University of South Carolina Libraries
I ^ * INVESTIGATION OF WILLI coin AUDITOR W. B. WEST AND SOLICITOR W THE NATTER OF ALLEGED GRAFT PENSARIES?THE 0 [Continued froi Q. Dr Bass, have vou ever .1 ; written a lelter to Mr Blank in; reference to that visit of his? A. No st,nothing to Mr Blank. I wrote to the house aod asked . where was Mr Blank. Asked them to let me know where was Mr Blank, i Q. What did yon want to know : i about Mr Blank? '' ;i . / A. I was suspicious and I want- J ed to know if be knew anything 11 about it. 1 wrote to the United ;i Distilling Co. and aatad them if he [ j was still in Charleston* Q. If you had found out that m be was still in Charleston what J would have been your next move? A. I don't know, I suppose I { would have watched him. 1 Q. Did they answer yonr letter? A. Yes sir, they said he was { still in Charleston. Q. Their representee? A. Yes sir. Q. Hate tou the letter you re- , ceiled from the United Distilling [ 1 Co? M A. No sir, I don't know where j it is. It was in the office. I put;* it on file. { Solicitor Wells: Q. Where did you see this man Blank? A. He came to my nouse. Q. On February 19 of this year * * ?- n ? j ! i in tlie presence oi air v^owaru ?uu Mr Brown in the disp^isary office, did you say you had written them 1 probably three months afterwards ( for the reason that he might kick ^ up some devilment around the State, } referring to Blank? * A. I don't remember that I ever mentioned it to them. . , Q. Do you deuy it? A. I don't remember. There is 1 nothing to deny about it if I had 1 said it. I never wrote Mr Blank * and 60 stated. Q? About two weeks ago did 3 you see Garrett's wine man? * A. 1 did not. i-v TT J i.1 t y. xie tuun i uum- uuwu iunc ami want to buy any barrels frem you? A. No sir. * Q_ Did you get a quart bottle of ? wine at the dispensary but afterwards when they went to check Up ^ in the presence of Mr Brown and Parker tell them to charge it to the 1 breakage account, and Mr Parker ^ U kwAoha.YO QAAAtllit ? UiU il> IV uimnugv uvwuu?. A. Some time ago they got in Bome wine they could not sell and I went in there and got a bottle to see what the trouble was. Q? Did you pay for it? A. I do not know whether it is charged to breakage account or not. 1 do not remember whether I paid for it or not. They said it was no good, was spoiled,and I got it to see whether it was or not. Did not think it was necessary to pay for it. Q. Did you tell them that you intended to bnng the bottle back so that it could be put iD as breakage? A. I don't remember charging it. i did not think it necessary. Q. Suppose Mr Brown or Mr Coward would make a statement to that effect? A. Well, it might have been. I took it out to see whether the wine < was spoiled or not. Got the bottle i in the presence of all of them. Do not remember what I said to them. It is for medicinal purposes and not for drinking purposes. But what I did with it I do not remember. I did not think it of any importance. Q. In the latter part of the old administration did you say in the presence of Mr Coward in the dispensary something that Mr Gilland has 8tated:that you said thatBluthenthal&Bickert were a rotten set of Jew6 and also spoke in bad terms of the Big Springs Distilling Co? A. I do not know that I spoke of Bluthenthal&Bickert, but spoke of Big Springs Distilling Co., and also of Richland Distilling Co. . < Q. Why did you buy so freeh' / AMSBURG ! DISPENSARY BOARD. . H. WELLS PROBE THOROUGHLY INTO IN WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY DISFFIC1AL REPORT. ii last week.] from them? A. There was no body else to j buy from. All of them are Jewsj but they gave us the best prices on ; things. Q. In the dispensary last September in the presence of Mr Brown the clerk and Mr Coward did you