Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, May 22, 1895, Image 2
Straps and ^acts.
? Kecent reports from Hawaii, are to
the effect that another revolution is
imminent in that eouutry. President
Dole's government is said to be on its
last legs. Numerically, its supporters
are largely in minority, aud its opponents
are now procuring arms aud
ammunition preparatory to a general
uprising. Mr. Thurston, late minister
to the United States from Hawaii, is
said to be one of the leading spirits of
the proposed revolution. Iu his opinion,
the ouly thing that can be done to
ensure permauency of governmeut, is
to place ou the throue Priucess Kaiulani,
daughter of the late queen.
? The general assembly of the Southern
Presbyterian church, met iu Dallas,
?ni ,A.,? nhrvnf 100
ICS., ia?l/ luuiaua;, ......
commissioners in attendance. The
opening sermon was preached by Rev.
Dr. Lefevre, of Maryland, retiriug
moderator, and Rev. Dr. Hemphill, of
Louisville, Ky., was elected moderator.
The moderator was presented by Rev.
R. C. Anderson, with a beautiful gavel,
made in Jerusalem, and sent by the
American consul at that place. There
are a number of important questions
to be discussed by the general assembly
; but as yet there have been no
developments that are of especial general
interest.
? Delegates from 11 Western States
and territories met at Salt Lake City,
"Utah, last Thursday, for the purpose
of considering the most advisable steps
to be taken in the interest of free coinage.
It was agreed that all action be
taken within the lines of the old parties,
and that delegates to the national
convention be instructed to withdraw,
unless the national convention
shall give proper recognition to silver.
It was then agreed to organize under
the name of the Bimetallic Union, and
/lAla/vafAO U'OfO Alppt.pd t.fl
LLI tJ lUIIUWIUg UCiCgOVtQ ?? VI V W?vvv?w ..
attend the bimetallic league cou ventiou
to be held at Memphis, begiuniug on
July 11, next: Ex-Governor Bradford
Prince, New Mexico; Hon. F. E.
Sergeant, Butte; Governor Alva Williams,
Denver; Hon. C. M. Donaldson,
Oregou ; Hou. Henry W. Laugenur,
Woodland, California.
? New York's wholesale drug dealers
are making a resolute push to form
a drug trust that will prevent retail
druggists from dealing directly with
the manufacturers of proprietary medicines.
They will have a national
wholesale druggists' meeting in September
at Denver, at which a trust
will probably be formed. Many retail
druggists have au association by which
they have been able to deal directly
with the manufacturers and escape
paying anything to the middlemen.
They have thus managed to get their
drugs at bottom prices, and have sold
to customers at lower rates. The
wholesale deulers meau to stop that.
They expect to be able to make the
manufacturers agree to a system of
rebates to local associations of jobbers.
Under such a plan, the joooers wouia
allow rebates oulv to retail customers
who did not cut prices. The rebates
would be large enough to make it an
object for a retailer not to be caught
selling under the schedule rates.
? The single gold standard advocates
having made Memphis, Tenn., their
Mecca, the bimetallists have decided to
meet them at their owu game on their
own ground. The following call,
signed by J. S. Buchanan, president,
and the members of the executive
committee of the Central Bimetallic
league, of Tennesee, as promulgated
last Saturday: "To the friends of
silver throughout the United States:
The single gold standard advocates
have called a convention to meet here
on the 23rd of this mouth in an attempt
to lead the South to support their policy.
The Central Bimetallic Leugue
of Memphis, realizing the high importance
of meeting their arguments, exposing
their false accounts and counteracting
their baneful iullueuces, do
hereby request the friends of the silver
and gold inouey of the constitution
to organize in every State and county,
and to send delegates to a bimetallic
convention to be held at Memphis on
the 12th aud 13th days of June next.
The ablest champions of bimetallism
will be present aud address the convention.
? A movement in which nearly all of
the prominent railroads of the South
and Southwest are interested, is on
foot to awaken interest in the developMnlnftniiio
/vf 1 Ko VkAlltll
incut U1 lilt lliuuoiuto VI Uiv ?^vwv<ii
A big meeting is to be held iu Chicago
tomorrow, and from present indications
it will be one of the largest gatherings
of the kind ever held iu that
city. C. L. Stone, general passenger
agent of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois
railroad, is chairman of the committee
of arrangements. J. K. Kidgeley
will welcome the visitors ou behalf
of the Chicago Southern society. After
a noon banquet, at the Auditorium,
the day will be spent iu discussing
Southern resources and perfecting an
organization to disseminate in that city
information concerning that section.
