Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CHARGES FL( IN COA i Columbia, Oct. 15.?That grave! evil exists at the Sumter County, chain gang camps has been revealed j fby an investigation covering several months made by the -State Board of Public Welfare. These camps are 'under the management of Foreman John Holland and of County Engineer J. E. Jeffords, acting under the supervision and control of Sumter Board of County Commissioners. On June 15 the secretary and assistant secretary of the Board of Public Welfare found a prisoner in D/vwUnvifJ^nr titV*IKoplf U1V OMIC X ciwi^cavioaj n ?*vow MMV. was literally covered with scars made by a whip or similar instrument. In several places the skin had been beaten from his body, leaving abraded surfaces that were Taw and discharg-1 ing. The prison physician stated that he had treated these wounds and that > they had improved since the date of the commitment to the penitentiary June 10, 1921. The revolting condition of this prisoner's body was caused by the unmerciful whippings he had received while serving sentence upon the Sumter County chain gang. After several preliminary investigations the assistant secretary of the Board of PubHc Welfare in company with three members of the Sumter County Grand Jury visited the chain gang camps on July 19th. Mr. Brearly, in his report of the visit says: At Foreman Jesse Holland's camp ten prisoners were foundto have been whipped so severely that the wounds still showed upon their bodies. The condition of one of these men was especially pitiable; upon his back were five Or six unusually prominent scars, indicating that the lacerations causing them had been both large and deep. The foremen admitted having beaten all of these prisoners. The men at Foreman John Holland's camp were also examined by the assistant secretary of the Board of Public Welfare. Three ^of them were found to have scars upon their bodies. Approximately fifty men were at the two camps; about thirtyfive of them were examined. Following these discoveries the assistant secretary of the Board of Public Welfare together with the foreman of the Grand Jury appeared before the Sumter Board of Gounty Commissioners and asked that steps be taken at once to prevent further brutality. The Commisrj ordered that no more whippy of prisoners be done except in the presence and at the instigation of tie eoynty engineer. On October 7th, however, the assistant secretary of the Board of Public Welfare visited the "Cage" at Foreman John Holland's camp ? and found there a prisoner who had been beaten so cruelly that he had since been unable to work and was rceiving medical attention. On his body were two large unhealed scars. The whipping had been giyen by Foreman Holland rn the presence of *?&unty Engineer Jeffords, because the prisoner had not taken a bath at the time he was instructed to do so-. The foreman of the Grand Jury and the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners then visited the camp and examined the body of the prisoner. The foreman promissd to bring the matter to the attention of the Grand Jury and the Chairman stated that the Board of County Commissioners would take proper action in the near future. Secretary Williams' letter to Governor Cooper, is as follows: Enclosed you will find a report of. Mr. H. C. Brearley, our assistant, secretary, concerning his findings at the Sumter chain gang camps. Mr. I Brearley's report shows a deplorable state of affairs existing there. Such unmerciful flogging as is recorded in this report is not only against the custom of civilized life but is against the law of South Carolina. It ill become those that are set to uphold the law to violate it in so flagrant a manner. I am sure that the citizens of Sumter County, who have all powers in these affairs, do not know the extent of brutality that has gone on in their county on these chain gangs. Some measures should be taken to stay cruel treatment given convicts on our county road forces. Experts have estimated that 20,000,000 tons of paper pulp can. be produced each year from India's bamboos and grasses. )GG/NG JVICTS CAMPl ! OLANTA BANKER TELLS OF ROBERY j ASSISTANT CASHIER OF BANK | ADMITS PART IN $80,000 ROBBERY FROM HOME OF FLOR! ENCE COUNTY FARMER. | MAKES CONFESSION. | Florence, Oct. 14.?With the arI rest of J. Hugh Truluck, assistant j cashier of the First National ibank i of Otlanta, this afternoon, and his signed confession to the part he played in the robbery of the home of Sam W. Young, Florence county j farmer, of an iron safe containing Liberty bonds, war saving stamps and mortgages and other securties amounting to between $80,000 and $90,000, events today followed thick I and fast in a robbery that has ere I ated no little interest in this section of the state. In the absence of Mr. Young, the safe was removed from the house and was found later in Lynch's river rifled of its rich contents. Arrest was made in Sumter yesterday of two brothers, M. A. Truluck and A. H. Truluck and they were brought here today and questioned closely by Mr. Whitfield, a representative of the Burns Detective agency, who has worked up the case and caused the arrest of the two men in Sumter. When the third Truluck boy, a cousin of the two men arrested in Sumter, was arrested while in the Bank at Olanta this anorning, sensation was created. It was found later that M. A. Truluck had nothing to do with the actual theft of the safe and he was released. It was established that he other Truluck, however, had made a confidante of him, that he knew all about the business from beginning to end. j As a result of the work of the de-1 tectives, $26,000 worth of bonds, war savings stamps and securities have been recovered so far and the officers believe they will get the rest of the stolen loot. When they walked into the sheriff's office here they entered at once into a continuation of their confession to Mr. Whitfield, a Burns agency detective who put the clinchers on the information he had previously received by having one of the Truluck boys sign the same name to a check he had signed on a check drawn on the First National bank of Florence for $10,000. This check bore the signature of Fred A. Jones, which the boy confessed was the assumed name he had adopted to carry out in Florence the disposal of the stolen Liberty bonds. With the confession from Hugh Truluck, the master mind who engineered the sale of the stolen securities, and a confession from the two Truluck cousins, who committed the, actual theft, Mr? WhltfifrW belifeves that he has closed a case upon which - L , p__. 