The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1903-10-14

~S-
bic throughout the court room and
appeared perfectly at ease.
II had occasion to go to Winps-
boro to read law in the Office of my
bro,her-in-law, Judge o W. Buchan-
All While there I had occasion to have
written al article concerning N. g.
Gonzales. MI. Gonzales wrote to
the editor of the Winnsboro paper
demanding the name of the writer of
the article. My friends advised me
not to give my name, but when Mr..
Gonzales wrote a bitter article in re-
ply to mine I did give him my name
and published it in the News and
Herald.
I had many transactions with N.
G. Gonzales. When my uncle was
elected governor in 1890 [ was in
vited to attend the state ball and be-
fore doing so I found it necessaryfor
me to join the South Carolina Club.
I got the endorsement voluntarily of
former Governor Sheppard, of Edge
field, and General Bonham. Late in
the afternoon some of my friends
came to me and told me that n. G..
Gonzales had drummed enough of
his friends under the rules of the
club to blackball me. My friends
then withdrew my name. It was
never formally presented to the club.
I was about twenty-one years of age
at this time and had never held any
public position or even aspiredto one.
SENT HIM A CHALLENGE
In consequence Of the South Caro-
lima club affair I sent Mr.. Gonzales
a message by George S. Legare, who
is now a congressman from the First
district, I think, I did not want to
violate the laws of my state by send
ing a challenge according to the code,
and Mr.. Legare simply extended to
Mr.. Gonzales an invitation to meet
me e in Georgia. I went to
Georgia, but MIR. Gonzales did not
come.
I was in the newspaper business
for a considerable period and was
sent to Washington by the Augusta
Chronicle and Columbia Journal and
afterwards for the Atlanta Constitu-
ton. I arrived there shortly after
the election of President Cleveland
for the second time to cover South
Carolina and Georgia news, particu-
larry with reference to the distribu-
ton of patronage for those states
together with the different aspirants
for positions. I wrote on the cur-
rent news of the day from the best
information I could obtain and as all
newspaper men do. Mr.. Gonzales,
as I recollect it, was ar applicant for
the position formerly held by Mr..
George Kennedy, as consul general
to China. It has been said be wanted
to go to Rio Janero, but my impress.
sion now is that it was Shanghai,
China. I wrote he would not be ap-
pointed. The statement was written
on the best authority obtainsble as a
newspaper correspondent. The Me-
tropolitsn hotel in Washington is
headquarters for southern people in
Washington and three-fourths of
them stop there and hang around
the lobby. That was where I always
went to get southern news.
THE CIGAR INCIDENT.
I walked up to the cigar stand one
day after I had written that Con-
zales would not be appointed and
bought some cigars. There was a
crowd standing around and after
them I turned and passed
them around. I did not know Mr..
was there and saw at once
I had made a mistake in Offering him
any.
When the Spanish-Anerican war
commenced I offered my services to
the government and I was appointed