Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, February 14, 1908, Image 1
^ ^ ISSUED SKMI-WKKKIi^
l. m. grist's sons, Publisher.. } % ^amitg gtwspger: Jfor the $romotion of th(| political, Social, ^jricultutat and Commercial Interests of the feople. {TE smole copVfivk eeravanck"
established 1855. iYORKVILLE, B. C., FRIDAY, FEBHU AHY 14, 1908." N"Q. 13.
PBI
LTJC
By ETTA 1
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Face to Face.
Trance or catalepsy?it was over!
If the terrible shock produced by
news of her marriage had indeed
brought jibout that sudden and deathlike
suspension of the action of the
senses and of volition, her kisses had
saved, and her voice recalled him to
life!
Peg Pat ton and Derby carried him
to the latter's cottage, gave him food
and wine, warmed him at a generous
fire, ministered unto him with eager
hands.
"Miss Ravenel." said Peg, solemnly,
"if you hadn't insisted on seeing him
again, he must have perished in the
tomb."
Speechless, overwhelmed. Jetta sat by
the side of the man she loved, and held
his hand, and looked into the face
which had come back to her from the
shadows of the grave.
"I have had a horrible dream!" he
shuddered. "I thought some one told
me that you had married Vincent?it
was frightfully real!"
"Nothing is real," she answered,
wildly; "nothing?except that you have
returned to me from death!"
Up at Tempest Hall, Vincent Hawkstone,
the new master, was holding a
wild, disgraceful orgy?a wicked, riotous
feast of "funeral baked meats" and
wines unearthed from the cobwebs and
dust of half a century's rest in the Hall
cellar.
y For hours the revel had been in
progress?it was now nearly midnight,
but the uproar and confusion in the
great dining-room continued unabated
?to the consternation of Mrs. Otway
and the servants, who were huddled in
the kitchen, as the island sheep were
wont to huddle on the moors in time of
sudden tempest.
"They're bound to make a night of
it." said Anne, the maid. "and. what
they'll do before morning the Lord
alone can tell!"
An open fire of hickory wood warmed
the room, and cast strange lights and
shadows on the wainscot?on the family
portraits, and over the faces of the
half dozen men who made up the precious
company.
Fragments of glasses strewed the
tloor, wild songs rang up to the rafters.
The feast had been swept off the table,
and the feasters were now deep in play.
Dice rattled, cards flew. All sorts of
valuables strewed the board?watches,
rings, money. Vincent Hawkstone,
pale, turbulent, disheveled, was roaring
out in wild chorus, and shaking the
dice-box in the face of his law partner,
Dudley, whose eyes had grown vacant,
and his utterance thick, under the influence
of old wine.
"By Jove! Vincent," he stammered,
"I fancied we had good cause to be
merry with you tonight, because every
mother's son of us held your I O U. But
luck's turned, it seems. You've won
the paper all back. Faith, we'll not
have even our coats to wear to Whithaven
if we stay here longer."
Vincent's wild, handsome face grew
wilder yet.
"Yes, by Heaven! luck has turned!"
he cried. "When I met with you last
I was an impecunious devil, up to my
eyes in debts of honor. Tonight. I am
lord of Tempest Island, and, I may add,
of the whole Hawkstone fortune."
"But Prince Lucifer has left a daughter,"
said a voice at the end of the
table.
"A sickly, puny brat, who cannot outlast
her childhood!" sneered Vincent.
An envious sigh went round the
board.
"Then, all that's lacking here tonight
is the wife you've married,*' stuttered
Dudley; "the handsome southern girl,
Gad! she was a beauty! And pledged
to your cousin, too. You were always
trespassing on his preserves?winging
his game, you know! Now, where's the
bride? Really, we insist upon seeing
the bride! Where are you hiding her?
Why do we find you widowed as soon
as wed? My word! It's like
"The I/>rd of Naln and his ladv fair,"
who
"In early youth united were?
In early youth divided were!"
Vincent's flushed face grew thunderous.
He knocked the top off a fresh
bottle of wine and sent its red contents
splashing, like blood, the entire length
of the table.
"Look out what you say!" he cried
hoarsely. "There are private matters
. which you cannot safely mention here
you drunken idiot!"
Dudley, always quarrelsome in his
cups, answered, with a sneer:
"Tut. man! don't attempt to bully
me. I carried your letters, remember
I to that pretty circus-rider. Mademoiselle
Zephyr, over in Whithaven. 1
shan't hesitate to swear that something
deuced queer was mixed up ir
your marriage with the governess?
something that you will find awkward
to explain. She refuses to share youi
new honors?eh? Tonight she makes
herself conspicuous by her absence'
By my soul, she's a girl of spirit! Well
Fortune must stop somewhere?y or
can't expect to receive all her favors
man!"
Vincent seized a chair and felled tht
speaker to the floor. Instantly tin
? whole company started up on unsteadj
legs. Some one swept the stakes of
the board, and the lamps also. Then
was a fresh crash of glasses and bottle.'
as the table itself was overturned ir
the midst of the turmoil. At that moment
a clock in the hall struck the houi
of twelve.
The lamps were all out.
"Give us torches," shouted a voice
i "and let us illuminate, in honor of Vincent's
succession to the sovereignty o
Tempest Island!"
With a shout the wine-crazed lo
rushed to the hearth, each seizing {
brand, which trailed a comet's-tail o
red sparks across the room. Direct^
the servants in the kitchen becam<
aware that some new catastrophe hat
TV. PIERCE.
occurred by a cloud of dense black
smoke and the sound of crackling flame
which burst through the passages into
their quarters.
"Merciful Heaven! Have they set
1 fire to the hall?" cried Mrs. Otway.
"Run to the church, some of you, and
1 ring the bell for help."
