The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-01
HISTORY OF THE FEUD.
Southern Man Tells of Crises Which
Led to TiIlman Shooting.


A Southern man who knew personally
both Editor N. G. Gonzales and Lieut.
Gov. Tillmen. and was well informed as
to the feud that resulted in the shooting
Of the editor. thus tells the story of their
quarrel for The New York World as
follows:
To realize the full meaning of the des-
perate deed one must review the career
of Senator B. r. Tillman. the Lieuten-
ant-Governor's uncle, from the obscur-
ity of his little farm to the halls of the
United States Capitol. This career rev.
olutionizes the politics of the state.
1t was in 1886 that Benjamin Ryan Till
man shoulders his pitchfork and, leaving
the confines of his little farm. sought
the wider fields of political debate His
first appearance in public life was a ad-
Nocacy of industrial and technical educa-
ton which eliminated in the establish
ment of the Clemson Agricultural ard
Mechanical College lat Calhoun's old
home, Fort Sill.
His success on the stump inspired his
candidacy for governor, and in a strug-
gle in which mems passions were stirred
to depth that threatened to involve the
state in frequent bloody conflicts and
that was not without memorable TRACE
dies the old south and the new in that
historic state combated for supremacy
Ben Tillman ran rough-shod over ira
ditionS long held sacred. With the ruth
lessness of the iconoclast he continued
his onslaught on the men who were
enshrined in the peoples hearts. The
Gonzales brothers were then trusted
correspondents of the Charleston News
and Courier. They were in charge of
that papers bureau at Columbia the.
capital. One of them reported the cam
paigns throughout the state making the
circuit with the candidates in their cam
YaSS.
Joint debates were held in every coun-
ty and men went armed, prepared for
any emergency. The gun behind the
man was almost universal BY birth
and by training Gonzales brothers were
allied to the powers that long had ruled.
Without fear and with trenchant pens
they told the story of the bitter con-
test.
When TiIlman was elected Governor. n.
G. Gonzales resigned from the Charles
ton News and Courier because his po-
sition as correspondent at the capital
would make necessary relations with the
governor which would be Objectionable
to him.
Jim Tillman, the governors nephew,
did not appear upon the scene until
some years later. He first came into
prominence in the Spanish-American war,
when he was made lieutenant-colonel Of
one of the South Carolina regiments
Then he ran for ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Conventionalities are easily brushed
aside when it suits his purpose He has
even less self-restraint than his uncle
the Senator and there were incidents in
his private life when before the public
which made him vulnerable to attack
from q fearless opponent like Gonzales
Neither man would finch from dam
ger and those who knew the parties
were not surprised that the enmity should
terminate in a tragedy.
The laws of South Carolina make the
sender and bearer of challenge subject
10 criminal prosecution and this fact
probably prevented a duel long before
the defenseless Gonzales was shot down
in the streets of the capital.
The Lieut.-Gov. some time before his
term of office was a principal in street
opponent being a brother of former Gov
John Gary Evans. Young Evans was
later charged with killing a well-known
railroad man under peculiar cireum-
stances.