Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOL XLV NO, W HEAVY YEAR'S WORK IN EIGHIII CIRCLII TY-ONE MURDER TRIALS Dr FIVB COUNTIBS. La.urens Furnished Thirty-Detailei Statement of Newberry Cases Disposed Of. Laurens, Jan. 13.-In the Eight] Judicial Cincuit, comprising the coun ties of Abbeville, Newberry, Saluda Greenwood, and Laurens, there war sixty-one murder trials during th year 1907. Laurens -led the list with hirty lacking only one of furnishing a many homicide eases as the aggregat in the other four counties. Newber ry and Saluda were next, with te] each. Abbeville had seven an Greenwood four. Of these cases 56 were disposed of and there are six mistrials pen-ding There was one death sentence, nim were convicted of murder with a rec -ommendation to mercy and sentene ed to the penitentiary for life, 1 were convicted of manslaughter an, 27 were acquitted. In th-e case ii which the death sentence was pass ed the defendant, a negro, paid th penalty in Graenwood in April. In Abbeville two were convicted o manslaughter, and five were aequit ted. In Greenwood one Was convicted o murder and sentenced to death; on was convicted of manslaughter; on was acquitted, and there was one mis tria'l. In 'Laurens six were convicted o murder with recommendation to mere which means life imprisonm' -; ses en were convicted of mar... aghter 14 were acquitted, and there wer there mistrials. In Newberry- one was convicted o murder with recommendation t mercy; four were convicted of man slaught?r. and five were acquitted. In Saluda two were convicted o murder with recommend'atioa t "mercy; four were convicted of man slaughter; two were acquitted, an< there were two mistrials. The figurds are taken from Solici tor Cooper's annual report to t?he af torney genersal. Solicitor Cooper' record for the year 1907, as show by the figures, is exceellent, and on in which he may take pardonabl pride. At every term of court in eae] Newberr; Arson ...... ..... ......-.... Assault .and battery wit~h intent ti kill, aggravated assault, ~etc. . Bastardy ..... ...... .... .... Breach of Trust .... .... .... ... Concealed Weapons .... .... .... Disposing of Property Under Lien. Entering House With Intent to Stea Forgery ...... ...... ...... .. High'way Robbery ...... ... .... Lareeney of Bicylee.... .... .... Lareeney....... ...... ..... .. Lareeney of Live Stocl ... ....... Lareency From Field ... .. ..... Manslaughter .... .... .... .... Muirder .... ...... ...... .... . Privity .Stealing From Person .. Shooting Into Train ..... ....... Rape .... .... .... ......... Reciving~ Stolen Goods .... .... . Resisting Offiers .... .... .... .. Violation Dispensary Law ... ... . Don't Forget to Assess. Now is the time to assess your pro perty for 1908. Read Auditor Crom of these counti< he has been con fronted with heavy dockets. and it has taken lal,or and abiy and fore sight to keep the work in hand. One who imagines the position of solicitor [ of the Eighth Circuit is an easy berth, is very much mistaken. In none of the circuits in the state is the i work light, and the Eighth is one of the heaviest. During the year 1907 solicitor Cooper disposed of 29S cases. In 237 1 of these trials were had or pleas en - tered. and 61 were discontinued or otherwise disposed of. There were 169 convic.tions and 6S acquittals. The bare figures convey but little idea of the immense amount of work which they represent. but the record speaks for itself. In its making en e ergy and good management and abil - ity of a high order have been dis 1 played by Solicitor Cooper. As showing the amount of work done in the Eighth Circuit during the year 1907 the figures for the Fifth Circuit. which includes the county of Richand, might be used in compari son. In .the Fifth Circuit 284 eases were dsposed of, of which number 211 were tried. Of these trials 32 were for murder as against 61 in the - Eighth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit comprises the counties of ' Richland, Edgefield Lexington, and Kershaw. f Laurens has furnished by far the - heaviest criminal dockets in the Eighth circuit. Judge Gage, who is f presiding at the court in session here a now, gave some interesting statistics e in his charge to the grand jury on - last Monday. In 1898, he. said, ac cording to the record furnished him by the clerk of court, 17 ,true bills were found for murder in Laurens ycounty; 5 in 1S99; 12 in 1900: 14 in .1901; S in 1902; 11 in 1903; 5 in 1904, 12 in 1905; 15 in 1906, and 22 in 1907. There were almost two homi f cides to the month in Laurens county during the year 1907, he said and the - aggregate number of true bills for murder in ten years was 122. . Of that number 18 were convieted of murder, 51, of manslaughter, and 42 - were found not guilty. Of those against whom true bills had been found in ten years 55 per cent were convicted and 45 per cent. were ae I quitted. sFollowing is the tabulated record of the cases in Newvberry during the year 1907, showing the cases dispos ed of. their disposition, and the p 1ealties: County. 