Among the railroads which will be represented
at the meeting are the following
: Central of Georgia ; Cincinnati,
Hamilton and Dayton; Big Four;
Chicago and Eastern Illinois; l'laut
System ; Florida Central; Georgia Midland
aud Gulf; St. Augustine and Indian
liiver ; Mouou ; Mobile and Ohio ;
Louisville and Nashville; Pennsylvania
and others.
? The Georgia cipitol building has
been iu a most filtby coudition for some
time pust, with accumulations of dirt
and tobacco spit. The Atlanta Commercial,
an enterprising paper, printed
a long detailed description of prevailing
conditions, and then sent a reporter
to Governor Atkinson to find out
what he thought of the matter. The
governor was mad and told the reporter
that if The Commercial did not like
the condition of the capitol, it, The
Commercial, might clean it up. Taking
the governor at his word, the next
day The Commercial sent a brigade of
scrubbers and house cleaners under the
lead of a representative of the paper
to clean the building. When the governor
was informed of the approach
of the scrubbers, he had the building
locked up. The Commercial's force
was accordingly dismissed, and the
building will be speedily cleaned up al
the expense of the State.
tthf \|orlnillc (Enquirer.
YORKVILLE, S. C.:
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1895.
? A wholesalo whisky drummer in
forms a Spartanburg correspondent
that his house intends to sue the rail
roads for pay for all the whisky it ha:
lost on account of seizures by dispen
sary constables. If the threat is car
ried out, there will be some interesting
developments, and probably startling
results.
? The News and Courier calls atten
tiou to the failure of the executiv<
committee to provide that no primary
ticket which does not contain the nam
es of an equal number of Conserva
tives and Reformers, or as nearly so a:
is possibly shall be counted. Such i
provision would have undoubtedly
gone a long way toward inspiring con
fidence and lessening the probabilities
i of a split. It is not too late yet, howev
er, to agree to some arrangement of this
kind.
? It is semi-officially announced thai
in his Memphis speech tomorrow
Secretary Carlisle intends to declan
the willingness of the administratior
to abolish the 10 per cent, tax on th<
issues of State banks. There is nc
doubt of the fact that the abolition o
this tax would be a good thing. I1
would accomplish about the satin
thing that is expected from the fret
nninqnro nf silvpr hut. under the cir
w""*hv ~ 1? ? 7 1
cumstauces, we do not think that Mr
Carlisle will be able to again make ii
an issue. Mr. Cleveland was electee
to the presideucy on a platform thai
pledged him to the abolition of th<
10 per cent tax, and had he desired t<
fulfill his pledge, there is no doubt o
the fact that he could have done i
without difficulty. But he did no
want to fulfill the pledge then, auc
there is little reason to believe that h<
wants to fulfill it now. Neither is then
much reason to believe that he prefer:
the repeal of the 10 per cent, tax to tbt
free coinage of silver. The point i:
this: A majority of the people now
appear to be practically united or
the silver question, and if they can b<
divided on the repeal of the 10 pei
ceut. tax, the probability is that th(
situation will remaiu just as it is
Thnt. is what Mr. Clevland is drivint
at. He is going on the principle thai
the hair of the dog is good for the bite
Satisfied with the present situatioi
and desiring no change, whatever h<
seeks to break the force of pul)li<
clamor by introducing to the majority
an aggravated quarrel as to the bes1
remedy. The people have a consider
able advautage just uow, aud the}
will do well to stick to silver.
? The attention of The Enquirki
has been called to a circular letter fron
the H, B. Clafiin company, of Nev
York, to a Yorkville business man
The subject of the letter is the silvei
question, and its object is to stir th<
business man to whom it was addresset
up to goiug to. Memphis, to "represent'
his section in the interest of the siugh
gold standard. The letter sets fortl
many of the ills that have already
come out of the silver question, am
points to others that are still to come?
all iu the opinion of the H. B. ClaHii
company. The circumstance remind:
us of a striking illustration in Coin'!
