The times and democrat. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, July 04, 1911, Image 1
PUBLISHED Tltf-WEEKL^
GOES SCOT FREE
GiTtfMr BSease Panfoas WaAfci?ter,j
WHO HAD KILLED A HAN
Slayer of Elbert Copeland Relieved
of Serving Eight-Year Sentence in
Penitentiary by Act of Governor
Who, as Attorney, Represented
Minx in the Courts.
A special from Columbia to The
News and Courier says: "Governor
Rlease has pardoned G. Washington
Hunter, the Laarens Coutty man,
?who has been under parole for the
last several months. Hunter, who is
generally known as "Wain" Hunter,
was convicted of the killing of Elbert
Copeland, at Clinton, and sentenced
to eight years in the State peniten
tiary.
The case went to the Supreme
Court of the United States after hav
ing gone through the Courts of this
State. Hunter lost his appeal to the
United States Court last fall and
shortly after Governor Blease came
Into office he was paroled until July
the first. ?
Governoor Blease prior to his elec
tion as Governor, was one of the law
yers who represented Hunter as coun
sel, and P. H. Dominlck, Esq., of
Newberry, who was Blease's law part
ner and campaign manager, is one
of Hunter's attorneys now. "Wash"
Hunter is brother-in-law of "Hub"
Evans, of Newberry.
Hunter was tried at the Feoruary
term of Court, 1906, and being con
victed of manslaughter, was senten
ced to eight years imprisonment.
There was a change of venue in this
case from Laurens County to Green
wood.
Four times Hunter was tried in
Laurens county, there being one con
viction, the verdict of the'jury being,
set aside. Then there was a change
of venue granted. It was taken to
the Supreme Court and the Circuit
Judge was sustained. Then came
the trial at Greenwood, with the re
sult that the conviction and sentence
was secured.
Then up through, the .State Su
> preme Court and the United States
' Supreme Court and the United States
Supreme Court the case went. The
Hunter case was one of the most
noted in the history of criminal cases
in South Carolina. There were ov
er 700 names signed to the petitions
for pardon. Among the signatures
were several of the jurors who serv
ed when the case was tried in Lau
rens.
The postmaster of Clinton signed
and among other signers were some
from Abbeville County. Senator J.
H. Wharton, of Laurens, signed the
petition: also Col. Thomas B. Crews,
(late); Representative David H. Ma
gil and a large number of othe-s.
Governor Blease stated that he was
meved in this case- by the Supreme
Court's reversal In the Laurens case,
this case reversing the Hunter case;
that if the Hunter case had the ad
vantage of a previous decision in the
Lazarus case, it would have been de
cided differently.
Governor Blease Indicated that he
would, later, at the proper time, am
plify his statement in the- Hunter
case as to reasons for pardon.
"Wash' .Hunter was paroled on
February 20th by Governor Blease.
At the time it was stated that It was
desired to make a motion for a new
trial. On the same date the Supreme
Court ordered a stay of remittitur
The pardon papers were made out
for "Wash' Hunter and he, there
fore, goes free. *
MONEY FOUND IN CEILING.
Box With $900 in Currency und Gold
Falls to the Floor.
Patrick Baker and family of Fred
ericksburg, Va., moved two days ago
into an old frame house back of a
larger residence, which was probably
built 150 years ago. In repairing an
old replace in the second story, two
pieces of plank fell out of the ceil
ing and a big box dropped on the
floor.
Mrs. Baker found It contained
$400 .n gold coin and $500 in cur
rency. Owing to its being s^< old,
the currency was tu very bad con
dition portions of it falling to pieces
in handling. The house has a long
history and no one can tell- to whom
the money belongs. Mrs. Baker rent
ed the house aud it is not known |
whether the owner of the house will
put in a claim for the money. * j
Man and Money Gone.
