Evening star., 1934-09-02

una u0USteT. ne HcIL CN0QIeT w
the series lDiu be published merit
Sunday in The Stdr.
BIZ FRANK G. CARPENTER
CHAPTER XVIII.
TSHE refusal Of John s. Wise to
accept McCarty's challenge
calls attention to the fact that
i both he and McCarty are the
descendants of families Of
duelists. John S. Wise has fought
duels himself, and so has Page Nc
Carty. Henry A. Wise, father OF
John, was engaged in several duels.
He was second In the noted Graves
CiIley duel which occurred IN the
latter part Of Van Buren's admins
tration, and which was caused by re-
marks made on the floor OF the House
by Cilley aspersing the character OF
Col. James Watson Webb of the New
York Courier and Enquirer. AS soon
as Webb heard of Cilley's remarks he
came to Washington with fire IN his
eyes and desire for vengeance In his
heart. Calling upon his friend, Con-
pressman Graves of Kentucky, he
made him his second, and asked him
to bear a message to Mr.. Cilley. Mr..
Graves called, but Mr.. Cilley refused
Webb's challenge on the grounds that
he was not responsible for words
used In q debate.
Both Graves and Cilley then wrote
reports on their conversation on this
point and the difference in these re-
ports was the cause Of the duel. Mr..
Cilley would not admit Mr.. Webb's
good character whereupon Graves
CHALLENGED him. The challenge was
accepted, rifles chosen as weapons.
The two men drove to the boundary
,.sne Of Washington, where after three
shots Cilley was killed. In the first
two rounds neither was touched ana
Cilley was given chance to apologize.
This he refused to do. The duel
caused great excitement. The Su-
preme Court refused TO attend Ctlley's
funeral, and Congress passed the duel
ing act, making It penitentiary
offense to give or receive a challenge
In the District Of Columbia.
The Lincoln Duel
Few know that President Lincoln
was q duelist. When he was a young
man he accepted a challenge to fight
a duel and the place and weapons
agreed upon. Swords were chosen.
The parties assembled on the Missouri
side of the Illinois River, a most ap-
propriate place, said Mr.. Lincoln, as 1t
was In sight of the penitentiary. When
the two men we're ready TO fight, 1t
was noted that Lincoln's height and
long arms gave him great advantage
over his antagonist who was very
short, and the matter was settled with
laugh by Mr.. Lincoln telling good
story.
The Bladensburg dueling ground is
thing Of the past. 1t is now plowed
up and used for farming, and the
house of Mr.. Reeve Of the Nation"
stands very near 1t. In the days when
it was the bloody fighting ground of
statesmen and Army officers, 1t was q
thicket and the brush was so dense
that it could not be seen from the old
stage road from Washington TO Balti-
more which ran by it. The duels were
fought on q COW path along the banks
Of a stream.
Writing Of duels reminds me that
Ben Butler, who Is here now, de-
scended In part from old CiIley stock.
Butler would have made q duelist
himself had he been born in State
and at time when the code Of honor
held good. But Massachusetts, never
A1J, e. Dat H.a
had to be expended in other ways. A
notable instance Of this occurred In
1856 when Butler was young prac-
titioner at Lowell. The Buchanan
campaign was in full progress and a
great meeting was being held In the
largest hall Of the city. Rufus
Choate, the great lawyer, was address,
Ing the meeting, and his eloquence had
thrown them into the widest enthusi-
asm. Suddenly crash was heard
and Jar was felt. The cry arose,
''The floor Is sinkingI"
Every one turned pale, the audience
rose for stampede when Ben Butler
came forward on the platform beside
Mr.. Choate, and calling the audience
to halt, said there was no danger, that
the architect OF the building was
present, that he would 60 with him
and examine the floor and report to
allay their fears. This quieted the
audience. Butler and the architect
made an immediate examination and
found the danger great.
Ben Butler at once returned and
smiling, assured the audience that
there was no present danger, but as
the hall was overcrowded he advised
them to adjourn quietly to the public
square where Mr.. Choate would finish
his speech. The crowd left in good
order and the catastrophe was averted.
As Butler had stepped ON the platform
he had whispered to Mr.. Choate with
a half laugh In order to reassure the
audience. But what he had said was.
"Mr. Choate, must clear this house
or We shall all be in hell in iye min.
utes."
Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter.
I called today on Mrs. Septirnia
Meikleham, the only surviving ersnd-
daughter Of Thomas Jefferson, to
whom Congress has Just refused a
pension of $4,000 a year. Taking a
car at the Patent Once I rode up r
street to the Ebbitt and then we
switched around Fourteenth 10 H. on
past the palace of Corcoran, the mil.
honaire friend of President Polk. past
the brown mansion of the historian
Bancroft, and then along UP Con-
necticut avenue, the fashionable new
street OF the Capital. Passing the