Financial School. In this book then
is a picture of a man's head wit!
wheels iu it. Attached to the wheel:
is a string, and having hold of th<
string is a hand which is indicated a:
that of a banker. The head is labelet
as that of an average business man
and the lesson that the whole thin*
seeks to teach is, that on financial mat
ters especially, the average busines:
man has his thinking done by the bank
er. The H. B. Claflin company realize
this fact, and is making full use of tk<
information. Iu the letters they an
sending out, they seek, by certain dog
mutic assertions, to work on the fear
of credulous ignorance by making i
believe that the country is going t<
ruin, and the only remedy is in thi
complete demonetization of silver
And even iu the face of reason, justici
and individual interest, credulous igno
rauce believes what they have to say
Here is the real reason why H. B
Claflin and other big financial "author
ities" are so deeply interested in th<
subject at issue. When silver and gob
were standard money at a ratio of 11
to 1, there was plenty of cash, price
were high and immense sums of mone^
were placed at interest. Slowly an<
r surely, as silver has beeu robbed of its
qualities as standard money, the pur1
chasing power of gold has increased,
; and the value of each cent per cent, of
' interest has growu greater, to the
t gain of the leuder and the loss of the
borrower. Free coinage of silver is
f calculated to put things back just
where they were before, so the borrower
will only have to pay back what he
borrowed, and the lender will receive
back only what he lent, of course,
with the stipulated interest. The H.
R Ploflin cnmnnnv is one of those
concerns that has made by the increased
value of gold, aud that will
lose by the increased value of silver.
Many of the merchants who received
the circular letters referred to have
lost by the increased value of gold, and
will gain by the increased value of silver.
But they are uuuble to under:
staud it. They think that the H. B.
Claflin company knows more about
, such things than they do?and they
are right.
5 ? ?
INCOME TAX UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
The supreme court, on last Monday,
; rendered its second decision on the inr,
come tax law, aud by a vote of five to
four, declared the whole law unconstitutional.
Justice Shiras, who voted for
' the law at the first hearing, changed
} his opinion and voted against it. Jus7
tice Jackson, who was not preseut at
" at the first hearing, rendered a long
" dissenting opiuion upholding the conJ
stitutionality of the law.
1 The decision of the court was ren7
dered by Chief Justice Fuller, aud was
* _ ^ it
rather dogmatic ana peremptory man
3 otherwise. Each of the four dissent"
ing judges gave independent opinions,
3 and in their criticims of their colleagues,
were practically as severe as
t are Senator Tillman and Governor
Evans against GofT and Simonton.
; Justice Harlan said the decision "is
j little less than a revolution. It is a
} blow at the constitutional right of
, congress. It relieves the wealth of the
f country of the burdens of taxation, and
^ denies the right of congress to call
? upon the wealthy for help, even iu
5 grave emergencies. It is likely that
. the freemeu of the country will become
so iudignant, that they will refuse to
t repeal the law. It is a wicked assault
1 on the rights of the people, upon
whom rests the larger share of the bur5
dens of the government. The people
j should no more be subjected to the
f aggregated wealth of the country, than
I to the depredations of outlaws."
t Justice Jackson says "the decision
I strikes down an important and essen5
tial power of government, and can only
; be regarded as a disaster and a public
oftlamitv."
) ? .
; Justice Brown said : "I hope the de5
cisiou may not prove the first step tor
ward the submergence of the liberties
, of the people in a despotism of wealth.
; Believing, as I do, that the decision of
r the court in this case is fraught with
? immeasurable danger to the future of
the country, and approaches the pror
portions of a national calamity, I feel
t it a duty to enter my protest against
it,"
1 Justice White referred to the decision
j of the court as a "dangerous and ap;
palling violation of the constitution
r which, instead of weakening, his first
I opinion made it a thousand fold
. stronger."
j The opponents of the income tax
law have called its advocates socialists
aud anarchists. We have all along
t believed the law to be not only necesi
sary, but absolutely just. We believe
/ so still. The opinion of the minority
. of the court meets with our hearty apr
probation, and if this unrighteous
i decision fails to stir up the most angry
] protest that has ever been heard from
' the liberty-loving American people,
? we shall be indeed surprised.
1 ?
f The Position of the Forty.?
1 State Senator Kirklund, secretary of
the Forty, in an interview with The
Evening News, last Thursday, defined
1 the position of the organization on this
3 line:
3 "The object of the Forty movement
3 was to bring about a better state of
i feeling by healing the differences of
s factious. As regards the preseut situa
ation, my idea is simply this: We
" are willing to hold meetings with
5 Conservatives in each county aud put
* out a joint ticket, which we shall work
, to elect, provided the Conservatives
r will bind themselves to abide the re'
en It of the nrimarv and support the
nominees. If we are not successful,
we can but take our drubbing like
men. We are abundantly able to do
s that. If we succeed, we have attained
e our object, which is to wipe out
e extremeisra and furnish a good constitution
to the people of South Carolina.
