Fort Mill times. (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, June 02, 1910, Image 1
The Fort Mill Times.
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VOLUME 19?NO. 9. FORT MILL, S. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 2. 1910. $1.25 PER YEAR. =
CHARGED WITH SERIOUS CRIME
NEGRO IS SHOT, THEN ESCAPES
^ Will Ross, Accused of Criminal Assault,
Badly Wounded Breaks
Away from Hospital.
Will Ross, a mulatto about 20
years of age, was shot through
the breast and seriously wounded
by either Constable J. J. Coltharp,
of Fort Mill, or Constable i
Wrn. Austin, of Charlotte, Thurs- j
day morning at 10 o'clock while I
attempting to evade arrest, in
the Dilworth suburb of Charlotte,
on a warrant charging attempted
criminal assault.
Ross is a Fort Mill negro. He
has been in trouble a number of
times and has the reputation of
being a notorious thief. He has
SPrvpH tprm? nn I wit li tho Yrvrlr
and Mecklenburg county chainprangs
for stealing. In January
Ross was released from the
Mecklenburg chaingang and returned
to Fort Mill. He was
given employment by a farmer
in the upper section of the township,
where he had since lived >
until last Thursday. Wednesday,
morning he did not go to work,
claiming that he was sick.
About noon he came to Fort
Mill and secured a valise at one
of the stores upon the statement
that the wife of his employer in-;
tended to visit friends at a distance
and needed the valise.
Ross returned to the home of
his employer at 4 o'clock in the j
afternoon and after ascertaining
that the daughter of his employer,
a young lady 19 years of age,
was alone in the house took off i
his shoes and entered the house j
at the back door. Confronting
the young lady, he asked the!
loan of some shoe polish. The j
young lady became frightened at
Ross' audacity and ran out of i
the house to a nearby field where
her father was at work and told
him of the occurrence. Ross
_ I r A 1 i i i
aiso ran irom me nouse, dui
stopped long enough in his haste
to steal a pistol from the mantel.
The father came to Fort Mill and
swore out a warrant before Magistrate
McElhaney charging Ross
with attempted criminal assault.
The warrant was placed in the
hands of Constable J. J. Coltharp,
who left Thursday morning for;
Charlotte in search of Ross. At i
Hilton's crossing, three miles I
south of Charlotte, Constable j
Coltharp saw Ross in a farm
wagon going in the direction of
Charlotte. Upon reaching Charlotte,
Constable Coltharp hurried
to the office of Magistrate Hilton '
and secured a warrant for Ross.
The warrant charged criminal assault.
Accompanied by Constable
Wm. Austin, Constable Coltharp
hurried out the road leading
to Hilton's crossing, hoping
to meet Ross.
The two constables concealed
themselves at a building near
the Atherton cotton mill and
presently saw Ross approaching
in the wagon. When he got
within a few feet of where they
were concealed, the constables
ordered Ross to surrender.
Instead of obeying, he jumped
from the wagon and ran, the
constables in pursuit. The chase
was short-lived as Ross, observing
that the constables were
about to overtake him, stopped
snddfnlv nnH fV?rp?w Viic hnn/l
? ? ... J v*?* w f* ? HUIiVt l/V/ I
his hip pocket as if to draw a
pistol. Both constables then
fired on Ross, the shots being
simultaneous. The negro fell
and upon examination it was
discovered that he was seriously
wounded, through the right
lung. He was removed to a
Charlotte hospital and there has
since been doubt of his recovery.
Following the shooting of
Ross, a warrant was issued by a
Charlotte magistrate for Constable
Coltharp and he was
placed under a $200 bond to
appear for trial at the next
session of the Mecklenburg
superior court, which opens in
An/lov
...U.IUBJ .
Ron Escape* From Hospital.
The Charlotte papers of Tuesday
afternoon contained the
somewhat startling information
that Will Ross had escaped from
the hospital in which he had
w been held since he was shot last
Thursday morning. It seems
that the authorities at the
hospital, knowing that the negro
was in a serious condition and
having no reason to suspect that
. ... ?
he would attempt to get away,
did not place a guard over him.
Ross' condition was somewhat
improved when he was last seen
at the hospital Monday evening
at 8 o'clock, but he was still
weak and apparently unable to
walk. Tuesday morning when
the nurse visited his room the
discovery was made that Ross
had escaped during the night.
He is still at large and it is said
mat no great enort will ne made
to apprehend him. The case
against Ross is considered weak
and probably would not result
in conviction.
Husband and Wife in Lawsuit
Over Ownership of Personalty
A considerable crowd was
attracted to the town hall Tuesday
morning to hear the trial in
Magistrate McElhaney's court
of a claim and delivery suit in
which L. A. Thompson was the
plaintiff and his wife, Mrs.