1 In.mediately the deep, ominous tones
1 of the bell boomed through the cold
misr across uie inours JtllU ucagncs,
1 startling the Islanders from their beds,
' and waking the echoes in Joe Derby's
1 cottage, where Basil Hawkstone and his
little company of faithful ones had
found shelter. Before the island folks
fairly gathered the flames were bursting
from the old, historic house,
1 Spreading a wild. uncanny glare
through the sky. and lighting for miles
the foggy headlands and lonely expanse
of moor. It was an illumination, indeed?such
as Vincent's drunken comrades
had not thought of. Far out to
sea streamed the ruddy glare. The
sailor might behold it, shining about
' his watery way?the watchman in
Whithaven would wonder at the portentous
light in the midnight sky. On
its wooded slope. Tempest Hall stood
up. a huge beacon of destruction, its
great timbers shriveling like willow
wands, its paneled chambers red with
forked flames. The islanders, flying
half dressed to the scene of disaster,
found themselves unable to save or to
help, so swiftly had the torches of the
revelers done their work. Some one
darted into the chasm of fire, where the
dining-room once was, and dragged out
the singed body of Dudley. Most of his
comrades also had staggered into the
garden, but Vincent was not with them.
'Tn the Lord's name, where is Mr.
Vincent?" cried one of the servants;
"he will surely be burned alive!"
In the front rank of the crowd which
had gathered about the doomed Hall,
stood Peg Patton. gazing sternly into
the huge furnace.
"Where's the young scoundrel?" she
demanded: "in there?" pointing to the
house.
One of the rioters answered the
brown woman:
"He went upstairs to put a torch in
the cedar chamber?he hasn't come
down. In God's name," he continued.
"Why don't these Island boors go in
and save him? Look! look!"
At a window of the cedar chamber,
curtained now with smoke and fire, a
human figure suddenly appeared and
stood for a moment in plain view of the
crowd below. It was Vincent Hawkstone.
His face was deadly pale, and it wore
a dazed, stupefied look. The islanders
shouted to him. wildly:
"The porch!?step out on the stone
porch, sir, and we'll save you!"
He did not seem to hear. The handsome.
reckless face with the red-brown
curls and the wild blue eyes stared
blankly out through the gray, curling
smoke, then fell back and vanished.
With a cry. Peg Patton dashed into
the burning house, followed by a man
whom the crowd, in the general confusion.
had not yet noticed.
"Go back, sir!" implored Peg: "don't
you venture here?don't, risk your life
for the ingrate that has injured you in
every way possible. No! no! this is
too much! See, the stair is all ablaze
?you can't go up."
"He has injured me, God knows, but
I cannot leave him to burn, like a rat
in a hole!" answered Basil Hawkstone.
pushing her gently, but firmly, aside,
and shot up the stair.
Flames roared about him. Strong
timbers cracked and swayed. Blinded,
' half suffocated, he reached the landing.
Bursting, like a spectre from the black
smoke-shroud of the staircase, he. at
I its top, came suddenly face to face with
his cousin, Vincent Hawkstone.
I For one awful, never-to-be-forgotten
1 moment, the two. wrapped about In
darting, quivering fire, stood and look1
ed at each other. An appalling fear?a
* horror unspeakable?appeared in Vincent's
guilty eyes.
1 "Prince Lucifer!" he cried, hoarsely.
"God above! How came you here? You
are dead!?I saw you buried?I know
you are dead, for I killed you!"
Out came the confession, with a wild,
remorseful cry.
"You killed me?" echoed Basil Hawki
stone, sternly. "When?how?"
i "At Whithaven?that night of Madei
moiselle Zephyr's marriage. The wine
she gave you?there was death in it?
. poison enough to have ended a half
i dozen lives! Keep off! keep off! You
, have come from the grave to take
vengeance on me!"
? "Hold. Vincent! Mademoiselle gave
me no wine. There is some mistake.
' Did she let you think that you had
, murdered me?"
"Yes, yes!" he fairly shrieked. "She
[ swore that you drank it. and I follow
ed you to Whithaven. knowing that you
i would die by the time you reached this
- door."
! "Vincent, you are beside yourself!
The crime of my murder has been spar?
ed you. I am not dead, but alive. Feel
' my hand?I am here to save you"?
Hut with a yell of fear, that rose
i over all the roar of the flames, Vin.
cent Hawkstone leaped past the man
lie had tried to kill, and flung himself
? headlong down the burning stairs into
? the pit of tire below!
Prince Lucifer rushed after him.
f seized and dragged him out of the
? house.
' A cry of amazement burst from the
? islanders, as they saw emerging: from
the burning Hull, signed with flame
r and blackened with smoke, the master
whom they had just buried in the
Hawkstone vault, with Vincent sup,
ported in his arms.
Even hefore lie laid his kinsman on
f the ground. Prince Lucifer knew that
life was extinct. That mad plunge
t down the staircase had broken his neck,
i Peg Patton bent over him. and felt
f for the pulse that had ceased to beat.
"He's gone, sir." she said to the isi
land lord, who knelt beside the inert
! body, in full view of all the people
gathered around. "His accounts are
closed up!"
Hasil Hawkstone rose, anr* turned on
the awed and breathless islanders the
grand, authoritative face which they
knew and loved so well.
"It is I, friends!" he said. "Do not be
afraid of me?it is I, and not a spirit!
I have come back to you from the
grave."
And then, as they crowded tumultuously
about him, servants and dependents,
forgott'ng even the burning Hall
in their unbounded joy and amazement,
Peg Patton spread a cloth over Vincent
Hawkstone's dead face?over the fear
and remorse still stamped upon it, and
aided by Joe Derby, bore him away
from the trampling feet of the crowd.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Finis.
A year had passed away. Far off in
Continental Europe?in Vienna on the
Danube, a young and beautiful woman?an
equestrienne, whose fame was
in all men's mouths?had just met a
sudden and violent death in the circus
ring.