With more than $75,000 in hisj
pocket, John J. O'Reilly, ?fDallas,
Texas, vanished on the White Star
Line pier in New York on Sunday,
while his wife and two children!
watched the liner Baltic, on which
they were to have sailed away. An
hour before the vessel was to sail n*?j
told his family to wait for him on the
pier while he had the $75,000 con-j
verted into English money. Theyj
have not seen him.
To Form Great Society.
Steps bowtaord forming a Young
People's1, society of Baptists In all
parts of Vhe world. A committee of
25 leading ministers and the semi
nary leadeVs were appointed to com
plete the wrork of ofganization.
HOLD UP FAST TRAIN
MAIL AM) EXPRESS OARS RIFLED
Br BA"0>ITS.
The Mall Clerk and the Conductor
Were Injured by Being Shot by
the Band of Robbers
A fast mail and passenger train on
the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad
was held up Friday night, five miles
from Erie, Pa., by a band of a dozen
masked men. Thtf mail and express!
cars were rifled and two of the crew
C. H. Blockof Erie, mail clerk and!
H. D. Rooney, of Erie, conductor,
were injured.
Block was shot In the right side
and taken to tne .ospital in a dyinq
condition . Rconey received serious
injuries when he wao hit with a atoiud
ft 1 own b; mm of ''"e robbers.
The train wis d ie in Erie at 10:10
o'clock Friday night. A few min
utes before ten o'clock wnan the
train was making a large curve, the
engineer saw an obstruction ahead.
He applied the brakes but couid not
stop the train before the engine
crashed into the ties and telephone
poles placed across the track.
When the train hit the obstruction
it was believed by the pasengers that
there had been a collision with an
other train. The next moment how
ever, the crack of revolvers acquaint
ed them with the real cause of the
train's stop. As the train came to a
standstill the parv jngers alighted to
learn the trouble. Their presence
drew the fire ?f the band and they
hastened back to the cars. An un
known passenger caught hold of one
of the robbers and was picked up
bodily and thrown over a 300-foot
embankment. His condition is' se
rious.
Almost before the train had struck
the obstruction, the masked men had
taken up their petition at practically
every entrance to the cars. When
the pasengers began pouring from the
cars there were a few gruff words
from the men to get back inside.
When ? number o* the excited pas
sengers failed to take this advice, the
bandits opened fire. They shot along
the sides of the <"ars, level with the
windows and this effectively put
an end to the curiosity of the pas
sengers. Within the cars there was
? panic. A number of women fainted
while the screams of others caused
much con/usion.
The train reached Erie about mid
night. The pas-.ngers were badly
frightened and could not give a con
nected story of what had occurred.
According to toe opinion here, it
was not a train that experts could be
expected to attack. It is believed
the bandits were foreigners.
Within a few moments after word
of ihe hold-up ?was received at Erie
every officer of the city was called
into action. Many of them boarded a
special train for the Bcene, while
others were taken there in automo
biles and other conveyances.
Late Friday night the surrounding
country was filled with men and lan
terns, searching for the men and con
tents of mail bags and valuable pack
ages taken from the train.
Albert Carey, engineer, by making
a quick stop of the train, probably
prevented a serious disaster. Rail
road men say that had the train
struck the obstruction wfth more
force it would have thrown the en
tire train in the ditch. *
WOMAN RAW AMUCK.
Kills Three Children and Ended Her
Own Life by Hanging.
Crazed by heat, Mrs. Maud Mc
Crary, of Los Angeles, Cal., killed
her three small children and ended
her own life in a vacant house at
Lockney, Texas, Friday. This be
came known Saturday when a search
ing party scoured the countryside for
'the woman and children, thinking:
they had become lost, found the bod
ies of the childr n in weeds near the
vacant house and the body of the
mother hanging to an unused wind
mill at the rear. Mrs. McCrary wasj
in Texas on a visit to her mother.
