The Cordova daily times., 1919-09-05
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1919
THE POINT OF VIEW

0IO1S uIoy pO uASuSu up dCCOIuluS W
the manner in which it is viewed by
different reporters is a matter of in
terest. The average person scarcely
would think of James Wickersham as
a decrepit old man, and blind in one
eye" and it would be difficult to work
up a great deal of solicitude for the
Fighting Jim" who had been over
come in personal conflict by a strap
ping young Hercules six feet tall and
recently discharged from the army"
1t would be ill-advised to designate
the description of the "horrified spec
tators" of the Wickersham-Sel me-
lee at Valdez grabbing young Selby
and of the danger of his being treated
roughly by IAN outraged community"
as fiction. 1t may have been the
truth. AS the public must rely On the
news furnished by spectators it must
take its choice of descriptions. The
report furnished by the Juneau Dis
patch is so at variance with the re-
ports furnished by the Daily Times,
and cOllated from information from
several sources, that it is printed for
the sake of comparison and as an in
stance of how a specific incident may
be differently viewed by different per-
sons. Here it is:
Last Saturday at Valdez occurred
one of the most regretable incidents
in the political history of Alaska in
which Hon. James Wickersham, a
man aged 81 years and blind in one
eye, was assaulted by Tom Selby, son
OF H. r. Selby, publisher of the Val
dez Miner, who is a strapping young
man six feet tall and recently dis
charged from the United States army.
"The assault on Judge Wickersham
occurred at the time Judge Wicker
sham vas examining certain members
Of the United States signal corps
and their wives regarding their vote
in the delegate election of 1918,
which is being contested by Wicker
ham and Grigsby on account of the
death Of Charles A. Sulzer.
"Advices from Valdez indicate
Judge Wickersham pinned down the
sister Of Selby, who is married to
a signal corps operator, regarding
the time Of her marriage and resi-
dence in Alaska, something he had a
right to do so as to establish that
she had no right to exercise an cleo
ton franchise as she was the wife of
a nonresident soldier. Just who ad-
Vised or urged the brother of the
woman to suddenly assault Judge
Wickersham is not known, but young
Selby did rush and strike Judge
Wickersham, knocking down the aged
man. Spectators, Mortified at the
beastly exhibition Of young mans
hasty temper, instantly grabbed him
and for a time it was feared young
Selby would be treated very roughly
by the outraged community. Later
it is understood, young Selby at
tempted to make amends by written
apology.
Judge Wickersham was struck
with the full force Of the blow, which
knocked him down For moment he
did not know what had happened as
the young man assaulted him on the
blind side.
''In Juneau and elsewhere there has
been great deal of discussion Of
the incident and the manner in which
the disgraceful assault was heraldet
in big type by the Juneau Empire
many believing the assault had been
Matched by a league of discrediteC
Alaska Democratic politicians. Had {
similar assault been made on Robert
W. Jennings, James Smiser or any
other aged man in the territory il
would have been branded as an act
of a Bolshevik and no doubt a call
made by Governor Riggs for the
.Vicksburg or sub-chasers. But in the
case of Judge Wickersham it was
taken as a moment of supreme sat
isfaction without regret. It can be
said to the credit of many prominent