Fort Mill times. (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, November 21, 1907, Image 1
THE FORT MI LI TIMEsT ^
I 16TH YEAR FORT MILL, S. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21; 1907 NO. 34
J SHARP FORGER
I
Takes in Several People In Columbia
For Small Amounts.
LOOK OUT FOR HIM.
The Amounts Which He (Jot Wore
Not Very Much in the Aggregate
Rut Then* Were Several Crooked
l>eals Which Showed Rare Persistence
utul Nerve on the Part of the
Forger, F. W. Unit ley.
The State say F. W. Rent ley. who
Is branded as a forgor by his former
employer, by Columbia banks arm hv
half a dozen business men about the
city, Ib apparently possessed of considerable
nerve, and has managed to
stay In Columbia for two weeks with
l>olice officers, detectives and others
lookng for him, all anxious to give
him a berth lu the county jail, lientley
managed to pass forged checks
upon one bank and a half dozon
business men of Columbia, beginning
his operations about Oct. 25. and, although
the matter was promptly reported
to the police department, he
is known to have been in the city
Thursday night and attempted to
work a Gervnls street merchant with
one of his worthless pieces of paper.
Hentley went to Columbia about
Juue 1, from Dubuque, Iowa, to work
for John Neill & Co., proprietors of
the Capitol City market, 1610 Main
street. On October 19 he was discharged
by Mr. Neill and his crooked
deal was pulled olT shortly thereafter.
when he went to one of the Columbia
banks and asked to borrow
$25 on his note. He was told thai
he could not get the money unless
Neill & Co. endorsed the note. Ilent- '
ley, it is said, took the note and went
out, coming back a few minutes later (
with it bearing the alleged endorse- |
of John Neill & Co. He got the money
and it wu6 not discovered that the 1
signature was a forgery.
Several days later Ilentlcy walked
into the name hank and presented a
check for $25 signed "John Nelll & I
Co., and payable to himself. He In- formed
the teller that he wished to 1
get the check cashed and apply $5 on !
his note at the bank. The $25 was I
counted out to hiin and he passed $. I
back to be npplied to his note. <
On November 1 Hentley called at i
the Parlor restaurant and nsked the
proprietor. Mr. Ren David, to cash a <
small check for him, tvhich was done.
The amount of this check was $10 l
and It was signed the snme ns 'he ?
other; drawn on the Rank of Colum
.bin and made payable to himself.
On November 12 Bentley walked
into one of the leading hotels of the 1
city late n the afternoon and presented
a check for $25, drawn on th?
Carolina National hank, payable to P.
Bentley and signed "John Nelll &
Co." He stated that Mr. Nelll had
given hlin the check and that as It
was after banking hours and as he
needed the money hndiy he would
have to have It cashed by koi\jp one
else. The check was cashed all right,
and the next morning It was turned
down at the Carolina National as
Nelll & Co. had no account there.
-1 >nl">n to Mr.
The check wan IIIOU lunvM
Noill, who branded it as a forgery.
Mr. Noill informed the hotel man that
it was not the tlrst. chock which
Bentley had forged against him at
several others had already been call
ed to his attention.
A few days later a check for $T
turned up which Ilentley had succeed
ed in passing upon u small merctaan'
in the outskirts of the city and stir
another one for a like amount, which
he had worked off on a man in tin
Olympia village came to light.
Two checks for small amount'
which Bent ley gave on the FalinettNational
hank, signed by hlmaell
weie turned down by the hank fo
lack of funds, he never having hm
an account there.
It is also said that a draft for $4(
drawn on Neill and Co and sent in b>
a firm outside of the city, througl
another bank, was turned down b;
one of the hanks, Bentley being th?
author of it.
It was learned nt ihe police station
that Bentley was In town Thursday
night and attempted to pass a checi
or, nn a merchant on Gervni:
street.
Possibly others were taken in b>
Bentley with his worthless check?
and have refrained from reporting
the cases for fear of notoriety.
