The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-15
,Ar,i,ers,t.s Good Name.

Editor III tho Times dispatch:
sir.--rn your issue Of the 25tiiG instant
III saw d communication signed II Z.
WhNohcad. OF the village OF Madison,
A,nierst county, In answer TO n commit
,1icatipn to your paper IN yindlcation OF
TIC people Of Amherst county. written
no n M, and signed "Old Soldier,"s5tn
witch he says 7 affirmed shat Amherst
county had had but three homicldess
Within hcr corporate limits III tho last
fifty years and that tradition does no no.
la nd down any others etc. n +. s,5
II Y'e Gods and little fishes! What was
Tho matter with tho young mans optics
kcet, and mental acumcn? He must nave
Imagined that no heard In the distance
tho Scottish PIbroch playing the tune
Of the Campbells Arc Coming, He. 10:
etc. aud was pcrturbcd in mind Or. hal
IN optical Illusion or hallcinatlon or! Or
WAC suffering with the not unusual ma
lady OF "cacoctles scribcndi. that no
could not sec or Interpret one Of tho
plaincst paragra phs In the Kings Eng
iisl. 8. Il
In order that the, public may property
understand this controversy. I will sta te
that the name Of the village formerly
quest OF It's citizens was officially
changed by the Postofi1ce Department
and BY the railway authorities 10 81 Am
thcrst,' and the village Is not now lied
anything else but simply Amherst
while tho county is contra distinguished
BY being called Amherst county all OF
w,,,c., facts are well known to Mr..
Whitehead. Yet he mIsquoted the LAM.
g,iagc 3 OF my communication by = ddingl
tho word county after Amherst the
name OF the village, changing the whole
sense Of tho paragraph and making It
appca + to the reader that | claimed that
there had not been over three honli y j.
In Amherst county inAthc last fifty
years. which, was not tho case with any
county ii the state. Would 1t not have
been faircr5to the whites OF his old
mothorscounty,l II he had told how many
Of those iwenty-one culprits were black.
worthless negroes Here is what did
sd y, VIZ: That Amherst" dn quota
tion) had had but three homicldcs IN
her corporate limits In nifty yea RS, Whl!e
tho good old county OF 5f Nelson, during
that time had almost as many as that IN
one day" at her county seat glowing
ston) .3S t n " 81 Il III III S}33 & 81 4.
On the other hand this lis what tho
dear boy quotes me as saving, Il 70 Mt;
That Amherst county has had but three
thonicidcs In yrher corporate limits IN
fifty years and that tradition does not
hand down any more 1i .S 5
my remarks referred onlySto the county
sea t OF Amherst and Nelson to-wit:
Amherst and ''I.ofingsto on Now you
SEQ he not only misquotcd what | said
but misdiloted and added without var
rant the word county after the name OF
the village 'Amhcrst' and then got in
tho work he wanted and coveted.
1T seems to me that, my, language in
the aforesaid paragraph is so plain that
the "wayfaring man could otEerr there
ill., T used tho words corporate limits
TO show, clearly that j referred to the
town OF Amherst" and not to the coun-
4 4. kol.r tSe,t
attorney a I aw and ought to know that a
county Is not q II corporation and can
have no corporate limits. He says my
piece was written for a purpose" 35 So
1T was, Just the same purpose he should
have In his heart in rcmenb rance OF the
past. My purpose was to vindicate the
honor Of The county Of Amherst against
been hurled against her and the Lyncn-
burg News aided and allotted me by
copying my piece and proving the coun-
W of amherst a mobile county and
her gallant sons" and not one yet has
seemed dlsplcased with my communities
ltion IN behalf esof the old county except
this scr; Of Amherst. Mr.. I. P. White.
head I. whose lonorcd forefathers have
received more in offices OF emolument
and otc.. from the people y Of Amherst
county than any other familyI know
Of or ever heard OF. Oh Temporc! Oh
Morcs! Why open the closet and expose
the skeleton In the home OF your friends?
# II Amherst county Is to be laid low.
some others hand tliansthine should strike
the fatal blow--she nursed the pnion
that impeled the steel, 4 II It is tlistaste-
ful to the dear young man for ME to
render unto Caesar the things which
are Caesars and to defend the poor old
county that his chivalric father defend-
ed with his blood. the county that shell
tered him IN childhood the county In
whose sod sleeps the ashes Of his fore
fathers whose memory honor, then be
It So Let }us.9a to deathsnnd silence
sink forever more. And may the Lord
have mercy on his soul.
.5' .is OLD SOLDIER.
Amherst, Va. March