Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

FURTHER REVELATIONS INTO THE DISPENSARY A VOLUME OF TESTIMONY DO INGS OF DISPENSARY. The Committee Wanted to Hear Mayor Rhett But He Was Ab sent-Members of State Board At one Time Had "Opening Nights" says Capt. Farley. Sumter, September 7.-There is a good deal of significance, particular lv between the lines, in the evidence brougIt out at the dispensary hearing here today. It touched in the high spots, as the small boy woul say. , Today concluded the hearing at .Sumter. The committee was exceed ingly anxious to hear from Mayor Rhett, of Charleston, and Chief Holmes and others were here to testi fy after he had been heard, but no re ply had been received from the tele gram Chairman Hay sent to Flat Rock, N .C., where it was understood Mayor Rhett was at this time. He ~ Will be heard later. The committee adjourned subject to the call of the chairman, and it will likely be several weeks before the conimiEtee can reassemble. The particular desire is to have an expression from the supreme court in the Farnum case before the commit tee meets again, so that the commit tee will know definitely what its rights are. Whe-rher it has the right to imprison for contempt. The mem bers of the committee think that at the next hearing, at which several parties have been- asked to be heard, there may be occasion to ask some embarrassing quesUions, and that. in the event of a refusal to reply, it is best for all hands to know exactly what the law is and w'hat rights the witnIess and the committee have. E. D. Smith-not he of cotton fame, but a former dispenser at Mays ville-testified that, while M. L. W. Boykin was a dispensary inspector, he represented and sought business for Ullman, Boykin & Co., the Acme Brewing cotnpany and Garrett & Co., all of whom sold to the dispensary. A Most Amazing Statement by Mr. Smith was that Mr Boykin to>ld him th'at he'ought to buy liberal ly of Acme beer because the Acme Brewing company of Macon, expected to put up $5-ooo jn the interest of the election of Mr. Leon 3. Williams, then member of the state board, and pros pective candidat.e for governor. Mr. Windham, of the Sumter dispensary, said unequivocally that Mr. Boykim made him no such overtures and that while 'he did talk to him about the Acme beer he certainly said nothing about this company putting up $,0 for Mr. Williams's election. He went on further to sag that while Mr. Boy kin represented liquor firms, it was not while he was an inspector nor did he have any connection with the dis penlsary. Mr. J. B. Blanding was on the wit neSs stand for a moment or two. Hei told of an agent w~ho came here try ing to place Wideman's beer, of New port. Ky.. and he told Mr. B,landing that he could not get his beer into his state, although it was wanted, "be cause the state, board - Wanted Too Much Rake-Off." Capt. L. E. D. Farley told chat when Mr. Miles was chairman of the state board he made frequent visits to Columbia. as a newspaper man,..nd that he often sold liquor tO the board as a matter of friendship to certain houses. He gave a graphic picture of what he ~called the "opening nights" that the members of the board of con trol would have for their friends. From his descriptions it would ap pear that these "opening nights would be nothing more than Drinking Feasts And Debauches. He said that liquor drummers sup plied the liquor. and that the mem bers would have open ,roornis at the -hotels and invite their friends. At one of these frolics he told of a mem ber of the board being paralyzed from what he called "alcoholic pOis oning." He declined to name the member, but said that they all had "opening nights." This, he said, was while Mr. Miles, Mr. Willams. Mr. Jones and Mr. Cooper were members of the board of control. Mr. E. B. Miller, a zealous and ac ienesaper man, related how he 'tred In vain to get any of the state, county or court officials to do any thing towards having the provisions i of the dispensary law carried out. State And County Boards Refuse To Enforce Laws. All seemed to appreciate the truth and merit of the formal complaints of Mr. Miller, but the result was a series of goose egl:s. Nothing. no~thing, and so on to the finish of the game! Mr. Miller's testimony ought to go a very long ways in showihg the diffi culty of having the sta::e board or the county boards do anything, even when proper appeals are made to .them. Mr. Williams wrore that the state board had no right to make any rules where the law