A font of unusual daring:?a falso
step, occasioned, inaybe. by the intoxicating
applause?a fall?an iron hoof
set In the white forehead, a rain of
blood-drops on the yellow hair, and the
triumphs of Jasper Hatton's fair young:
wife were over for ever.
The news traveled across the sea,
and reached the drawing-room of a
brown-stone front on Fifth Avenue, one
night, in the late October, when the
rain Mas out, and Mild Mind abroad.
"And so Mademoiselle Zephyr's career
Is over!" said George Sutton, as
he throughtfully smoothed the tigerskin
that M-as spread across his knees.
Miss Rokeuood, in a deep fauteuil on
the other side of a delightful wood-fire,
looked up M ith serious eyes. Her blonde
face u-ore graver, sadder lines than
Mhen M-e saM' it last. A favorite dog
lay beside her on a Kurdistan rug?she
patted his shaggy head, and answered:
"I believe that such love as that woman
had to give, Mas given, after all,
to Rasil Hau-kstone. Even her marriage
M'ith Hatton was a matter of
spite. She M"as a paradox?she hated
Prince Lucifer and she loved him."
"God forbid that we should see her
like again!" shuddered Sutton. "She
made mischief enough in her short day
? for you and me, as M'ell as for others,
Doris!"
"Yes," assented Miss RokeM'ood, and
then both looked gravely into the
sparkling M-ood-fire.
"Well, let bygones be bygones,"
growled Sutton, at last. "Hawkstone
has wellnigh completed a second Tempest
Hall on the site of the old one. If
this new abode lacks historic interest,
it will, at least, possess none of the
tragic associations of the former
house, and I am sure my secretary will
find fewer ghosts and goblins in it."
The words were hardly out, when the
mahogany door swung back on its
heavy hinges, and Jetta Ravenel, who
had served George Sutton as secretary
for the past year, glided into the apartment.
The two by the fire made room for
her. She was dressed in plain black,
and her rich southern beauty had suffered
nothing from the trials of the
past.
"My dear," said Sutton, gravely, "we
have received news tonight. The woman
who destroyed Gabriel is no
more." And he read aloud the cablegram.
There was a moment of silence. Miss
Rokewood's hand closed tenderly upon
Jetta's.
"As one looks back upon it," sighed
the blonde heiress, "how like a ghastly
dream it all seems!"
The tears glistened on Jetta's long
lashes.
"Ah, there are pleasant things mixed
with the sad ones," she answered. "Can
I forget how you hastened to the Inlet
House to find me. after the burning of
Tempest Hall? How you brought m$
to your own home?how Mr. Sutton received
me with unspeakable kindness,
and made me his private secretary, in
my poor, wretched Gabriel's place?"
"Pooh!" growled Sutton; "that only
shows my superior judgment, for you
have been the most faithful and indusr?nift
Mow that vour vear
of decorous retirement is over, and Basil
Hawkstone, on his
'Lone little isle,' "
grows impatient, and swears that his
claims shall no longer be set aside, the
question that appalls me is. Where shall
I find another like you?"
She looked at him
"With a smile on her lip, and a tear
in her eye,"
like the young female in "Lochinvar."
"You are very good"?she began to
say, when a footman opened the door
and announced Basil Hawkstone.
In came the island lord, strong,
bronzed, imposing, not at all like a
man who had been buried alive, and
escaped death, as by a miracle, only
one short year before.
"I see," said Sutton, as he looked up
into the face of his friend, "you, too,
have heard from Vienna?"
"Yes," replied Hawkstone, gravely.
"It was a short life and a merry one.
The fame for which she was ready to
secrinee an tilings euruuy win uuuani
her how long? A week?a month, maybe!"
He gave his hand to Jetta and Miss
Rokewood. The latter arose soon after
and said:
"It still lacks a half-hour to dinner. I
have time to visit Juno, who is ill today,
and I will take Mr. Sutton with
me. For my sake, he can tolerate even
a sick monkey."
Ward and guardian went out of the
drawing-room, and left the lovers
standing together before the fire.
He let his gray eyes dwell for a space
on her black-robed figure and pale,
drooping face, then he said, gravely:
"I have come for you, Jetta!"
The color rushed into her soft cheek.
"The new Hall is completed," he went
On. "11 IHCKS Il'HIHUK mm uui ci
tress. I bring you urgent messages
from Mrs. Otway, from our good friend,
Peg Patton, and from little Bee?they
all desire exceedingly your return to
the Tempest. For a year you have
been Vincent's widow?is not that long
enough? Have we not suffered enough,
Jetta ?"
She was in his arms before the last
words were out.
"Yes, yes," she faltered, "I am yours!
Take me hack to the dear, gray island.
Basil?I love no other place as well."
THOMAS W. LAWSON.
They were married a week later, and
went away to their little kingdom in
the sea, and George Sutton was again
left without a secretary.
"I have lost Miss Ravenel," he said
to his ward, "and soon I shall lose you,
also. You have a score of lovers?at
no distant day you will choose one from
the many, and I shall be left sick, miserable
and alone."
She shook her head.
"I shall never leave you. guardy?I
am done with lovers."
"Fiddlesticks!" he scoffed. "I hope
you are not wasting your heart on the
memory of Gabriel Ravenel!"
"No, indeed!" she answered; "that
episode seems immensely far away. It
tires me now to recall it."
"And is there no other for whom you
care, Doris?" he urged.
"None but you, guardy," she answered,
with placid sweetness. "I mean to
stay witn you, nnci tune cure 01 you ?u
long as we both live."
