Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOUMrX R S CR T M H , V' U1X a; VOLUME XLMX NUMBER 25. \EWBERRY, SOUTH CJAROLIAA, TUESDAY, XARCII ?S,1911. PttAWK,MAYA. COL D. A. DICKERT ON T. B. FEDER IN 1909 WANTED FELDER ASKED ABOUT "SIDNEY LUCAS WHISKEY C." And If He Had Made Overtures for "Whiskey House on Paper"-Iu teresting Correspondence. In connection with the Blease-Feld ,er-Evens controversy which has been -raging, it is interosting at this time to note an article written by Col. D. A. Dickert in The Herald and News in April, 1909, in wlich he wanted Mr. Feider asked "if nnce on a time he -didn't make overtures to some mem bers of the board of control to or ganize a whiskey house (on paper, you know), then buy riquor when it was cheapest, and sell it to the State 'when it was dearest," and wanted Mr. Felder asked "what he knows about the 'Sidney Lucas Whiskey Company of Liquor Dealers,' " etc. He wrote the communication in The Herald and News referred to above under the nom de plume of "Dow, Jr." The readers of South Carolina news papers will recall a 'number of arti cles under this nom de plume in pa -pers throughout the State during the Past several years. Col. Dickert's attention was called to his communication. - "Yes," responded Col. Dickert, "in a day or two 'after the publication of that article in The Herald and News T received a letter from Mr. Felder, -directed to me in my own name, not in the name of Dow, Jr., telling me I must forthwith retract all I had 'rit ten or he would put the talons of the law upon me. "To this letter I replied that I never retracted what I wrote as facts, and furthermore, as this was a public mat ter, I would publish his letter and' re ply to it in the same paper in which my correspondence was presented; that I charged as false his paying $30, 40 as detective fees; that he or some one very close to him entertained a maemb~er of the boardi and hi.s famiily during the reunion at Nashville, ta.k .ing them out to the Country. club; schat he had monkeyed with the' State !boazdI an~d proposed getting up a whis 'key house on~ D&t buy whiskey when <cheapest and sell the State when1 'leare"st. a'nd charged him with being or trtr b e the head of a myth "To this he it 8iibe 'eplied, acknow--! ledging that it was~ his cousin that en tertained the member of the board at Nashville, and saying that he had nojt paid in actual cash the $30,006, but' 'was responsible for that much. A5 for -the other matter, he urged me not to ppblish any more at present, saying that he was in a position to save the State hundreds of thousands of dol alars, and that if I kept up this as sault upcn 'him it would negative his use!franess, consequently tihe State -would lose that much, and he hoped I hrad pa.triotism enough not to jeopar dize the State's interests in so large1 an amount by injudicious writing in the paper; .th!at after - all the cases were settled, then it would be time enough to ventilate the matter through the -press, but not now" iThe letter written by Col. Dickert, published in The Herald and News of April 30, 1909, which called forth this correspondence between Col. Dickert and Mr. Feld-er, is as follows: "We notice in the Charleston and Greenville papers that Avery Patton was doing some talking for the press in reference of the "winding up comn mittee," attorney's fees, etc. "Now, Avery shouid fight shy of the Teporters, as they will get him sure. Such stunts as he gave the News and Courier won't stand sifting. That pa per calls out like StyIock of old for "the law," "the law," only it wants "cotrat,""the contract." "It seemns as if one Torn Felder's name is much in evidence. Why? That rising genius ot' tne Atlanta bar can down ali the attorney generals a nd lawyers in this State, "contract" or "no contract," and g:ve them cards and spades. Because he knows. "Avery gives out as a matter of fact that Tomn Felder paid out thirty thous a dollars fr detltaVea. The great horned spoon! Is not that a "gully wrencher?" "Why, Tom Felder never had that much money of his own in all his born days. But admitting it as a fact, why should Tom have part-i with so much cash for something he knew already, or got from the State board, just for the asking? And Avery Pat ton singing the old tune of Tom's. "Tb e United States government did not pay much more than half that amoat for the employment of the best and