* * V
The Lancaster News
LEDGER 1852 REVIEW 1878 ENTERPRISE 1891
VOL. I. NO. 8. SEMI-WEEKLY. LANCASTER, S. C? OCTOBER. 21, 1905. PRICE?FIVE CENTS PER COPY.
I '
Fisher and O'Day.
Question as to Whether They
a,. Are to be Kept in Jail or
Sent to Penitentiary, Pending
Appeal, Submitted to
A
Governor.
Having, by letter, submitted
to Gov. Hey ward the question as
to whether Fisher and O'Day
shall be kept in the jail here or
sent to the penitentiary, pending
/*. their appeal to the Supreme
court, Sheriff Ilunter received
yesterday the following reply
Ironi his excellency:
H on. Jno P. Hunter, Sheriff,
Lancaster County,
Lancaster, S. C.
My Dear Captain:
I am in receipt of yours, 18th
inst., which has been duly considered.
Replying, beg to say that it
has been my custom to order
prisoners brought to the peniten
tiary only when 1 am convinced
that the jail, in which thev are
being confined, is unsafe or that
the prisoners are in danger of
violence. If you make a statement
to me that in your opinion
J the Lancaster County jail is un
sate, I will have you bring Fisher
and O'Day to the penitentiary.
As regards keeping your prisoners
iu a cage in the jail, I am
uuder the impiession that these
K cages are kept in the county jails
for the purpose of confining the
prisoners, who are of such a desperate
character that in the judg
ment of the Sher flf it is unwise
to give them the run of the jail.
If Fisher and O'Day are men of
fllir.ll f huruntoi- i ? "
~ * i *"J vijiuiicii
you have a perfect right to keep
them so confined.
II I can serve you further in
this matter I will be glad to hear
from you. Very truly yours,
D. C. Heyward,
Governor.
Upon the receipt of the foregoing
letter Sheriff Uuuter sent
the Governor the following:
, * "Iu reply to your favor of yesterday's
date, I would state that
in my judgment, the Lancaster
jail is unsafe to keep sate crackers
or any desperate violators ol
the law, uuless kept in the iron
t ., cage, in which I now have the
i ' sale-crackers, John Fisher and
Charles O'Day.
To keep these prisoners in this
v?,fco aw ay irom nre Dy wmcn
they may warm during cold
weather, may be detrimental to
their health, and for this reason,
as well as some other reasons
t
itated in my communication to
you of the 18th, inst., I would be
glad to be instructed to place
. them in the peuitentiary, there
*4, to be kept while the appeal is
pending, etc."
Ladd Moblev has accepted a
position as manager of D. A.
Hurley's office in Kershaw and
left Monday morning to take
charge of the office.?Rock Hill
Herald.
, <
Ugly Charge.
Against White Man in Columbi
a?Identified by
Young Lady as Party who
Attempted to Assault Her
?The Accused in Jail.
The State, Oct. 19tk.
An attempted assault upon a
young ladv, a daughter of one o1
the well knnwii ii
u ICIIIIIUCO U1 IIIH
county, led to the arrest yesterday
afternoon of Dan Slocum, a
white man who has recently
came to Columbia to engage in
the feather renovating business
with the National Cleaning company.
Slocum and one of his associates,
Joe Elam, were arrested at
Strickland's livery stables on
Taylor street on a warrant sworn
out. before Magistrate Lykes. The
arrests were made by Mr. Lykes,
W. S. Green, acting as his constable,
and Patrolman Lamb of
the police force.
The attack upon the young
lady is alleged to have been
made at her home in the county
about 12 miles Irotn the city on
Tuesday. It was not allowed to
become known until yesterday,
when after a conference of the
young lady's relatives the warrant
was drawn and the arrest
followed within an hour afterwards.
Slocum was taken immediately
to the police station
and when the young lady arrived
and he was ushered into her
presence she identified him immediately
and positively. Later
in the alternnoon the prisoner
was turned over to the custody
of the sheriff and was placed in
the county jail, where ho now
18.