Into his thin, yellow face flashed a j
swift brightness. He leaned toward
her over the arm of his invalid chair. *
"You cannot do that without invlt- J
ing much comment. Being a selfish
fellow, I would fain hold you by strong- ^
chains, Doris; but how can I?how
c
dare I ask a vigorous young creature
like you to give up her life to a querulous,
exacting invalid? Ah, no, I must (
not; I will not, even though you are the
only thing that I love in all the world!"
With ajlttle tremor in her voice, a
little shifting color in her cheek, she
answered:
"I shall stay with you till you drive
me away, guardy, whether you condescend
to ask me or not."
He lifted her face and looked into
her calm, serious eyes.
"Then stay, as my wife, child, not as
my ward!"
She put her strong young hand in his
weak, nervous one.
"Just as you please, guardy," she an- "
swered, serenely; "your wishes are
mine."
So, to the infinite astonishment of society,
Doris Rokewood married her sick
guardian.
When the test of time had been applied
to the strange union, the world
was forced to admit that the two were
singularly happy?absurdly devoted to
each other. Away in seagirt Tempest
Hall, Jetta Hawkstone, with a fair lit- *
tie son at her knees, said to her husband:
"And why should they not be happy?
Life cannot be a frenzy and a fever to
all of us."
"True," he answered, and bent and .
covered her face with his swift kisses. .
THE END. t
? Washington. February 6: That r
Charles A. Stillings, public printer, r
whom President ltoosevelt suspended 1
Wednesday, conducted the depart- c
ment from an office that a king might }
envy probably will be among the t
charges to be investigated by the r
joint congressional committee, of r
which Representative Landis is chairman.
Chairman Landis says that
when he went to see W. S. Rosslter,
acting public printer, this afternoon,
he found himself ushered into a room
fitted with costly, massive furniture,
hung with expensive pictures and
appointed with an elegance little in
keeping with a printing and binding
plant. Among other reports that
probably will be looked into is one
that the public printer surrounded
himself with such pomp that persons
wanting to see him had to make appointments
days ahead. Then it is
said, they had to run a gauntlet of
uniformed flunkies. Other reports
that may be inquired into are: That
it has cost the government $50 to
turn out a job which commercial
houses would do for $15. That 45
cents a pound has been paid for
quanities of inks worth less than 20
cents a pound. That the storerooms
of the government printing office contain
more paper stock than under
other administrations was used up in
half a dozen years. On recommendation
of acting printer Rosslter, President
Roosevelt today canceled the
$120,000 contract with the Audit
System, of New York, for a cost-ascertaining
method. The Audit System
is given six days to get out. Representative
Landis says that the Audit
System as it has been installed and
operated in Washington "is a gold *
brick thinly plated with the genuine f
sum.
Goveknmbnt ox Bio City.?We people
of the "provinces" think we know
something about taxation, but we
don't. Wm. J5. Curtis writes the Chicago
Record-Herald that the cost of
running the city government of New
York this year will be #143,572,266?
nno.fnnrth the enst of I ho erovern
merit of the United States?which ,
means a per capita exjien.se of $36 '
for every man. woman and child of f
i the city or an average of about $150 r
a family. The interest charge is more .
than $24,000,000 annually, which is
nearly as much as the cost of run- '
ning the city of Chicago and only a 1
few thousand dollars less than the in- t
tevest accounts of the national government.
New York is a large town, f
enjoying all the modern inconvenien- 1
ces, and it will be seen from the fig- ?
ures above that it costs a pretty penny
to make the wheels go "round."?
Charlotte Observer. t
ALL GENUINE YEGGMEN.
rhe Five Safe Blowers Recently Captured
at Van Wyck.
rilEV ARE WANTED FOR MANY CRIMES
Complete Story of How the Men Were
Caught?Postoffice Inspectors Have
Their Records?They Robbed the
Postoffice at Dunn, N. C., and Also
Blew Safes In South Carolina?Trial
at Raleigh, N. C.
lohn T. Meehan in Charlotte Observer.
I^inrastrr Fehmnrv 11.?In charsre
)f United States deputy marshals, and
iccompanied by Postofflce Inspectors
3. T. Gregory, M. O. Halverstadt and
T. W. Bulla, the gang of professional
lafe-blowers recently captured at Van
SVyck, in this county, were taken from
he county jail today and carried to
Saleigh, X. C., to await trial at the l
day term of the United States court
it Raleigh, on a charge of burglarizing
he postofflce at Dunn, Harnett county,
'forth Carolina, on the night of Decem>er
28th, 1907. This bunch of "yeggs"
s as follows: J. T. Leonard, Charlie
tVllllams, James Scanlon, C. F. Shaw
ind Henry S. Hallan. The preliminary
tearing in the Dunn case was held at
Lancaster on January 30th and the renoval
of the men to Raleigh was unler
the direction of United States Marihal
J. D. Adams, upon an order slgn:d
by Judge William H. Brawley of
Charleston, S. C.
The capture of these professional
:racksmen was effected In a most senlatlonal
and fearless manner on the
svening of January' 8th by nine citizens
>f Van Wyck, viz: J. A. Hyatt, T. R.
Thompson, J. C. Stames, D. F. Stames, ,
iValter Starnes, S. H. Ezzell, Ben Godrey,
Junle McGuirt and Cecil Yoder.
The "yeggs" were heavily armed and
tad with them up-to-date safe-crack- i
ng equipment sufficient to "puff" a half
lozen safes, a grip which they carried 1
:ontalning nitro-glycerine, dynamite,
lynamlte caps, fuses, laundry soap,
ools, pocket maps, etc.
O/ December 11th Inspectors Gregory
and Halverstadt sent out a confilential
circular letter to postmasters ;
n South Carolina. Including the postnaster
at Van Wyck, warning them to
>e on the lookout for suspected postof- 1
Ice burglars and advising them as to
vhat action to take in case any of these i
mspects should appear in their vicinties,
a description of two of the sus- i
>eets accompanying the letter. The
>OBtmaster at Van Wyck communicated <
o the merchants of that town the in- i
ormatlon contained in the letter and
heir prompt and effective pction In the
:ase of the above named parties re- t
mlted therefrom.
