The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1909-09-23
PATTERSON AND
CY n. LYLE CT TED
BY NASHVILLE AMERICAN
"The Tempest in the Teapot Be.
comes Not Only Ridiculous,
But Contemplate"

Having found another old shoe in the
back yard, Fido has triumphantly
dragged il out on the front stoop, and
with abbreviated tail quivering like
rattlesnake's kettle-dum, with gutteral
indignation betokening the intensity
of his passion, with glistening fangs
and unfurled claws, he is doing fierce
and bloodlsss stunts for the delectatiOn
of the whole neighborhood. No sport
i've feline ever assailed yarn ball with
moEe savage instinct. Mock heroics and
screaming melodrama never reached a
more ridiculous climax than in this
case where Robert Isenberg gets par
don, Cy H. Lyle gets $500, the political
schavengers get another saccharine
morSel to roll under their scan ndal-lov-
ing tongues, and Gov. Patterson gets
abuse and heap of it. OF course, the
purpose of it all is to create in the
minds of the uniformed, the unthink-
ing and the prejudiced that pardons
are to be had for price from the pres
ent administration, to hurt the Cover
nor, to rendor odious his friend. The
facts are perverted, ignored, suppressed
or manufactured to suit the generous
minds and kindly aims of the immac
ulate detactors; and a cloud of verify,
no bigger than a mans hand, is mag
nified into seething, destructive tor
rent of misrepresentation, insinuation
and vituperaiion. A perusal of the pa.
pers in this case, filed away in the
archives of the State, is amply con
vincing of the justification of full and
immediate pardon. In this light the
tempest in the teapot become not only
ridiculous but contemplate.
Briefly and chronologically stated
the facts are as follows: On moon.
light night in December, 1905, Rob9r
Isenberg, 81 years of age, widower
with two children, attended a Christ
mas tree entertainment at rura
school house in Washington county
His younger brother, David Isenberg
became involved in quarrel and fisti
cuff with Tom Depew, another younl
man. David was knocked down b,
Depew, using brass knucks. Robert
sitting on the fence, was attracted b,
the difficulty and, hearing his broth
er's voice, rushed up to separate tn
combatants. Depew took to his heels
ran nearly around the schoolhouse an,
then darted off through the woods
pursued by crowd. From five to fiji
teen shots were fred at him. Some 20
wards from the schoolhOuse the crow
halted, and an officer came up an
a asked who had done the shooting,
was not known until afterWard tina
Depew had been hit and killed. Seein
pistol in his brother David's hanC
Bob Isenberg took the weapon an
threw it away so as took the weapo
: and threw it away so as to keep tn
! officer from finding it on him. A pa
of this action was reported the pistC
recovered and Bob Isenberg arreste
and subsequently charged with III
killing AT the trial one witness test
y fed that Bob had shown him the pi
! tol twenty minutes before the difficult.
J This was denied, Bob insisting that |
] had no pistol and had not carried on,
Y His brother claimed the gun and tn
4 he had brought it with him to the e.
2 tertainment, leaving home after BC
= had started According to the teStim
\ ny, man with long overcoat did Il
D shooting. Three other men in the crow
y besides Bob Issnberg wore that kind
Il a coat.