5 2 17 10 07 31 1 1 88 1 11 1 11 11 1 11 2 6 6 1 19 13 46 27 17 1 1 J. K.A. thim at the nearest place to you if it s inconvenient to come to N'ewberry. The time expires on the 200Ln of Feb -ruary. After that date the law re 3ITTING AT THE SOUTH. New York Congressman Offers Bill to Reduce Representation - Here. Washington. D. C.. January 10. Knockers are already at work trying to reduce the representation of the Su ther:l states in congress_for th": alleged reason that the negroes in the i south are disfranchised and not giv- ) en the right to vote. Heretofore ef- I forts along this line have been foster ed by Gen. Keifer, of Ohio, but this vea; a new bill has been introduced b.y Representative Bennett, of New Y(rk. If this bill passes it will affect the Southern states as follows: Alabama from n'ine representatives to five. Arkansas from seven representa tives to five. Florida from three representatives to two. Georgia from eleven representa tives to six. Louisiana from seven representa tives to four. - Mississippi from eight representa tives to three. North Ca.rolina from ten represen tatives to seven. South Carolina from seven repres entatives to three. Tennessee from ten representatives to eight. Texas from sixteen representatives to thirteen. Virginia from ten representatives to seven. It will readily be seen that should this bill -pass it would require an entirely redistricting of all the South era states, as it would be impossible for the smaller number of representa tives to be chosen as the districts are at pres-at divided. Another thing about this bi-ll is that by breaking up the present congressional districts it would encourage the negroes of the south to come .forward ahd vote, and manly contests would have to be settled. Mr. Bennett has always been look ed upon as opposed to immigration of any kind to the south, or anything that would tend to its upb-uilding or commercial prosperity. P. H. MeG. TTT.TM/J WON FOR CAPERS. Persvaded the Senate to Confirm the Nomination of the Caro-. . linian. Washington, Janu. 10.-Confirma tion hg the senate late yesterday af terhoon of John G. Capers' nomina tion to be .commissioner of internal revenue, was brought about through the good work of Senator Tillman, who suc.ceeded in smoking out Re publican se' tors who were: desirous of finding out Capers' attitude on the preidential question. Tillman worked openly for Capers and was gratified at the confirmation of the Carolinian. Oapers was a recess appointee of Roosevelt's. Pearl C. Wight, of Louisiana, was given the post, but has twice postponed taking charge of the office. It is believ'ed that 'Cap ers will remain in officee, and that Wight doesn'.t intend to assume con trol. If Wight does come for the of fce it is understood that Capers will make room. Mimnaugh's Great Ten Day Sale. Saturday morning. January 18, at 9 o'clock, the great sale at Mim nauh 's big store will bagin. This sale is to continue for the period of ten days. Mimnaugh says the only way to down him is to kill him. He expets to prove the truth of this statement at this sale. Dry goods of all kinds and descriptions, in fact ev.erything in this wonderful store, are to be sold at prices never before hoard of in the town of Newberry. Mimnauzh has a 'fine stock; no store in the Carolinas can beat it. If you want anything to wear, or to make yourself look a little better than you, do, go to Mimnaugh 's Saturday morning. Mimnaugh says he isn 't :ard up for money. that Ihe doesn't owe a cent in the world, but that he must get rid of his surplus stock. His greatest reason for this sale is that he would rather have the money than the o.oods. IN SUPREME 'COURT. ,ases of Interest to Newberrians t be Heard This Week. Beginnin," today the state suprem 'rt will take t:tp the appeals fror he Fighth Circuit ermposed of th 'untics of Newberry. Laurens. Salt 1. GrCn:cod ".1d Ahheviile. J iummber of eases in whie,h Newberr )eople have an interest are to b ieard. 'The eases on the docket from fni ounty are: The State, Respondent, vs. Fre eeder, Defendant, Appellant. Reac r was convieted here in June c nanslaughter. being charged with th nurder of Charlie Coleman, anothE legro. Special Judge Grier sznten< ?d him to twenty years imprisonmer "n the penitentiary. The appeal i .rom sentence. Solicitor Cooper, ai .er Reeder's conviction, offered aJ klavits which tended to aggravat the defendant's cnime. His attol 2eys objected and the objection wa )ver-ruled. In three other criminal eases th >ame point is raised in the appeal! En each. of these the defendants' a1 orneys moved to quash the indic nents because Magistrate Counts wa i member of the grand jury returz ng them, it being claimed that a ma strate was ineligible as a member c he grand jury. Judge Grier refus dd to grant the motion. The pe: ;ons convicted, and whose appealin( re John Graham. for violation of th i.pensary law; Tom Todd, violatio yf the dispensary la, ; 3arry Lyle mnd Henry DawlkinA. for assault an )attery of a high