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Abbeville Press and Banner 4 .? -??? ; " ; r Established 1844. $2.00 the Year. Tri-Weekly. Abbeville, S, C., Friday, Jan. 21, 1921 Single Copies, Five Cents. 77th Year. ONE ARREST IN FLORENCE CRIME EDMUND BIGHAM PLACED IN JAIL ON CHARGE OF MURDER ?AFFIDAVIT BY LAWYER IN CLUDES STATEMENT BY ONE OF DEAD WOMEN WHEN MAK NG WILL BEFORE KILLING \ Florence, Jan. 20.?The tragedy near Pamplico last Saturday after noon which cost the lives of three members of the Bigham family and two adopted children, took a sensa tional turn this afternoon when Ed mund Bigham, one of the two sur viving members of the family and the first to appear on the scene < of the tragedy, according to his state ment, was arrested at the plantation home and brought to the county jai! acrc. xiid wiic attvuij/aiuwu ?"? w the jail. Edmund Bigham was ar rested by Deputy Sheriff M .B. Burch on a warrant sworn out by^John W. McCracken the father of the two children killed. Coroner Smith and C. M. Rose, an officer of Pamplico, accompanied him. Bigham is charged with murder. He submitted to the arrest quietly and manifested little or no concern. He refused to make any statement tonight when seen at the jail. The persons killed on the Bigham plantation last Saturday were: Mrs. M. M. Bigham, her daughter, Mrs. Margie Black; Leo and John Mc Cracken, two adopted children, and L. S. Bigham, br' '.her of Mrs. Black. The mother and tne daughter apd one of thfe children were apparently killed instantly. The youngest child died at 5 o'clock the following morn ing, and L. S. Bigham, who was thought at the time to have com mitted the crime, was found* dead in the woods about a mile from the home at 11 o'clock the following morning. He grasped a pistol in his hand, and a bullet had pierced the right temple. The other four victims also died of pistol shot wounds. Negroes for Witnesses. Coi*oner Smith said this afternoon that several negroes would be ar v*Af4n/l V* rl op mof fl?5ol wif xcowcvi auu iiciu ao iiiauci lai nu- i neSses. It is his opinion that now that Bigham is under arrest other testimony bearing on the case may be forthcoming. In making the.arrest of Bigham on j the warrant of McCracken, the affi-1 davit of Philip Arrowsmith, an at- j torney of this city, was given great consideration. In his affidavit Arrow smith declares that he had been the attorney for Mrs.^Black and for L S (Smiley) Bigham, two of the persons killed, since the spring of 1920 and that, therefore, he had become inti mately acquainted with their af fairs. At the outset of the affidavit, which was sworn to before the coroner, Mr. Arrowsmith declares that Ed mund Bigham has no interest in tha estate of the late Senator L. S. Big ham, this having been conveyed to his mother and brother. He also declares that the payment of the bond escheated by Dr. Cleveland Big ham, who was convicted for the mur der of his wife and sentenced to three years in the state penitentiary, had been provided for by deposit of amount sufficient to cover the bond in a local bank. ' The money was the proceeds of a mortgage on the estate lands and that Solicitor L. M. Gasque of this judicial circuit had in his possession the certificate of deposit. Mr. Arrowshmith also ;3vrs that he has in his possession all of the original deeds relating to the Bigham lands. Continuing, the statement says that on January 8, 1921, L. S. Bigham and Mrs. Margie Black came to his home and at their request he accompanied them to his office where Mrs. Black, who was greatly agitated, maae tne touowing statement: Feared for Life. "I signed three blank deeds in the presence of witnesses and left them with Smiley so that if anything hap pened to me my father's estate could be handled as my mother and Smi PLANS FROM BORAH WINS APPROVA1 Step Taken Toward Internationa Disarmament?Negotiations Be tween United States, Great Britain and Japan Recom mended in Bill Washington, Jan. 20.?A definite step toward international disarma ment was taken by the senate for eign relations committee today in ordering a favorable report on the resolution of Senator Borah, Repub lican, Idaho proposing, negotiations between the United States, Greal Britain and Japan to