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- i ?? mi. 11 in niiMiiw?iwi _ \ W^y % * \ i The Fort Mill Times. __n |M VOLUME 19?NO. 37. )FORT MILL, S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1910. $1.25 PER YEAR ?????i?????mmm????^? ?? ?????? ?? ASSASSIN'S WORK ENDED LIFE OF E. P. H. NIVENS MONDAY E. P. H. Nivens was shot frorr ambush at his country- store, twc miles north of Fort Mill, at ( o'clock Monday afternoon and almost instantly killed. The killing: is considered one of the most cold- blooded affairs that ever occurred in Fort Mill township. Mr. Nivens was sitting: in the rear of his store with the front door open when the assassin called to him from the opposite side of the road to come to the door. When he reached the door a charge from a shotgun was poured into his body and he fell to the floor, dying in ten min11 f ?><3 llflfKnilf V.WVWJ TT I WI1VIUV/ IIUUM 11^ tl blctlt'" ment to those who reached his ^ side before he expired as to who he thought the assassin was. News of the assassination reached Fort Mill within a few minuses after it occurred and a number of persons quickly hurried from town to the scene of the crime, but none of these learned anything tending to implicate anyone in the murder. Tuesday morning Coroner Louthian came to Fort Mill and held an inquest over the body of the dead man. Three members of the Griffin family, including the father, W. E. Griffin, and two of his sons, were put upon the stand before the coroner's jury as was a negro named Adam Edwards in an effort to place the blame for the crime, but all were released*and the jury returned a verdict that the dead man came to his death from gunshot wounds in the hands of some one unknown to them. There had long been ill feeling between Mr. Nivens and the Griffin family, who were rival merchants, their respective places of business being close together on opposite sides of the public road. Sheriff Hugh G. Brown and Deputy Sanders visited the scene of the crime Tuesday and both spent several hours tracing clues which may result in arrests The donrl mnn wahk lioro had a number of enemies. On Christmas eve, 1908, he was fired on from ambush while sitting in front of his store. A negro was charged with the crime and given a hearing in court, but was not convicted. While in Yorkville attending the court at which the negro was tried, Mr. Nivens' store was burned. He claimed that the fire was of incendiary origin, and the governor ofi'ered ^ a reward for the apprehension of the guilty person, but no one was ever arrested in connection with the burning. I The body of Mr. Nivens was / brought to the home of his sister, J Mrs. A. B. Parks, in the village J of the Fort Mill Mfg. Co. Monday r afternoon and from there was taken to Fint llill cemetery Wed I nesday morning and interred. L Mr. Nivens was ahnnt JO ft of age and was a son of the late Jos. Nivens, who died near Yorkville about ten years ago. He had never married and his home had V always been in Fort Mill tow riff ship. L Merger Suit Dragging Along. |||. Correspondence Fort Mill Times. B Columbia, Dec. 13.? A resume of the Southern railway merger %)B case shows two things: The utf'w ter insufficiency of the State's 'M evidence, and the futility of com$B bating a corporation whose plans ||B are as deep laid as the SouthKgkp. It is debatable if the dissoluW^k tion of the Southern would be > be jeficial to the State. A prominent railway official in spewing of the merger case said: "Since the formation of the Southern railway under the ge?{ ? U l 1 -r n inuo ui nit; icauersnip 01 aanillt'l Spencer, it lias grown in corporate and commercial supremacy until now it traverses and permeates our whole beautiful Southland. A greater blow to commerce and the industries of our State can hardly be conceived than the breaking up of this great corporation. The terminal facilities of the Southern are daily increasing and improving and Nthis railway has been bending every energy to the improvement of its service and its roadbed. There has been a wonderful improvement in the last score of years." W. J. C. Ibi* "" FORT MILL. 0. C. Fort Mi" : vo be given a great I 1 advertising through the II agency of a souvenir envelope, > several thousand of which have I been printed for local business - houses. On the address side of the envelope is printed a half. tone picture of the electric plant of the Southern Power company, near town, the high school buildinp, a view of Main street and ' Confederate park, with space in 1 the upper lefthand corner for ' | the return address. The work ' is beautifully done. On the re' | verse side of the envelope is the ; following sketch of the town: "Fort Mill is a progressive, growing town of 2.000 in the heart of the far-famed Piedmont region. It is located in the centre of a rich agricultural country, ; where lands which