Show THE TOOELE AFFAIR The Boys were not Hoodlums i STOCKTON Utah Feb 20th 83 Editors Herald In your issue of the lath inst a correspondent signing himself in behalf of many citizens A Subscriber Sub-scriber grunts up a solemn lengthened growl about a letter that appeared in the HERALD of the 7th inst signed J H S and which gave a dispassionate account of a Lively Racket in the ExRe public Now of course I was not an eyewitness of what occurred at that famous or infamous school dance and can only speak from the testimony adduced in court as to the merits of the case but of one thing I do feel assured in speaking plainly and positively and that is that the young men engaged in that affair I mean James Gowan Peter McKellar Daniel Gillespie Heber Bevan James Gillespie and John JfGillespie are not now nor have they ever been hoodlums as they are branded and labeled by A subscriber scriber Further it seems tome to-me that so far as the naked facts are concerned A Subscriber has not a single leg to stand on Allow me to reproduce the editorial comment of the Des eret News on what was called by it ° a disgraceful fracus An Unpleasant Affair In to J uay a issue wo give some particu lars of a disgraceful melee which l occurred in a party at Tooele There may be some circumstances un known to us that might lead us to I change our view on the subject but our present understanding of the affair leads us to the opinion that both parties were at fault Those I who obtruded their unwelcome presence at the party were guilty of gross and inexcusable rudeness which was intensified by the refusal to retire when requested On the other hand those who were prop erly present should have exhausted all peaceable means to get rid of the intruders if they did not do so and in the event of force being neces sary to expel them it should not have been applied in the shape of engagIng in a rough andtumble fightNow Now it seems to me that notwithstanding standing the fact that Mr S W Peterson gave to the News substan ially the same version of the affair that A Subscriber endorses and emphasizes the News was loth to credit the statement and threw a grave doubt over the propriety of the affair so far as the management of the dance were concerned Every body that reads the News knows that it is deliberate in making up its mind and generally correct as well as fair in its judgments Besides ides this no one could accuse the yews or any mas or prejudice in me premises and it is fair to assume that its mind was made up after hearing statements made by others than interested parties Not so much can be said for A Sub criber for in the use of the word hoodlum he shows his animus his prejudice and as well his desire to misrepresent This scribe also sickens at the use of the word attack by JHS but does he anywhere deny that Benjamin Glegg jr committed mayhem on the ears of James Gow ant Does he anywhere deny that James Gowan was taken up and out for dead V Can he deny further that young Gillespie had his nose bitten by this same Gregg jr I will put this matter to him in a little stronger light than J H S did can he deny that the manager of that dance was the constable of Tooele precinct that the schoolmaster school-master Mr Harris opened the bally > ball-y calling Sir Gillespie a stinker and striking him in the face and then calling in all the fighters present pres-ent to pitch in and show that they were not cowards can he deny that this same constable consta-ble of Tooele precinct ordered John Smith and Samuel Oram to bar the door while he knocked down his Brother and danced a jig on him asa as-a kind of official opening chorus So not Mr EditorI dont know lowJ H S came to be so wild unless it was to serene Mr Constable Consta-ble Mr Schoolmaster and Mr Earbiter The truth of the matter is simply this The young men who intruded themselves into that schoolroom school-room were out of place were wrong andMr ConstableMrSchoolmaster MrEarbiter and the posse who took the law into their own hands and committed felonieswerewrong also but more wrong by a hundred fold I question whether A Subscriber speaks for any good citizens I am sure that no good citizen will bite ear or noses or speak of his fellow citizens sons as hoodlums especially when the offense committed by them was such a one as has ever been considered con-sidered venial I am sure that a judicial investigation would show up the true inwardness of A Subscriber Sub-scriber and his associates and I for one express the hope that an investigation will be had to ascertain ascer-tain just onejfact and that is this whether if a man trespasses on your premises it is necessary to barricade the door and bite his ears off in order or-der to get him out Yours for bonnie play STOCKTOK |