reduce naval programs. Discussion of the resolution in the 1 * ? - A. ?1- -J Av4 senate is not pianneu uciuic hca. week and action on it at the pres ent session is conceded to be in doubt. Advocates of the resolution, however, hope the senate debate wil.1 give impetus to general disarma ment sentiment here and abroad. The committee approved the Borali resolution without a roll call after it had voted down, 8 to 3 an alter native resolution by Senator Walsli Democrat, Montant, proposing Am erican participation In discussion oi the league of nations' disarma ment commission. All democrats commission. All Democrats presenl supported the Walsh measure and all Republicans voted against it, Senator Shields, Democrat, Tennes see, although absent was recorded in opposition. Some changes were made in the Borah resolution by the committee, One was the inclusion of the provi sion that any agreements between the United States, Great Britain and Japan for naval building reduc tions should be promulgated formal 1" A ry Q TYJOTI TY) PT1 i ly uy ncot/jf. rtavwiv4 struck out Senator Borah's original proposal to negotiate for a 50 pei cent, reduction in naval building, the committee deciding to leave this question open for whatever reduc tion might be arranged. .Confinement of the negotiations tc the three prinicipal naval powers aj originally proposed by Senatoi Borah, was approved by the commit tee, a proposal by Senator McCum ber, Republican, North Dakota, U include France and Italy in the par leys, being rejected. Senator Borah plans to call ui the resolution in the senate the firsl opportunity, probably next week. NEWS OF GLENN BASK1N Glenn Baskin, who is making nu home in Honea Path and is a membei of the firm of Kay & Baskin, has been operated on in the Andersor Hospital for appendicitis and th< good news comes to friends in Ab beville that he is making a satisfac tory recovery. MOVING. Mr. and Mrs. R. S. McCombs anc family moved Friday to Fort Picken: having purchased the old Hemphil place from J. R. Woodhurst. Mr Woodhurst has moved to the plac< on North Main street just vacated bj Mr. J. A. Shands who has moved tc 4-1*.^. XT??% J n ?1 n/iA iticf UnirAM /-J flia /*ift tllC iiuiiio piauc just* ucjrviiu uit viwj limits. * ley desired. All these papers werf stolen from Smiley. I found them ir Edmund's possession. When I at tempted to secure possession of then Edmund flew into a passion anc threatened to take my life as wel as that of my mother. I gave -ui all hope of getting the deeds bad and his conduct is such that I an afraid he will kill me at any mo ment and I want you to prepare mj will, giving all of my property t( my brother Smiley, and charging him, as I know he will, to take car< of my mother and my two littl< adopted boys." Mr. Arrowsmith further declare< that he drew the will as instructe( and it was witnessed by himself, G T. Bryce and Marshall W. Bridge and that he incorporated in the wil the statement of Mrs. Black to hin regarding the threats against he life. GREAT RAILWAY REDUCES AGAIN I Pennsylvania Orders Another Cut In Expenses?President Rea Calls for Utmost Economy Consistent With Safety , And Efficiency s Philadelphia, Jan. 20.?The Penn - sylvania Railroad company today in structed all departments throughout i the system to effect a further reduc s tion in expenses of 10 per cent, as compared with the expenses in No i vember, 1920. This is in addition : to the 10 per cent, reduction ordered I when the retrenchment caippaign was started last month and which ! already has resulted in the laying off ; 01 approximately au.uuu men in tne four regions of the system. Contin i ued falling off of business was given , as the reason for today's action. I Freight traffic has declined 20 to 22 per cent, as compared with the early fall, the company announced. t "There is no arbitrary rule adopt ' ed," said a statement issued by Sam uel Rea, president of the system, t "The principle on which the reduc tion will be made is to secure the utmost economy consistent with safe ty and efficiency. The vice presi : dents, however, have been directed ' that in carrying out these instruc l tions they shall do so in the manner best adapted to avoid, as far as possi " ble, unnecessary