Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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V.XLII. Nea an ThEs. VOL.I. NO. 107 NEWBERRY. S. C.. TUESDAY AUGUST 29, 1905. TWICE A WEEK. $1.50 YEAR A NEW TURN IN DIS- t PENSARY FIGHT IN UNION s li PROHIBITIONISTS WILL BE hi HEARD li( ti( A New Mox4e in the Union Dispen- nc sary Case-Apparent Scheme to ed Thwart People's Will Blocked. th le, The State. oT Union, Aug. 26.-T:e fight to put in out the dispensary in this county took ti( a new turn today. or It has been generally reported and ac believed that 'the dispensers and coun ty board of control would not answer in the rule to show cause, issued by ar Judge Townsend and made returnable jo: Monday, September 4th, thus making qt the injunction permanent to keep to open the dispensaries. in In view of this the prohibilionists th' eImployed as attorneys Ben F. Town- ra send and Hydrick and Sawyer, and tri they today appeared before Judge do Townsend, who issued an order sa making County Supervisor Beten- lai baugh. E. C. 1owze and Joseph Sanders, parties defendant in the ac- yC tion referred to. with leave to file ra and serve answer to the complaint tv Therein, and generally to litigate all tic issues that may arise. an The papers on file are as follows: st; "Ex-parte T. J. Betenbaugh, E. C. an Howze and Joseph Sanders, petition- co ers, in re C. Barnett, plaintiff, vs. R. M. Fincher et al., defendapts. fo "To Hon. D. A. Townsend. Judge fe; Seventh Circuit. le, "The petition of the above named a petitioners r'espec-tfully shows to the he court: to "ist. That they are qualified voters n, and taxpayers -of the county aforesaid. ca "2nd. That on the 15th day of be August, 1905, an election was duly tic and legally held in said county of Union, having been ordered by th'e fo supervisor upon the peEition of one fourth of th.e qualified voters thereof, it on the question of 'dispensary' or 'no j. dispensary' in accordance with th-e ep statute of this state, in such cases -it made and prov.ided, 'being act No. ar 276 of the statutes of South Carolina th found on pages 485 to 487 of the 24th fil volume of said statutes approved the pl 25th day of February, A. D. 1904. to That said el'ection was duly and 2 legally ordered and duly and legally u .held and a majority of the qualified r elec:urs of said county voting at su said election voted in favor of 'no dispensary.' That the result of said election was duly declared by the " county board of canvassers for said county on August 22nd, 195 to be in favor of 'no dispensary,' and that ti< according to the said act, upon the B, declaration of the result of said elec- E tion as aforesai.d, the dispensaries of d< said county should have be.en closed. E "3rd. That the above entitled ac- o1 tion has been commenced by the fc plaintiff above named for the pur- de pose of obtaining an injunction p'er- m petually enjoining the defendamts w from closing the dispensaries in said el county and a temporary restrainig order and rule to show cause was h; issued therein on the 22nd day af I m September, 1905, and is mrade re- Iti turnable on the 4th day of Septem-h ber, 19o5. "4th. That the, defendants C. 0. May, J. C. Howell and J. R. Askew are dispensers in said county and re- *h ceive compen:,ation for running said d: dispensar?.es, and they are interested w in keeping said dispensaries open, and jt rhe other defendants are members of b< - the county board of control for saidjs county: and receive compensation for as thleir services as such, and they are w also interested in keeping said dis- p: pensaries open; that your petitioners tc are informed and 'believe that the de- g fendants b.eing so interested, as afore- si said, are willing and desirous that h the plaintiff shall obtain the relief fi .hih he pray for, and your peti- h ners are informed and believe that )ne of them will defend said action, it that 'they will either allow the me to go by default or will so col de with the plaintiff as to assist m all they can to obtain the re If which he seeks. That your peti )ners are informed and believe tha: >ne of the defendants have employ counsel to defend said action and at notwithstanding counsel able and irned in the law have on account the public interest in the question volved offered to defend said ac )n for some of them without fee reward, such offer has not been cepted. "5th. That the questions involved said action and th'e