Julia Thompson, respondent.
The action was for the possession
of a quantity of household
goods and two cows.
Thompson and his wife separated
during Christmas week of last
year and she moved from their
home near Charlotte to Fort
Mill. Some weeks thereafter
Thompson brought the property
in dispute to the home of his
wife and there left it. Her
understanding was that the
property had been given to her,
but Thompson claimed that he
only intended to allow his wife
the use of it pending the effort
he was making to effect a reconciliation.
Finally, concluding
that his wife did not intend to
again live with him, Thompson
demanded the return of the
property. Upon her refusal to
allow him to take possession of
it, Thompson instituted claim
n ml .* ?_ I
ClIBV* IICII VCl ^ | II t 1 I 1 I 1 ,
papers were issued by Magistrate
McElhaney on the 19th
instant.
Mrs. Thompson had a number
of witnesses in court who testified
that the property had been
given to her and that she was
the lawful owner of it. Thompson
testified that he did not intend
to surrender his claim to the j
property by leaving it with his
wife.
Both the plaintiff and respondent
were represented by
Rock Hill attorneys, the former
by Herbert M. Dunlap and the
latter by W. B. Wilson, Jr. The <
case was given to the jury, composed
of S. W. Parks, Wm. Summerville,
W. F. Harris, J. S.
Potts, K. Shannon and W. J.
Stewart, at 12 o'clock. After j
two hours' deliberation the jury
failed to reach an agreement and i
a mistrial was ordered. The<
date for the second hearing of
the case has not been set.
Fort Mill Defeated.
In a ragged game of ball,
characterized by many long hits
and more errors than seemed
necessary, the Dilworth team of
Charlotte defeated Fort Mill on
the local diamond Friday afternoon
by the score of 10 to 8. The
Fort Mill boys appeared to have
the game safely tucked away
until the beginning of the
seventh inning. Then a little
weira work on the part of the
second baseman, coupled with
two or three bingles for extra
bases, put a crimp in their
: prospects. In the eighth two
: runs were annexed, but these
: were not sufficient to overcome
the lead of the Dilworth team.
Nile Carothers did the umpiring
and his work gave general
satisfaction. The batteries were:
Fort Mill, Spratt and Parks;
Charlotte, Thompson and Spong,
Spong and Panella.
Campaign Meeting July 1.
At the recent meeting of the
State Democratic executive
committee r. suh-onmmit.t.pp
j appointed to arrange the schedule
0 f county meetings for the
candidates for State offices. The
sub-committee has finished its
work and the itinerary formulated
selects Friday, July 1, as
the date of the campaign meeting
; in Yorkville. The campaign is
to open at Sumter on Wednesday,
June 2, and will close at New|
berry August 28. The first
primary will be held on Tuesday,
1 August 30.
J. N. MASSEY, BLIND MUSICIAN,
IS IN THE HENDERSONVILLE JAIL
High Financing Causes Arrest of Man
Who "Worked" Several Citizens
of Fort Mill.
J. M. Massey, the blind North
Carolina piano tuner and
musician, who visited Fort Mill
several months ago and did considerable
work here, besides
giving a number of concerts
in the town hall, each of which
he opened with prayer, is in
jail at Hendersonville. N. C.,
charged with forging checks.
Massey is said to have left this
community in debt to a number
of persons, some of whom loaned
him money, others selling him
merchandise on deferred payments.
It was suspected here
at the time that Massey did not
intend to settle the obligations,
but no legal steps were taken
against him, as those who had
befriended him preferred to lose
the money rather than prosecute
a blind man.
Massey seems not to have
fared so well in North Carolina,
however. It is charged that
about two mon;hs ago he passed
a number of worthless checks
upon unsuspecting persons in
Hendersonville. His scheme
seems to have been to draw on
some out-of-town bank, making
the checks payable to himself,
always signing some fictitious
name to them. He would take
the surname of some well known
citizen of the community in
which the bank on which he
wished to draw was located and
prefix to the name any initials
which came to his mind.
Necessarily, Massey was assisted
by some one in drawing the
checks. The checks were made
payable at a future/date, usually
ten days or a fortnight from the
time thev were nresentpri fn??
payment. It is said that the
hard luck story which Massey
offered on presenting the checks
threw his victims off their guard
and that in all he got about $300
in tiiis way. After securing the
$300 in Hendersonville, Massey
left for Virginia, but the police
authorities of Hendersonville
located him. He was brought
back to Hendersonville and put
in jail on the charge of obtaining
money on worthless checks.
A Monroe (N. C.) paper says
that Massey is wanted in that
town to answer similar charges.
R. F. D. Carriers in Session.
The annual meeting of the
York county R. F. D. Carriers'
association was held in the court
house Monday. There was 31 out
; of 38 carriers present and a most
harmonious meeting was held.