disruption of the L the organizations or individual hard ship. "It is to be hoped that the reduc tion in business will continue for only a brief period. The manage j ment of the Pennsylvania railroad I sincerely regrets that uninterrupted \ I | employment can not be assured to | every faithful man on its payrolls. ' But the situation is a practical one j ^ and no way has as yet been devised J in such circumstances as those now i ' existing to avoid a reduction in ex- j ( penses and working forces. "As indicative of the severity of i :he conditions confronting the man- j * agement it may be pointed out thatj ' the Pennsylvania railroad system now i has on its lines 58,000 idle freight I ^ars which is about 20 per cent, of | the number owned, and that the idle j cars are increasing daily. Freight j traffic has declined 20 to 22 per cent | s compared with the early fall and J h !1 available information as to thf:| prevailing conditions in the produc tive industries and general commerce indicates that a further slowing down in the freight movement must be anticipated before recovery can reasonably be expected. Regrettably, there is, therefore, no course open to the management except to curtail 1 expenses accordingly." DUE WEST VISITORS I. Mrs. J. P. Pratt and Miss Eliza J beth Nickles>were down from Due I West Friday. Mrs. Pratt is the j daughter of Col. R. H. Armstrong, i one of the beloved old veterans of J the county, and she brings the good * news that he is as lively as ever and ' and is in good health. Mrs. Pratt J tells us also that Mrs. Purdy is mak 7 ing a success of the Erskine College ) Dormitory. She gives the boys 1 plenty to eat and that they are de voted to her. She also tells us that ' Dr. Bell has a sick little girl, news i which every one will he sorry to i hear. MOVING AWAY Mrs. J. E. Cheatham and her ' young son, are leaving Abbeville c soon. They will go to the country 1 and make their home with Mr. R. A. Keaton, the father of Mrs. Cheat r ham. Her friends regret her leaving. 5 Mr. and Mrs. James Walker, of At ? lanta, will occupy the Cheatham J house. OFF TO NEW ORLEANS Mrs. Frank B. Gary left this af ternoon for New Orleans where she will spend a month with her sister, Mrs. Weed. Mrs. Henry Riley, of Richmond will join Mrs. Gary on the trip and the three sisters will hold a pleasant reunion. / POLICY OUTLINED I IN ALIEN CASES Labor Department Explains Its I Position?Secretary Wilson Speaks in Aighest Terms of His Assistant's Ad ministration Washintgon, Jan. 20.?The ]>olicy of the dcpai-tment of labor with re- c spect to the arrest and deportation j of radical aliens, concerning which i it has had clashes with the depart ment of justice, is announced for , the first time by Secretary Wilson r in a statement made pulblic tod;iy at t the White House. It was stfmmar- j ized as follows: g "No person shall be arrested ex cept upon sworn affidavit based up on condition and belief. "No person when arrested shall be held incommunicado. r ''Every person arrested shall be * entitled to counsel Immediately up- 2 on being taken into custody. x "They shall be confronted with ; the evidence and shall be permitted * to furnish testimony and be heard s in their own behalf. * "Excessive bail shall not be re- t quired. ( "These safeguards of American 1 liberty, having been provided, if it 1 is then shown by tfte evidence that c any alien is deportable under the t socalled anarchist law, we will de- s port him with as little compunction i as we would attack an invading enemy. We will not deport any one j simply because he has been accused or because he is suspected of being a 'red.' We have no authority to do so under the law." . ( T he labor secretary's statement , which also contained a vigorous de- ( fense of his assistant, Louis F. Post, r was embodied in a letter sent by t Secretary Tumulty to Col. Henry D. , Lindley, chairman of the~executive r committee of the American Legion, { who presented at the White House c last October resolutions adopted by ; the legion, formally asking for the dismissal of Mr. Post from office be- , cause of his attitude with regard to deportation of radicals. It is understood that the legion's request w?.s referred by the White ^ House to