It is said that Bentley has been living
with a woman on Main street and
this woman made inquiries over thf
telephone of Nelll & Co. since the
first forgeries came to light. She alw
looked after getting Bentley's trunk
and this action was immediately re
ported to the police. It was thought
that she and Hentley were preparing
to board a train and lenve the clt?
together but the depots were watched
closely, it is said and neither of them
was seen.
Mr. Neill hnd known Hentley foi
several years and at one time worker
in the same otilce with him. with Ar
. mour & Co. He states that Bentle?
is mni'Hed and that his wife is now
K living In Iowa. He says that untt'
P Bentley begun forging his name br
had never heard ^nythlng against hit
JP_rh;iraeie. and ilwaya considered him
T^riem: > it thought to be in the
ANOTHER MUDDLE, i
,
;
Difficult Point Brought Before Attorney-Generel
Lyons.
In Connection With the Luwn Governing
New County Elections.?May '
Postpone Calhoun County Election.
The rolnmMn i?.i -
vvi I VO^UllUV'lll U I
the News and Courier says an interesting
and difficult point has come
up in regard to the election which has
been ordered for this month on the |
establishment of Calhoun County, out <
of portions of Orangeburg and Lex-!
ington counties.
There is a conflict in the laws governing
the holding of elections on
new counties in that it is provided
in the Constitution that when an
election is ordered all the qualified
electors within the proposed new
county shall hav the right to vote,
whereas it is provided in the statutes
that the county board of election
commissioners shall appoint managers
for those voting precincts within
the prescribed territory.
It so happens that some of the',
qualified Hectors residing in the tor-'
rltory are registered at precincts i
which are outside the territory, and
the question arises whether or not!
these electors can vote, and if so.
where. The Constitution clearly
Btates that they are entitled to vote,
as the resi dewithin the territory, but
the statute, It is argued, makes no
provision for the holding of the elec
tlon except at the boxes within the
territory, and an elector can vote only
at the precinct where he is registered.
An elector may change his registration
from one precinct to another
If he has changed his residence, but j
this has to bo done by applying to;
the registration supervisors on one
af the days when their office is oucn.
The questions outlined, aloug with
ithers, were propounded hy the new t
jounty advocates to their attorneys..
Bellinger & Welch, and in ord?*r t< !
tuake the procedure safe the j.ttorneys
have asked the Attorney General
for an interpretation of the law.
This condition again brings to the
front the uncertainty which exists,
and the degree of ambiguity in the
election laws, and suggests that it
might be well .or the General Assembly
to Instruct the Judiciary commit
Lees of the two houses to take the
election laws into consideration and j
report back a bill or bills, which will j
ro amend the laws as to make them j
consistent and plain.
It ought not to lie difficult as it b
:o conduct a legal election in this'
State, but under the present condi- '
ions it is practically impossible, for
lot even the lawyers can construe tin
deetion laws. The only way out of
he trouble, it seems, it to poitpom
he election in Calhoun until the j
Legislature can meet and straighten
iut the tangle. Otherwise the election I
vould be illegal.
Importun Decision.
This is tho summary of an inpor-!
ant opinion given by Attorney Gen- j
ral Lyon in response1 to a request j
rom Governor Ansel. The* opinion
~>t Mr. Lyon is as follows:
"Dear Sir: Your letter of the 1 1th
nstant is to hand in which you ask ;
ne to give my opinion as to the right I
?f electors, within the proposed now
ounty of Calhoun, to vote when they
re seperated from their voting places
y reason of their precinct being cut
?y the proposed new county line. Aricle
7. section 1 of the constitution
f 1S9T? provides: "The governor,
hall order an election within a reas
nable time thereafter, by the quul- j
fled electors within the proposed
rea.' etc. Article 11, section 9. of
he constitution provides the each !
lector shall vote at his own precinct
nd section T?76 of the code of laws
902. volume 1, provides only for;
penlng and conducting elections a
ach voting place within the area o<
he old county so proposed to for
ut off.'