tell them not to sell Coast Line From W P Ives & Co., that you had reasons to believe there was some- , thing wrong between these people ind Mr Paiker? A. 1 don't know that 1 said between them and Parker. I told them not to push their goods. Q. How could you be suspicious )f them without being suspicious of some member of the board? A. I did not call any name, I ion't tnink. ? Q. You were not suspicious or Mr Snowden? A. *ir.I Q Well,then,if yoa had no suspicions of bim you must have been i raspicious of them and Mr Parker? A. I do not think I mentioned i :hat. I told them not to create a lemand for it Q. But there has been a lot of , whiskey bought from W P Ives i fc (Jo since that time? A. Yes sir. I did not suspicion < hem after that time, had no occason to. < Q. .Did you tell Mr B.-own in , he dispensary that Mr Parker leeined'to stick to the Big Springs Distilling Co and seemed not to | vant to buy any thing from any t >ody else? i A." I do not remember. Q. Yon do not deny it? < A. I do not think I could have , nade any such statement Not to i hem, I confined my suspicions to j jilland and said very little outside. Q. Your last statement that ou confined your suspicions to Mr i jilland?didn't it strike you as be *? ? ol ""ilu. fliol- fnn triiaterl 1 us VC1 y OJU^UiOi VUMV J VU kA UklVVV I I iim with going to Savannah? [ A. I did not send him there. { Q. You agreed to it and told ^ iim you thought it would be a very ;ood thing? 1 A. I did not tell him to go. He j vent of bis own accord. Q Don't you think it strange i hat you snspicioned him and then t ruBted him to goto Savannah? A. 1 had the utmost confidence t ? 11 r? ti-? fhp tinip 1 oot those 1 ,wo letters. I had the utmost confi- 1 leuce in hiin up to that time. Q. Did any body tell you they >aw Parker talking with liquor nen? ' A. No sir, I heard of his being n Charleston and other places and [ was snspicious of him on that ac- ( count. But never heard any thing else. I Q. Did you ever know of him communicating with Jim F&rnum? A. No sir. I had no suspicion 1 cf him except for these parties telling me thev had seen him on different occasions and at different places. J M Parker being sworn says: Af, W*ct. 1 iUI IIWV. Q. Mr Parker,are yon a member of the Williamsburg county dispensary board? A. Yes sir. Q. What position on this board have you held? A. Well, as one of the members. Q. Were you chairman? A. No sir, Dr Bass was chairman. Q. When did you first hear of rnmors that tlieie was suspicion ot graft among the members of the board? A. I saw some irregularities about Angust, 1 think. Q. You suspicioned some then? A. It looked suspicious. Q. What did you suspect? A. I suspected orders were either being stuffed or duplicated. Q. What made you think so? i , ' F" & 1 A. Because the dispensers got a great deal of goods that they did not order. But later having Mr Gil* r land's statement as to why it got in j > Buch a rush it seemed reasonable to J ] ? i- ,_J?_ : me. Inat me dispensers iu uruci-.f dering goods put in an order first of i c the week and if he didn't gtt it j t first of the week would older again : -t and it is possible that in that way I the goods kept coming. Q. Did you examine the records [ to find out after this whether the** j orders had been padded? A. There was no special way of telling whether they were or not. The clerk explained it in this way to me. , Q. Were you satisfied with his a explanation? ; I A. Yes sir. I Q. Have you ever been connect- j ed with the old State dispensary of i South Carolina? A. Yes sir. * Q. In what capacity? A. I was clerk in the dispensary at Scrantou. . Q. You are familiar with whis- j kies? . j A. Yes sir. i Q. Please state at what rate . whiskies are bought as to their re- j lative commercial values. A, We buy