Secretary Wilson and that ^ [the statement by him was sent to | the White House in reply. It also f [ represented the president's reply to ' I tlia loorinn'c rpnnpftt. for Post's dis-1 | missal. / In defending his assistant, Secre | tary Wilson said he had not only j faithfully carried out .Instruction ! with respect to aliens but he was "among the ablest and best admin istrative officers in the government service," and "one of the truest A mericans I have ever come in con tact with." THE BEARS IN CONTROL The cotton market toflay was in the hands of the bears. January futures in New York closed at 16.40 against 17.10 yesterday. Spots were down 70 *?mu. points. l lie uiaritui naa luau ucaiij < two cents from the highest point of i a week ago. 1 Not much cotton was offered on : the local market, the prevailing prices j of the early part of the week being 1 still offered. A SICK BABY. , Mary Salome, the lovely little j daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Har- i ris, has been ailing for several days 1 and Wednesday developed pneumo- i nia. Miss Kendall of Columbia is here nursing the little girl and her aunt, Miss Salome Bookman is also here. The little girl has been pretty sick and today is holding her own. Every- ( one hopes to hear good news from her her soon. , MRS. HARPER IMPROVING Mrs. W. G. Harper was operated j on at the Riverside Infirmary in Charleston for appendicitis Wednes day and the news from her bedside . is that she is getting on nicely and , will soon be out again. Mrs. Harper spent Christmas in Abbeville and friends here are glad . of good news from her. i IOUSE MEMBERSHIP NOT BE INCREASED Jy a Vote of 198 to 77 Houses Keeps Present Number?12 Seats Will Be Shifted From Eleven To Eight States. Washington, Jan. 20.?The House if Representatives voted today a ;k\nst increasing its membership 'rom 435. This action was taken by adoption ;f an amendment to the reapportion nent bill which sought to increase the otal to 488. Under the amendment l2 seats would be shifted from 11 to ! states. The vote to keep the membership it 435 was 198 for to 77 against. Thft vote for adoption of the a nendment proposed by Representa ive Barbour, Republican, California i member of the Census committee vhich reported the bill, was so over vhelming that advocates a biggei louse said they realized it woflld itand. The amendment means that ;he following states will lose seats ;wo years hence: Missouri 2, and In liana, and Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky. Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Ne jraska, Rhode Isand and Vemont >nev each. California gain 3, Michigan I, Ohio 2 and Connecticut, New Jer sey, North Carolina, Texas and Wash ngton one each. PICTURE TO BE GIVEN TO CREATE INTEREST At the meeting of the parents and ;eachers Wednesday afternoon il vas decided to make a cooperative .'fl'ort to increase .the attendance ol nothers at the future meetings ol he Parent-Teacher association'.' The issociation believes that the besl neans of reaching the mother is through the child so the members re iolved to purchase two beautifu' 'ramed pictures, copies of master jieces, and hang them in the room ol :he grade, one at the graded school ind one at the high school, whicl lad the greatest number of mothers it the next meeting of the associatior February 15th. So long as the grade ;hat first wins the picture has the greatest number of their motner; sresent at the meetings the picture remains in that room. If a grade should win the picture three sucees iive times it shall become their per manent property and a new picture kvill be offered by the association. Should a mother have children ir more than one grade her attendant ivill count for one point for eacl ;rade in which she has a child pn rolled. The officers of the association ar< t'ery anxious to secure *a 100 per cen attendance and membership of th< mothers of the schools and are de termined to at least double the at tendance at the February meeting over what it was Wednesday after noon. Each mother present Wednes Jay was requested to bring anothei member with her February 15th, am the grades in both high and gradec school are working in earnest to se ure the pictures next month, anc