family:

Will be there. Meet me on arrival.

Another telegram read:

Get this in newspapers, but not as coming from me.

Another telegram went forward later as a news item:

"It is reported here that a dozen armed men from Kentucky and
West Virginia are secreted on the cars of the Al. G. Field
Minstrels, to resist arrest of one of their number who is
reported with the minstrels."

Of course all this was false. When the minstrel troupe arrived, hundreds
were at the depot. Alfred was one of the first to leave the train. The
officers and many others were aware of the falsity of the published
statement, but hundreds were deceived by the sensational reports.

The owner of the paper wherein the reports originated assured Alfred
they had been imposed upon and the columns of the paper were open to
anything he might dictate for publication. Introducing Alfred to his
city editor, the owner of the paper remarked: "I have requested Mr.
Field to prepare a statement for publication. We want to do what is
right by him."

The matter was submitted to the editor. He reminded Alfred that it did
not answer the article published by them but was a boost for his
minstrels.

Alfred replied: "I realize the matter published was false, but the dear
public has gained the idea that I am a desperado. They will only
remember this a day or two. If I endeavor to contradict the published
reports, it will keep it in their minds. This matter I submit will
benefit me. A denial such as you have in mind will not do me any good."

While this advertising was not the sort Alfred desired, he was bound to
make the most of it. The theatres were packed to their capacity during
the three or four weeks the opposition worked the press with the silly
matter; although many newspapers treated it as a joke. For a few weeks
Alfred was a living curiosity, pointed out by some as a desperado to be
shunned, sought by others to be idolized. Surely, human nature is past
understanding.

It is dangerous to try to blacken the character of your opponent as it
invariably places one's own under the spotlight and they'll find spots
you were sure were never visible.

* * * * *

Ed Boggs, now Secretary to the Governor of the State, was at the time
engaged in the drug business and managed the Opera House in Charleston,
W. Va. The gross receipts were the largest in the history of the opera
house. Alfred carried his s