Iu any event, our organization will
s serve to check excesses and promote
^ fairness. If the administration whips
3 us in the fight, we shall fall into Hue
e and work for their delegates. That is
. all of it. You see, our fight will be
B strictly within the Forty. We do not
propose to go beyond it. In the event
the Conservatives refuse to go into the
primary and be bound, the result will
be most unfortunate and deplorable.
- Such action on their part would dissi0
pate and dissolve our organization,
j and our efforts would end in smoke.
,, We would have toiled in vain. But I
do hope that the good sense of the
9 Conservatives will prevail, and they
f will join with us for an aggressive and
1 clean fight."
LOCAL AFFAIRS, w
cc
INDEX TO NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.
James M. Starr?Has cigars at 2 cents,
Paris green for killing potato bugs, farm
and garden seed.
J. H. Kiddle?Talks about flour, hams, so
corn and peas in any desired quantity, so
shingles and lime, and although sugar
has advanced in price, is still selling 20 vi
pounds for $1. w
T. M. Dobson <k Co.?Can supply you with ci
visiting cards, playing cards, a nice al- .v
bum, eyeglasses and spectacles, combs
and brushes, fans, picture frames, a purse ,n
or pocketbook, hand mirrors, shirt ti
waist, a corset, kid gloves, soaps, has- |e
kets; in short, almost anything you >
want. *
Grist Cousins?Cotton harrows, substantial tr
necessaries, oattlakes, Jersey butter, can- d<
ned goods and laundry supplies. cj
H. C. Strauss?Gives a number of reasons
why it is to your interest to buy goods
from him. ai
J. \V. Dobson?Has cotton harrows, hoes,
barbed wire and staples, tea at 50 cents a
pound, cheese and hardware.
J. J. Hunter?Has Whitteinore's gilt edge
shoe dressing. H
T. B. McClain?Lets you know that he has q,
a carload of ice lor sale?by the 100
pounds or in smaller quanities. 1,1
Supervisor Stephenson?Calls an extra Q
meeting of the board of commissioners
to be held May 30.
SAD DEATH. Jl
-------- , . at
Miss Nannie J. Moore, second daughter
of Mr. J. Leouidas Moore, died at
the home of her father and stepmother,
iu Yorkville, last Monday afternoon, 2
at 6 o'clock, aged about 26 years. dt
Miss Moore was a native of Bethesda M
township, in this county, and was a t0
young lady of many social accomplish- U?
ments and unusually brilliant intellect. ^
She won a Wiuthrop scholarship, at a at
competitive examination iu Yorkville in
several years ago, aud went to the col- E
lege in Columbia, graduated with first fv
honor, accepted a position as teacher, ^
aud did splendid work until the open- eg
iug of the present spring, when her tt
health gave way completely, and she tb
had to come home and take her bed. to
Her death was due to lung trouble.
The fuueral services took place at ,p
Bethesda church, of which Miss Moore jn
was a member, at 3 o'clock yesterday to
afternoon, aud were conducted by T
Rev. J. K. Hall, assisted by Rev. \V. r
G. Neville. The body was interred in
Bethesda ceruetary.
Had Miss Moore lived, on account of p,
her splendid services at Columbia, h<
there is every reason to believe that p<
she would have been elected to a posi- a'
tion in the faculty of the Winthrop 01
Normal and Industrial college.
STRAWBERRIES. t]]
"Want any strawberries?"
The recent rains have been especi- Jj.
ally conducive to the multiplication of ci
the wild strawberry, and this delicious
fruit has matured along the creek
banks and hillsides in quantity and of
a quality the like of which is not to be
found even in the recollection of the g.
oldest inhabitant, aud last Saturday J.
was market day. et
Early in che morning, tbestruwberry a'
venders began to come into Yorkville st
ill
from every point of the compass, singly ^
and by twos and threes. Each vender ju
had a bucket or basket containing tl
from one to four gallons of strawberries, qi
and until late in the afternoon, York- st
ville housekeepers were continually
summoned to the door to answer the ?|
question : th
"Want any strawbays?"