return profit; able yields of cotton, corn, oats, hay, garden produce, fruit, etc, can be bought at reasonable prices. "The town is three miles from the great hydro-electric plant of the Southern Power company, affording economical power for! all kinds of manufacturing indus- ! I tries. "Here there are good cnurches, the schools are unsurpassed, the ! ; streets well kept and electric lighted. A new high school building is just being completed at a cost of $14,000 and waterworks are in prospect. The town is on the main line of the Southern railway, 17 south of Charlotte (N. | C.) and 89 miles north of Columbia. There are 25 good stores in Fort Mill and the lines of the local and long distance telephone ! systems cover the town and country like the wires of a sieve. There are two large cotton mills and a great brickmaking plant here, and the town has one of the best weekly newspapers, The Times, in the State. The health conditions are always good and 1 me climate is mild. "We want you here and if you would live in a wide-awake com-, munity,* among a kind and ho?fpitable people, come to Fort, Mill, S. C." Succumbs to Accidental Gunshot. James Hoke, 11-year-old son i of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Hoke, ' who was accidentally shot in the j right leg while hunting Saturday morning, December 3, a few miles south of town, died in a Rock Hill hospital Saturday evening at 7 o'clock from the effects of the wound, after suffering intensely for a week. For a day or two following the accident (there was hope for the recovery of the wounded boy, but his condition grew alarmingly worse Friday and it was then seen that his life could not be saved, although everything medical skill could suggest was done for him up to the last. James was a bright boy and | was a tavorite with his schoolmates at the graded school. He was in the eighth grade and was a member of the Presbyterian Sunday school. His body was i i brought from Rock Hill to the home of his parents Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon was interred in the family plot in the town cemetery. Universal sympathy is felt for the stricken parents and sister and brothers in their sore affliction. The funeral of James was attended by many friends of the boy and his family. Suspects Arrested for Robbery. Two young white men who ( claimed Rock Hill as their home were arrested Saturday afternoon bv the town nnliff* ?>? outs. pects of the robbery of McElhaney & Co. 's store Sunday night, December 4. Close questioning, however, failed to indicate that they were connected with the robbery and both were released. One of the young men was wearing five shirts when he was arrested and this circumstance was considered suspicious, but an inspection of the shirts did 1 not show that they were stolen from McElh&ney & Co. Assisting in Clover Meeting. The Rev. S. F\ Hair is in Clover this week assisting the Rev. Mr. Ix>we in a meeting at the Baptist i church. > L LETTER OF THANKS FOR TIMES FROM WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN William .Jennings Bryan has written a letter to the editor of The Times thanking him for the editorial which appeared in this paper two weeks ago under the caption of "Mr. Bryan 'A Theorist!'" It will be recalled that the editorial was in reply to a criticism of Mr. Bryan by Congressman George S. Legare, of Charleston, who went out of the way, in an interview which he gave The News and Courier the day following the November elections, to say that the great Democratic leader is "a theorist." Mr. Bryan's letter to the editor of The Times, written from Mission, Tex., where Mr. Bryan is spending the winter on nis iarm, is as tollows: "Mission, Tex., Nov. 3. 1910. "W. R. Bradford, Editor Times. "My Dear Sir: I thank you for the very kind editorial which appeared in your paper of Nov. 17. The criticism of the Eastern press is so constant that it is refreshing to find a word of commendation in the West and South. With good will I am, "Verv truly yours. "W. J. Bryan." Better Mail Service Wanted. Recently there has been some talk among the business men of the town of petitioning the postoffice department for Sunday mail service to and from Fort Mill on train No. 27, southbound. Mail is handled for the local postoffice on train No. 28, northbound, on Sundays, and Fort Mill is the meeting point for these trains, but for some reason unknown to those whose business would be facilitated by like service on No. 27. the southbound train neither puts on nor takes off mail here on Sundays. It is claimed that the service would necessitate very .little additional labor in the local office, as the mail would be handled "With that of No. 28 as is done six days in the week. Con siderable inconvenience, it is, further claimed, is often oc-! casioned patrons of the Fort Mill ornce uy letters and other