and aggravated ni ;ure. In the above case Messrs. Blease Dominick represent the defendant while Solitcitor Cooper will appea for the state. . Another ,cas'e from this cou-ty i ;hat of W. B. Harmon vs. Jno. I ook. At the June term of the Con non Pleas Court, Harmon obtained rerdict for $700.00 against Cook b< mause of Cook's forcible ejection c Earmon from certain disputed land Tudge Purdy refused to grant a ne trial, and Cook appealed to the si prame court. Messrs. tSchumpert olloway, and Hunt, Hunt & Hut ter represent Cook; Messrs. Joh: stone & Cromer are attorneys fc Elarmon. While not a Newberry case, becaus of local attorneys being employed the appeal of G. Wash Hunter, chart ed with murder in Laurens county, f interest hrere. l.n this ease thei bave been one convietion, with a ne rial granted, and two mistrials. Uj >n Solicitor Cooper's motion the cas was transferred from Laurens I Ireenwood county by Judge Gar: Funter is now appeaTing from thi hange of venue. Col. 0. L. Schun pert and Senator Cole. L. Bleaa epresent Hunter. From Saluda county the case c illiam 'L. Henderson and Alfre Free will be heard. These men wei hared with the murder of Me !forse, and after two mitstrials wer ad, they were convicted of max laughter. Hendersoni's sentence wa yelve years, and Free's was te ears. An\ effort was made a fe' lays ago to have the supreme cout o remand the case to,the circuit cour or the purpose of permitting a mc ;ion for a new trial, on the ground o ifter discovered evidence, to be mad: ['his motion was refused, a-nd th ase will now be heard on the es ~eptions from the verdict of conlvic The case against Lewis Burton, El nore Mayes and Lawson Johnsor who were conivicted at the Novembe erm of arson, and that of Mrs. Anni . Oxner vs. the Westerii Union Teli ~rapi Company, will not be heard a :he present sitting of the supreu ~ourt. Tihe record in these case ras not completed in time for ther o be heard at the present term. s :hey will go over until the cour neets in April. The crowd of negroes caughtb ~agistrate B.lease h;ist week gamblin rere ,fined by him Tuesday, the sr f $1S5 was received from the gans LEGISLATURE OPNS TODAY. D Some of the Important Measures S-.te Prottb'.n c r' a Spe-ial to Heral. r: I News a '' I,1.,: .. Jar. 13.-Wit , i. ., e 1sembling of the legislature on Tues day comes the talk of polities and of U politicians. When this general assem y bly met for -the first time, last year, e it 'as with tha expeetation and the purpose of albolishing the state dis s pensary, to whien purpose a majolty of its members with the governor were pledged, and the session was devoted largely to that end. Now the f dispensary is out of the way and the legislators can give their attention to e other matters. True, an effort will be r made to enact a state prohibition law and the liquor issue will again t come up for a considerable discus sion and a parliamentary fight, but it will not be the absorbing issue. The indications are that the prohibition e bill will fail and that it will be an issue in the eection of the next gen S era assembly. Gov. Ansel will sug gest certain amendments to the pres a ent law, which will doubtless be en - acted. The governor has said he will raec ommend an increase in the tax levy ,s of two mills for the purpose of get t- ting the state on a cash 'basis; he - will also recommend increase in the If salaries of the governor and other officials, the erection of a governor's mansion, and a supreme -court build 5 ing, all of which m atters will be e threashed out in the two houses. a The governor will also transmit s during thre session the proposition of da President Finley of the Southern as to redu'ction of passenger rates~ in this state and the Coast Line will k likely join in this plan. Some legis , lation to carry ths reduetion into ef - ,r feet and to. secure uniformity -will be necessary. There are already on the s calendar a number of hills seeking, to regulate the railroads and others still - wil be introduced. a This general assembly is in sym pathy with the forward movement in f edacation and is disposed to deal Ii ;. berally with the state cojleges. 'At the v last session, the sum of, $50,000 was L voted to start a system of high schoobs and this -money has aecom - plished good results, although not all .. of it has been e:xpended. The work r will doubtless be continued. There tare severail compis~ory education e b ills pending, one of whieh may be passed, as the sen'timent in the ge2 er'al assembly has~ been 'tending in sthat direetion the last few years. 'The ~sur'plus from the state dispensary, .amouinting to not less. than $250,000, .perhaps more, may be used for the e sehools in some form. oThe bidl to establish 'an insurance . department, with a commissioner, will s be pressed 'at this session, having the - bagki:1 of the insurance agents asso e ciation..