object thereof e of general interest to a great ma rity of th.e citizens, 'Eaxpayers and alified electors of said county, and your petitioners., as such, who are :erest.ed as such and desire -ro see e issues therein raised and to be ised fairly presented and properly ed, -to the end that justice may be ne in the premises and the dispen ries clos'ed in accordance with the "That upon iTiformation and belief ur petitioners allege that the ope tion of the dispensaries in said coun will increase the burdens of taxa mn; That they are and will be nuis ces in violation of the law of the ite and detrimental to the health d moials of the citizens of said untv. "Wherefore, your petitioners pray r an order making them parties de idantE to said action and giving them tve to answer the complaint and file return to the rule to show cause retofore issued by your honor and litigate as defendants all issues that ay arise in the progress df said use and for suc-r other relief as may just and equitable, and your peti mers will, ever pray," etc. Judge TOwnsend then issued the lowing order: "Upon reading the annexed petition is ordered that the petitioners, T. Betenbaugh, E. C. Howze, and Jos h Sanders, have leave to file said pe ion herein and that they be and they e hereby made parties defendant in e above stated action with leave to e and serve an answer to the com aint therein, and a return to the rule show cause issued by me on the nd of August, 1905, and made re rnable on the 4th day of September, o, and generally to litigate all is es that may arise therein. (Signed) "D. A. Townsend, "Judge Seventh Judicial District. Et Chambers, Union, S. C., Aug. 26, 1905. The men who had been made par is defendant are County Supervisor etenbaugh, who ordered the election, .C. H'owze, a well known stock aler. and Joseph Sanders, a West nd merchant. Just what will be the itcome *of the hearing cannot 'be recasted, but the prohibitionists are 'termined to use every honorable eans at their disposal to see that the ill of the people, as expressed in The ection, is carried out. The .county board of control was to e met today, but postponed their eeting without taking any action un Inext Friday, three days before the ~arg. Having Fun After Death. A humorist in Japan who jested all s life told his friends when he was ying that his 'body was not 'to be ashed after death, but was to b,e .ken at once to the family temple to cremated. When hbe died his in :ructions were followed. As soon it was set on fire 'the mourners ere astonished by several loud ex [osions. At first they were inclined >take to their heels, but curiosity t the better of fear, and careful in ection showed that the humorist ad' stowed away a large number of recrackers about his person before is deth. THE DISPENSARY STILL IN THE PUBLIC EYE PROCEEDINGS BEFORE COM- a MITTEE THURSDAY. t Mixon Produces Letters-That Big t Purchase of Labels.-Compro mising Shortages-Gunter t Denies Fant's Statement. r It was a sort of double-barrel gun that was used at the dispensary inves- a tigation on Thursday, says the Co- v lumbia correspondent of -the News and Courier. One of 'the barrels was t loaded by the committee on the busi ness management, and the second by r that on county dispeisaries. When t one of the barrels would get hot the s other was used for a while to let the h cooling process go on. i Perhaps the most important de- I velopment on Thursday was the s ir- t render of business letters between J. W. Kelley & Co., who sold o'y i about $30,000 worth of liquor to -e c dispensary in a year, and their stAte i agent, Col. F. M. Mixson. Col. Mixson made a good fight, but c the committee was in no humor to 'e s bluffed. By resolution the com;t tee unanimously decided that unless the letters were presentd that Mixon 3 would have to go to jail, until he r purged himself by presenting the lct- I ters. or got out in some legal way. Col. Mixson bucked to the finish, but I when the commitment was served on v him he submitted. He said he had no f money with which to fight, that he t could no t afford to go to jail, and, as v the committee insisted on sending him e to jail or getting the letters, there s was nothing left for him-to d- but r surrender the letters under protest, I as an interference with personal af fairs. 