as a general thing the ' 1 rands that are called for oftenest Q. In purchasing did you ignore the competitive bids? A. We didn't alw8T9 buy from the lowest bid submitted. Q. In ordering out this *tuff it appears that sometimes you cut | clown one award to oue party and in- ' creased the award of another? A. That is just as the dispensers < ordered it, that is what they got r>:A * V^. ulu yvii CI^I uvwi/? cu.i^.1 uiiers bad been placed as to wherher \ jr not you were in excess of the ^ award? i A. We did not regard that as I a matter of importance, as we re- J served the right to increase or di- ' minish. Q. What good could that statute j loin the law requiring county dispensary boards to advertise under pour statement?would it be worth I anything? A. I hardly think it would. j _ Q. You simply took the law in j" pour own hands? A. 1 simply did as other county j joards are doing. We advertised i :or bids and bids were submitted indweordeied what we thought ^ va3 needed. j \ Q. Was if for the purpose of ieeping county beards from over- * stocking? A. Yes sir, possibly; I thought :he board ought to keep the goods ;here and keep selling. P Q. Did you receive a copy of _ :hese letters Mr GillanJ acknow- ^ ledges having written to Blnthenthal & Bickert? A. No sir, I did not. Q. What membere of the board were present at the time of the Nov- 9 jmber purchases? A. Dr Bass and myself. I Q. Do you remember how many Jl drums of whiskey were awarded to Bluthenthal & Bickert? ^ A. I do not recall right now. The award will show. Q. Do you remember how many drums of Old Joe were gotten from them? A. I think we got about 72. 4 Q. Why did you suppose Old Joe would be in demand? t A. Always has. is a good sell- I er. J Q. If the prices were the same between the two, Old Joe and Silver Brook, which would be the bet- 3 ter seller? A. I regard Old Joe as such. Q. Did you have Old Joe ana- I lvzed? A. Yes sir, we had recently. Q. Do you remember what it * tested? 1 A. Not exactly. Q. Do you consider Old Joe with test of 80.9 to be as valuable compound as Silver Brook which < would test 100 per cent? A. I certainly do not. Q. Did you realize as a member | of this board that the board had the right to make any (^pcern furnish < goods in compliance with the bids? A. Why in a general way, I did. [Continued on page 3.] Z.v. m:-, "IT i New Trait Schedule. The following- schedule of the lew train from Lane to Florence, vhich went into effect Monday, December 17, has been furnishid us by Mr J P Taylor, the :ourteous and efficient agent of :he Atlantic ( 'oast Line railroad it Kingstree: North Bound Arrives No. 80 7:37 A. M, No. 46 11:42 A.M. No. 50 6:36 P. M. ' South Bound Arrives No. 89 9:18P. M ' No. 47 5:46 P. M. No. 51 10:52 A.M. # Daily Execpt Sunday. Heart Strength ?&*^v.s?!=&t? -efceelr Deeds. ?adetiel here, mow Miflbr, mat* eoDtroUiDD, mm MMM iraurtt. without tisltkeHeert mWecsticei D kC. *?d the wcnetab sod kidneys dIso km beet mm eoatrelltnt p err as. This cftutr mhfti wbz, ass mAUis,M be esuse liiikv mn( liiilif ta iteM 2tm|M to itMi Jj|dM|ps., XI JSC weHea. aSrenetiun these Derres? MdMH mi m needed, with Dr. Shbbp'9 Restorative . p. c. Scon. The Largest aDd Most Complete Establishment South. SEO. S. HACKER t SON, ?MANUFACTl B :BS OF5ash, Doors, Blinds Moulding and Building Material, Sash Weights and Cords CHARLESTON, S. C. nnnrrnninflAi flHnno I nflRUML liflKUfl I *. E. & E. N. B EATY engkneebt and contractors jeorgetown, - - - 5. C. Civil Engiieeriog Land Survey)n? Railroad Surveys aod Construction ronpt attention to out of Town Work 3-19-tf V. L. Bam A. C Hinds BASS & HINDS, a 11 ?*!