- Comptroller General ~Jones has asked for laws governing domes fItic companies operating under S,outh d Carolina charters. e Thes e i.s onayca e irpc'rtant e - .t tion place at thia sessio- --that of -in e aociute justice "'4 the supreme co, a o nend Hon. Eugne I;. Gary, w - s is a e andidate for realee' on and wi -> n will be opposed by Hon. Thomas P. y Ctbran, m,ember of the house from t Greenville and one of the authors of V thie Car'ey-.~..thira:- iaw. This being the second session of f .this general assembliy, -little or no -time will be taken up with the work of organization and each house can -get down to business without delay if it will. From present indications, the ef fort to repeal the lien law is apt to 4 succeed this time. 'The fight has been rimade for years and 'last year the Shouse passed a repeal bill, which was -killed in the senate by 'a few votes. There is reason to believe that the conditions in thre senate have some swhat changed and that the repeal bill a will pass that body. Akin to .this is the legislation in regard to the farm la'hor contract law. whic~h has been declared un-constitutional by the fed eralI court and which will t-e passed on by ,the state eourt -en bane this week. I the state court also holds the law null and void, some substi a tute law will be deemed necessary. .Despite the soealled hard times, the stete is in exceilemt condition and the people 'are not divided on any factional issue, so that this ses sion of the general assembly might well be devoted to measures for tre upbuilding and progress of the state and the good of her people. It is campaign year however and there will creep into the minds of the leg islators some thought of the speeches to be made on the stump nezt year. For state offees, the ineurnbents, with few exceptions will stand for reelection however and the only big fight will be for the United States senate. Hoyt. Needs the Money. For the last several days there has been a rumor on the streets that one of our merchants was in trouble. The merchant was E. L. Bailes. A representative of this paper called at Mr. -Bailes place of business and be ing interviewed Mr. Bailes said: "I know full well there has been a great deal of gossip about me for several days. They have gone so far as to spread the report I was going to quit business in Newberry. I will give you the facts of the case. I have been. in N-ewberry. one year and a half.. Since coming here I have been com pelled to move three times. In other words I have been simply playing eheekers. They would tell me it was; my move and as they were king, ou I would have to go. I have lost con siderable of my trade by moving so mueh: I bought an imaense stoek of goods for this season expeeting a; big business. In this I was mistaken and I am frank to say that I am in need >f money to pay my creditors. I am not ashamed of it. There are thousands of merchants in my pre dicament. I owe $10,000 and must have 4ihe. moe. isi inn iranut shell andIwil iget i have engaged H. L. Gilmore- & Co-r.' of N. Y. City and turned over my stock to them for the purpose of ri ing this money. I know I must make - a big los and sacrifice my stock but there is notbinz left for me to do but. turn my merchandise into cash and the necessity of. the case. makes' impenative. I do so at o:ee." Mr. Gilmcre of Gilmore & Co., be-' 's ing seen said: "I don't know any-. thing about Mr. Bailes business.: W were brought here to raise $10,000 < andc this we will do without delayQ p We appreciate the enormity of this gndertaking, especialy these -pani& times, but we are not uneasy about4 it forl we intend putting prices on the~ stock that will move it rapidly. The. store will be elosed until Thursday ~ for the purpose of inventory, remrk. ing and getting the stoek in shape for the money raising sale which we willk open Thursday morning and you. may say to your valuable readers that a. baraain feast awaits them. The stoc I think will inventory about $30;000 to $35,000. For any other informatioun you will have ta sc Mn Dil,es, SKULL OEUSEED. ' e Little "Jacek" Mace, the bright 4 yearold son of Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Mae of MAarion, was brought to tha Columbia hospital this we,ek to un dergo an operation for a fracture of the skull. he having received a very .evere kick on the forehead by a home We.dnesday afternoon. The skull was crushed just above the right eye and it was found neeessary to ra. move a section about 2 by 3 indhes. The 'operation was successfully performed and the little fellow 3s getting along astonishingly well. He has not been unconscious since hre re eived the wound and yesterday seemed as bright and cheerful as ev er he was. His brain does not appear to be affected in the least by the blow and if his condition continues favorable for the next three or four days the physicians at the hospital believe he will recover entirely. Mrs. Maee came up yesterday to e at the bedside of "Jack" and Dr. Mce returned to Marion to attend to some important business but ex pects to return to Columbia this ev ening. The injury to the little fal low was a severe blow to his parents but the na hopeful of his recovery.