"An elector being prohibited by
he constitution from voting without
Is precinct una no voting piace wun- i
t his precinct and Mn the area of tti<?
roposed county to he cut off' havng
been provided by law, ho has
nly a bare right to vote, without the
leans or opportunity having been
rovided by law for its exercise.
"It is. therefore, my opinion that
lectors so situated can not vote un?>ss
the legislature shall derm it wise (
o provide voting places in such [
asos."
Terrible Kxplosion.
i
Two men were killed and three or
our injured in an explosion in the1
Irander. Ohio. The factory was de-1
Grander. Ohio. Th efnetorv was detOlished
and a number >>f houres
vere shattered in the town. The cr.n ussion
was felt for si..ty tnile:;
iround.
-1 ty yet. people who sometimes cash]
checks for strangers should be on
he lookout and it has been suggested
that it would not bo a bad idea
o inform the police of all eases
?rhere auspicious strangers offer
'hecks to he cashed, or at least to
make inquiry of the haukt.
A warrant was sworn out before
Magistrate Fowles by Mr. Men Ihtvid,
| 'harging Beutley with uttering and
oubllshiflg a forged instrument i f
writing. If he is cnptiired a half
dozen other warrants will be .served
upon htm
ENDED AT LAST.
Famous Lawsuit Settled After One
Hundred Years of Litigation.
PECK VS BORDEN CASE
Which Originally Involved One Hun>
tired Thousand Dollars, Is Ended ,
After Estate Had Dwindled to Six '
<
Thousand Dollars.?Each Heir Got 1
Very Little as The it- Were a Great |
Many of Them,
*
A famous lawsuit which has been
In litigntion In the courts of Virginia
for a period of more than one hundred
years, was recently terminated
there by the receiver for the property
In litigation disbursing the remainder
of the estate?some $6,000?among
the heirs.
Quite a number of the heirs of
this estate live in Atlanta and other
parts of Georgia, and through the
courtesy of Albert Ilorden Greeu,
whose mother, Mrs. ltachuel Green,
of Decatur, was a descendant of the
Borden family, and one of the heirs
to the muchly litigated estate, The
Atlanta Journal recently presented a
facsimile of tho check which she recently
rceived from the receiver lut
full settlement of her share of the
estute. The amount is not large, being
only $1-1.69. but it was a case of
long division, and $6,000 doesn't
make much of a show when cut up
among four hundred heirs.
Among the descendents of the
Rordens who live in Georgia and were
interested in this famous lawsuit,
may be mentioned Mrs. James R.
Gray, of Atlautn, the wife of Hon.
lames R. Gray, editor of The Jour
mti. j. rv. oHcueii. oi Mapevnie; Mrs.
Frank Little, tho wife of Judge Frank
Little, of Sparta; H. II. Susuett, deceased,
of Jacksonville, Flu.,; Mrs. c
Mary Will Sasnelt, of Sparta: Bev. II. r
'I. Sasnett. deceased, of Atlanta, and
Mrs. R. F. Greer, of Decatur.
All of these Georgians nre the do- 1
scendants of the Borden family or 1
Virginia, and the large holdings of
valty left bv the founder of the fain- H
ily furnished tlie sinews for ?he long p
legal battle which has been waged In
he courts of Virginia for a century '
and ntore.