Friday Mrs. McCrary went out of
her mother's hr use unobserved and
with the children, sought seclusion in
the deserted house, some distance
from Mrs. Hamilton's residence. The
hcuse is a two-story structure. Ap
parently, Mrs. McCreary took tne
children one at a time into seperate
rooms upstairs where she cut their
throats with broken glass taken from i
windows and tossed the bodies into j
weeds outside.
The children's ages were three'
years, five years and "three months,
respectively. The woman left a note
stating that no one was to blame ex-|
cept herself, but the wording caus-j
pd the belief ttu.t she was temporarily i
insane from the excessive heat which
prevailed durint; the last few days. *
Died Though Pardoned.
Revealing for the first time the1 de-1
tails of the execution of Col. Morelosi
by rebels at Culiacan. Diego Redo, thej
exiled governor of SInaloa, pictured j
the slain federal commander as a
galant victim of fate, who instructed j
the rebels how to execute him and j
died a few miuutes before a pardon!
arrived. According to Redo, who ar
rived in Los Angeles, Col., this week,
a spirit of revenge, harbored by some
of the victorious rebel chieftains at
Culiacan, caused them to violate a
pledge of safeguard to Morelos and
his lieutenant. I
ORANGE)
SLIGHT QUAKES
PEOPLE OP SAN FRANCISCO AL
MOST PANIC STRICKEN.
They Leave Their Business Places
and Larger Buildings and Seek
Safety in Streets.
Two earthquake Bhocks, the heav
iest since the big shake ot 190 6, and
seperated 'by only a few seconds, jarr
ed the central portion of California
and Western Nevada Sunday. The
first sharp shock experienced, at 2.01
o'clock, was followed within a few
seconds by one of similar intensity,
each lasting about five seconds.
Onl> trival damage has been re
ported from any section, but in San
Francisco and other cities in the af
fected area a panic seized upon
crowds in stores and restaurants and
there was a pell-mell exodus from the
larger buildings.
Some slight damage was done to
buildings in San Francisco. Heavy
stones in the cornice of the Mechan
ics' Bsnk building were moved slight
ly out of alignment, superficial cracks
were made in several large office
buildings, cornices of the new post
office building were disarranged and
minor damage was done to the inter
ior walls of a number of other build
ings.
Within a few seconds after the
first shock many down-town buildings
were depopulated in a rush to the
treets. Telephone and telegraph ser
vice was suspended by the shocks. A
woman fell dead of fright and several
became hysterical.
Santa Rosa, which suffered the
greater disaster in proportion to its
3ize than did San Francisco In the
catastrophe of 1906, scarcely felt the
shock. '
San Jose, another heavy sufferer in
1906, reported that the shock was the
severest experienced since that time,
but it did no serious damage. Shock
ton and Fresno people were frighten
ed by the jarring, but there all pub
lic buildings were deserted in a trice.
The damage at this point was trifling.
At Reno the quake was scarcely
felt The Federal Court was in ses
sion in the Nevada Capital and Judge,
jury and attorneys rushed to the
street.
At the Santa Clara College Obser
vatory both reels were thrown off the
seismeograph, ?nd although imme
diately replaced, the record was not
marked.
? -The dee?, booming reverhation,
which usually marks disturbances of
a wide-spread character, accompanied
the first tremor. In San Francisco
the groaning and creaking of the steel
structures played a larger part in
frightening people than did the sev
eral tremors. *
WORK OF A MANIAC.
Eight Negro "Women Mysteriously
Killed in Atlanta Last Week.
Atlanta has a murder mystery on
her hands to solve which so far has
baffled her best detectives. A dispatch
from Atlanta says the murder of ai
negro woman and the probable fatal
cuttln of another Saturday night gave
the local police their first clue to a
black "Jack the ripper," who has to
date claimed eight victims. The slay
er, who is decribed as a giant, Satur
day night attacked a negro girl with
a knife and before her rmother could
render help, had carved her to death.