highest pricea oetectives in America to run over the entire coun try and hunt up the Brownsville shoot ers. We all know that Uncle Sam pays high for what he wants, ana general ly gets the best. Why its a ty-te on its very face, and I can't see why Avery allowed Tbbm to shove that joker on him. But Tom is a jack in the.box, and no mistake. "We all know that Attorney Gener al Lyon employed Abney in the case, for the brains he had. But why a second rate lawyer like Tom Felder? Mr. Patton' says because he knew a lot about the whiskey business. No doubt in the world or that. Only lis ten to Avery. "It came to the at tention of the committee that the firm of lawyers," old Tom, mind you, "-had some valuable intormation that the committee couldn't - get else where." "To be sure they had it, but how did they get their information? Avery "believes not a single firm of lawyers in this State would have been willing to put out such an outlay of money on uncertainties." "Of course not, not a single firm in the State is such a John Dee, or a Vanderbilt as to have so much cash by them. Nor did Tom Felder either. "Now, Mr. Patton, in one of your confidential confabs with Mr. Felder, of Roundtree and Felder, just ask him for Dow and the rest, did he ever try to monkey with our State board of control in the "days of good stealing?" Ask him "was it Tom, or his brother or somebody else," that entertained so ihighly and at his expense one of our State board at the great Nashville re union? Did he take any one from this State out to the "Country Club," or some such tony gathering? Arid if he did, what was the motive? Then ask 'him if once on a time, he didn't make overtures to some members of the board of control, to organize a whiskey houise ((ori paper, you know) then buy S1quor when it was cheapest, and sell it to the State wnen it was dearest? Ask him wniat tie knows about the "Sidney L(ale Whiskey Company of Liquor ~Dealers," and what wa.s the conference at the Hotel Jerome to do with it? "I know Tom will say "all a lie." Well it may be, but you then ask Whit Boykin and John. Bell Towill about it. Tell them If they don't tell the whole truth,~ the devil will catch them sure. I don't kffdW much a:bout John Bell T., but Whit B6yki eouldn't tell a lie if he wanted to, fdif I knew his father, served with him in tiiG &rrary, and If he thought he was raising i A child to lie, he would have strangled *hini in the cradle. Then when Whit 46iits looking blank and sharing his head, just say, "Whit, don't you think, just think that Tom Felder and somebody mighty close to the board of control was in 'cohoot' in a whiskey hour,e and wasn't it the Sidney Lucas?" Whit will shake his Dead and say, "I don't know," but just watch him and see him scratch his ear with his fin ger. No doubt all the boys will plead ignorance, for they are scared of Lyon as the very devit, but then Lyon knows more of Tom Felder hv this time than he would l.ike people to think. "The best answer an unwilling wit ness can give to gag a lawyer, is '1 don't recollect." "It has slipped my memory." Better not deny it too psi tirly for it's no knowing what focI may have a bee in his sonne; and may! sting somebody after a while. Don't make any of the boys kiss the Book, but ask them if any of those matters ever came to their attention? If they! say no, that ends it. "The editor of this paper is in no way responsible for wnar ; write and Dow may be all wro,ng, ir so he will be the first to lift his hat to the bojys and say, "your pardon, Sirs," and do the amende honorable. GOY. BLEASE AGAIN DEFIES THE COURT WON'T NAME MOORE FOR SPECIAL UNION COURT. "Ira B. Jones Can Mandamus ... ," Governor Says.-Renewal of the Special Judge Conroversy. Columbia, March 25.