mail matter for southern points lying in the office from Sunday morning until Monday morning, because No. 27 does not handle Fort Mill mail on Sunday. Pastoral Assignments for 1911. The following pastoral assignments for the Rock Hill district for 1911 were announced by Bishop Hendrix at the Monday session of the South Carolina Methodist conference: T. C. O'Dell, presiding elder; Blacksburg, J. P. Patton; Blackstock, H. B. Hardy; Chester, M. \V. Hook; Chester circuit, R. A. Yongue; East Chester, F. E. Hodges; East Lancaster, VV. B. Justus; Fort Mill, T. J. White; Hickory Grove, G. T. Rhoad; Lancaster, M. M. Brabham; Lancaster circuit, J. T. Macfarlane; North Rock Hill, J. A. White; Richburg, W. S. Martin; Rock Hill, St. John's, E. K. Hardin; West Rock Hill, C. P. Carter; Rock Hill circuit, H. W. Whittaker; Van Wyck, PL P. Green; Winnsboro, I). Arthur Phillips; Yorkville circuit, J. F. Anderson. Many Liquor Circulars. Never before perhaps since the Fort Mill postoffice was established half a century apro has there been received here in the same number of days as many circular letters soliciting orders for liquor as have come to the patrons of the local office within the last month. Most of the circular letters are sent out by Virginia liquor houses, but not a few of them come from Jacksonville and Chattanooga. A day or two atro a Fort Mill man received three liquor circulars in one mail. School Closes for Holidays. The Christmas holidays are to be observed at the Fort Mill graded school by the suspension of all class-room exercises on the afternoon of Friday, 23rd inst., and the work will not be resumed until Tuesday morning, January 3. The several teachers of the school who do not live in Fort Mill will spend the holidays it their homes. uiiai <1 ..fiv I I FORMER ROCK HILL PASTOR SUSPENDED TWELVE MONTHS Following: the report of the committee appointed to investigate the charges of domestic I differences with his wife, the ; Rev. H. R. Mills, former pastor of St. John's Methodist chureh, Rock Mill, was suspended from : the ministry for a year by the South Carolina Methodist con; ference in session in Charleston, Saturday. The findings of the committee were unanimous, but do not reflect upon the moral character of Mr. Mills. Following his suspension. Mr. Mills stated to a reporter that he has been employed by the Southern railway as ticket auditor since the action of the investi- 1 : gating committee of the Rock | Hill district, which sent the charges against him to the full ! conference. When asked con- 1 cerning his plans for the future, he replied: "I shall remain with '< the railroad until Time, with its kind, oblivious shades, shall for- ] get. unlesss more mistakes are 1 made." The case against Rev. Mr. Mills had its origin in his action in I September, when he asked to be 1 relieved of his duties as pastor of St. John's Methodist church. It appeared that his domestic rela- '< tions were unhappy. Rev. T. C. 1 O'Dell, presiding elder of the Rock Hill district, with the fol- ! lowing committee, investigated 1 the matter: Rev. L. M. Brabham, of Lancaster; Rev. S. D. Barber, of Rock Hill; Rev. D. M. McLeod, of Chester. The verdict was to the effect that Rev. Mr. 1 Mills had not been unkind to his wife, but in the language of Pre- 1 siding Elder O'Dell, in The Southern Christian Advocate, "the committee could not dismiss 1 so grave a matter without send- 1 ing it up for trial at the annual conference." Livery Stable Fire in Clover. A disastrous livery stable fire occurred ki Clover Monday morning resulting in a loss estimated at about $2,000. The burned building, on which there was j $150 insurance, was owned by J. M. Adams & Son, but the greatest loser from the fire was A. J. Quinn, proprietor of the livery I business. Nine horses, a quantity of feed, harness, etc., be- i longing to Mr. Quinn were destroyed and his loss is placed at $2,000, with $1,000 insurance. ; Two other horses were destroyed in the fire, these the property of i I)r. \1. B. Neil and Wade Pursley, U. F. D. carrier on route A, Clover. When the fire was disj covered it had gained such head, way that it was impossible to get any of the horses from the j burning building. Clover has no fire-fighting facilities and nothing could be done to check the | flames. Violating Game Laws. A number of Fort Mill farmi ers residing in the Flint Hill section of the township have been considerably annoyed by hunters from across the State line since the open season for partridge began on the 15th of November. ! A few days ago two Charlotte j hunters who did not have the I non-resident, license were discov| ered on the lands of Joe Bennett | snooting oiras. They were ordered oir the place by Mr. Ren-j nett, but paid no attention to his warning of possible prosecution for trespass and violating the game laws. Reduced Holiday Rates. On account of the Christmas holidays the Southern railway j announces low round trip excur; sion rates from all points on its i lines. Tickets will be on sale , December 15th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 31st, and | January 1st, limited good toll reach original starting point re- | j I turnintr not later than mirlnio-ht I of January 8th. Tammany Hall Gutted. Tammany hall, the "wigwam" 1 home of the famous political or- ! j ganization known as the Tarn- jj many society, in New York, was j partly destroyed by lire Monday. Jj Torrents of water poured into the j big structure and the greater ! part of the damage was caused ! 