The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-24
why It Was Net Bsb Toembs Who TaIkea Abest Swallowing The Big nAfsze Georgizn--oolauitt, Cone And osAers nn osnnectisn With The Famou. Swallowing story.

I. K. Oglesby in Savannah News
 The recent appearance in The New york Sun--of the story of Alexander II. Gtephens retort when Q political antagonist in debate taunted him with an al1nsion to his diminutiye body, has brought forth many columns of mat ter. more or less interesting, but large ly inaccurate, in the newspapers of the country, North and South.
 According to the Sun story. MT. gtephens ana Mr. Toombs were en- gagged in a debate in the United states Senate. when Mir Toombs, exasperated at finding himself unable to refute his opponent by argument, shifted matters to a physical basis by hotly declaring that he could swallow him whole. and was met with the retort that if he did he would have more brains in his belly than he had in his head.
 Since, in the first place, Mir. Steph- ems was never in the United States Senate, tho incident could never have occurred there as reported; ana since in the next place, he and MT. Toombs were lifelong close personal friends, and always political allies except dur ing the campaign of 1860 Gin which they made no joint debate), which did not at all interrupt the warm personal relation that had always existed be- tween them, 1t could never have oc- os1rred between them at all
 Ever since the Sun publication the Georgia papers and sundry writers therein have been guessing at the identity of the discounted disputant who is alleged to have declared his capacity for extinguishing his ex- igTrous antagonist by deglutition. Some say 1t was walter T. Colquitt. (father
 TaNJ- hnf 1t was Judge Cone iwith whom MT Stephens had a serious personal con- aict), some that 1t was A. R. Wright ffamiliarly called Ranse Wright), and one writer thinks it was the Hon. Ju- Illus Caeser Afford. l have myself heard divers persons aver that they were present on the occasion when the retort was made and heard it; the averment being invariably conclud- ed---to give 1t the greater force-with the words, T heard that myself, with my own ears," but these various afr matts were not in accord as to the time when and the place where the swallowing talk was done, nor as to tha person who did it: all of which goes to show that Jack Falstaf knew what he was talking about when he said Lord, how this world Is given to
 The fact is that neither of the gen. t1emen above named, nor any one else, ever made to MT. Stephens the re- mark alleged to have called forth the retort attributed to him. The particu- lar reasons why it was not and could not have been made by MT Toombs have been given, but even if these had never existed there Is an inherent req son why the alleged swallowing speech was never made by either, of the per- sons to whom 1t has been ascribee They were men of sense, good bresd- sng and education, and no man ef that sort would have made such silly speech in familiar conversational ar rument, and to have made it in a debate in the halls 0f Congress or on the hustings wnUid have been a vul- gar absurdlty which no such person would hsAye committed It is not sup posahle that Mr. stephens would have been engaged in debate with man whose mental oaliber was so low and whose sense of propriety was so de- ficient that he would have substituted for argument such boorish and sense less utterance as that ascrtbed by The Sun to Mir. Toombs, and by other pa- pers to other persons.
 The nearest approach in Mir. Ste- phens' stump-speaking career to any thing like the reported swallowing incident. was-if Ihave been correctly inforTned-in a discussion with one Of the orators of the Know Nothing, :" or American, party, which had come into existence in 1855. and was making formidable headway in some of the Northern states and striving powerfully for the ascendancy in Georgia and other states of the South. Among the champions of the new party were Benjamin H Hill, H. " M Miller and A. R. Wright, all gifted men and powers on the stump. Dr. Miller was called "the Demosthe- nea of the mountains" and was really one of the most eloquent speakers, as we'll as one of the most interesting takers. have ever heard; but nothing more than to hear and see Ben Hill fay an opponent, for was a "Know-Noth- ings' boy, and felt very proud when MT. HiIl took me by the hand and patted lme on the head in recognition of my knthusiasm for the cause.
 It was 'Ranse" Wright (afterwards a general in the Confederate army), who, 'Rs I have been informed, had the discussion with MT. Stephens to which I am now referring. I never heard him, and in naming him as one of the most vigorous and popular speakers of his party am but recording what l have always understood to be the fact, He was "nervy" and on the occasion mentioned, as I have heard the story, he opened in right lively fashion by telling his audience that he had under stood that MT Stephens had been boosting that he would demolish any body that dared to appear against him on the stump in advocacy of the Amer lean party--that he would, metaphori- cally speaking, eat up the Know oth-