The Duel That Wasn't: An Editor and a Statesman
James Hamilton Lewis, a flashy Seattle lawyer and orator, attempts to challenge an editor to a duel, only to have the challenge thrown in the trash due to a breach of etiquette.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
James Hamilton Lewis, of Seattle, orator, lawyer, statesman, and bon vivant, has challenged City Editor Older of the Call to a duel because of an alleged interview which appeared in last Sunday's Call. Lewis denounces the authority of the interview, and denounces its author in language both rigorous and picturesque. He proposes to have such satisfaction as any other gentleman would demand under the same circumstances. But, with all his regard for perfect form, the colonel appears to have used an indecorous method of transmitting his challenge. He either overlooked or purposely avoided sending it by a duly accredited second, but took the unusual and altogether irregular course of transmitting it through the mails. This astonishing breach of etiquette, it is said, Mr. Older will not excuse. It has been ignominiously consigned to the waste basket, along with other manuscripts written on both sides and without return stamps.
“It has been ignominiously consigned to the waste basket, along with other manuscripts written on both sides and without return stamps.”
The absurdity of a high-stakes duel being settled by a wastebasket is a reminder of the often-volatile relationship between public figures and the press. It captures the theatrical nature of late 19th-century political posturing, which still echoes in today's combative media landscape.
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