| Show LINCOLN ANI AND V one duel which wh fell was na fought in 1843 kansas kana city may to IO A special to the journal from Fr topeka kan says william C souther who claims claim to have been an eye witness to the historical duel between abraham lincoln and general james shields eldi relates relater to the correspondent what he purports purport to be the misting historical data of the his hl event he tells an interesting story which differs materially from the published accounts account peculiar interest has of late been aroused in this affair through a history ot of lincoln running in one of the periodicals in which the author frankly admits that but meagre d details I 1 6 e can an be p procured ro c u of what w h a t a actually a boota rede took k p place 1 e w when h e n the d dueling u t 1 f n g chua party r li crossed the missouri river and staked fighting grounds ground now comes the to peka man with a detailed story story of the whole transaction in which he h supplies the missing historical date alt souther is 76 years old has for the past eighteen years been a clerk in the office of the auditor of the santa ft fe railway though the greater portion of c his life has been spent as a printer and a newspaper man up to so the arrival of the duelling buelling du elling party at the alton ferry th the e story he tells is very similar to the other heretofore printed but from there it differs widely it was w on the morning of september 12 1843 says mr souther that shields and lincoln arrived at alton I 1 was then a printer and reporter on the alton telegraph and had received an intimation of the coming duel bluel which made me anxious to see it 11 possible the dueling party took breakfast at the franklin house and about 1030 in thi the e foren forenoon oon proceeded to the ferryboat whir which h was war owned ard run by a man by the name oi of chapman the boat was propelled by two horses which worked around a windlass at one end of the boat jeck and I 1 made arrangements with chapman to drive these horses arriving at the opposite shore w which ach was a wilderness of if timber a spot partly cleaned was selected as the battle ground shields ds took a seat on a fallen log on one side of the clearing and lincoln seated himself on another at the opposite side the seconds then proceeded to cut a pole about twelve feet long and two stakes were crotched in the end the stakes slakes were driven into th the e g ground ro d a and n d th the e pol laid across the polis c crotches ro tc h so 6 0 that t h at it i t rested ted about three feet above ground the men were to stand on either side of the pole and fight across it A line was drawn onlie ground on oil both sides three feet from the pole with the understanding that if either combatant stepped back across his hi own line it was to be considered a giving up of the fight after all these arrangements had been completed the seconds rejoined their principals at the different sides of the clearing and bommen commenced ced to talk in low tones along with the shields party was dr T M hope of alton he was war very much opposed to the duel and reasone reasoned d with shields for a long time As a result of this talk several notes were passed between the seconds lincoln remained firm and said shields must withdraw his first note and ask whether or not h he e was author of the poem in the journal when that was war done he said he was ready to treat with the other ade shields was inflexible and finally dr hope got mad at him he herald said that shields was bringing the democratic party of illinois and himself to ridicule and contempt by his folly finally he sprang to his feet faced the stubborn little irishman and blurted out 1 Jimm le you g d little whip per snapper if you dont settle this I 1 will take you across my knee and spank you this was too much tor for shields and he yelled A note was solemnly prepared and sent across to lincoln which inquired if he e was the author of the poem in question lincoln wrote a formal reply in which he said he was not and then explanations and apo apologies logler followed 1 I watched lincoln closely while he bat baton on the log signal to fight his face was grave and serious I 1 could di scearn nothing suggestive of old abe as ai we knew hl him I 1 never knew him to go to so long without making some sort eort of f a joke and I 1 began 0 to o belleve believe he was greatly frightened but presently he reached over and picked up one of the words swords which w hichme he abrew drew from its scabbard then he felt along the edge of the weapon with his thumb like a barbet barber feels of the edge of a razor I 1 stretched himself to hit full height stretched bed out his long bony arm and clipped clippe d off a twig front a tree above his head with his sword sword there was not another ma man n of us who could have reached anywhere giai near that twig and the absurdity of that long retti reaching hing fellow figini wibb cavalry sabers with shields who ho cluid walk under his hig arm I 1 came near making me e howl how wit with laughter cr after lincoln lincola handcut off tile the twig he returned 16 the sword to its scabbard with a sigh and tat bat down which was always th the e forerunner of one a 0 his inimitable yarns yaras and I 1 expected it I 1 ma to telle tella tell a side splitter right there irk in the thada shad I 1 of the arv gria grave after things had been adjusted at the dueling ground we returned to 0 o the ferry boat everybody halting chatting in the most friendly manner possible F C |