1 by this deluge. I j v. k n. BAPTISTS LEAD. Hats off to the Baptists of South Carolina! exclaims The News and Courier. The zeal in educational work manifested by them at their recent convention in Laurens must kindle general admiration among the people of this State irrespective of denominational lines. The responsibili- , ties they have assumed are not light ones, but the spirit in which they have been undertaken leaves no doubt as to the result. The i generous provision made for Fur- ( man university and the Green- i ville Female college, where ex- ; tensive betterments are to be j made, is as good a guarantee as | could be desired that the new i institution to be established at j Anderson will be adequately supported: while the erfneatirmnl . commission created for the pur- ] pose of assuming general over- . sight of all the Baptist institutionsof learning in South Carolina < gives assurance, both in the ] declaration of its purposes and ( in its personnel, that these schools will be conducted with intelli- , gence and will be a credit to the | denomination, to the communities s in which they are located and to the State. The numerical leader- ] ship which they enjoy in South j Carolina is recognized by the ; Baptists as imposing upon them large responsibilities, and they in- < tend to measure up to them. ] < Keller Gets Contract. The Rock Hill commissioners 1 of public works Monday afternoon awarded to Wm. M. Keller \ of that city the contract to erect ! the power house for the municipal electric light plant at his bid of $5,565, he putting up a bond equaling 20 per cent, of his bid. The other bidders were: A. F. Hester, Rock Hill, $5.680; A. D. < Holler, Rock Hill, $6,668; J. A. 1 Gardner, Charlotte, $5,635. This i completes the award of contracts I for this purpose. I ? 1 ~ " ' jj=ll II I Let Me Suot u COMPOSITION R METAI ROOF SI I TERRA COTTA W T DRAIN Tl KINO = SASH, DOORS, RL CEMENT, LIME, V. B. Blanken A?'I II II 1 H E I GOOD C qr; Christmas will not 1 S * good Coffee on your your selections from known brands: White House, Gol French Opera, Jubile jack, Old '76. High I C. M. Fit< Witt M JLvr- >-fv.. MR. HOLLIS QUICKENS PROSPECT OF CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION Mr. John Porter Hollis, ol' Rock Hill, member of the State child labor committee, m de an address before the South Carolina Methodist conference in Charleston Saturday asking that action be taken to memorialize the Legislature to enact some law to decrease the evils of child labor in the mills. He said that the working of children under 12 years of age in the mills for more than ten hours a day injures the future citizenship of the State, and that Christian people cannot afford to allow it to continue. Following . is the text of the resolutions \ passed by conference in regard to the child labor situation after hearing Mr. Hollis' address. "Whereas, we have heard with pleasure the address on child labor by Mr. John Porter Hollis; and "Whereas, the employment of childie.i of tender age is a serious \ menace to the future citizenship \ if Ssfllltll fo?v*l?r?o ..?#! - v?ioun?, itnu "Whereas, the premature toil \ uf children disintegrates fami- \ ies and 'depreciates the human I stock:' Be it 1 "Resolved, 1. That this con- * ference go on record as heartily favoring the programme of the South Carolina child committee. "2. That we memorialize the general Assembly of South Carolina to carefully consider this question and give us such laws is will decrease as far as possible Lhe evils of child labor. "3. That the secretaries of this conference be instructed to for>vard copies of these resolutions \ :o the proper authorities of the \ Legislature of South Carolina." Fort Mill Loses Football Game. \ A suflicient number of 15-year>ld Charlotte boys to compose a football team came to town Saturday and won a game from a like number of Fort Mill boys A by a score of 20 to 0. A ? * =ii ir ily You With 1 i POKING INGLES i ELL TU?IN(i T 1NI)S, MANTELS LATHS, ETC. ship, Ft. Mill. = =11 =11 II 11= j wm/mmmmmmm OFFEES. ? >e complete without dining table. Make B * the following welld Medal, Luzianne, dj fi ;e, Caraja, Cracker grade loose Coffee. s Comp'y I f i *mr A?