The case, entitled Peck vs. Borden. | ^
forcibly reminds one of the celebrated ;
ate of Jnrndyce vs. Jarndyce, as v
Pictured by Charles Dickens. In this
ase. however, the heirs have from r
line to time had divided up and parceled
out among them something ov- r
<r $100,000, and the case did finally ^
onie to an end, being unlike that of
larndyce vs. Jarndyce in that respect. r
Kverybody in Staunton. Vn., knew "
all alKJiit the Peck vs. Borden law- 0
suit. Lawyers regarded it as in the a
lature of an inheritance, and the)*1
interest which a family of lawyers T
had in the case as counsel was hand- ('
?d down from generation to genera- *
lion, from father to son. It was one l]
of the ordinary incidents of life for f
in attorney, as the shadows of life
'engthened and affairs of life were
icaring to an end to call his son to
Ills bedside and say, "My son, I have
'ess of this world's Roods to leqve
vou than I could wish, but I leave
vou with my hlessinR and my interest
as a lawyer in the case of Peck vs.
Borden. It supported my greatgrandfather
as a lawyer. It supported
ny grandfather and father and it will
loubtless supply the comforts of life
"o your children's children."
Hut. like all other things of this
arth the celebrated case at length
ame to an end. It was like unto
he closing up of a lawyer's supply
ompany when the receiver in the
ase entered a final decree, and the
ist dollar has been parceled out.
' trong men -lawyers?wept like litle
children, knowing that cases like
hose turned up only once every few
onlurles, and the new crop of lawyers
had a long and dreary period of
waiting before such another good I
thing would be discovered. j
The case had its inception more
than one hundred years ago when the
property of Benjamin Borden, the
founder of the family, was wrongly
disposed of by a guardian of his two
granddaughters. Out of this suit
collateral issues sprang and the
courts have since then been busy year
after year with sonic branch of the
case or another. When the judge
ordered the clerk to pronounce the
record in court the cierk complied by
trucking it in with the aid of several
porters, and there was scarcely left
room enough In the court room to
orous were the papers which had been
Hied from time to time.
Sturdy old Benjamin Borden, the
founder of the family fortunes, emigrated
from Kngland and came to
Virginia in 1720, settling a colony
near Staunton, Va., He received for
his valuable services to the crown a
huge grant of land in Rockbridge and
Augusta counties, Virginia, and some
t>0,000 acres of land around what is
now known as Bordentown. X. J.
Benjamin Borden, Jr., succoaded
to the property at the death of his
father, leaving it in turn to his son.
Joseph Borden. tTpon the latter's
death, the property reverted to his
two minor daughters, and this was
the beginning of the famous law suit.
The guardian for the two girlfc sold
LOTTERY SWINDLE.
Most Important Lottery Exposure
In Recent Years.
Many Wealthy tuid Prominent Per*
sons Are Likely To Be Caught in
Drag Net by Secret Service.
The biggest lottery swindle in the
United States which has been runalng
for more than twenty years with
tieadquarters in Chicago, was exposed
Wednesday nght by arrests in that
ind other cities of the country. The
United States secret service claims
:hat the promoters of the scheme
aave made millions of dollars and
.hat there are big men behind it who
:an be reached by the prosecution of
he men now under arrest.
Under the name of the Old Reliable
Guaranty Loan rnmnnn\- I
:ompauy maintained nicely appointed
)fllce8 at 2 25 Dearborn street, 171
Washington street, and 12 Sehrman
itreet and a large printing establishment
known j?s the Martin Fountaiu
Printing Company at 26 Randolph
itreet. Secret service agents Harry T.
lonague, Otto F. Klinke and Law ence
Richey, who have engineered
ill the big lottery exposures of recent
rears raided all four of these establshments
and obtained thousands of
ickets, lottery paraphernalia, checks
ind returns from agents, and the
dates from which the tickets were
iriuted.
I). H. Jones, alias D. H. Kissam,
vho has lived in expensive style at
he Great Northern Hotel and welltnown
about the city, was arrested
is the head of the concern. He has
>eon in charge of the concern since
ts inception in 1885, and is said by
he secret service men to have acted
is the representative and go between
if the man higher up. He has also
frown tremendously wealthy out of
he profits pf the concern.
John E. Miner, of W. Minter &
]o., was arrested a partner in the 1
onceru. Miner claims to be in the
eal estate business.