He then turned his attention to the
mother and inflicted probable fatal
injuries before pedestrians came to
her aid. The crimes, with one ex
ception, have occurred in the last six
nights, and in all cases the victims
were horribly mangled.
BOLT RESTORES SPEECH.
Flash and Peal Frighten Woman and
Give Power to Talk.
A flash of lightning and a sharp
peal of thunder in a storm Friday
restored the power of speech to Miss
Jessie B. Fishcel of New Orleans. She
had been dumb two years.
The failure of her voice followed!
a period of illness. Physicians and
specialists from all over the country
had diagnosed her trouble without
result and only last Wednesday a
physician declared in his opinion her
case was hopeless and further treat
ment a needles expense.
A sudden gasp and invuluntary ex
clamation by Miss Fischel followed
the lightning flash and peal of thun
der and to her surprise she discover
ed she could again talk. Her voice
is normal. *
Man in Grave Didn't Care.
The Altruist Society of Montclair. j
N. J., had a picnic there Thursday
for some children from the New York
east side. It was held adjacent to a
cemetery, and the little ones were
warned not to enter the burying
ground or pick flowers. One of the
laborers, however, was astonished to
see a little girl with an armful ofj
roses. On being questioned, she an
swered, "I got them off Mr. Blank, j
and he's dead and don't care a bit." *
Three Children Drown.
William and Ralph Behrens, of
New Orleans, aged 12 and 14 years,
respectively, and Edna Harper, of
about the same age as the others,
were drowned in a branch at Valley
Creek, near Selma, Ala. , Saturday
morning. Mrs. W. W. Harper almoBt
lost her life trying to save them. The
children were wading in a creek when
they stepped into a deep hole. * j
3URG, S. C, TUESDAY, JUL
LAID 10 REST
Martial Rites tor Confederate Prisoners
of War at the North
DIED IN TRAIN WRECK
The Remains of Seventy-Two South
ern Soldiers, Victims of a Railroad
Disaster at the North During the
War Removed to .the New York
Cemetery
A dispatch from Lackawaxen, Pa.,
says a wartime disaster, the terrible
Shohola wreck in July, 1864, in
which more than 100 Confederate
prisoners and their Union guards
were killed, has been recalled by the
removal of the remains of the victims
Of the wreck to Woodlawn cemetery.
New York, where they have been
reinterred with military honors.
The work has just been completed
under the supervision of Capt. Fen
ton, Second United States Cavalry,
and aide-de-camp to Gen. Frederick
D. Grant. It was done under an act
of congress which authorized the
government to have all Confederate
and Union soldiers killed during the
civil war removed to national cem
eteries.
It took three days to complete the
work of exhumation, place the re
mains in boxes and ship them to New
York. This was done by a firm of
Port Jervis undertakers. As near as
they were able to estimate, 72 bodies
were recovered from the trench on
the Still farm at Shohola, on the
banks of the Delaware river, al
though the Oiffioial estimate at the
time of the disaster gave the number
of killed as 51 Confederates and 19
Union soldiers, many of whom died
later, number 123.
The trench in which the dead were
buried 76 feet was long, 8 feet wide
and 6 feet deep, and as it was close
to the river, there have been re
ports that some of the dead were
washed away during spring freshers
but this is denied.
Some relics were found during the
exhumation, among which were two
combs, the heel plate of a shoe, a
daugerreotype picture and part of
the frame and glass, a pipe, a pocket
book, razor, inkwell, a bugle, the
ornament from a soldier's cap, a gold
pin and many other trickets. There
was nothing, however, by which any
of the dead could be identified.
The wreck victims were a part of
a shipment of 10,000 Confederate
prisoners from Point Lookout, Va., to
Elmira, N. Y., where a prison camp
had just been made ready to receive
them. The Erie Railroad train on
which they were being conveyed
from Jersey City to Elmira contained
about 800 Confederate, guarded by
about 125 Union soldiers. It was
made up of emigrant cars, box and
cattle and all sorts of odds and ends
(hat could be scraped together in the
railroad yards. The guards with
loaded muskets, were stationed on
the platforms at the ends of each car.