1 Whatever these letters show, if anything, would be apart from and to itself, and unlike the alleged Lanahan offer of cash to Col. Mixson for a slice of dispensary melon. Col. Mix son swears under oath that Mr. S. J. Lanahan offered him $30,000 cash for $400,000 worth of purchases, and Mr. Lanahan insists that this is false t and that he never made such an offer. t Go a step further. Suppose the offer had been accepted, and the cash actu ally paid. and Col. Mixson told of that. It would again be purely a matt?br between two men. The one denying and The other affirming. and therein is what many suggest is the real focus of the difficulties of any investigation of the dispensary, that what will develop some say is t-he marrow.1 Division Chief Fant, of the constabulary force made some sensational statements. A good deal of it was hearsay,and this is unfor-- I tunate, but perhaps it is just as well for everything to come out, although hearsay evidence is often embarrass- 1 ing and proves utterly groundless. Mr. Fant, in his evidence, gave t:he distinct impression that certain par ties in Spartanburg were regularly bartering positions on the constabu lary force, from the smallest to the highest position. He said it was re ported that Mr. William McGowan, of that city, was credited with having a regular constabulary mill and that he had the record of 28 men who had arranged with Mr. McGowan to get jobs on the constabulary, and that the offers for the positions ranged all the way from $20 to $30o, and that at one time when his position was in jeopardy 'he had Toland offer Mr. McGowan $30o for the position of division chief, but this was done merely to gain time to puncture the scheme, and that he never intcended paying a cent for his position, but that he wished to expose the affair. He then wvent on to say he reported the entire matter to Governor Mc Sweeney, and thatc he was retained n his position, but that Governor It vIcSweeney could not expose the af- t air, and that then he appealed to vfr. Geo. E. Prince, and later on to ;enator Tillman. to expose the affair, c nd, he said, he offered them the evi- a [ence. Senator Tillman wro*e him s hat he had turned the matter over r o Col. James H. Tillman. but t-hat t othing came of the repeated efforts i o secure publicity. t Mr. Fant said that the claim was a nade in Spartanburg that Mr. Mc- I ;owan had a worker in Columbia, .nd finally, -when pressed to name - ho this worker was alleged to be, a aid that it was merely hearsay, but f hat the name used was tha-c of Mr. U. t C. Gunter, Jr., then assiscant attor- t tey general. Mr. Fant did not know c hat any one had ever paid for a po- s ition on the constabulary or that it i ad been gotten through the alleged I ill in Spartanburg. but that he was c repared to show that 28 men had' r aken the matter up. Mr. Gunter is sick with typhoid ever at the hospital, and with his y lean record as man and officer it ; unfortunate that his name should ave been mixed up with this scandal t n mere hearsay. He gave out this tatement: Mr. Gunter's Statement. r "The hearsay statement of the t Vitness Fant was shown to Attor- t ey General Gunter at the Columbia i iospital this evening, and he said it vas most infamously false that he a [ad ever asked, received, expected or z vanted any compensation or reward r or aiding anybody anywhere to ob ain a position or office connected vith the dispensary or any other gov- . :rnmental agency. Why his name i hould be connected with such state- j nents he cannot conceive. That -he I as never importuned any of the gov rnors for such favors, as will be orne out by the governors them elves. No truthful man can be found vho will say that he has ever paid -him < nything. Of course, his name may ave been hawked about without his :nowlegde by designing persons; if i o, such person should, and must be, < ield accountable, and he intends to ] ise every effort to find out if such is he case just as soon as he is able I o leave the hospital." Mr. Fant's Further Evidence. Mr. Fant further Zalleged that it vas reported to him that Chief Howie >aid $23 toChief Clerk Wv. . Harris *or his position, and that William ross alleged that he paid $125 to get on the county board of control. [hese matters will be heard from and he other side presented. Mr. Fant and Mr. Seay testified ha they had- given $50 and $40 each :o Mr. Dillingham for alleged ex enses in connection with the candi lacy of Governor Heyward in the >rimary. To Elect Governor Heyward. Mr. Fant and Mr. Seay stated that hey paid Mr. Dillingham this money >n what t' v understood to -be the1 -epresentation that Mr. Dillingham iad spent over $r,ooo in the ejection >f Governor Heyward and that they were asked to share in the expense. l'hey both stated that it was a volun ary offering on their part, but that t was with the understanding that it as to pay election expenses. 