was plain. Then the matter came back to the county board and that august body simply voted down the motion to have the dispen sers use the request books or have the labels cancelled upon the making of each sale on the ground that it was not done elsewhere. Mr. Miller wait ed, and when the personnel of the state board in Columbia changed, he made another appeal. The local au thorities appeared in Columbia, and it is said swore that they were using the request books. Mr. Evans, however, told Mr. Miller that he did not be lieve their statements and added that he did not care what they did in Sum ter, as he had never got'Een but one vote from this county as a member of the board. and t'hat it was not their business to wa7rch the dispensers any way. Mr. 'Towill, whp was engaged here at one time in Y. M. C. A. work, it appears, had a little resolution pass ed calling upon dispensers to use re quest books, and this resolution was sent here more than a year ago, but it might as well have gone in the waste basket. The county board and the dispen sers insist that they are not going to use request books and bother with what Senator Tillman claims is the only real check on the dispensers, and give as their main reason that these* books are not used in other counties. A Curious Development here today was t,hat Mr. Sanders, who was retired from the county board, seemed to have the impression that he was left in the cold because of his desire to have the law enforced. The members of the Sumter delegation, all of whom were in the court house at the .tirne, did not like such an im pression to be made, and they one and all testified that Mr. Sanders was noti reelected simply because they thought they had selected a. better snited member of the board, and that they Ireally did not know how Mr. Sanders stood on issues in the board, and if he thought he was left off the count'y ooard because he had tried to enforce the law, it wvas all a mistake and that thyv were all in favor of the enforce ment of tihe law. Mr. Fraser, it ap eared, heard of the suggestion and promptly advised Mr. Lyon so that 4he might look into the matter. It is evident that Mr. Sanders' impres sion due to the fact that he -nade ef forts while on the county board to have the request books used, and that he could nort even get seconds to his motons to have no plain a provision of .the law enforced. Bribery Charges H otly .Denied. Dispenser Wiiidham was- on tche stand several times today and insist ed that it was a fake about his being influenced by the approaches made to him. He insisted that he got no money; that Capt. Gailliard apologiz ed to him for having broached the subject, and that he never voted for Raffield, in whose behalf the offer was alleged to have been made. Mr. Windham grew mad when Mr. Miller suggested that Capt. Gailliard had told him that he felt that Mr. Wind ham would have taken the money ii it had really been tendered. Mr. Windham did not believe that Capt. Gailliard ,had eyed told Mr. Miller *such a thing. Mr. Raffield insisted that he had never authorized any offer being made in his behalf to Mr. Windham, while on thexboard, and that if any offer was made it was unauthvorized by him in toto. Mr. Raffield, however, did say that when a committeeman of the grand jury visited the Windham dispensary ro look around, that Dispenser Wind ham offered free liquor, which all of the members of the comn1ittee. ex ept ,himself, accepted. It appears thatMr. Wi~rham was presented to the court for infrations of the law, the non-use of request books, not can celling labels and such things., but that there never was a tr*al and that wazs as far as the matter ever got. .\Mr. Sanders tes:ified that he had a direct ofler from M1r. Warren for a division of pay if he would vote for Varren. and that an effort was made to get him to vote for Raffield on condition that his brother be made a clerk. He declined to have anything to do with such offers, and Mr. Raf field swore that he was not a party to such a proposition. The first witness -this morning was Dispeilser Windham, who does not seem to be fond of talking and who only answers what he is asked.. He was examined by Mr. Fraser Lyon, who conducted the entire examina tion during the Sumter session, witih mu h satisfaction. Dispenser Wind ham was asked if any of the whiskey or wine houses shipped him directly. He said he received only a few com plimentary cases, but no shipment of stock goods was made him. He was quite sure no goods had