-The refusal of Governor Blease to commission Judge Ernest Moore as special judge to hold a special term of court at Un ion, commencing Monday, Judge Moore h'aving been recommended, has renewed the special judgeship fight. It would appear that the question of whether or not the supreme court can mandamus the governor of the State is now put squarely up to that tribun al. In the presence of Senator Benja min Ryan Tillman and Mr. R. E. Wylie, of Lancaster, whom Judge Moore asked to come here to get his commission, Governor Blease said to, day: "Ira B. Jones can mandamus or G damus or don anything he pleases. I am not going to appoint Ernest Moore as special judge for the Union coun ty court. You can take these papers (back, for I will not read them." These remarks were addressed to Mr. Wylie, who presented the request for the commission for Judge Ernest Moore. . How the Situation Arose. A few days ago the chief justice wrote to Governor Blease, recom mending to him Judge Ernest Moore for the Union county special term of civil court to be held conmencing next Monday. Nothing was received from the governor by Judge Moore and, as the time approached for the court, he asked Mr. Wylie to go to the secretary of State and the governor, while in the city, and see if the papers had been issued. He also sent along his oath of office, which the had taken the precaution to prescribe to, so that there would be no delay. According to the papers in the case, ,the Union County Bar association rec ommended that Judge Moore be ap pointed to serve, and this recommen dUlon was communicated to the gor ernor by the ete justice, Will Mandamus Rlesultt The renewal of the special judge shitp fight probably means that this time, inasmruch as the issue is square ly presented, mandamus proceeding may result. The suapreme court has not yet ruled whether or not it can mndaimus the chief executive in this State. In its. recent decision on the special judgeshiip issue, in the James Davis case, the court held that the commssioning as special judge is purely a. miieterial duty of the chief executive, and that special judges must be commissioned Upd'n the rec ommendation of the Supreme court or the chief justice. The supreme court is, not now i session in Columbia, so that any an nouncement of what wi-ll happen could not be made here. IUEASE INVITES JUDGESHIP TEST "Now fs Best Possible Time," Declares Govemnor-Letters on the ratter. Columbia, March 26.-"It's a good time to test the matter,'' declared Gov ernor Blease today, when asked about developmentps in the special judgeship light. "I am not going to commission Ernest Moore as special judge to hold the Union term of court. Now is the best possible time to test the matter, because there are no jury eases to come up and no one would be 'hurt if there is no court," Governor Bkease said. Governor Blease said that he could not tell if there would be no court, but that he would not commission Judge Ernest Moore to hold the court. Judge Moore was recommended by the supreme court. At the time this is3 written the indications are that there will be no court. As already stated, Ocovere: Blease ad a letter from the secre1ary of the bar association, of U'nion, ".ithdrawing the name of JIudge Ernest Moore. The letter in full is given out today. Gov' ernor Blease explained that there could be no court, unless one of the n named in thi<. letter wa ornis JAMES STACKUOUSE CHA1HHA\. B. Frank Kelly, Secretary, New Wind ing Up Commission-The -New berry Court. Special to The Herald and News. Columbia, March 27.-The n'w dis pensary winding-sup commission re cently appointed by Gov. Blease met today and organized by the election of Hon. James Stackhouse, of Marion, as chairman, and Hon. B. Frank Keily, of Bishopville, secretary. They are' holding a meeting this af ternoon at Wright's hotel and have requested Attorney General Lyon to meet with them. No special judge has been commis sioned to hold the Union court and it is presumed no court will be held. Gov. Bleasg says he requested Soli citor Cooper to hold a special term of the court at Newberry to try the Sam Boozer case, but up to this afternoon he bad heard nothing from Solicitor Cooper. sloned or a circuit judge was disen gaged. Governor Blease received two let ter! from Union, which are self-ex planatory and which were given out today by him. The letters follow: First Letter Arom lnion. "Union, S. C., February 28, 1911. "The Hon. Cole. L. ZYease, covernor of South Carolina, Columbia, S, C. Dear Sir: On behalf of the Dar I have I just mailed a petition to you and Chief Justice Jones, asking for special term of court to try equity cases, etc.-no jury cases. Our bar has recotlinended Mr. Ernest Moore and if for any fea son he is not appointed, then we leave the question of appointment open. If there is disengaged circuit judge we would expect him to be appointed. Yours truly, "(Signed) Jno K. Hamblin." Three Weeks Later. "Union, S. C., March 22, 1911. "Governor Cole. L. Blease, Colum bia, S. C.