3overnor Heywa.rd Had Nothing to do With It. Mr. Dillingham, on the other side, Ldmitted that Mr. Fant had paid him 50 that -Mr. Seay had paid him $40, md that he had collected other mon y, but that it was no part of any ex ense in connection with the nomi iation of Governor Heyward, and that overnor Heyward had absolutely tothing to do with it. He insisted hat he was paid this money because n helping )Nit and Seay and others et their Ebs he had to lose time rom his usiness and make visits to Tlum~bia and that it was a recoin sm.o his time and work. and that hose who paid him understood it hat way, or he tried to make it so inderstood. He said that whatever xpense he incurred in helping the andidacy of Governor Heyward by uthority of Mr. Law, as the 'repre entative of Governor Heyward, was eturned to him, and that he felt hat whatever legitimate expense he vent to in this campaign was with he approval of Governor Heyward .nd Mr. Law, the friend of Governor leyward in his campaign. If Governor Heyward,.with the ad 'ice of his friends, thought it judicious .nd prudent to expend a limited sum or legitimate campaign expenses, hat is his concern, but he never au horized any approximation the sum if $6oo or $700, which Mr. Dillingham ays he felt he had a right to expend n his enthusiasm to see Governor -eyward gain the nomination. Suc essful campaigns these days require noney here and there for necessary egitimate expenses. Thus the Spartanburg end contin tes co bring forth lively evidence. Mr ioe Huseman vas one of the treats left over from he Spartanburg situation by Messrs. I.yon and Christensen. He never ias been a willing witness. He knows nuch and is a strong man. At Spai anburg he made an affidavit, and herein, after a tedious process, ad nitted That he had handed C. 0. mith, chairman of that famous board, package from Toland, who was an pplicant for a beer dispensary. He tow changes tfiat statement, but th-e hange is wonderful to relate. At ;partanburg Mr. Huseman swore that e was told by C. 0. Smith that it vould take $275 for him to get the ob of beer dispenser, he was told, so te swore, to deliver the package to ;mith and that he got it from Toland. roday he swore that he got the >ackage from Toland at the request >f C. 0. Smith, and, while he did not leliver it, that he left the package Lnd C. 0. Smith. in the same room& Lnd that when he returned to the -oom the package was not on his lesk, and that C. 0. Smith had gone. le, therefore, wished to be accurate Lnd could not say that he had de ivered the package to C. 0. Smith, or hat he knew that he got it. He went or the package, knew that it had noney in it, and left the package Lnd C. 0. Smith in the same room Ln'd upon returning found both had leparted. He positively denied that he had iver paid any one a cent for his job. :t was developed in the Spartanburg ;ituation that the Howard dispensary vas owned, by another party, Smith lhomson, etnd that Howard was on a ;alary. Compromising Shortages. All through the investigation the ndifference and looseness of push ng collections of shortages, and that ~ailure to criminaliy prosecute for rad on the part of dispensers has >een shown. Today Mr. Z. A. Sear son intelligently showed much more f this condition, and how case after :ase had been compromised, and how :ase after case is still on the docket, with no apparent effort to get a trial. Mr. Blease brought out with some satisfaction that a criminal and civil. :ase had been brought against Toland or a shortage in Spartcanburg, and hat the case was still pending in the :ivil court. That Big Purchase Of Labels. Mr. Gaston took a flyer at the new bottling system, but the committee ias not yet been alb1e to get the bill or the labels that were recently or dered and which have occasioned something of interest. The sample abels were shown today and much admired. but some are looking for :he bill to see how many labels were ;otten afid if there were really $38, >oo worth of labels bought at one time. Comptroller General Jones tes tified that no dispensary profits had ae tune oner co the state since