1 ne nas oeen wonting ior several hionths and one that has led Him from Florida to Maryland and on to New York, for it was in a New York bank that he found the first trace of one of the stolen ibonds, through a check signed for its purchase. It was stated in the confession of M. A. Truluck, that the only registered bond in the list had been burned. It was a bond for $1,000. It was stated today by Mr. Whitfield that following the confession of the Truluck boys, he visited the Presbyterian church at Olanta, and found stored under the steps the war sav-i I ing certificates which they declared ! had been hidden there. It was stated today that Mr., j Young some time ago i withdrew his funds and securities from the First National Bank of Olanta because of some disagreement. This fact is believed to strengthen the evidence against the assistant cashier, who officers believe concocted the plot to take possession of the bonds. Warned. "Well, dear, I shall have to do the cooking now. Cook left without warning this afternoon." "Not exactly without warning. She told me this morning I had better bring some indigestion pills home with me ton;ght, but I didn't quite understand what she meant."?Exchange. FISHERMAN FINDS HE'S MILLIONAIRE After Year's In Rag* Discover* He'* Rich When Mother Finds Him In Punta Alegre. Havana, Cuba.?A fisherman for seven years without knowing his surname and believing his parents dead, Marcelino Dumeni is today a millionaire. And his mother, who found him at Pun/ha AImtp. after a search almost around the world, says she is the happiest woman on earth. The story of Mrs. Dumeni's frantic search for Marcelino and his sister, Maria, now heirs to a large fortune, came to light today. Mrs. Dumeni is a naturalized American, born in Syria. Years ago when the children were little tots, they were lost from their home in the United States. Seven years ago they separated Maria going to South America and Marcelino coming to Cuba where he went to work as a fisherman. In the meantime the father had died leaving a fortune estimated at more than a million and the mother started a search to find her children. The daughter was finally traced to South America, and through her the son was found. Recently Marcelino, in ragged clothes reeking with the smell of fish hopped from his tiny fish laden craft into the water and waded ashore. A well-dressed woman was waiting for him?his mother, though Marcelino didn*t know. Mrs. Dumenti spoke no Spanish and Marcelino no English. What did that matter? ' Crying for joy, the mother clasped the grimy fisherman to her heart and wept. Not understanding. Marcelino asked through an interpreter, what was wrong and his sister and the interpreter called out to him, "This is mamma." Mrs. Dumeni then pulled Marcelino's shirt open. "Yes, it's my son," she cried. "Marcelino, at last I've found him. I know him by this mole." If KIRSCHBA II : . I ' \ a h si t; ! R ISBSSSSS BUILDING BOOM THROUGHOUT NATIO September Contracts In Twent seven Northern and Eastern States Set Records New York, Oct. 15.?A buildir boom is well under way in near every part of the country. Building contracts placed durir September in the twenty-seve northern and eastern states totah $246,186,000 according to the F. "V Dodge l;o. It was a gain of 12 per cent ov< reached by building activity durir September. It was a gain of 12 per cent ov< August, though building usual! slumps 15 per cent in Septembe compared with August. Building of homes led all forms < construction during September. T1 value of building contracts was di tributed like this: Residence 30 per cei Business building 1 per cei Public works and utilities 14 per cei Schools ? ? 11 per cen Predictions that a long-range buil :ng boom has begun were made month ago, when it was announce ^^tjanorPWf^fSiBcifSBgwffOi^rriWfStfJriJTpipsBisfnJ I PLUMBING <| and I HEATING QD iiiiHiiHiiHidtiriimintiiiMmiiniiiiiiiiiiiuiKnniiriuiMuniiniiiiitdHiiiiiiuiMUtoniii I Pemoline Super tile I and porcelain Cleanis i i ?_ _ Iser, guaranteed to remove rust or any kind of stains - from enamelware, HiiwiitmmtiMMOU'HmiwwMOiwmxMmimiiUfiiiwiinmiiiiiiimiuimuiMiiMin Reasonable Prices. RALPH TURNER Phone 6 UM CLOTHES pgutumn! ||4 new clc i r \ breast ot the ere?from t (lops. Smartl lilored, moc $3? f amey t ABB by the Geological Survey that pro N duction and shipments of Portlam cement during August broke all rec y- ords for that month and were 15 pei cent above the 'average for August 1917-1920. Building permits issued in Aug ig ust in the 197 leading cities totale( ly in money value 36 per cent more thai in August. 1920. according to statis lg t'cs compiled by the American Conin tractor. September made another big ;d increase. V. Prices are much lower now than a year ago, hence $1 of building repjr resents more actual construction ig work than during the post-war boom. Contractors say the best reasor 2e for believing that building activitj ly will continue at a high rate is in r, the fact that labor is producing more work per hour than a year ago. jf le J|j Take j mmmp^U and ^ 14 n Time to put < )thes anc. ke< season. They U~ v;^UU 111 ,X1C lVii JLi luau y styled, skillfu lerately price< to $45 & Gillia EVILLE i mmmmm ???g THREW WIFE FROM BRIDGE 1 - Ex-Policeman of Detroit Confesses r To Murder. , Detroit.?Herman F. Rademacher, a former poHceirnn, confessed io night, according to Allen M. Kent, 1 Assistant Prosecutor, that he muri dered his wife Thursday .by throwing - her over the railing of Belle Isle bridge into Detroit River, where she was drowned. The act, Rademacher said, followed a quarrel while he and his wife were out walking in the park. He had been held by the police since Mrs. Rademacher's body was recovered Saturday. i Earlier in the evening Rademacher ' had been identified by three men who were fishing from the bridge and saw the woman thrown into the | water. Eversharps for School \ 50t V in today and get your \ larp Pencil for school. \ rour choice, Red, Blue or 1 snamel. Long, 50c; Long ip, 65c; Short with ribbon 0c. They are real Everjust the thing for school. vrsharp! m Drug Company inter 1921 d 311 ep 're m JLA x [ly d! u