Warrants were issued for Miss
' ora Green, the confidential secretary
of Jones, nnd Walter Schirabey,
he bookk<*iper. At midnight, Jones,
liner and Miss Green were arraignd
before United States Commissionr
Foote.
George B. Geisler, the St. Louis
gent of the concern, was arrested in (
hat city and a large number of lot- ,
ery tickets and records confiscated,
'rank Falkner, agent at Fort Wayne, ,
ias arrested by Agent Douohue.
!harles and Royal Hamman were arested
at Indianapolis by Agent
Clink ,nnd John T .Marklnnd was arested
at McKeesport. Pa. All were
leld under heavy bond.
The secret service men from the
ecords they have obtained expect to
nake more thnn 200 arrets In varlus
cities in the country. An attempt
.lso will be made to Involve the exiress
companies as agnts or aecomdices,
under the federal act forbldling
lotteries. Commissioner Foote
leld Jones without ball. Jones Is
nore than 70 years of age, and very
eeble.
Under its various names, the lotery
has been conducted in the reguar
lottery manner, except that the
irocess has been all out of proportion
o the risk and the commissions have
teen very heavy, putting hundreds of
housands of dollars into the pock>ts
of the promoters yearly. It is
telieved that even with the heavy
trecentage in their favor, the lotery
managers did not live up to their
(eAo r? t lw.tr* <1 n rv<>c< n fnfi^wt
M vrillin< 0 IU l?ru UU^ O ?1IU 1CW1VU
o share receipts as advertiser.
iome of the property and did not ac:ount
for it, and suit was instituted
o recover it. That suit continued in
he courts for more than one hundred
. ears, and the list of heirs had grown
vay up into the hundreds when the
inal settlement of the case was made
?arly this month.
Of this same Borden family was
Colonel Borden, who presented the
Capital City club with a shell fired
from the Oregon at Santiago, which
stands on the corner of the club's
awn with an inscription plate on it.
'iale Borden, of New York, of condensed
milk fame, Mr. Borden, of
Canada, and the Bordens. of Kail
Itiver, Mass., belong to this famous
family.
The story of the final settlement of
the case is told in the following press
dispatch from Staunton. Va:
A case which has been occupying
the various courts here for considerahitity
over 10h years was ended recently
in the circuit court by Mayor
W. H. l?andi?, receiver, entering a
decree, which is considered final,
showing all the disbursements in the
case of Peck vs. Borden and Borden
vs. Borden.
Over $100,UU0 whs involved and
various decrees have been entered
by almost every lawyer here.
The heirs numberinB 400. were
here from all parts of the country.
The final decree approving the settlement
of the receiver, Hon. William
H. Landls, involved only about $6,000.
One heir represented in the original
suit as an Infant died some years
ago at the age of 06 years. Nearly
even- lawyer at the bar for the past
century has represented some heir.
The papers In the case were so numerous
that no man living, even Judge
or clerk, were familiar with all of
them.
MET DEATH
In a Burning Hotel at New Haven,
Conn., Monday.
- j
CAUGHT LIKE RATS
|
In a Trap And Arc Burned Beyond
Recognition. Awakened by Panle-Stricken
Bellboy, Gust* Fled
To Street in Night Hobos. Six
People Perish and Many Others j
Narrowly Rscape.
At New Haven, Conn., six persons i
are dead as a result of a dlKARtrr?ti? i
Are which swept the upper stories of :
the hotel Garde, early Monday. Hun- I
dreds of Kuests of the hotel, the blgget
In the state of Connecticut, were
thrown Into a panic and rushed into
the streets, clad only In their night
robes, as the flame swept through
the wooden structure.
Patrick Anter, a porter, was killed
by the snapping of a rope with which i
he was lowering himself to the street '
from the fourth story.
Five other employes sleeping on j
the same floor were suffocated by the ;
dense smoke.