to hold them. Mrs. W. P. Greene, Mrs. Amos B Morse and Mrs. J. D. Fulp were ap pointed on a committee to arrange < parent's program for the next meet ing which promises to be something unique. This will be the tirst time tna che school children or* teachers hav( lot furnished the program. NO SERVICE. Rev. C. E. Peele wishes it knowr :hat there will be no service in thf Methodist church Sunday. Work or the church is still in progress bu' he hopes to have it finished by Sun Jay week. MRS ALBERT MILLER BEREAVEE News was received in Abbevilh this week of the death ol Mrs. ivic Crae at her home in Monroe on Tues clay. Mrs. McCrae is the mother oi Mrs. Albert Miller, who has man} friends in Abbeville who sorrow witl her in her loss. ABADIE TELLS OF HIS INVESTI GATION?FORMER DIRECTOR GENERAL OF EMERGENCY FLEET CORPORATION ASKED TO APPEAR BEFORE COMMIT TEE TO TESTIFY New York, Jan. 20?A voucher for $260,000 "for personal expenses of an officer of the Bethlehem Shipbuild ing corporation" was found in an au dit of the main offices of that com pany uoi. H. Abadie today inform ed the Walsh congressional commit tee investigating the shipping board. He identified this "officer" as Charles M. Schwab who was then director ! general of the Emergency Fleet cor poration. The voucher was made for the month of October, 1918. "One I hundred thousand of this amount" he ; testified, was arbitrarily charged to 1 ship construction. It was learned prior to adjourn ' ment today that Mr. Schwab had been asked to appear before the com ' mittee to testify. 1 The voucher in question, Colonel A.badie added, was not seen by ,him nor was its alleged amount or pur pose verified. He said it was report* ed to him by Mr. Morse of the firm of ^ Perley, Morse and company, expert accountants, employed by him as comptroller of the shipping board to '! make an independent audit of ship : building companies. He also testified ! that from what he knew of Mr. Schwab, he would be the first man to condemn any injustice by his ! i corporation toward the government. ' He added that while the voucher in 5 question was not accompanied by " supporting papers he thought it could ' be explained. Asked if it might not ' represent Mr. Schwab's expenses for 'that month as an officer of the fleet ^ corporation the witness replied that 1 had it been so, the amount should ' have been covered by a fleet corpora 1 .on voucher. The subject was brought up by Colonel Abadie in explaining certain maters connected with his resigna I tion from the board, involved in which was a dispute with Chairman Payne in the employing of the au diting firm to make an audit of ^ I ' J American ship yards. I ^ He charged that Martin J. Gillen, i then special assistant to John Barton ^ Payne, chairman of the board, had connived to get him removed. The auditing brought on a dispute s with Chairman Payne as to his, Aba k die's authority to order it. ; "The first intimation I had that . my resignation would be acceptable" . he said, "was when Gillen asked me >. to meet him and wanted to know if > _ my heart w&s all right and could I . stand a shock. I was then told that L. at an executive meeting of the board ] it had been decided to accept my j resignation if it was tendered." Colonel Abadie said he filed his I resignation and it was accepted and he was given a month detached ? duty. fv i NEW EXECUTIVE SECRETARY r Mr. A. S. Thomas, who has charge ^ of the welfare work in one of the , mills controlled by Messrs Deering, Millikin & Co., in Massachusetts, ha4 teen selected as Executive Secretary by the Board of Selectmen of Abbe ville Cotton Mills. Mr. Thomas was in Abbeville a little more than a 1 year ago, and knows something of the 5 work to be done here. He has not yet 1 decided fully whether he will accept ^ the position offered him, but it is like ly that he will. Mr. Thomas is elected to take the , place of Mr. J. A. Roscoe who recent k ' ? i ?4.1.? ' v resigned ms position wan mc Doard of Selectmen. Mr. Thomas has i been engaged in this line of work - which he is elected to do for a num - ber of years, and has made a great F success of it. It is hoped that he will r decide to come to Abbeville to take t charge of the work for the Board of Selectmen.