Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-08-06
FAMOUS FIST FgeaHFs (,
I'm HALLS OFF CONGRESS-.
Continued from Sixth Page.)

changes'in debate which promised to
lead tottrouble. There have been
quarrels in committee rooms and
conflicts on the floor which were
either passed over or disposed of
with apologies to the House. The
nearest thing to a fight on the floor
was the contest between Representa-
tive John Sharp Williams and Repre-
sentative DeArmond at the begin
ming of the60th Congress. Williams
was minority leader, and had heen
invited by Speaker Cannon to assign
the Democrats to committees. De-
Almond was the other Democratic
member of the committee on rules,
and felt that he, too. should be con-
suited regarding committee assign
mentN The two men held a confer
ence o. the floor of the House dur
ing the session, which resulted in a
dispute, md just as the House ad-
journed tie lie was rassed They
clinched jusl after the gavel fell, and
'hS SpSdhCl iS'uoSu W ldhe any OuI-
cial notice because the House was
not In session. Had not the two
men been so conspicuous in the
House, and both members of the mi
Speakers decision would have been
otherwise. Williams and DeArmond
remained members OF the committee
on rules during that Congress, but
never recognized each other after
ward.
The Senate's Conflicts.
The Senate has been freer from
personal encounters than the House,
but it, has had some that created
great sensations-notably the assault
upon Charles Sumner by Preston
Brooks, a member Of the House. Just
before the Civil War Northern Sena-
tors were frequently challenged to
fight by their Southern colleagues,
and it is said that William H. Sew
ard, Of New York; Benjamin F.
Wade, of Ohio, and Zach Chandler, of
Michigan, formed compact by
which they agreed to fight whenever
insulted or invited to combat. They
proposed to fight in frontier style
too, without any regard to the nice
ties Of the code. They went armed
and ready to shoot the men who in
vited them to shoot. 1t Is reported
of that day that in beginning his
speech on one occasion Senator Ben
Wade laid brace of pistols on his
desk with the intimation that he
would use them if necessary. These
men were never challenged, and their
compact ended the duel as an adjunct
to Senatorial debate.
Senator Conkling, Of New Yor. ,
and Senator John B. Gordon, of Geor-
gia, had sharp clash in debate in
the seventies, when Conkling re-
marked: "If the Senator from Geor-
gia says I ordered the chair to go on
with the calendar he states what is
not true" Gordon replied: Every
well Wen settle that hereafter" But
Conkling retorted, We'll settle it
here" That looked like a fight, but
friends interviewed and the retort
was ignored.
When Senator Mahone,of Virginia,
entered the Senate in 1881, Senator
Voorheess of Indiana, in debate re-
ferred to- him as "a renegade Demo-
crat.' Fhe Virginian retorted:
THAT Is IN assertion no brave man
would mai I. Let him take that and
wear it." Voorhees, let it pass.
Senator Hlutler of South Carolina,
retorted toaan assertion by Senator
Plumb, Of Kansas: "If it were in
another for would pronounce 1t
false and owardly," but Plumb
laughed at Tim and continued his
speech. E
The Tilln n"McLaurin Mix-up.
The one r. i fight on the floor of
the Senate Yas on Washington's
Birthday 10 ;. On that occasion
Senator Ben, hin r. Tillman sprang
over Senator Teller, who sat next to
him, and struck his colleague. Sena-
tor McLaurin, in the face with his
clenched fist. There never was a
more savage demonstration of old
fashioned resentment against Often
sive speech anywhere, or one where
the attack was more deliberately in
Vited. The stage was set for the act.
Senator Burrows had read Washing
tons Farewell Address, the Philip
pine tariff bill had been taken up and
Con u. l.,