! This is a body of representative
and intelligent men who love
their work and render faithful
service.
The meeting was called to order
by President Jno. M. Smith of
Clover, with Jno. W. Miller of
Yorkvilie secretary and treasurer.
An arlHrpse r?f
ui ncivullic
was made by John R. Hart,
mayor of Yorkville, and responded
to by State Vice President
E. W. Comer, of Rock Hill.
Minutes of last meeting were
read and approved, also reports
of the various committees.
D. Carl Clark, who was a delegate
to the national convention
at Rochester, N. Y., was called
on for a report, and he gave a
very interesting account of his
trip. Resolutions were passed
thanking the Yorkville carriers
for furnishing a bountiful dinner
I and othpr pnnrtpoioa ?i
OIOU LI Id 11 IS."
ing Mayor Hart for his kind address
of welcome, and E. W.
Comer for his response. Thanks
were extended Congressman
D. E. Finley for the work he has
done and is doing in behalf of
the rural letter carriers.
The following officers were
elected for the ensuing year:
Jno. M. Smith, Clover, president;
J. M. Simpson, Catawba,
vice president; delegates to the
State meeting at Newberry:
E. M. Faris, C. C. Haile, W. T.
Sims and John W. Miller;
alternates, John R. Stephenson,
R. T. Castles, W. M. Matthews
and S. C. Clinton. Meeting adtourned
to meet annually at
Yorkville on May 30, of each
year.
York's Area and Public Roads. ]
There are nine townships in
York county?Bethel, Bethesda,
Broad River, Bullock's Creek,
Catawba, Ebenezer, Fort Mill, '
King's Mountain and York?with
a total area of 687.45 square
miles, embracing an acreage of
439,968. Fort Mill is the small- j
est township in the county, with ;
56.11 square miles, or 35,910.4 I
acres. Bethesda is York county's 1
largest township and contains <
93.22 square miles, the equivalent 1
in acreasre beintr 59.660.8 Thp i
following table, however, gives
by townships both the area and
miles of public road in the
county:
Miles Area. .
Townships. of Sq. | .
road, miles.'
Bethel 100.K)! 71.87; 45,996.8
Bethesda 107.90 93.22i 59,660.8
Broad River 72.51, 61.63 89,475.2
Bullock's Cr'k 103.35 89.69 57,401.6
Catawba 84.50; 86.18, 55,155.2
Ebenezer 71.50 61.10 39,104.0
Fort Mill 60.22 56.11 35,910.4
King's Mtn. .. 101.00 89.58 57,331.2
York 97.40 78.02 49,432.8
Total 798.48 687.451 439,968.0 '
The population of York county
by the census of 1900 was j
41,684. It is thought that the i
1910 census will show a gratifying ;
increase in the number of people |
in the county.
Baseball Today. I
The baseball enthusiasts had
anticipated with pleasure the
prospect of the two games
which the Fort Mill team advertised
some days ago to be played
on the home grounds with
Davidson college today and to-!
morrow and considerable disappointment
was felt when the
announcement was made Tuesday
morning that the games would
not be played owing to the inability
of the Davidson boys to
come. The disappointment of
the "fans" did not last long,
| however, for the management
of the Fort Mill club began to
! cast about at once for a game
j with another strong team with 1
the result that the Chester club ;
is to come today to be enter-, 1
tained. The game promises to be 1
a good one and it is hoped that i "
the attendance will be the best
of the season. Both teams are
strong and as the grounds are in
good condition, some classy base- !
ball is expected. The* game will 1
be called at 3 o'clock.
m ^ m ?>
Pineville Bank Opens.
The Pineville Loan and Savings
bank will open for business on
the 8th inst. in its splendid new
building which was erected at a
cost of several thousand dollars
and was designed especially for
a banking institution. Mr. V. H.
Fuller, the young man who
moved to Pineville from Kentucky
some months ago and was
elected cashier of the bank as
the result of work he did in organizing
it, has tendered his
resignation to the directors. The
resignation has been accepted
and Mr. Fuller will return to
Kpnllipkv Mr Clark W Rnnnli
also a Kentuckian, has been i
elected to succeed Mr. Fuller. J
He is an experienced banker and
will give the interests of the
institution his entire time.
Meeting of Executive Committee.
County Chairman W. B. Wilson,
Jr.. of Rock Hill, was in
Fort Mill Tuesday and while
here announced that he would
call a meeting of the county
Democratic executive committee
to be held in Yorkville on
Wednesday of next week to
arrange the dates of the various
campaign meetings and to establish
a schedule of assessments 1
to be levied on the candidates.