Starting in the north wing, follow- |
ing a violent explosion, the fire
spread rapidly and ravaged the upper i
stories of the hotols to the extent of ,
$50,000 before the fireman could get
it under control.
Awakened by the crackling of the >
flumes in the room next to his own. a
bell boy rushed through the halls ;
shouting the alarm and arousing the
sleeping guests.
All of these were, able to reach the
street in safety, although narrow escapes
were numerous and the fire
was marked by thrilling rescues, several
women being taken from their
rooms by means of ladders.
MALICIOl'S MISSriUKF
Marble Steps to Charleston Residences
I'pset and I'ut In Street.
The News and Courier says there i
was sdme excitement and consider- 1
was some excitement and consider- 1
of Wentworth street when they arose 1
Thursday morning and found that I
many of the marble steps in front of
their houses had been not only interchanged,
but carried into the street. !
it nas developed that one of the ;?
blocks had only been placed on the;'
track of the electric car line, but had ;
been struck by one of the cars, result-1!
ing, fortunately. In no Injury to the !
car, those in charge of It nor any of
the occupants. The slabs were in
some cases broken in several pieces. |1
Who is, or are, guilty of this wan-;'
ton act is not known and while it is :
snid to have been the work of some
young men. it -will not be definitely
known until the officers who have the
matter under investigation make
their report. And some one may
have to answer in not only the Ke- i
corder's Court, but that of General ;
Sessions.
DKAK KOSHER MEAT
Causes Trouble Among the Women
at Patterson, X. J.
At Patterson, N. J., angry women
visited homes in the River street section,
and in all places where Kosher
meat appeared on the tables for the
uoon day meal, it was either destroyed,
flung from the windows, or made i
unpalatable by having kerosene pour- j
ed over it.
The Kosher shops were all picked j
and a few purchasers got away with '
meats. In scores of cases, purchases \
were torn from the arms of men !
Butchers have decided to close their '
shops for thirty days to stop the boy- j
cott of the shops. The high prices '
for meats caused the trouble.
FOUGHT WITH SHOTGUNS.
Enemies Meet While Hunting and ,
IWvth Jit Wounded.
In a duel with shotguns near Radford.
Va., Thursday evening, James;
Newby. custodian of the Casers Lith- i
ia Springs, was fatally wounded by ;
Hugh Peternian, and the latter was i
seriously wounded by Newhy. The'
men were out hunting and when they i
met turned their guns on each other
and began shooting. The trouble Is 1
result of an old grudge which grew i
out of jealousy on the part of Peter- ,
man, who imagined Newby was paying
attention to his wife.
WRECKED SCHOOL RllLDING
Blown I'p With Thiw Romh* of
Nitroglycerine.
Three big nitroglycerine bombs dis-'
charged In rapid succession early on i
Thursday morning practically wreck-]
ed the new $100,000 Henry school at i
frormantown, Pa. For squares around i
the residents of that section of the j
shrub were awaked by the noise. |
ThuB far the police have no clue of
the identity of those who committed
the act. It is though the explosion
was caused by parties opposed to the
$10,000,000 loan bill, which gives
$500,000 to the board of education.
A GREAT LOSS,
Over a Billion Dollars Wash Away
Each Year.
Loss to the Farmer* Through
Wash in Their Lands is Appalling
Kaoh Yeur Says Rxpcrt
The farmers of the United States
annually permit one billion dollars
worth of potential wealth to roll into
the Seas, Without armareritlv tho
slightest effort to prevent this enormous
waste.
This was the remarkable statement
made recently by Prof. W. J.
McGee, chief of the bureau of soils
of the agricultural department. Then
Prof. McGee sets about proving his
assertion by reciting some of the
follies of the American agriculturalist.
Much has been said lately concerning
the conservation of our nat-1
ural resources, and so great has this
agi'ation become that the president
will devote one chapter of his forthcoming
message to a discussion of the
subject.
According to the views of the agricultural
experts and scientific men
in Washington, farmers are responsible
for more of the damage to his
lands than he is blamed for. Prof.