The domestic berrys have been find- R
ing ready sale at from 10 to 15 ceuts a
quart. The wild berry venders at ^
first asked 10 cents, afterward 8J ceuts,
and some fiually came down to 5.
Altogether the sales 01 tne aay ran up tr
into the bushels?just how many would IS
be difficult to estimate?but many of rf
the venders, being uuable to dispose of
their stock at the prices asked, carried
them back home. Since Saturday, the Bj
wild strawberry market has not been w
quite so badly glutted. of
ABOUT PEOPLE.
Lieutenant Haney, of the U. S. army, hi
is at the Three C's hotel. al
Rev. \V. J. Laugston returned home
from the Southern Baptist convention *.
at Washington, on last Friday.
Major J. W. Wilkes, of Chester, was
in Yorkville several days last week,
the guest of Rev. W. J. Langstou.
Miss Kittie Harshaw, of Guthries- 1)!
-tillrt ?o in \rs\?*lr?n1lo vicitincr fripn/^Q ^
VI1IC, lo ... . .~. 0 ... ,
the guest of Mrs. 0. E. Grist.
Miss Muttie Duncan, of Blacksburg,
and Miss Lou Webb, of Shelby, visited ^
in Yorkville tbis week. .
Mr. Crawford Moore, who has been 11
quite ill with typhoid fever for some ftI
time past, is thought to be improving.
We learn from the Gastonia Gazette, sl
that Mr. J. N. Roberts, formerly of tv
this couuty, is now iuteudant of Mc- U1
Adeusville, N. C. rc
Mr. and Mrs. Win. T. Dunlap, who ?'!
for some time past have beeu living iu 01
Yorkville, have recently moved to e!
Charlotte.
Mrs. Edwin Ervin has returned to .
Yorkville, after spending the winter 111
with her sister, Mrs. Gaillard, in Char- tc
leston. eI
Rev. J. C. Galloway stopped over in P'
Yorkville last Monday for about two tc
hours, while on his way to his home at
Gastonia from New Hope church. He
met a number of friends here and all 1
were glad to see him.
m
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. fr
The court of common pleas for York %v
m
county, adjourned sine die last Mon- w
day night at 11.45 o'clock, after one of ti
the longest sessions on record, includ- ai
ing, of course, the long recess. Among S?
the cases disposed of, not already re- w
ported, were the following:
Ex parte, W. C. Latimer, in re C. q
L. Parsons & Co. Exceptions to D
homestead. Exceptions sustained. It tc
as ordered that the homestead be re>mmilted
for assessment, or that the
operty be sold and Latimer paid
1,000 in cash.
W. B. deLoach against \\\ M. Alli>ii,
et al; suit to perfect title. Alli>11
sold deLoach a house and lot for
1,400, gave bond for title and afterard
made* an assignment. On aciunt
of a suit to test the validity of
le assignment and an intervening
ortgage, Allison was unable to make
tie. The court announced that unss
Allison delivers to the purchaser,
;forea certain day in June, a deed to
le property with a renunciation of
)\ver, there will be an order for foreosure
ami sale under the mortgage.
Motions for new trials were argued
id refused in the following cases :
Wilson & Wilson & McDow, against
le townships of York, Ebenezer, Cawba
and Cherokee; Moss against
unter Oates; Moss against A. Y.
artwright & Co.; Mercer against Naonal
Mining and Milling Co.; John
. Little against Wilkes and others.
In the cases previously reported,
here the results were noi siaieu,
idge Benet carried off the papers,
id withheld his decisions.
TRIPLE TRAGEDY.
Three Negro children, aged 6, 4 and
years respectively, were burned to
;ath in a cabin on the plantation of
r. S. E. McFadden, in Bethesda
wnship, last Wednesday, under the
sual conditions.
Bob Wagoner and his wife locked
leir three children up in their cabin
id went to their work?Bob to plowg,
and his wife to washing, at Mr. S.
. McFadden's house. An hour or
vo later, Jeff* Steele, who was plowg
near bv, noticed smoke issuing
om the cabiu ; but at first paid no
ipecial attention to it. Later he saw
lat there was no longer any doubt
tat the cabiu was on fire and went
i see about it.
When Steele got to the house, the
lildreu were frenzied with fright,
he oldest was rocking the youngest
the cradle, the other was clinging
i the oldest, and all were screaming,
he most direct information that the
iporter has been able to procure, is to
ie effect that Steele, instead of trying
i save the terror stricken children,
ive his attention to the saving of a
rir of boots and other articles that
i evidently considered of more imjrtance.
