The Irish standard., 1904-01-23


one of the two prominent Southerner:
whose deaths were announced this
week, rested his fame on his military
services to the Confederacy, and the
other on his successful career as a
lawyer, both are best remembered at
Washington for personal alterations
in Congress which at the time of their
occurrence threatened to lead to the
duelling field, says the New York Post.
Gen. John B. Gordon had his quar-
rel with Roscoe Conkling. 1t occurred
IN a secret session Of the Senate, and
the remarkable feature of its sequel
was the deliberate publication of an
entry in the journal respecting it.
When Mr.. Hayes became president
by grace of the support he had re-
ceived from the South, Gordon, who
had been instrumental in working up
sentiment for him, was anxious to help
him also with his appointments in all
parts of the Union. Conkling, how
ever, proved an obstacle as regarded
New York. He had been accustomed
to distribute the patronage of his own
state without hindrance under the
Grant administration, and had no no
tion of surrendering his prestige even
to I new president. Although bitter
Republican partisan, Conkling had ac-
quired in some way good deal of
influence over a few of the Democratic
senator's, and when Gordon came to
drum up recruits for the support of
some of the New York nominations
sent in by Hayes, he found his efforts
blocked, obviously by the New York
senator. This nettled Gordon, and
set him on the watch for personal af-
fronts from the same quarter.
One afternoon, in executive session,
the clerk had been calling off one
nomination after another for action, in
the order in which they stood on his
book, when Gordon moved depart
tire from the lineal list in order to
reach certain Alabama case in which
he was interested. Conkling, who had
been buried in newspaper, called out,
without looking up from his reading:
"Go on with the calendar!" Gordon
stopped short in his motion, and, ad-
dressing Senator Anthony, of Rhode
Island, who was presiding, said with
biting deliberation:
"Mr. President, the senator from
New York is. not in the chair, but he
orders the chair to go on with the
calendar"
Conkling appeared not to notice the
remark till brother senator called
his attention to it. He then rose and
demanded that Gordon repeat it. This
was done, and Conkling responded
fercely: eff the senator from Georgia
says I ordered the chair to go on with
the calendar, he states what is not
true"
every WE'LL" retorted Gordon, "we'll
settle that hereafter"
"We will settle it now and here"
said Conkling.
"We will settle it elsewhere" Cor
don persisted.
Other senator's interfered at this
juncture, and the trouble was referred
to Senators Hamlin, of Maine, and
Howe, of Wisconsin, as friends of
Conkling, and Senators Ransom, of
North Carolina, and Mcdonald, of
Indiana, as friends of Gordon, to
straighten out if possible.
The conference began almost at
once, and stayed substantially in con-
tinuous session till one o'clock the
next morning, then adjourned for
sleep and breakfast, and at ten o.
clock. began again. At one stage of
the proceedings there seemed to be
no way of averting a duel, and Sena-
tor Lamar, of Mississippi, undertook
the duties of a second for Gordon,
while Senator Jones, of Nevada, and
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan were called
into consultation by Conkling. Final
1y, on the afternoon of the second
day, truce was arranged and re-
port made to the Senate in executive