> l..t /\uurncy5'oi"iow i KNGSTREE, S. C. -20-tf. neiifs Lake City, S. C. Town and Bridge Work a Specialty. ALL WORK Guaranteed as Represented. W. L. BASS attorney at Law LAKE CITY, S. C. ? ?L _ ^ . Dr JK J xaci/aoe Dentist. LOJ3STSEE, - 3. C. J. D. MOUZON'S BARBER SHOP -In the? Tib Keirei Hitel s equipped with up-to-date apjliances. Polite Service. ? ompetent !X7 L n or&iu cu. 5-8-08. W. P, TENNENT A R C H I T E C T General Contractor and Builder Solicits your business. Estimates cheerfully furnished on all : ; kinds of work. : : 126 Evans 'Phone 1962 FLORENCE, S. C. Supervisor of construction New School Building and Superintendent of work on U. S. Post Office and of John McSween O, stores Timmonsville and Beulah and residence at National Cemetery. : : : : ; ' i Without Alcohol A Strong Tonic Without Alcohol A Body Builder Without Alcohol A Blood Purifier Without Alcohol ????? A Greet Alterative Without Alcohol A Doctor's Medicine Without Alcohol Aycr's Sirsiperille Without Alcohol A W? pnbll?h our fonaml? W? bHllk alcohol J from ourmadlelaee u xuers Ayer's Pills are liver pills. They act directly on the liver, make more Bile secreted. This is why they are so valuable in constipation, biliousness, dys-. pepsia, sick-headache. Ask your doctor if he knovs a better laxative pill. -Kill Un i. C. XjtT C?.. tcw?U. Ml" 11 cotroF ?AND THE PRIN TOBi There will be a number of si Fall and we are ready to serv< splendid crop prospect we are r< enlarge our floor space, and rath Queen Stoves and Ranges from v Pri<* I'jbl4 We have just received a carl fered at a low price. Remember min Moore & Co's Paint. Also, Cutlery and Razors. The Robes predate our friends' patronage a t'nued confidence. Lake City h lilt CI "A dollar te a Hnil 1^7 ti U V/1H There is no better way dealing with J. L. Stuckey, the o man. I have a splendid line < m. win that in view of the hard time above cost. A nice bunch of HORSE at prices to sun. J. L Stu BANK OFK Kingstree. So CAPITAL, S 30,000 === DIREC Jas F Cooper D C Scott Collections made prompt^ LOANS, large or small, nu IHEADftlTA V v. - - < . For Buggies and Whips, Lap Rote every thing in the 1 The Famous Oliv and repair parte fc A Wood Disc Ham Clark's Stock Food, Instant Louse Kill ders and Worm Pot stock and poultry health by using onl of Dr Hess &C1 ark's ders. Yours to pie THE MR | Ki ngstree I Greelyville, * ISTEVENSI PFOR TROUBLE Rrcann of doubh ced Huntsr's and Marksman's Ideal ,ansrrlnf STEVENS UT WHY ; our popular SHOTGUNS V rOLS - nMSL Aik your local Hardware | K, wmM or Sporting Goods Mer'Mt MMH chant for the STEVENS. VZ+mmH If you cannot obtain, we MFflRWEI ship direct, e?prcn? prepaid, upon receipt of Catafet-nd 4 cents in stamps for 140 l'mge i II nut rated Catalog, including circulars of latest additions to our line. Contnlas points on shooting,ammunition, the proper care of a firearm, aw etc., etc. Our attractive Ten Color i Lithographed Hanger mailed anywhere for six cents in stamp*. J. STEVENS ARMS * TOOL C X - P.O. Bps 4097 1CCO. ibjects of both in Lake City this e them. In anticipation of the ^pairing our warehouse so as to er than remove the stock of O.K. warehouse we have |reduced the i Cent. 1 oad of Wire Fence, which is ofy^ we are headquarter? for Benjaf we offer exceptional values in on Bazor can't be beat. We ap- -<;5j md will try to merit their conlardwaro Co., ' 1TY. 8. c saved ar made" \ to save your dollars than by Id reliable live-stock7 1 of is if Hints, ] - 4 s am offering at 10 per cent S and MULES always on hand ckey, Lake City, S. C. J. 1INGSTREE uth Carolina. STOPITTS, 17,800 \ TORS ===== R H Kellahan J A Kelley aide on approved security. S ?????'? rterS ?im? Wagons, Harness, g s, Saddles, and J I harness line. ^ B er Chilled Plows > * ^ >r same. Walter ows. Dr Hess & , Poultry Panacea er. Healinsrpow rders. Keep your 8 fat and in good I y a small quantity I > guaranteed pow- I ase. | G LIVESTOCK COU Soulh Carolina.^