The father of the children
rived in time to have gotten them
it of danger with some risk to himlf;
but he is said to be an idiotic
llow, and did not make the attempt.
After the cabin had been reduced to
ie ashes, newcomers searched among
ie embers, and as the only remains of
ie children, found a heart and some
larred bones.
.UUliUbu Jiuai rutu.
A peculiarly horrible murder is the
tnsatiou of the hour in Yorkville.
Mr. George Wilkersou spent lust
iturday night with his friend, Mr.
N. O'Farrell, who lives on the northistern
outskirts of Yorkville, and
jout 9 o'clock, Sunday morning, he
arted home. While passing along
i occasionally used wagon way,
irough a narrow fringe of woods, and
ist as he was about to come out into
te Lincoln road, about a mile-and-ajarter
from the court house, he came
iddenly upon the prostrate body of a
an. "I at first thought it was some
runk fellow," said Mr. Wilkerson,
jut as I got closer, I could easily see
lat the man was dead."
Mr. Wilkerson informed Mr. D. S.
ussell, who lives near by, of what he
id seen, and as the two got back to
le spot, Rev. Tobias and Reese Fosr,
both colored, came up. Rev. Toas
and Foster, after some cousiderae
doubt and hesitation, recognized
le body as that of Rob Feemster, the
1-year-old. son of John Feemster, a
:spectable Negro who rents a small
rm from Mr. Robert Latta, a little
ore than a mile east of Yorkville.
News of the finding of tiie body
>read quickly. Trial Justice Carroll
as sent for, and soon a large crowd
people, white and colored, from
orkville and vicinity, was collected.
The dead man lay face upward, one
md under the small of his back, and
id the other at his side. His face
id been battered almost out of shape,
lere were deep dents in his forehead,
s skull was frightfully crushed, his
ain had oozed out on the ground,
id his head had been all but severed
ora the neck. One pocket of his
intaloons was turned wrongside out,
id near it, lay a nickel and three
ippers. There was no evidence
any struggle. The man had eviintly
been taken unawares aud killed
;fore he could have had any iutimaon
as to the iutentiou of his assailit
or assailants.
A careful search of the vicinity reilted
in the finding of the tracks of
vo men, leading through the woods
ivay from the body, aud along the
>ute taken by the tracks, 30 or 40
irds from the body, was found a
acksmith's hand-hammer and a pock,
knife. The hand-hammer weighed
jout two pounds, and was peculiar in
mt the peeu was set with the haudle,
lelpnrl nl'nmmq as is usual with Such
ids, and there was a split from one
id of the handle to the other. The
jcket-knife was of the Barlow patrn,
and the blado had beeu broken off,
ound to a point and half worn out,
lough it was still quite sharp. Both
nife and hammer were covered with
ood, and clinging to the bloody hamer,
were several black, curly hairs
om the murdered man's head. There
as no reason to doubt that the hauler
and knife were the instruments
ith which the murder and mutilaon
were made. Besides the hammer
id knife, there was also lying near by,
iveral pieces of flour bread, made up
i if for biscuit aud baked flat.
Trial Justice Carroll, acting as coroer
empaneled a jury of inquest with
aptain J. R. Lindsay as foreman, and
octors Miles Walker and R. A. Bratid,
were instructed to make a post
mortem examination. The doctors
removed the murdered man's scalp,
and about his face and skull, found
the marks of no less than 14 distinct
blows from the hammer referred to,
and eight fracturing and penetrating
wounds. The head was completely
served from the body, all except the
spinal column, and the muscles behind
it. Judging from the fact that decomposition
had just begun to set in, and
that the Hies had begun to deposit
their eggs, the doctors calculated that ,
the man, at that time?about 1 o'clock
Sunday afternoon ?bad been dead "
not less than 12 hours. They also
gave it as their opinion that the eifort |
to cut the man's head ofl' was made ,
not less than 15 or 20 minutes after he
had been killed with the hammer.
nnn/ilticinn thov lit. frntll
the fact that the frightful hacking at
the neck, seemed to have drawn little j
or no blood. The blood had either
run out, or coagulated, before the hacking
was done.
