor,
N din turn was followed by an epitha-
aminum, in which this unhappy com
promise was celebrated in very bad
verse. In the change CT hands all Tie
lllmor OF the thing he'd vanished. and
nothing was left but feminine mis=
ahief on one side and the eXasperatlcn
u wounded vanity on the other.
Shields had talked 60 much about
he matter that he felt imoelattV@'E =
,2lled unon 20 act He therefore sent
4 message to the editor of The P4per
md demanded from him the name Of
he author Of the articles. The first
ho1 Nv I iy,