McGee says that careful investigation
justifies the department In the ascertlou
that the rains are permitted annually
to carry off into the small
streams and through them to the
great rivers and ou to the seas not
less than-one billion tons of the surface
soil, which is the richest and
most potent In reproductive elements
of any portion of the tillable land
of the country, and that practically
the entire amount could be retained
If a proper system of plowing was
followed.
His criticism is made with particular
reference to hillside fanning
and the cultivation of sloping areas.
Instead of plowing up and down the
hillside, as most farmers in thU country
do, Mr. McGee suggests that the
agriculturists try the plan of plowing
across sloping fields. This would
make ridges that form natural, hut
tiny breakwaters, thus preventing the
water front rapidly flowing into the
ravine, as inevitably Is the case when
the furrows of a field plowed in the
apposite and customary direction are
converted into rivulets that in time
grow into feeders that carry off the!
water at a ruinous rate. Mr. McGee
states that by following the plan
suggested by Ills bureau water is not
anly stopped from rapidly carrying
off the surface earth, but the natural
springs and other sources of water
supply are prevented from replenishing
themselves, if water is not permitted
to link slowly Into the earth,
he declares, springs eventually will
dry up and wells will fail. From an
economic viewpoint the situation assumes
a graver aspect in the eyes of
these experts, as Prof. McGee says at
a most reasonable estimate this billion
tons of the richest soil that is annuallj^lost
cannot be replaced by the
use of fertilizers costing vastly more
than a billion dollars.
The question also has another
phase directly connected with the
subject of the enlargement of our inland
waterways, upon which also the
president has declared his purpose of
addressing the congress. Heavy rains
carry this soil into the streams and
the muddy and swollen rivers go
rushing on towards the sea, eroding
their hanks.
Prof. McGee says that only muddy
water will erode the banks, and that
this silt and fine dirt and snnd cuts
its way ruthlessly as it moves rapidly
along eating the banks and filling up
the channel. If it were not for this
soil carried to the sea, the department
experts declare there would be
fir* ftnnrmnnc uovlnnr i n
expenditures of the government for
dredging and other public works in
connection with the inland rivers.
In the same way the levees and
other works at the months of such
rlvors as the Mississippi become necessarily.
almost solely, because of
this waste of the land that is permitted
to flow down and block up the
mouth of streams by their enormous
deposits.
SHOT HIS It!VAL
And Murried h Girl Within an Hour
After.
Half an hour after Clarke Norton
killed William Franklin, at White
Rock, N. C., Monday, he and Miss
Rlizaheth Gentry, for whom they
were both suitors, were married at
Asheville.
Norton was not arrested until the
following day, when he was taken in j
jail at Marshall, N. C. He was accompanied
by his bride, who hetrperi
to be allowed to go to jail with him.
hot was refused. She and Norton
assert chat Norton shot and killed
Franklin in self-defense.
They say F'ranklln had found out
that Norton and Miss Gentry were
going to be secretly married, and had
gone to the girl's home for the purpose
of preventing the marriage.
Franklin had said that Miss Gentry
and Norton should never wed. When
Norton made hi sappearance. Franklin.
it is alleged, started the trouble,
and Norton opened fire upon him,
hia first shot taking effect In Franklin's
heart and killed him almost instantly.
TOOK HIS LIFE
The Late President of the Knickerbocker
Trust Company
COMMITTED SUICIDE.
He Was Mix?sl I'p In the I,atc Panic
in New York, and Was I deposed for
Speculating in the Trust's Company's
Deposits.?Dissipation of
His Private Fortune and Loss of
Husiness Standing I'pset His Mind.
Charles Tracy Barney, the deposed
president of the Knickerbocker Trust
Company, of New York, and until recently
a power in the financial world.
shot unci killed himself Thursday In
his home. His loans with the hank,
it is said, are assured, and when he
was forced from its presidency he
was to all intents apd purposes eliminated
as a factor in banking circles.
