The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-07-04
REV. MR.. cAULEY NOT AS.
SAULTED.

e,vee snace to the appended communica-
~, from Commemorative Attorney
Bediog, of Floyd county. The ROANOKE
special which he corrects. and on "iic' which
orr editorial comment was based, was
taken from one Of the Baltimore papers,
hnt through an oversight the credit Inc
was omitted We are glad to have TINS
assurance that Rev. Mr.. Cauley was not
maltreated as we had been led to oelieVo
nv the special from Roanoke. Mr.. Bedl-
go writes: an,
Floyd. Va, July . l9oS.
Editor Of The Times Dispatch:
Sir-In your issue of July ISL, uiiuei
head Of "Lawless Liquor Dealers, Is al,
editorial which does the county Oh flos'
great iniuseice You quote a correspond
emf from Roanoke as saying that KEY.
r r. Cauley, a Baptist minister. having
charge In Floyd county, was attacked on
tho highway Saturday afternoon by SIN
masked men, badly beaten and lett TOT
dead" Then follows the reasons given
for the outrage.
Now, I take the liberty to say that
there is not word of truth IN THIS cor
respondence from Roanoke. MI. Cauies
was we'll and hearty on Sunday, ana
story of his being assaulted on Saturday
is without foundation.
AS for the causes given for this fabri-
Gated outrage, there is precious niue
truth in that There never We're any
warrants issued for either OF the men &C
cused Of assaulting Cauley until after
the supposed assault, and neither OF them
was accused Of or arrested 1or selllhs
liounr anywhere. A man by the name OF
stuart had been ARRESTED for selling
linuor on information furnished by this
preacher.
Some weeks afterwards, on Sunday eve
| ming, the preacher was returning to MS
boarding place riding a spirited horse,
| and according to his own sworn state
ment, riding in athand gallop,' ana rooe
his horse against ]. H. Custer, who was
walking along the road. custer was
pushed or knocked out of the road by
| the horse, and becoming offended. caught
| the bride and stopped the horse suddenly
| The preacher, in attempting to a!lGht,
| fell and as he arose Custer caught him
by the collar and cursed him for trying
| to ride over him. In the quarrel that
ensued Custer referred to the fact that
| this preacher had reported Stuart FOR
selling liquor. .sJames Manning resided In
| plain view of the place where the Difficult
| ty occurred, and was near his house and
came to the parties and attempted to
| stop the difficulty by telling Custer to let
| Chuley alone Joseph Adridge, who was
/ also at his house near by, also came up
and commanded the peace and that ended
the matter.
| Manning used some rough language to
/ the preacher as he went away about his
having reported Stuart for this the said
preacher came to the United States com
missioner's Office and procured warrants
/ against Custer Manning and Aldridge for
/ Conspiracy to obstruct the due admins
i tration of JUSTICE" On the examination
.of the cases and at the request of the
district attorney, Aldrdge was dis
charged, the other two sent on TO court
and indicted and sent to the penitentiary
There was never any evidence of con-
spiracy and the impression prevails that
the preachers riding against Custer
caused the whole trouble. The preacher
was not hurt in the least
The newspaper correspondents have
made a mountain out OF mole hill.
was attorney for the Commonwealth for
Floyd county for twelve years and have
now been clerk of the courts of the coun-
ty for four years and know that Gus
ter, Manning and Aldridge until this oc'
currence have borne good characters. ant
there has never been prosecution IN the
courts against either of them They are
connected with as good families as there
, are in the county. and but for the fac
! that one of these parties did not give thu
road quick enough on that unfortunate
, Sunday evening there would have beer
no trouble
A preacher or any other person VIII
behaves properly IS as safe in Floyd a
In any other county In this State. |
S 1t is the duty of ministers of the gospe
> to keep out Niolators OF the law who arr
engaged in the Illicit LIQUOR business il
tho mountain gorges, then there arc
n many ministers who have fallen short o
I their duty.
: Floyd county hassnever had a lynching
9 a hanging. an outrage committed on
: woman or a child and If the Roanok,
! correspondent will attend to his own bust
n ness Floyd county will look after he
S own civilization.
/. hope you will publish this in justic
!, to the county of Floyd,
X p. S, PEpIGo.
y ---=-=zs-====-==
AnApCHY AND SOCIALISM