The five men appeared at Osceola, S.
?., on the morning of January 8th, gong
in the direction of Van Wyck. They
:reated suspicion and their presence
vas reported to Mr. J. A. Hyatt, post- :
naster at Van Wyck. The men reached
1-Vah Wyck between 4 and 5 o'clock
>n the same afternoon, three of them i
:ontinuing doivn the railroad past the
itution, while Leonard and Williams
itopped and purchased some food at i
he store of Massey, Hyatt & Co. They
ilso entered two other stores, that of i
Thompson Bros, and Yoder Bros., the
)ostofflce being located in the latter
itore. Leonard was observed to be
aklng a thorough survey of the sitmtion.
After making their purchases
he two men left Van Wyck, walking in
he direction that their companions had j
rone. One of the three men who passed
hrough the town without stopping carled
a valise.
Immediately after the departure of i
Leonard and Williams the postmaster i
inrl r?thpr citizens of Van Wvck began
retting1 a posse together to effect their
:apture. From the engineer on the
lorthbound train it was learned that
he five men were about one mile south
>f the station, sitting on the ground
leur the railroad track. Shortly aftervard
it was learned through a section
oreman that the men had gone out
roni the railroad into a ravine, where
hey had built a campfire and were
ating supper. The posse of nine |
nen, well armed, proceeded to a point
tear the place where the men were in
tiding and here they separated, three
>f the posse making a detour around a
till so as to (lank the men should they
ry to make their escape. The other
nembers of the posse remained in the
ailroad cut until their companions had
aken up their position, then they came
tut, crawled up the high embankment
tveilooking the ravine and ordered the
ive men to surrender. The men got up
>'ery slowly and then started off in the
tpposite direction, but finding themlelves
confronted on that side and facng
dangerous looking guns they turned
ind came out to the railroad in single
He. With their hands in the air, the
ive men were marched to a point in the
:ut, where they were disarmed, a 38:alibre
revolver being taken from
Leonard, Williams and Scanlon, and a
12-calibre revolver from Shaw, all lat st
improved weapons and loaded all
iround. Halian, who is a one-armed
nan, had no revolver. Leonard carried
he small valise, which was locked, in
lis left hand. i
The men were taken very much by
lurprise when they ascertained that
here were but nine men In the posse,
rhey evidently thought that the woods
vere full of men as Leonard remarked.
vhile they were being searched: "Genlemen,
we thought there were too
nany against us or we would have giv n
you buttle."
After being disarmed, the men were
narched to the store of Massey, Hyatt
5: Go., where a posse stood guard over
hem until morning. On reaching the
store Leonard remarked: "Gentlemen,
'or the good of us and yourselves and
he building please handle that valise
:arefully." At the request of a mem>er
of the guard. Leonard produced a
cey and the satchel was unlocked and
he contents examined. By way of explanation
of his previous remark,
Leonard stated that he had some ma
erials in the grip for blasting in wells
ind granite quarries. A small tobacco
<ack containing cartridges was taken
>ff Leonard, Williams and Scanlon. The
nen were not given a thorough searchtig
and during the night Leonard and
Williams suddenly threw something ino
the stove, the latter remarking, "I
ruess I'd better get rid of that now."
>onard and Williams, separately and
iccompanied by guards, went to an
nitbuilding and later it was discovered
hat one of them while in this place had
enough explosives were contained In
the satchel to blow to smithereens a
half-dozen big safes.
Shaw and Hallan were photographed
without any strenuous objections and
Leonard was Anally persuaded to sit
i fcr a photograph, but Williams and
Scanlon closed their eyes and distorted
their features to such an extent that
satisfactory photographs of them could
not be had. Later fairly good photoi
graphs of both were obtained without
their knowledge.
On January 10th Inspector Halverstadt
swore out a warrant for the five
men charging them with the burg
torn up a pocket map of South Carolina,
which has since been secured by Inspector
Gregory.
The postmaster telephoned to Waxhaw,
N. C., to have Information concerning
the capture of the men telegraphed
to Inspector Halverstadt, while
Messrs. Hyatt and J. C. Starnes, observing
extraordinary diligence walked
to Catawba, S. C., aroused the telegraph
operator and wired Inspector
Halverstadt the news of the capture
from there. Inspectors Halverstadt and
Gregory were in Columbia on the 9th
and the news of the capture reached
them at that city and they left immediately
for Lancaster.
On the morning of January 9th the
prisoners, in charge of Messrs. Hyatt.
Thompson and J. C. Starnes of the
posse, were driven to Springdale, a station
on the Southern railway, where
the train was boarded for Lancaster,
the men being lodged in the county jail
at that place to await the arrival of the
government inspectors, the arms, ammunition,
safe-cracking apparatus, etc,,
being delivered to the sheriff. Inspectors
Gregory' and Halverstadt reached
Lancaster about 9.30 that night and
proceeded with the examination of the
men. which lasted until about 7 o'clock
the following morning.
The prisoners were brought before
the Inspectors, one at a time, in a lower
room of the Jail, stripped and examined
and nuestioned as to their places
of residence, recent movements, etc.,
each man after examination being removed
to a separate cell, where he
could not communicate with his companions.
Before they were returned to
the heavy steel cell In which they were
at first placed the cell was thoroughly
searched, a razor being found secreted
behind the cage, a pocket knife under
~ nnnthon l/nifa in fho nflH
a |Miiwvv aim aiivmci r\uur. u* j/mv?
ding of the bed quilt.
