Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 September 1890 — QUARRIES OF CONGRESSMEN: [ARTICLE]

QUARRIES OF CONGRESSMEN:

Wreeaa) Encourte. a on the Floor of the Home and Meetings on the rlwsd of Honqr. The personal encounter between Representatives Wilson, of Washington State, and Beckwith, of New Jersey, was not the first incident of the kin. 1 . .->n the floor of the House. -John B. Weller, a member from Ohio, in January. 1844. and subsequently a Senator from assaulted aid beat very’ severely Mr. Schower, a reop lgr of the House. The assaulttook .place i 1 the Ihbby, and it was construed to have been committed on the< floor and on an officer of the House, and Y/eller was arraigned and censured. In April, 1814, tlrtire was a regular fight on the floor of Congress between J-'hn White, of Kentucky, afterward Spe. ker. and Mr. Kathborn, of New York. —Mr. White left his seat, and. coining to Rathlorn, knocked him down. A general scrimmage ensued, and Mr. Moore, a member, fired a pistol, which severely wounded an officer of the H- ; uce. They were arraigned before'fhe. Var of the HouSe, but as the vounded *,nn was comfortably provided for, mutual apologies were -aceepted. In 1859. Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Branch, of North Carolina, had an altercation which resulted in a challenge. Mutual friends prevented a host’ie meeting. About that t'.mo Mr. Grow aid Mr. Keitt, of South Carolina, indulged in a pugilistic encounter. When they were arraigned, M-. Keitt took all the blame on himself and apologized to the House and to .* r. Grow. Ho n Robert W. Johnson, a ineulber of the, House? came to y r ery' close quarters with Hon. O. 13. Ficklin. of Illinois. Blows were exchanged and they apologized for a momentary forgetfulness-in- yielding to the impulse to punch each other before the assembly of wisdiJm of the Nation. In the Carly fifties tile Hon. Joshua 11. Giddings and R.- W. Meade of Virginia had a personal altercation which involved their respective friends. Meade seized Giddings by the neckcloth and proceeded to twist it. when Long John Wentworth rushed in to part the belligerents, but Edmundson, of Virginia, standing on a chair to reach bis tall adversary, threw himself on Wentworth, carrying him to the floor. As early as 1840 Mr. Inge, of Alabama, and Edward Stanley, having had on the floor of Congress some very exciting debate, a challenge passed. After the third fire a reconciliation was effected. Not long after the difficulty with Mr. Inge, Mr. Stanley became involved in a duel with Mr. Pickens, of South Carolina, and after a fire or two a reconciliation took place. Again Mr. Stanley was the principal in a duel with Henry A. Wise. In 1844 General Ciingman, in debate assailed the Democratic party, charging fraud in the defeat of Clay, and was challenged by Yancey. They fought at Bettsville, and after one or two shots a settlement was affected. The Breckinridge and Cutting duel or challenge was occasioned by words spoken in the bill to subsidize the Collins line. The Burlingame challenge to Preston Brooks ahd the Potter challeuge to Roger Pryor created intense excitement in 1858. Senator Given, of California, challenged Henry Wilson, and the matter was referred to Mr. Crittenden, Mr. Seward and Jefferson Davis, and settled by them. Henry S.- Foote drew a pistol on Colonel Benton in the Senate and some Senator interfered, when Colonel Benton, baring his breast said, “Let the assassin fire.” These are only a few of the many exhibitions of temper displayed in both houses of Congress. Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun used most bitter expressions in debate. Dixon H. Lewis, of Alabama, an enormous man in size and strength, stopped a fight on the floor of Congress by holding the belligerents at arms’ length, and arguing with them in very forcible ter ma. Every one recalls the first fight between Representatives Cobb of Indiana and Laird of Nebraska in the Fortyrffnth Congress. It occurred in the corridor just beind the speaker’s desk.