--Dear Sir: As we have a court ordered for next week, begin ning March 27, to try equity cases, and there are out-or-town attorneys who are interested in the court and Imaking inquiries, I should be very glad if you would give me the infor mation as to whether or not a judge hLas been commissioned to hold this court. - "Our bar has withdrawn the tname of Mr. 'Enrest Moore, arid has stig gested (in event there is no disengag ed circuit judge) that we have Mr. Walter Hunt, of Newberry, or Mr. C. 'C. Sims, of Barnwell, or Judge R. 0. Purdy, of Sumter. "Thanking you in advance for your reply, I beg to remain yours very tru ly-,. . "(Signed) Jno. K. ifamblin." It will be noted that the second let ter from Mr. Hamblin withdraws the name of Judge Ernest Moore as the one to be recommended. The recomn inendations~ of the supreme court are isually made upon the recommenda tdns 6f the bar. Previous Clashes. In the first clash between Governor Blease and the supreni court the name of the Columbia attorney sug gested was withdrawn by the bar and a disengaged circuit judge was found for the holding of the court. In th'e Georgetown fight, Judge Ernest Gary was named, being a disengaged cir cuit judge. In the Horry fight between Governor Blease and the court there was no term of court. The present clash arose over the recommendation or Judge Erne st Moore to hold court at Union tomor row, and the refusal of Governor Bileese to commission mnm after receiv ig the letter from Secretary Hamblin. The matter came to a iead yesterday, when Governor Blease stated to the seker of Judge Moore-s commission that he would not appoint that judge. l'n view of the supreme court's stand In the JIames Davis decision, it would appear that the refusal ends the mat ter so far as the holding of the Union court is concerned. What develop ments may follow that are difficult to definitely forecast. L. M. Green. STREET 1)UTY. Street duty must be paid by the 1st of April, or parties will be brought before the mayor. .J. R. SCURRV. JOHN BLACK PAKWUNUJ BY GOVERNOR BLEASE PARDON GRANTED AFTER READ. ING LYON'S LETTER. Black's Sentence of Fire Years Had Been Commuted to Fine of $2,000. Full Pardon Now. Columbia State, 25th. John Black, a former member of the old State dispensary )oard, is a free man. He was pardoned yester day by Gov. Blease. "I went home to dinaer and carried .the letter from Lyon with me. When I read taat leiter I decided to give John Black a clean slate, and when I returned to the office I c.alled my secretary and granted the pardon." "Did John Black pay a fine of $2, 00 " he was asked. "I don't know. I don't think lie has. Anway, the p4dQn clears up every thing ainst him and he how has a clean slate," replied the governor. John Black was convicted in Ches ter county on the charge of 44nspir tacy to defraud the State in connection with the State dispensary. He was sentenced to five years in the peni tentiary. Several weeks ago Gov. Blease con iuted the sentence to five years or a flne of $2,000. He said the fine musi be paid by September 1. "Did any statement in the letter of Attorney Gen*'ral Lyon cause you tc grant a pardon to John Black?" h4 was asked. "I don't care to answer the ques tion," replied Gov. Blease, "but I will say that the pardon was granted im mediately after the letter was re ceived." The letter of Attorney General Ly on gave the information that Gov. Biease asked with reference to the prosecution of the grafters in con nection with the State dispensary and also as to the right of the attornee general to nol pros cases. The Ches ter correspondent of The State said yesterday that no fine had been re ceived, b the clerk ef court, BOBBERS HOLD UP TRAIN(, NIi Masked Bandits Compel Engineer to Stop Train-Sheriff In farsnlt. *boffeyville, KCan., March 24.