Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-10-23

during the excitement about press
CENSORSHIP. anu the narrator sought
Mr.. Painter, who was then living, and
obtained a narrative of more than or
binary interest, which has never been
published, but is particularly peril
nent, as we come to the anniversary OF
Anteitam's bloody battle, September
17-1S, 1862. Mr.. Painter said:
was placed under arrest In the
spring Of 1852 by Gen. Sanborn, who
ordered me to report to the secretary
of war. I did so and was ushered in
to the presence Of Secretary, Stanton,
who motioned me to a seat, looked me
over very critically and blurted out:
II never saw you before"
Probably not"
81 never talked with you"
Probably not"
II never gave you an interview"
Probably not"
"Then why did you publish an in
terview with me?"
II never published an interview with
you, sir"
Then what does this mean?"
Taking from his desk copy Of the
Inquirer, Secretary Stanton ran his
finger over a flve-column article under
the caption, An Hour With the Sc
cretary Of War in which he was quo
ted as saying a great many interest
ing things to prominent people. Hold
ing the paper before me he said:
Did you write that?"
II dictated that"
How came you to obtain your In
formation?"
"As a private American citizen. Mr..
Secretary, that Is my business, and l
do not think that it is any Of your
business how I obtained my informa-
tion."
The big secretary was astonished,
being accustomed to having people
cringe before him. However, he
changed his entire demanor and said
in an exceedingly confidential and
pleasing manner:
THAT Is all right, Painter; you may
suppress the name Of your friend for
the time being, until tell you why l
want to know the name Of your inform
ant. This is an important office, a
great civil war is going on and 1t Is
expressly important that I should have
only loyal helpers about me. The In
terviews which you have printed are
almost verbatim, and If you Will tell
inc which one of my clerks gave out
the information I will promise you
confidentially not to punish him., but
will have him transferred to another
department"
We'll, Mr.. Secretary" I responded,
mot one of your clerks has been dis
loyal to you. This room is full Of peo-
pie every day. I was here In the
throng every day for one week.
crowded as near to yourself as possible
and took notes of the conversations
which 1 overheard, and prepared my
article from data conveyed to my mind
through my own ears. That Hour
With the Secretary Of War was real
ly about twelve hours"
The secretary was so relieved of
anxiety and so pleased with my story
of how the article was CLEANED that
then and there made and secured the
friendship and privileges which ena-
bled me to secure accurate war news
for transmission to my paper In ad-
vance of busy competitors.
Gen. Henry V. Boynton having stat
ed to the narrator that it was Mr..
Painter who obtained the first news of
the invasion Of Maryland by Lee, with
the resultant battle Of Antietam, Mr..
Painter was asked to give the facts
bearing upon that period and said:
Gen. Phil Kearney was killed at the
battle of Chantilly, Va, September 9,
1862 and a few hours after that battle
1 learned from Negroes, maligners, de-
serters and tramps from both armies
that Gen. Lee was preparing to invade
Maryland. I interviewed individuals
who were beneath the notice of the
gentlemen who commanded the scat
tered fragments Of the army Of the
Potomac Having completely satisfied
myself Of the intention of Gen. Lee,
I wrote the news, sent it to Washing
ton by courier and had 1t mailed to
Philadelphia, where it was printed on
the following morning.
AT about noon, on September IL, 1
was summoned again before the Sec
retary of war and was informed by
Mr.. Stanton himself that I was under
arrest, because the publication Of the
proposed raid had created a sensation
in Washington, the secretary Of state,
Mr.. Seward, being greatly alarmed lest
the publication of such intelligence
might hasten the recognition Of the
Southern Confederacy by Great Brit
ain, and Mr.. Seward believed that the