The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-04
CLASH Of THE
SWORD AND PEN
Captain Carter of the Navy and
Reporter Moore Come
to Blows.

Lieutenant Commander J. F. Carter,
U. S. n, is under arrest by the police,
charged with assault and battery, the
complaint against him having been
made by F. B. Moore, reporter on the
staff of the Evening Bulletin. The al
legged assault took place yesterday morn
ing at the Naval Station, where the
reporter had called for the purpose of
obtaining an interview with Captain
Rees. Carter was arrested after six
O'Clock yesterday evening by Officer
Reeves, being released on his own re-
eognizance to appear for trial on Tues
day. When the warrant was first shown
to Carter, at the Naval Station early in
the afternoon. he refused to accept SER
vice on the Naval Reservation, but
agreed to allow the arrest after his Of
fee hours.
It is understood that United States
District Attorney Breckons will appear
for Carter at the police court trial and
that the assault, if there was one, took
place on a United States reservation
and outside of the jurisdiction of the
Territorial courts.
w. R. Harrington, editor of the Bull
letin, it is understood, interviewed Cap
tain Rees yesterday regarding the al
Of l-ir1 fr
request that the offending officer be
court -martialed for conduct unbecoming
an officer and a gentleman Captain
Rees took the stand, however, that the
affair had been one of man and man
and something that did not call for a
court martial.
Moore makes the following statement
of the affair:
~ had not gone down to the Naval
Station to see Captain Carter at all,
but had been upstairs in Engineer
Parks office and on coming down did
not pass the door of the officer with
whom / had the trouble few moments
later / was about to leave the build
ing by the Waikiki entrance when Car
ter came out of his office and called me
back. He then started in saying:
90 Are you responsible for that story
in the Bulletin the other afternoon2'
"He did not say what article but I
understood him to refer to the story, a
Of low in IN hiC
running the Iroquois aground when he
was trying to tow out the st. Louis.
81 replied that I was not responsible
for all of the facts, but for part of
them, and that had written the story.
He then said
90 Are you awaree that some of the
statements in it are untrue?'
81 replied that I was not aware of
it. He then asked me where / got my
information and I refused to tell him.
He went on to ask me if / had attempt
ed to verify the facts and I said that
l had verified part and, since I had the
rest from a very reliable source, con-
sidered that l had done enough. I also
said that I had tried to see him and
that 1 had been told that he had gone
up town.
"Carter then told me that ] must
retract the story entirely on my own
authority, which / told him that / could
not do very well, as | knew some of
the facts were true which he had prac
tically acknowledged himself. [ then
offered to print any statement which he
might care to make. He refused to
make any statement and began to get
excited, talking in louder voice.
He almost shouted then, Do you
mean to say that you doubt my word?'
81 answered that / did not doubt his
word. Then he said:
g You deliberately made misstate-
ments in that story
81 replied: Captain Carter, I want
you to understand that there may have
been inaccuracies in the story, but there
was no deliberate misstatement.
"He shouted: Il tell you, you lied.
You lie.
Gas he did this he stepped up close
to me and as l was standing with my
hands by my side, or possibly one of
them may have been in my pocket, he
struck me in the face with his right
hand. He followed this with a blow
in the breast from his left and l tried
to defend myself and hit him several
times and he also hit me probably
four or five times. Then he rushed me
and with his superior weight l was
forced back off the lanai.
| ''Then the orderlIes came rushing out
and Carter ordered me off the Naval
| Station grounds. l told him that I
would go, but would like to take my
hat He did not reply but one of the
orderlies picked up my hat and gave
it to me. l then left