The officers asked each man if he
had been to certain towns in South
and North Carolina, where recent robberies
had been committed by the
blowing: open of safes, and all entered
positive denials. Leonard and Williams
were stubborn and answered very
few questions. Hallan did considerable
talking:, but refused to say in what
towns or cities he had recently been
and said he could give no references
which would do either himself or the
inspectors any good. He said he had
been tramping since November 1st and
had had no occupation save that of
selling lend pencils.
When Shaw was brought in Inspector
Gregory immediately recognized
him and said, "Why, hello, Frank, I
didn't expect to find you here." The
recognition was mutual and Shaw replied,
"And I didn't expect to see you
here, either, Mr. Gregory'." Inspector
Gregory had on a previous occasion
been interested in securing the conviction
of Shaw, under the alias of Frank
Short, and the latter had been out of
the South Carolina penitentiary less
than one year after having served a
seven-year term for blowing a safe at
Peak, Lexington county, S. C. Shaw
talked very freely, swearing that he had
only got with this gang the day before
his arrest and said that his intentions
were to go on to Atlanta as soon as he
could catch a train. He said that after
finishing work on the government pier
at the Jamestown exposition in August
he worked for a street car company until
the middle of November and that he
remained at Norfolk until after Christmas,
when he left to come south. It
was learned that he had for months
been hanging out and getting his meals
at one of the most notorious joints in
Norfolk, a regular "stall" for crooks,
the proprietor himself being an ex-convict
and had been indicted two years
ago for conspiracy to burglarize a postoffice
in Virginia.
Shaw was tried at the February,
1900, term of the criminal court at Lexington
county, S. C\, for blowing a safe
in the depot at Peak. He was given
seven years at hard labor in the South
Carolina state penitentiary. During his
imprisonment he made an effort to escape
by cutting: through the bars in
the knitting mill at this prison, for
which act he forfeited all claim for
commutation of sentence under the
good-behavior rule. He was discharged
from the penitentiary on February 23d,
1907, but was immediately arrested upon
a warrant sworn out by Postofflce
Inspector Gregory charging him with
burglary of the postofflce at Plymouth,
N. C., on June 13th, 1898, He was turned
over to Sheriff W. J. Jackson of Plymouth,
and taken to that place for
trial. Shaw, or Short, managed to play
upon the sympathies of the people of
Plymouth to such an extent, by telling
them that he desired to straighten
up and lead an honest life in the future,
that they raised a purse for his defense
and local sentiment was so strong
in his favor that the warrants against
him were withdrawn and he was allowed
to go. Before his discharge Shaw
promised Inspector Gregory that he
would henceforth lead an honest life
and that he would never again have
occasion to bring him before the courts.
He later wrote air. uregoiy sevemi liters.
confirming his promises, and it is
said that Shaw has since been presented
with an overcoat by Mr. Gregory.
Scanlon. the last of the men to be
examined, refused to come down stairs
and had to be brought down by main
force. He answered but very few questions,
principally denying that he had
visited any of the towns called off to
him by the inspectors in which recent
burglaries had occurred.
All of the men wore fairly good
clothes, although their shoes showed
signs of rough living. All had watches
and money. Private marks on the various
articles of wearing apparel showed
that they had visited Charlotte, Atlanta.
Greenville, S. C.. a number of
Georgia towns. New York city, and Virginia
cities.
The valise contained the following
articles, making one of the most complete
safecracking equipment ever taken
off a gang of "yeggs" in this section
of the country; two bottles of nitroglycerine,
a half-pint hottle about half
filled with nitro-glycerine, a package of
fuses with dynamite caps auacneu, a
cull of fuse, two pieces of fuse with
dynamite caps affixed, eleven dynamite
caps, a spool of black thread, two coils
of picture wire, a cake of laundry soap,
a gauze used in extracting nitro-glycerine
from dynamite, a candle, metal
tweezers, long-blade knife, a steel
wedge, a bottle of turpentine, a bottle
of Jamaica ginger, a pocket map of
North Carolina, railroad folders, etc.
This includes absolutely every thing
necessary in blowing a safe, and
lary or the postomces at seneca ana
Pelzer, S. C. The warrants were
sworn out before United States Comr
mlssiouer Moore at Lancaster .and he
held them under bond of $10,000 each,
the preliminary trial being1 set for Januury
30th. The men, of course, could
not furnish bond and were placed in
Jail to await preliminary examination.
On January 13th Inspector Gregory
swore out a warrant before Magistrate
Caskey of Ijineaster. charging the men
with having a safeblowing equipment
In their possession. The statute under
which this warrant was issued was enacted
by the South Carolina legislature
in 1907, through the Instrumentality
of Inspector Gregory, and provides
punishment in the discretion of the
court and the maximum sentence-could
be thirty years at hard labor in the
state penitentiary. The punishment in
this state for safe-blowing is life imprisonment,
except where the jury
makes a recommendation to the mercy
, of the court, in which case the judge
mav fix Dunishment from ten years up.
The robbery of the postofflce at Dunn,
N. C., on the night of December 28th,
. 1807, was investigated by Postofflce Inspectors
J. W. Bulla and H. B. Mosby
of the Washington division, and they
developed a strong case against the
five men arrested at Van Wyck and
about two weeks after the above mentioned
warrants were Issued they went
to Lancaster and swore out a warrant
before United States Commissioner
Moore charging Leonard, Williams,
Scanlon, Shaw and Hallaq with the
Dunn robbery.
In order that the nine citizens of Van
Wyck who effected the capture of these
men might secure the reward of $200
each for the five men offered by the
government, Solicitor Henry waived the
right of this state to prior jurisdiction.
In the event of failure to convict any
of these men at Raleigh, which is very
Improbable in view of the evidence In
the hands of the postofflce Inspectors,
they will be brought back to Lancaster
to stand trial on the charge of having
In their possession safecracking equipment,
on which charge Magistrate
Caskey committed them on January 30,
In default of 110,000 bail each.