It is said that Slocum and a
young man named Cooper were
in the country canvassing for
work. They drove up to the
home of the young lady's lather
and Slocum going up to the door,
where lie was met by the young
lady, told her what Ins business
was and asked if she had any
such work to be done. Some
discussion ot the matter followed
and Slocum was invited into the
house to examine the articles to
be renovated. The young lady
was alone at home and when
they entered the room Slocum is
said to have seized her but her
resistance was so determined that
she broke away from him and
escaped. The man then left the
house and drove away.
The arrest of Dan Slocum on
the charge of criminal assault
yesterday brought about the
arrest of all of his associates in
me cleaning or renovating com
pany with wnich he is connected,
except one who could not be
found in the city up to midnight
last night. The men arrested
ed besides Slocurn are It. A. Eu
banks and Joe Elam. The
tour?h m \n who has not yet been
arrested is Alvin Johnson. The
two named are being held at
police headquarters until certain
information now in possession ol
the police can be investigated.
Elam is the only one of the men
who is married. He and his
wife are boarding at the corner
of Plain and Sumter streets bat
the boarding place of the others
could not be learned.
I
Court Proceedings.
Sessions Business Bnded and
Civil Cases being Heard?
Chiefly Damage Suits
Against Railroads,
v
The case against Henry Pratt
for killing old man Simeon
Morgan was being tried when
Tine Nkws went to pre?s last 1
Tuesday evening. The jury ren
tiered a verdict of acquittal.
The sentence imposed on
Fisher and O'Day, convicted of
safe cracking, was 15 years in
the penitentiary. As previously
noted, the case will be carried i
up to the Supreme court.
The court of Common Pleas j
was opened Wednesday mom
ing. The following cases have
been disposed of: A. VV. Heath
Company vs J. G. Howie, action
tor claim and delivery of
personal property?verdict for
the defendant.
J. A. Hasseltine vs. Southern
Railway, an action for damages
on account of detention at Burroughs,
Ga., for not having a
a health certificate ; verdict for
$1000. The defendant company
has given notice of motion for a
new trial.
Home Fire Insurance Company
of New York and Leroy
Springs & Co. vs Carolina
uivision of the Southern Railway,
action for loss sustained
by reason of cotton fire at Lancaster
depot a few months ago ;
verdict for plaintiffs for $766.
A suit by S. A. Broom
against the Seaboard Air Line
for damages sustained in alighting
from defendant's train at
Vanwyck was beinst tried yesterday
afternoon.
New Telegraph Company.
Lancaster One of the Points
to which the Eastern Telegraph
Co. will Extend its
Lines.
Charlotte News. .
A company tote known as
the Eastern Telegraph Company
has applied to the State of
South Carolina for a charter to
conduct a commercial telegraph
business in that State.
The Eastern Telecraph Company
will by means of a simplex
appliance, operate over the
private telephone line of the
Catawba Power Company be
tween this city and Rock LI ill,
S. C. The simplex arrange
ment to bo used is a get up of
Mr. W. O. Gaffney, which is of
very simple construction, but
t-plendid results can be obtained.
Tl.e Eastern Telegraph Com
pany has made arrangements
with the Postal Telegraph Company
to connect with the lines
of the Postal Company at Char
lotte and an office will be opened
for business in Rock Hill
within the next two or three
weens or just as soon as the
necessary arrangements can be
perfected.
It is the intention of tlie Eastern
Telegraph Company to extend
its line to Chester, Lancas
ter and Yorkville, 8. C., within
the course of a few months.
Mysterious Affair.
Peculiar Conduct of a Strang-1
er at Osceola?-Suddenly I
Disappears while Waiting!
on Train?Leaves a Fine!
Overcoat, with Bloody
Shirt, Among Other Things,
in Pockets.
A rather remarkable incident
occurred last Tuesday at Osceola
la, a station in this county 011
the Seaboard Air Line.