The train had lefts Jersey City
abo-it 5 o'clock in the morning and
passed through the little Delaware
valley hamlet of Shohola early in
tUe afternoon, movfn.* at the rate of
25 miles an hour. About a mile west
of Shohola there was an awful crash,
followed by shrieks, groans and walls
of anguish. A oollldion'with a heavy
coal train going east on the same
Sintrle track opened on a curve in
a deep cut fritown locaPy as Kinp
Filer's '?tit. JiO'.a locomotives rear
ed straight up In the air like grap
pling giants, the one jammed fast
against the other.
From the mass of tangled and
splintered wreckage the bodies of the
75 or more prisoners and their guards
who were killed outright were taken
Many of the injured died before
nightfall and others lingered for a
time in neighboring farm houses and
other places nearby, where tempor
ary hospitals were established.
The fireman of the coal train was
killed, but the engineer escaped by
jumping. The engineer of the pris
oners' train was caught in the wreck
of his locomotive, pinned against the
boiler and slowly roasted to death.
The survivors tried to rescue htm,
but the dying engineer warned them
away because of the danger that the
boiler might explode at any moment.
The wreck was caused by the mis
take of Duff Kent, a telegraph oper
ator, who was drunk while on duty
at this place, four miles west of the
scene of the disaster. It was before
the days of double tracks, sema
phores or automatic signals, and
when the coal train came down the
Homesdale branch from Hawley
bound for New York the conductor
asked the operator at Lackawaxen,
where the branch joins the main line,
if the track was clear, so that he
might proceed east.
Kent had been drinking all day
and all the night before. He told
him to go ahead, having forgotten in
his befuddled condition that he had
been notified that the extra train
bearing the Confederate prisoners
was bound over the same track.
A coroner's inquest was held at
Shohola and the verdict exonerated
every one from blame, although the
criminal carelessness that had caused
the disaster was known to all. Kent
was not molested, and the night of
the wreck be attended a ball at Haw
ley and danced until daylight, while
the victims of his mistake lay dead
and dying. But the next day the
Y 4, 1911.
C1NT GET WATER
GIVES ELECTRIC POWER COM
PANY TROUBLE.
And Cotton Mills Forced to Close
Down on' Account of Insufficient
Electricity.
Because of the low water in Broad
river, occasioned by the drought, the
Electric Power and Manufacturing
Company, is having considerable
trouble in developing sufficient pow
er to serve all of its customers with
power for manufacturing purposes,
the power having recently been cut
off at the Woodruff cotton mills and
the Cowpens Manufocturing company,
Both of these co< mills were clos
ed down several days ago on account
of lack of power. The vacation is
being enjoyed by the operatives of
both mills.
Not in years has the water in
Broad river been as low as it is at
present and unless there are heavy
rains over the water shed from
whence Broad river derives its water,
the stream will become lower still
with the result that the street car
service and lighting system may be ,
crippled. All of the power that is
now being developed at G-aston Shoals
on Broad river is being used in fur
nieblng power for lighting the towns
and cities that purchase power from
the company?
Bruad river Is not the only stream
in the Piedmont Carolina that has
reached an exceedingly low stage on
account of the drought, for nearly
every stream in the up country is
short of water. The city of Charlotte
is on the verge of water famine be
cause of the low stage of the water
at ths source of supply. The condi
tion over there is said to be serious.
Sp irtanburg's water supply has al- ;
so suffered because of the low water
in C linquepin creek and it has been
necessary for the last several weeks
to p imp water from Shoaley creek.
In ei se there are no rains in the im
mediate future to relieve the situa- ?
tion the water commissioners will
punr.) water from a point below Chin
quepin creek in order to help out un
til clouds come to the -dief of the
city's water supply.