In the burglary of the postofflce safe
; at Dunn, the robbers secured about $2,000
in money and stamps, about $1,40C
of the money taken being the personal
property of the postmaster, Mr. Wilson.
Although the door of the safe was
blown clear of its fastenings not a
sound of the explosion was heard by
any of the residents of the town. Inspectors
Bulla and Mosby succeeded in
tracing tne movements or Leonara ana
his four pals to Dunn prior to the robbery,
as well as their movements to
a certain extent for about a week
thereafter, and they will be able to account
for the disposition of the money
which was secured through this robbery.
Past Records.
While the inspectors have not yet
succeeded in collecting the complete
criminal history of these five men, it
is morally certain that all have been
connected with safe-cracking gangs
which have operated in the south and
east and before the trial takes place in
Raleigh a pretty complete record of
each man will doubtless be in the possession
of the government's agents.
C. F. Shaw, alias "Frank Short,"
alias "Missouri Shorty," is a former
member of the famous Nolan gang,
which operated extensively in the south
several years ago. Convicted February
23d, 1900, in state courts of South
Carolina for blowing a safe in the station
at Peak, S. C., on June 13th, 1898.
Wanted for burglarizing safes in following
postofflees: Drake's Branch,
Va.; Waverly, Va.. Rustburg, Va.;
Murfreesboro, X. C.; Plymouth, N. C.
He was a pal of Joe Jones, alias "Montreal
Frenchy," who was sent to the
South Carolina penitentiary.
Charlie Williams, although not personally
known to Inspector Gregory,
was recognized by him through a
photograph taken about six years
ago. His right name is Thomas Edwin
Wilson and he is a native of South
Carolina, his parents residing about
six miles from Pelzer, S. C. His
"yegg" name is "Pelzer Eddie" and
he began his criminal career about
six years ago when he and William
Groff, alias "John D. Rockefeller,"
were arrested and tried for burglary
of the postofflce at Welford. He was
acquitted on that trial but his associate
was convicted. Later he co-operated
with professional safeblowers
and picked out some jobs for them,
Including the postofflce at King's
Mountain, X. C., which was robbed
in 1902 by Gus DeFord and Charles
Howard. As Ed Wilson, alias "Perzer
Eddie," he stands indicted in the United
States circuit court, district of South
Carolina, for the robbery of the postoffice
at Clemson college, this state,
on September 11th, 1902, together
with Charles Howard, alias "Dutch,"
and James Johnson, alias "Portland
Xed." He escaped from the chaingang
in Miller county, Georgia, last fall,
while serving a sentence of one year.
The prior criminal records of Leon
ard, Hallan and Scanlon have not as
yet been fully ascertained. Leonard
has "J. M. D." tattooed on one of his
arms and these are probably his correct
initials. Scanlon. who made such
a persistent fight against being photographed
and against exposing his face
to view, is thought to be wanted for
some serious crime. It Is not at all
improbable that he is in reality none
other than John P. Dunn, a member
of a gang which operated in the west
several years ago, who is wanted at
Clarksville, Ark., for the murder of
a sheriff in 1902. He not only answers
the description of Dunn in general
respects but has a gun shot wound in
his thigh at about the same place as
the one called for in the description
of Dunn. Dunn and two pals burglarized
a bank in Clarksville, Ark., in
1902, and killed the sheriff who was
, trying to prevent the rcbbery. Before
receiving the fatal wound the sheriff
shot Dunn in the thigh but he escaped
and went to Wichita, Kan., where he
entered a hospital for treatment, subsequently
escaping from there. He
was last heard from two years ago in
California. There is a reward of $2,000
for his capture. His two pals were
captured and hung.
Descriptions.
J. T. Leonard.?American, white.
Crime charged, safe blowing and possession
of burglar's tools. Age about
35; height, 6 feet 1 1-2 inches;
weight, 172 pounds. Build, medium
slender and round shouldered. Complexion
medium dark, cheeks rosy.
of North Carolina, nis nome uemg ui
Greensboro, while Mr. Halverstadt is
an Ohioan. Inspector Bulla, who worked
up the case against the five men
for the Dunn burglary, is connected
with the Washington division, and
while not so well known in this section,
is said to be a man of good detective
qualities and a persistent worker.
Realizing the benefits that South
Carolina has derived from the two
specific statutes for dealing with safe
blowers. Inspector Gregory has made
some effort toward having other
southern states enact similar laws.
This matter has been brought to the
attention of Hon. Charles T. Lasalter,
Senator from Dinwiddle county, Va..
with the view of having the present
session of the Virginia legislature enact
legislation on this line and the
same will be taken up this year by
Inspector Gregory with the legislatures
of North Carolina and Georgia.
The Fede?al laws are not adequate
and if states would be rid of this class
of criminals, which is considered
among the most dangerous of all, it
is absolutely necessary that they enact
laws of such stringency as will
keep them out of their borders.
Teeth, good; two missing on upper
left side and one on upper right side.
Hair, dark brown and thick. Eyes,
dark brown. Nose, regular. Chin,
broad. Face, medium full, cheek
bones prominent, mustache brown.
Tattoo marks in blue ink; right forearm,
back; cross, hand and word
"Faith;" left forearm, side: heart,
anchor and cross; right forearm, inside;
ballet girl over initials "J. M.
D." left forearm, back: clasped hands
and heart: left forearm, inside: few
traces of the beginning of design;
breast; prison window with woman
looking out through bars. Scars; left
forearm three large circular scars
between wrist and the tattoo designs;
two large circular scars on right shin.
Charlie Williams. ? American,
white. Crime charged, safe blowing
and possession of burglar's tools. Age
between 23 and 28; height, 5 feet
8 3-4 inches; weight 142 pounds.
Build, slender and round shouldered.