Mr. Wilson also stated that so
far he had heard of only one or |
two opposition candidates to tne
present county officers and that
he had no positive information
about even one candidate for the
Legislature.
Pinevillf Trustees Elect Mr. Alexander.
The patrons of the Pineville
public school are greatly pleased
over the action of the board of
trustees in selecting Mr. S. I. j
Alexander, of Huntersville, as'
i superintendent of the school for
the next session. Mr. Alexander
is a graduate of Muskingum
i (Ohio) college and is said to oe a
successful teacher.
INFECTED DRINKING WATER
SOURCE OF NUMEROUS ILLS
Finely Bulletin Issued on the Subject
by the Clemson College Bureau.
Clean Premises Necessary.
Health is of first importance in
all occupations, since it governs
the ability of the individual to do
work. The progressiveness of a
community is governed by its
iiealthfulness, and this healthfulness
is measured largely, directly
or indirectlv. bv the nnritv
)f its drinking water. Almost
jur entire rural population and
the inhabitants of a majority of
)ur small towns get their supply
>f drinking water from springs
>r from shallow wells. To
tall attention to the often im)roper
surroundings of these
sources of drinking water is the
>urpose of this week's letter of
.he Clemson college extension
,vork.
The principal diseases supposed
to be communicable through
.he drinking water are typhoid
?ever, cholera, dysentery and
)ther diarrhoeal affections, chol?ra
infantum, animal parasitic
iiseases, enteric fevers and scaret
fever. Of the diseases mentioned
typhoid fever, cholera,
iysentery, cholera infantum and
scarlet fever may also be carried
:>y milk; enteric fever and tyahoid
by flies and typhoid by
"aw oysters and raw fruit. In
>rder that the water supply or
iny of the other agencies mentioned
may carry these diseases
t is first necessary for them to
jecome infected with the specific
nfection which communicates!
the disease. The infection of all
)f the sources mentioned except
nosquitoes is derived from the;
ijecta of a patient suffering
From the disease.
The Spring The ideal conditions
for the spring are that its
watershed is uninhabited, that
the watershed does not contain
^tables, barnyards, pig pens,
nivies, cesspools or cemeteries;
md it should not be traversed by ailroads
or highways, for all of
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nose maKe intection possible.
THIS,
AND THE
Mothers, don't
baby's feet, just
We can fit them
black, tan, pink, b
or any kind of sof
per. There are fi
select from, price
sizes, Os to 5s.
I Boys' Wash Su
and on sale at 50c
attractive it design
and workmanship
I summer wear ther
becoming, comfo
ical for the little fe
New lot of bro^
I linen, 1 0c to 50c
We sell yard wi<
ing, calico, gingha
year 'round at 5c
Mills & \
PHONES: Dp Ms. 37.
fi V
The freedom from all of these
objections is not always obtainable.
The spring should be
ditched around in such a way
as to carry off all of the surface
water, both during a downpour
of rain and from ponded areas,
and never allow it to be overflowed
and filled with filth or
trash of any kind. The surroundings
must be scrupulously
clean. The spring itself should
be walled with rock and covered
to prevent trash from falling into
it.
The Well?Too many of our
wells are located in the barnyard,
in order that water may be convenient
for stock, regardless of
sanitary conditions. The source
of the drinking water for the
family should be removed from
any such possible danger of infection.
The well should be located
on a well-drained area,
remote from barns, pig pens,
privies, cesspools, cemeteries or
drains, and should be cemented
from the edge outward to the
distance of several feet. Above
the surface of this cement, a
tight box should be built and a
tight fitting cover provided, if
buckets are used. The pump is
much to be preferred to the
bucket because it lessens the
danger of trash falling into the
the well. All waste water should
be drained off and no waste
water allowed to spill back into
the well. No puddles should be
allowed to form nearby in which
hogs might wallow. The hog is
a great gatherer of filth, and by
wallowing in a puddle which
drains into a well, there is great
danger of infection.
Prof. L. W. Dick's Success.
The Fort Mill friends and former
pupils of Prof. L. W. Dick,
who was associated with Prof.
A. R. Banks in the conduct of
the old Fort Mill academy 20-odd
years ago, will be pleased to
learn that his worth as a teacher
has been recognized within the
last few days by election to the
superintendency of two of the
[best public schools in the State,
at Hartsville and at Abbeville. V
He will go to Hartsville.
!
THAT
i OTHER.
worry about your
bring them to us.
in a red, white,
lue, patent leather
t sole shoe or slipfteen
styles here to
is, 25c and 50c, I
its?Bier lot mst in
? J
These are very I
i and the materials
are excellent, I" or
e is nothing more
rtable or econom>llow.
vn and white dress
the yard.
de sheeting, bleach
ms and lawns the
the yard.
roung Co.
Fimitnre, 144. Grocery, 12.
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