After the doctors concluded their
work, the jury of inquest prepared to
continue its investigation. The whole ,
affair was still a dark mystery. There
was no evidence, and absolutely no
clue, to the murder except the hammer
and the knife. George Williams,
a colored boy, had been heard to say
that he kuew who the hammer belonged
to, and this was the only straw
that the jury had to look to as a guide.
George Wilkersou, D. S. Kussell,
aud Charley Russell, gave their testi- (
mony as to the circumstances of finding
the body, aud Charley Russell said
that he had seen the deceased in Yorkville
the night previous, shortly after
the arrival of the Narrow Gauge train. " '
George Williams, already referred to,
was sworn. He testified that he had ^
seen the hammer mentioned, in the
blacksmith shop of John Robinson,
and that he had seen the kuife, or one
like it, in the possession of a white
mun named Daniel Whitener, who
lived about a mile and a half from the
spot where the body was fouud.
Whitener was sent for, but was not at ^
home. Thejury then decided to adjourn
to the office of Captain J. R.
Lindsay, in Yorkville. Mr. John
Robinson was sent for. He testified
that the hammer was not his, aud that
he had never seen it before. Unable
to do anything further just at that
time, the jury decided to adjourn subject
to the call of the actiug coroner.
Whitener was arrested Sunday night
and committed to jail. It is understood
that he says he can prove an
alibi. *
On Monday morning, suspicion began
to center ou one Wilson Montgomery,
a large ginger-cake colored
Negro, who lives about two miles
east of town, near Fishing creek trestle.
The first whisperings of the suspicion
came from Montgomery's moth- /
er. She said that it was Wilson's custom
as a rule, to get up early on Sun- 1
day mornings, eat his breakfast and
be gone for the rest of the day. On
last Sunday, however, he departed
from his usual custom. When the
other members of the household heard
of the murder, they went to the scene.
Wilson "could not find his shoes," and
remained in or about the house all day.
A little later, Mr. W. G. Turner, v
who lives in the same neighborhood
with Wilsou Montgomery, brought
his two boys in to see Captain Lindsay. ^
I The boys described the knife that had
been found at the murder about as it
has been described above, and said
positively that they had seen this Knite w
in possession of Montgomery only a
few days ago. He had tried to trade
it to them.
Josh Smith, colored, came in with
the information that he could identify '
the hammer most positively as the property
of Jake Montgomery, the father
of Wilson Montgomery. Several other
parties swore to the identity of the
hammer, and Jake Montgomery admitted
that it was bis property. He,
and also others, stated that the hammer
had more than once been at Robinson's
shop.
Jeff' Williams, colored, told a story
that throws some light on the subject.
He said, in effect: "While in Yorkville
Saturday night, I bought a secondhand
buggy. Jake Montgomery, who
lives out my way, was in town with
his wagon, and he agreed that if I * "*
would hitch my buggy to his wagon, he
would haul it home for me. Wilson
Moutgomery?Jake's son?and Isaac
Blair, helped me to hitch up Jake's
wagou. This was at Mr. J. W. Dobsou's
corner, a little before the Narrow
Gauge traiu came. Jake had gone * ?
down street after something, and us
three remained at the corner waiting
for him. After a while, Wilson and
Ike went off and in about 10 minutes
came back. In the meantime, the
Narrow Gauge traiu came. Jake still
did not come, and I got tired waiting
for him. Wilson and Ike left again
and I started to drive home slowly.
Where Wilsou and Ike went I do not
know. I drove over as far as the ^
Three C's railroad. There I heard
Jake holler, and I stopped to wait for
him. Jake came up by himself with a
hoe on his shoulder, and we drove out
to my house. [A little over a mile.]
Sometime after we got to my house, .
Wilson and Ike came up, and said to
Jake that it was time to go home. All
of them left my house together. From
the time Wilsou and Ike left me at the
corner, until the time they came out
to my house, it was about two hours.
On Monday at noon, Trial Justice
Carroll sent out to Jake Montgomery's
house aud had Wilson Montgomery
arrested. The arrest was made by
Messrs. P. W. Love and Will Carroll.
Montgomery did not appear to be surprised
at his arrest. He asked no
questions; but sullenly submitted to the
placing of the handcuffs on his wrists
and quietly came on to Yorkville. Mr.
Love also searched his house for bloody
clothes, or other suspicious articles.
He found a coat and pair of pants; but
neither garment showed any signs of ?
blood spots.
Upon his arrival at the office of Trial
Justice Carroll, Wilson Montgomery