Complexion, fair. Teeth, good; one
small gold filling in an upper front
tooth. Hair, dark yellow. Eyes, hazel.
Nose, medium and pointed. Chin,
broad. Face, medium full. Beard,
clean shaven. Scars; large scar on
right chin; two small light colored
moles on right cheek. Tattoo marks,
in blue ink; left forearm, inside;
large cross entwined by a vine and
bearing Inscription. "In memory of my
mother," with rays of rising sun at
top of cross and flowers on vine In
fed Ink.
Jaines Scanlon.?American, white.
Crime charged, safe blowing and possession
of burglar's tools. Age between
38 and 43 years; height, G feet
9 3-4 inches; weight 1G1 pounds.
jBulld, medium stout and round shouldered.
Complexion, medium dark.
Teeth, fair; one gold tooth, upper
front to left of centre. Hair, brown
and thin, bald at front. Eyes, blue
gray. Nose, large. Chin, broad. Pace,
medium full. Beard, clean shaven.
Scars: Front of right thigh, near
groin, round circular indentation,
possibly a gun-shot wound; left
cheek, colored wart.
C. F. Shaw, alias "Frank Short,"
alias "Frank Taylor," alias "Missouri
Shorty." ? American, white. Crime,
charged, safe blowing and possession
of burglar's tools. Age, 40 years;
height, 5 feet 6 3-4 inches; weight,
120 pounds. Build, short and medium
Slender. Complexion, sandy. Teeth
fair, tobacco stained, some missing on
both sides. Hair, light brown, thin
and bald In front. Eyes light brown.
Nose, regular and broad. Chin, medium
thin. Mustache, light brown.
Scars: Two on right forearm; one on
each knee; back of right leg, long irregular
raised formation; right side
of nose flesh colored mole.
Henry S. Hallan.?American, white.
Crime charged, safe blowing and possession
of burglar's tools. Age 37 to
40 years; height; 5 feet 9 1-2 inches;
weight 140 pounds. Build, medium
slender and rather straight, slightly
round shouldered. Complexion florid.
Teeth fair, some missing on both sides.
Hair, light and slightly gray, thin on
top and slightly bald at front. Eyes,
gray. Nose, thick and rather short.
Chin, medium broad. Face, full. Beard, .
clean shaven. Scars: Right arm off at
shoulder; few scatering scars on claves
of legs.
Recent Operations.
t/UllllB lUC pool iuux muiivno eaiigo
of "yeggs" have been operating extensively
in almost every section of
the United States, although their
"hauls" have not been so large as
those recorded in this section about
six years ago, when Nolan-McKlnleyJohnson-Fisher,
et al, were operating
through the Carolinas. The South
Carolina statute providing life imprisonment
for the use of explosives
in .blowing open a safe, except upon
recommendation to mercy in which instance
the lowest sentence that may
be imposed Is ten years, has proved of
great value, giving this state- ymsUcal
immunity from the professional safe
blowers for a period of more than
two and a half years. The first and
only case tried since this statute was
enacted was tried at Lancaster, John
Fisher, alias "Connecticut Shorty,"
and Charles O'Day alias "Missouri
Charley," being convicted and given
sentences of fifteen years each in the
state penitentiaiy. One juror, who was
a brother of the proprietor of the
house at Wadesboro, N. C., where
fisher and O'Day were kept for a
while after they were so severely shot
in their capture near "J'esvllle, N. C.,
held the jury for six hours, forcing
the other 11 men to make a recommendation
for mercy. In passing sentence
the judge said that he considered
the severe wounds inflicted upon
both men at the time of their capture
as being equivalent of five years' imprisonment,
therefore, he gave each
fifteen years instead of twenty, which
he said he would otherwise have imposed.
The crime with which Fisher
and O'Day were charged was the blowing
of the safe of the Springs Banking
and Mercantile company, at Heath
Springs, S, C., on the night of March
31 at, 1905. From the date of this
crime until November 11th, 1907,
there was not a single case of safe
blowing In this state. Since that date
the following safes have been "puffed"
In this and neighboring states, and
this is only a partial list:
Store of R. A. Ellison, near NinetySix,
S. C., November 11th; postofflce,
Seneca. S. C., November 14th; postoffice.
Mauldin, S. C., November 29th;
postofflce, Peizer, S. C., December
2nd; store, Grover, N. C., latter part of
November: postofflce, Dallas, Ga.,
December 10th; bank, Sharon, Ga.,
December 11th: store. Ruby, S. C.,
December 20th; postofflce, Uptonvllle.
Ga., December 20th; postofflce, Dunn.
N. C., December 28th.
Since the arrest of the five men at
Van Wyck and two men, George Barton
and J. P. Eaker. at Augusta, Ga.,
there has been a kind of dearth of
crimes of this kind in this section and
it is probable that there will not be
many "blowings" until another gang
can get down here and size things
up. However. Barton, one of the men
arrested at Augusta, who is charged
with attempted burglary of the bank
of Sharon, made his escape from the
Fulton county jail, Atlanta, on the
night of February 2nd, together with
John Warner, who was confined there
for murder under sentence to be hung.
The night jailer. James Brown, and
two trusties. Joe Williams and John
Graves, have been indicted by the
Fulton grand jury for complicity In
the escape of these two criminals.
While a number of safes in the Carolinas
were blown, as noted above,
the operations of the two gangs In
this section the past year covered a
period of less than two months and
the fact that their plans were "nipped
in the bud" so soon is due to the vigilance,
foresight and "heady" work of
Postofflce Inspectors Gregory and Halverstadt.
While the latter is not so well
known in this section of the country
as is Mr. Gregory, he is one of the very
best men in the United States secret
service, and these two hitched up together
will be able to make it warm
for professional criminals on any and
all occasions. Mr. Gregory is a native