The condition in Spartanburg is
nothing like as serious as it is in
Charlotte, for there is ample Bupply
hero for the present and for all pur
poses. But in Charlotte the water
oommissioners have found it neces
sary to stop consumers from using
water for sprinkling their lawns, i
flowers and gardens, the water being i
used for drinking purposes and cook
ing. *
KILLED AND INJURED.
Roof Collapses Entombing Victims in
Steel and Water.
Ten men were crushed to death and
seven others seriously injured at Buf- |
falo, N. Y., Friday in the collapse of
the roof and other portions of the 1
Buffalo water department's new
pun ping station. The dead are bur
ied beneath hundreds of tons of steel,
brick and mortar.
. Most of the injured were at work
on the roof, which was 300 feet long
and 100 feet wide. About 200 feet
of this suddenly fell In; from what
cause has not beer, determined. The
fire and police departments rushed 1
emergency apparatus to the scene,
and the injured were quickly remov
ed and sent to hospitals.
It will be hours before those buried ;
In the pumphouse can be reached.
They were installing machinery in
the pit fifty feet below the level or
the first floor. One of the injured
died in an ambulance and two died
at hospitals. Cthers of the injured
are not expected to live. *
DREAM CAUSES CONFESSION.
Murderer Says His Mother's Ghost
Told Him to Reveal All.
Morris Kirkland, a prisoner in the
County Jail, at Canon City, Col., sent
for Sheriff Esser late"Saturday night j
j and said he had been impelled by a I
i dream, in which the ghost of his
j dead mother counselled him to tell)
the truth concerning the killing of!
I Dominick Mangino, murdered be-j
j tween Portland and Concrete Junej
11. His story to the Sheriff impli
I cat id John Smith and Charles Bosley,
i now in jail, who have since con
j fessed. Prior to the confession lit
I tie was known of the crime. *
-
Many Poisoned by Salad.
' i1
! Forty persons, who were guests at
la wedding at Plains, near Amerlcus,I
{da., Friday evening, spent most of!
Saturday in the throes of ptomaine
i poisoning, and though greatest alarm.
j was felt in regard to some of them,'
all are said to bo out of danger now. j
A mixed salard course is said to have.
; been responsible for the wholesale;
I sickness. ?!
Fatal Collapse of House.
At Buffalo, N. Y? eight lives were'
: lost in the co?apse of one of the
! main buildings of the new $400,000 J
j waterworks at Proctor avenue. Four
jo the dead have been identified andj
I four are still buried beneath tons,
where it is impossible they could have'
'survived. Four others were injured.
neighborhood begr-n to realize the
horror of the catastrophe. Kent
heard the rising voice of public in
dignation and disappeared. He was
never heard of again. *
TO COVER CRIME
WOMAN SLAIN AND HER BODY
PLACED ON TRACKS.
But She Writhes Off Rails in Death
Agony, and Crime of Assailants Is
Revealed.
Lying beside the Reading Railroad
track3 .about half-a-mile from Wll
liaxnstown Junction, N. J., the .body
of Mrs. Mary Green was found Friday
morning. Sho had been murdered.
The woman had fought off a most
ferocious attack until she was made
unconscious by strangulation.
Her murderer had evidently laid
the body on the tracks, expecting it
would be ground to pieces and his
crime hidden. But the County Pros
ecutor believes the woman in her
death agony writhed her way off the
tracks and foiled, his plan.
Coroner Jaggard of Berlin, after
an autopsy, declared the woman had
undoubtedly been the victim of out
rageous assault and had died in the
defense of her honor. Her clothing
had been torn to threads. Her face
had been scratched and ground Into
the earth till it was a mass of bruises.
There was a depression on her left
temple as though she might have
been struck by a blackjack or brass
knuckles.
A strange feature of the mystery
is that her husband and their infant
child are missing from the Green
home, which is on a farm about four
miles west of Willlamstown Junction.