What ill-effects his unexpected
taking off might huv? had on the
financial situation generally had long
since been discounted. In distress of
mind over the dissipation of his prlvate
fortune and the I r s of his high
standing among husi.iejs associates,
intimate acquaintances find the hidden
drift that broke his health and
reason.
Much of his personal wealth might
have been saved. At the rituo that
Harney was dying at his home at
Kust Thirty-eighth street and 1'ark
avenue, and surgeons prd???l for u
bullet that, misdirected '?y a nerveless
hand, had entered the body helow
tho h? art. a handful ol Irlends at
a down-town office were concluding
an arrangemer.t by which the loose
ends of the banker's Ui.ui/ enterprises
were to be gathered up and
financed by a stock compauv, which,
if not wholly successful, would at .
least have rescued from the wreckage
sufficient to insure th i promoter's
future financially. The conference
broke up following the announcement
that Mr. Hartley was dead.
Mr. Harney, who was in his fiftyseventh
year, shot hicnteif while
alone In his chamber at the rear of
the second floor of his home The
bullet entered below th heart and
lodged under the left shoulder blade,
lie died about 2 o'clock that afternoon
after suffering intensely. The
death was reported to the coroner a
little past three o'clock. Fvom tlu;
confusing stories due to tho excitement
of the hour it was detrrmlned
that Mr. Harney deliberately shot
himself while alone and soon after
rising.
As the bullet enlerel his body he
fell unconscious upon tho bed. The
report of the revolver startled the
lillllliy. .viio. r> u?>ii 11 ;\ ijiju; t *tx?"i?*it?p u
guest, was the tlrst t?. reach the
chamber and she summoned the physicians.
Dr. Dixon rein jmled, and
also called two other physic lens Mr
Harney was revived, an 1 to Or. Dixon,
for twenty years th \ family physician,
said:
"Doctor, this is an accident."
In reporting this to the coroner. ,
Dr. Dixon added, "with this I coincide."
Ether was ndminirt, r id and efforts
we-e made to remove the bullet, but
they were not successful. During
periods of consciousness th? patient
suffered much, hut a?.v rdiug to
those who were with him made no
statement other than that quoted by
Dr. Dixon.
A desk in the chamber was littered
with memorandums and piled high
with papers, including letters from
bankers and other flnancia. correal
l ondents throughout the country.
But the coroner was unable to find
iinv communication fronr Harney to
.suggest ft purpose of se'f-deatructlon.
Mr. Barney was born In Cleveland,
Ohio, on January, 27, 1 8*>t Ho was
the son of A. H. Barney, president of
the United Slates Exp cs* Company
After graduating from Williams Colit'ffi,
1870, ho marrlol Mts.? Lilly
Whitney, sister of Wm C. Whitney.
This is the first trag'e echo from
tho late gamblers panic In New York.
Mr. Barney played the game of fren/.led
flnnnce, lost and pnid the penalty.
The Knickerbocker Company was
oadly involved in the lata panic, and
President Barney, and ail the directors
were removed, and an investigation
of the company la now oelng
made, and some of the big depositets
have given out that all otluers of the
company who have violated the law
will be prosecuted. No doubt this
had something to do with the President's
suicide. ife had borrowed
I money from his own company.
MET A IIOBItlBL^ DEATH.
Mr. Itoht. King, of Falr^ix, Killed At
Lumber Mill.
A special dispatch to The News
and Courier from Allendale says a
horrible accident occured at about. 11
o'clock Thursday at tho Brown Lumber
Company, situated at Ulmer's
which resulted In the death of Mr.
Robert King, of Fairfax. Mr. King
while engaged in his work at the mill
was caught in the line shafting. It
was a matter of only a few minutes
before he was beaten and torn in a
terrible manner by the rapid revolutions
of the machinery. He lived only
1 a few minutes after the accident,
i