been shipped him directly. Mr. Lyon showed him a bill of lading for three cases of wine from Garrett & Co. to make up a loss in shipment. There was a letter rela tive to a shipment of five barrels to Dispenser Windham direct from Weldon. This, he claimed, was not shipped him personally, but was ship ped him for the dispensary and was so billed. Mr. Windham's Bad Memory. He remembered Mr. L. W. Boykin, now member of the board, when he was an inspector. He represented some liquor house, but he did not re member the house 'Mr. Boykin repre sented. He did not remember*if he represented the Acme Brewing com pany or the Westmoreland liquor. Then Mr. Lyon led up to the alleg ed $5,ooo proposition for a campaign fund and as1ced Mr. Windham: Do you remember whether he rep resented some beer or whiskey houses when he was inspector? Yes, the represented one house, I don't remember the house and I don't think I handled any of the goods he represented. You don't remember anything abou'r the Westmoreland Club whiskey? I remember that brand of whiskey. Don't you remember his represent ing that? I can't say that I do. I have sold some of the Westmoreland whiskey, but don't remember whether he repre sented it or not. .You don't recollect that he repre sented the Acme Brewing company. of Macon? No. I don't remember whether he did or not. Do you recall Mr. Boykin coming to Sumter while he was representing ohose whiskey houses and requesting you to put in an order with the Acme Brewing company for the reason that the Acme Brewing company was to furnish $3.000 for the election of Mr. L. J. Williams, if he should run for governor? No. I don't remember anything of that kind. Didn't Mr. Boykin have a conver aton with vou in regard to t.at? No. I didn't think so. I have no recollection of that conversation. You heard of that being done, did on not? No. it is news to me. You handle the Acme Brewing company's beer 'here? Yes, a great deal of it. And Mr. Boykin represented it? No I don't remember that he did. I thought it was represented by Mr. B. M. Wilson. You knew Mr. Boykin did repre sent some whiskey houses while he was inspector? No not while he was inspector. I don't think, not to my knowledge. dter he left the office of inspectot then ,he represented the whiskey houses, but I (don't think he did while inspector, at least I don't know that Alleged Prosecutions. There is a sample of how the oft:. cals prosecute alleged defaulting dis pensers... Mr. J. M. Reams was elect ed for the term for which Mr. Raffield was a candidate and in telling of his short tenure Mr. Windham said he served for only five months because he went short. The inspector said the shortage amounted to $6oo or $70. When asked if the shortage has been paid he said: u culd' ell yo. I left the board THE RIGHT I FOR Turnip eAw. Giider, Weeks *tO*@.O*S+O+04 QUIT COUGHINI There is no ne Lungs out, wh tle of Murray' lien and Tar. A few doses of this Household lief. A positive cure for Influt Throat. Anti-Spasmodic in Ct THE MURRAY DRUI Oliw1"i, S. COME SOOI Whenever you start out on a sh * This plan will save you many 1 time. if we haven't-just what y * Wj shall not urge you to buy, bi * goods as soon as.you can. It wi every way to make selections be: MAYES' DRl When Wanting SOMI CALL Geo. D. Di Cod Fish Balls, Devile< pered Herring, French Boneless Herring, Roa: Beef, Lunch Tongue, Chicken and Potted Turk Pineapple, Mushroonls, Salad, Pickles-Sweet a lets, Cheese, Coffee fron Cream of Wheat, Qual Force, Peanut Butter, I Ferris' Breakfast Bacon Spices for Pickling, Vine Apple, Fresh lot of Choci pound. Phone 1 10. SOUTH CAROLI 1805-11 Four Schools: Arts, Law, System of Wide Election. Opens Septembe BENJAMIN GLO' FOR BARGAI FURNI' HOUSE HOL NEWBERI IUG STORE Seed. & Hunter. ed of wearing your en you can get a bot 3 Horehound, Mul Remedy will give immediate re nza, Bronchitis and Diseasses of up. 3 Cc., 0. 9 AND SEE pping tour come -here first. innecessary steps and Much * on want then look- e1sewhee itwe do wish you to see our 11 be to your advantage in bore the final rush begins. JG STORE. Ithing Good to Eat ON. ivenport. 1 Crabs, Shrimps, Kip Sardines,- Lobsters, t Mutton and Roast Sliced Ham, Potted ey, Grated and Sliced Asparagus, Celery d Sour, Junket Tab 15c. to 35c. per lb., er Oats, Grape Nuts, utter Beans, Olives, ,Tetley's Tea, Mixed gar--White W ine and >ate Candies 40c. per NA COLLEGE Sciences and Teachers. Expenses Moderate'1 r 27th, 1905. JER, President. NS TUR E D GOODS iIC now &.Co