Mrs. Green herself had left home
about a week ago to visit friends in
Philadelphia and the authorities had
not been able to account for all her
movements since then. She was
about thirty years old, prepossessing,
and bore an excellent character.
The police have obtained the de
scription of two men who were seen
with a woman whose description coin
cides with that of Mrs. Green. They
were observed about midnight near
the junction. Persons there heard
pistol shots about half past twelve.
There were, however, no bullet marks
on the woman's body. ?
MAN LORD AND MASTER,
Wife Has Nothing to Say Holds a
Massachusetts Judge.
These precepts for the guidance of
wives and husbands in cases of dif
ference over household economy were
laid down by Judge Chas. L. Long
of Springfield, Mass., Friday in the
separate support case brought by Mrs.
Edith S. Marsh against Henry D.
Marsh, assistant treasurer of the Five
Cent Savings Bank:
"To begin with, the husband is ab
solute lord and master of the ex
chequer.
"Under the law he is entitled to his
meals at any hour he wants them.
"He may select such food as he
chooses. If he wants one food and
his wife another, the husband's de
cision goes.
"A servant girl to whom the hus
band object must be discharged.
"Finally, man, who pays the bills,
and not woman, Is boss."
Judge Long advised the Marshes
to patch up their differences. Mr.
Marsh left the courtroom wreathed
In smiles. Mrs. Marah did not in-'
dorse the Court's opinions, and saldl
so very plainly. ?
BACH MUST PAY $23.
South Carolina Corporations Failing
to Make Reports in Time.
Many South Carolina corporations
failed to make their reports to the
commissioner of internal revenue on
the first day of March, and also fail
ed to apply on or before that date
for the extension of thirty days,
which is allowed under the law, if
formal application is filed with the
Government.
Corporations which made their re
ports on the 2d or 4th of March are1
equally culpably, technically, with
those which did not report until the
30 of March. The fi.ie provided by
the statute for such delinquency is
from $1,000 to $5,000 for each of
fence, but the Secretary of the Treas
ury has decided that the law gives
him authority to reduce the penalty
and he announces that he will im
pose a fine of $25 upon each of the
corporations appearing to have vio
lated the statute unintentially. ?
? ?
Prayed for Uain and Got It.
There are more believers in the
efficacy of prayer in Hazlehurst, Ga.,
now than there were twenty-four
hours ago. Members of the Baptist'
church there gathered the other day
for a special service to pray for rain.
The next afternoon at five o'clock the
town and surrounding country was
visited by one of the heavest rains
in several months. *
Fatal Automobile Accident.
One man. still unidentified, was
killed and Edward Ward and Charles
Irwin, of Pittsburg, Pa., were fatally
hurt in an automobile accident near
Rraddock, Pa., sometime during Fri
day night. The dead body and the
two unconscious men were found by
the roadside early next morning. ?
Thief Sails to Safety.
At Sayne, Okla., a pickpocket, pur
sued by the town marshall, leaped
into the basket of a balloon near
there Saturday, just as the air craft
was leaving the ground, and sailed
away to safety. He is still at Large.*
?
TWO CENTS PER COPY.
ENDS HIS LIFE
Sad zod Pal'ietic D^ath of a Teoocssee
Boy IFas From His Hoop.
A PITIABLE TRAGEDY
Lad Who Runs Away Prom HJs Home
and Comes to South Carolina Meet**
With Tragic End in Greenville
County on last Saturday.?Attempt
Made to Locate Boy's Parents.
Roy Roach, a 17-year-old runaway
lad, of Jefferson City, Tenn., was
killed in a playful attempt at suicide,
at Old Hundred, a settlement in Oak
land Township, some 18 miles below
Greenville County Court House, about
three o'clock Saturday afternoon. The
circumstances surrounding the trag
edy are most pitiable.