-For two hours last niight masked men held St. Louis, Iron Mountain & South ern passenger train No. 104 at a stand still on the prairie atout six miles south of this city, ivalie 'they blew open a safe in the express car. They escaped in two automobiles, carrying wth them money and vaiuamos which, it is believed; Wiill amount to $20,000. The trairi left Little lidek at 5.30 a. mn., yesterday bdufld idri tariiss City. It reached JLenapah, Okia., south of this city, at 10.30 last night, half an hour late. Just after the train left Lenapah, Engineer Lynch heard a sharp cry: "Hands up." Turning he saw a masked man sit ting on the tender, pointin~g a revolver at him. "I'm going to ride some with you," said the man. "Drive on. The engineer obeyed. About four miles out of Lenalpah the rcbber com pelled the engineer to stop the train near a clump of trees. Five more masked men came out of the woods and, taking position on either side of the train began shooting in the air and along the sides of the train. Then while two of the bandits stood guard to prevent any passengers from leaving, the four marched the en gineer and fireman to the day coach and locked them in. One man' then took a position to guard the rear of the train and three went into the expresf~car, fore d the two express messengers to jump out and stand where one of the side guards could keep them covered. After nearly an hour's work the men had succeeding in inserting a charge of nitro-glycerine into the through" safe in the express car. Th y blew the 'safe to pieces and scat terd its contents over the f,oor of the car. They made no haste. They hd chosen a strategic pa.tion in whicb to .+p the train. ThQv w.ere at least tnree uie La tion. After the three men had spent near ly an hour over the packages taken from the safe, the lights of two auto mobiles were seen arawing near from the direction of the Oklahoma line. As they came within about 200 years of the train on the country road the auto mobiles were stopped. The lights were extinguished and the bandits and automobiles disappeared. Passengers who had remained hud dled in the coaches afraid to look out of the windows, relaxed and the dis organized train crev+ got to their places. When the train reached Wts eity the sheriff was notified and with two deputies started on horseback south' ward in pursuit of the six bait ,, Got Little Money. Little Rock, March 24.-Supt. Geo. F. Johnston, of the Pacific Express company with headquarters -here,. states that the men who held up and robbed Iron Mountain train iO. 101 in Oklahoma last night, got no 1nty from the express cy en4 cta all the booty. seeure4 ensisted of a few "sealed packages," the value of which is not greyt. "We no :loner use this route for through money shipments and there was not anything like $20,000 in the car as is reported." * NEWBEREB Co LQE. * * ? Next Friday and Saturday, Maroh 31st and April 1st, the first two col Xege games will be played upon the college diamond between Newberry and Wofford. Last yea Wofford had a fast team and this year it is report ed that all of last year's best players are back again. These will likely be the fastest games of the season on our home dlia,nond. Last Friday night the fifth number of the Lyceum course was given by the Eureka Glee Club. The Eureka$ with solos, quartette and selections on the organ chimes was lealy one of the best .numbers that has been on~ the conise this year, Next Friday night, March 31, comes the sixth nm ber. -. College Y.IL.C..A. On Api)2, at293p.mthe third the series oflifetak arranged will be deliverecd 'by Mr. A. T. Strattonx, general secretary of the.Columnbia Y, M. C. A. Mr. Stratton wil1.speak.on the subject, "The Y. M. C. A. Sece. taryship as a Life Work." Mr. Stratton comes Well recomf mended as a speaker and will give his hearers an address that will be both instructive and Interesting. At the last meeting of the Y. M. C. A. Dr. W. E. Pelham gave an intrue tive talk on "The Opportunities of the Christian Business Man." His talk - Ms enjoyed bya la'genuinber of de kyounlg men of the tdwn. The youing men of the town are cor dially invited to attend these meet ings. Epworth League. Program for the literary meeting of the Epworth league on Thursday night at 8 o'clock: Subject-"Rieemb3Ier the Almdo." Song. The Alamo-What and Where. Events Leading up to the Siege. Names immortalized by the siege Crockett, Bowie, Travis. Chorus-Our Nation's Heroes-by the girls of the league. A description of the assault and capture of the fort. Recitation.-"The Defense of the Alamo. Song. CHIEF JUSTICE SAYS NOTHING. Makes No Comment on Governor Blease's Latest Jutdgeship Action. Lancaster, March 26.-The News and Couriei. correspond-ent called up on Chief Justice JIones this afternoon and asked if he had anything to give out anent the remarks of Governor Blease as to 'the latter's refusal to ap point the Hon. Ern^st Moore special judge to hold court at Union next week. Justice .Jones's reply was that he ha nothing to say.