About 2 o'clock in the after
noon a stranger, a well dressed
young white man, who came
walking the railroad track from
the direction of Waxhaw, ap
proached some hands who were
grading a side-track at the sta
tion and asked them if there
was a postottice nearby. They
directed him to the building
not.far oil', where he according
ly went. On entering the office
he asked ?lie postmaster, Mr.
W. R. Gordon, who is also the
railroad agent, for a stamp,
which was given him, he at
the same time handing Mr.
Gordon a nickel. Alter receiving
his change the stranger
asked several questions as to
when a train would be due,
Mr. Gordon telling him that a
train going north would arrive
at 5.20.
Aboilt this firrio Vf.. I *
V..AW V&1UU 1*1 I U , .
Gregory, the contractor from
whose hands the stranger had
gotten directions to the office,
walked in and joined in the
conversation. The stranger be
came restless, would not sit
down but kept walking about
the room in an excited manner,
ilis hat was pulled down over
his eyes and he would occa-ion
ally cast lurtive glances at
Messrs. Gordon and Gregoiy,
never at anyt time looking
directly at them. j
After repoating several times
his questions about trains, j the
man finallv asked'Mr
^ 1-? ? UUI uuu
tor permission to leave his overcoat?a
nice new one?with him
while he stepped outside for a
moment.
Nothing has been seen of the
stranger since, and his overcoat
is still at Osceola. ^
The next morning Mr. Gordon's
attention was directed by
some one to the fact that flies
were swarming over the coat;
whereupon an examination was
made of it. In the pockets
were found a sweater, three
freshly laundried collars and a
gentleman's dress shirt, which
had apparently been worn once
or twice. The right side of
the shirt, extending from the
collar downward, was saturated
with blood, as though the wear,
er had been cut or stabbed in
the neck. It was the bloody
-Ui ? ? ?
Bitiii hi jit nau attracted the
flies. There is no mark on any
of the garments imiica ing the
name of the owner.
The mysterious 3tranger is
described as a man about 251
years old, 5ft 8 inches high,
clean shaven and with dark
sandy hair.
A Burning Question.
The Condition of the Public
Roads in the County?They
Need Work and Plenty of
It?Strong Appeal to the
Proper Authorities to Get
Busy.
I see the grand jury has again
called attention to the bad condition
of our public roads and
reported our Supervisor for not
carrying out the law in having
them worked; "and here the
matter ends," says the people.
Our roads are bad. too bad,
and 1 don't believe there is a
man in the county that wants
to see them improved and made
good worse than myself. This
is my excuse, for about ten
articles that I have written on
"Our Koads," and this will be
my excuse lo write until somebody
has thera worked. Our
roads have been worked less
than one day a year for the
last ten years and now they are
needing a little work.
r i i.i *
jl nave taeiy traveled in
Union, Chesterfield, Kershaw,
Fairfield and Chester counties,
and 1 find the roads in each one
of the adjoining counties being
improved, and why not in Lancaster
county too?
If a hand fails to work, the
overseer reports him ; if an over:seer
fails to work, the Supervisor
reports him ; if a supervisor
fails to work, the grand
jury reports him, and here the
matter ends. We have about
twenty six hundred men subject
j to road duty in our county, and
the law I am told requires 4
days a year for each hand; now
our roads have not been worked
but about one half day a year
(or "less than one day") for
the past ten years. Let us see
for a minute what we have lost?
taking a hand to be worth 50
cents a day. Twenty-six hundred
hands threo days a year
amounts to 3dC0 dollars a year,
and for ten years, thirty nine
thousand dollars. This is why
our roads are so much wor.se
than the roads of other counties.
We aro losing about ton*
O ' ? ~
thousand dollars worth of work
a year that the Jaw requires.
It would pay our county richly
to pay our sheriff one thousand
dollars a year extra to see that
our roads are worked according
to law. To work our roads will
benefit every class of people in
our county, but the farming
class especially, and will not
hurt anybody.
I call upon the road hands,
the overseers, Supei visor, and
our county authorities to help
get better roads?and in ad
anion to general improvements
would like to see some perma
nent road building >;oing on.
T. M. Helk.
For results, advertise in tha
Lancaster News.