The lad came to Greenville some
[three months ago and sought employ
ment on. the ?arm of Arvin Boyce,
near Old Hundred. He worked faith
fully and gave every indication of
being a trustworthy young fellow.
Saturday afternoon he and a 1 i-year
old boy, Fred Austin, son <.i County
Commissioner J. M. Austin, were in
a room together in the house of J.
L. Pearson, a brother-in-law of the
Austin lad.
According to the testimony offered
by young Austin at the coroner's in
quest, the two were preparing to go
in swimming. Young Austin said,
that, while he was dressing, Roy
Roach picked up a breech-loading
[gun and asked Austin to watch him
I shoot himself. Austin said he told.
I Roach to look out, for the gun might
be loaded,, whereupon the lad replied
that he did not care. Tn an instant
the Roach lad had fallen to Lhe floor,
the right side of his throat being
torn away by the discharge from the
gun. Young Austin rah for help and
' soon returned to the house with sev
eral neighbors.
Testimony offered at the inquest by
those first bo reach the ece:.ie of the
tragedy is somewhat puzzling. A sin-,
gle-barrelled gun with a discharged
shell in it was found standing in a
far corner of the room. Near the
body, and leaning against the side
of a bed, was a repeating shotgun,
with loaded shells in it.
Efforts have been made to locate
the lad's people in Jefferson City, but.
so far no word has been received
from anyone. A heartrending scene,
and one that moved the jurors of the
inquest to tears, was the reading of
a letter found In the dead boy's
pocket.
The communication was from the
boy's father and the burden of it was
a prayer to the wandering boy to
come home. "I look for you on every
train, my boy," the letter ran. "Oh,
when will you return home?" The
last paragraph of the letter read:
"Roy, No. 11 has just gone by and
1 had to stop writing and look out to
see if you had.gotten off, Come back,
boy, and bring the cid banjo."
' The body wa3 carried to Greenville,
and embalmed. A pprse of. $50v,waa
made up by those who attended the
inquest to defray the expenses of
shipping the body home, in case the.
boy's parents can be found. *?
COTTON CONDITION.
Avcri. :e Late June 23 Shows Condi
tion 85.9 Per Cent!
From the replies of 2,081 special
correspondents of the Journal off
Commerce and Commercial Bulletin,
of New York, of an average date o'f
June 23rd, the percentage condition
of cotton is found to be 8fi.9, against
83.8 for the corresponding date in
I May, or an increase of 2.1 points.
This compares with a condition of
Sfl.l a year ago, and 7 6.8 the year
before, and a ten-year average of 81.
Improvement showe^. itself in all
j Slates except Louis.ana, which lost
0.7 point, and Florida, 6.6 points.
North Carolina. South Carolina, Ala
bama, Arkansas and Tennessee all
gained about 5 points. Texas jnst
held her its own, while Oklahoma
gained 14 points. ?
Prayer Broke the Drought,
A dispatch from Hazelhurst, Ga.,
says that thero are more believers in
the efficacy of prayer in that town
than there was a short time ago. The
members of the Baptist church here
gathered together for a special ser
vice to prsy for rain. The same af
ternoon al. 5 o'clock thu town and
surrounding oountry was visited by
one of the heavest rains in several
months.
Lightning Kills Three.
Three negroes, each at a different
place, within a radius of five miles
of Sumrnerton, were killed by light
ning Friday afternoon. It is said that
a fourth was also killed, but this can
not ,be verified. Frasier Caldwell,
was killed while asleep on his piaz
za, while Manning Keels was killed
in a field while ploughing. The name
of the third party could not be as
certained. ?
Preyed on Her Mind.
Brooding because she failed.to pass,
the final examination in the, Ander
son Street School. Miss Louise
Doty, aged 16, at Savannah, killed t
herself Saturday by asphyxiation.
The body was found in the bath rp.ons.
of the Doty home by the girl's broth
er. '- ?