University of South Carolina Libraries
HICHAM AND WITH TESTIFY Former <}<*? Into Movements on Date of Killings In Ureal Ifc*ail. _ j i i ? i -i ? Florence. k> <'? Muivh SOllu? Kdmund H. Bigham, defendant in <uu. ot the most sensational cas** ever ,,-Uul in this stute, in which ho Is eharged with murder In connection vfUU the deaths of his brother Smiley ?uul fOUl' other mnirlur, Of l*l? family, WCUi on the stand in bis own defense late today. 1? receding Win on tho stand at the afternoon session were his wife and his 14-year-old daughter. lionise, testimony of tho members of tho 111k ham family, wliich had fceen expected to come today, drew an oven target crowd of spectators than had marked previous sessions of the trial. , Mrs Blghato told In much detail the story of the happenings lit the Highani home on January 10. the day of the tragedy, in which Mid M, M. lilghftra, the defendant's mother; Mrs Margie Black, his slater; L. Smiley IMgham, a brother and I.eo and John McCracken, adopted children of airs. Black, vrero the victims?. She gave her testimony as if reading from ft notebook and even under cross-exam* i nation by Solicitor Casque showed no .signs of nervousness. Louise ' Blgham, the young daugh ter, also told a story that duplicated; that <>f her mother's except in minor i details. Ht'r memory- ' fa Med in some details vitally affecting her father's defense. 'When called upon to recog nize Detective Klchelberger and say whether site had made^cortain state-1 meats to him. she disowned ever hav lug seen the detective. Edmund Highani gave a detailed -lory of his actions from January 8 to the time of the death of his relatives lie spoke in a clear voice and appear ed to have an excellent memory for details. The continuity of liis stony was broken, ^however. when he reached the cross-examination stage and when :i question ennic up tbat was not easily ynswered. lie would lean toward Solici tor (Basque, isklng him to "hold on a i n i i) nte." or "just wait." When h/* described the finding of liis brother's body. Bigbam showed the first sign of feeling, breaking into sobs, and It 'was several min utes before, he could coutimie, Tho witness again broke Into sobs when refused record. He declared that of t is sister and the McCracken children. Hlgham made a stateineut concern ing the financial uf fairs of the family trlllng of loans he bad made and de e la ring- he never bad received any share Im his father's estate. The fr.mlly owed him, lie said, something ?J ko $28,000 and he had given them ? mortgage covering the difference be twee* that amount a?d $47,000, the ajnonat tamed lu the face of tjhie deed made to him by the .rest of the It this deed, he said, Ws wife scnght to record the day ho was placed io Jail. On crass examination Blgham was asked why he had 'kept this derfd In his pottiessdon after It had heea F( fused record, lie declared that Monroe Spears, of Darlington, hud told him to keep the deed, hut admitted Mr. Spears never ha^l seen the paper. "Dida't he tell you to destroy that deed Or it woukl break your neck?'' shouted the solicitor. "No, he didn't" replied the witness, " if ho had I wonW have done it." The rqply caused a roar of laugh ter in the courtroom and resulted In ?IiuIrp Mcmminger declaring u recess until fl o'clock tonight. With srtiblng voice, the defendant i old of how he had seen his mother Maggruing In the yard, her face covered with blood, lie hud just re furned from a short trip to Robert 1 'ox worth to see him about hauling ?dine wood. When he had left the house with his family, he said, be had -eon Smltey. his brother, standing near ?ome boo hives. "The iust time I saw Smiley was sight there," he said, "as I came at I lio top of the red hill, I >aw Smiley, hU hand in front of him, going across tin- road. A.bout sixty yards from the house. I saw mother.** Inscribing incidents about the house i he morning ufter the tragedy, Blgham ?v.iid that Mhortly ufter daylight be ?"?prned the blinds and then went out (" the lot witb Mr. Flowers. "lie says I gave him a pistol; 1 take his word f"r it, for I don't know. Between me inri my (Jod, I never went out of fbat vard from that time till Sunday night. I don't remcmt>er telling the searchers ' l>?- direction to take to find Smiley'u ^?dy. 1 did tell th?* direction I had -?*en him going." Ilnm "ajives, b witness for t hp de- \ T> nso. testified today to finding 'racks which ho believed to have been by Smiley Blgham tending in the direction towards the woods where Smilcy's body was found. He had fol i>?wed thene track** t?y the prints of heel tarkx which, he mid, matched the ?h fount! on the dead man's body. Maynes terrified be had found a ?a?h stand in Edmund'* room forced open and erpi rwfd belief Smiley bad taken a pearl handle p1?t<* from it. * , Alex MOVhlte anT 10 A. Illuds J also testified to seeing the trucks dt? snilKMl by llaym?s, tut the 1 a 1 1 v ** ad mitted the footprints would not have* j shown If Smiley had icouo'tfr the woods by (He rout? l?y lOdmund. Ju?epli Hyman, a mother witness testified he heard a allot In (ho di lution in which Smiley Hicham'*) luuly was found, at 7 or 8 o'clock the night ls/fore tho IxKly was discovered. tCd inuud IligUaut was with him when he heard the shot, ho said, and ho had advised the,, aoarchers to go in the dlnvtlou from which he heard the shot. H. H. Williams iJkQ testified to having heard this shot. H. J,. Hassen swoiv that Smiley Itlghani had told him he "was broke and would rather he dead than like be was. Mrs. 'May Itlgham, wife of til? de fendant, took the stand this after noon and told the story of the day qf the tragedy. She said her husband and his brother Smiley had gone into the wood and did not come buck for dinner. When Edmund came home. Mho said, he ate miuI dressed - and the filthily started to I'u medico in an auto mobile. On the way back home, the witness said, they saw Smiley crossing the road towards the woods and the elder Mrs. Itighaiu coming from the house. She said lCdmund threw his arms around about his mother and took her buck to the house, and that Mr. Uar* ri?wn agisted liliu in earrying inn IhkI> and that of the little boy into the house. Mrs. Itigham swore her husbund did not leave the house the night afUr I ho killing. She Identified the pearl ha lulled revolver as belonging to her hU!>*band and testified that, so far as she Knew, it wus in a drawer on the day of the kLlliug. Testifying about the deeds to the Itighum property, the witness said when she took the deed from the clerk of the court she hid it in an outhouse near P$iuplioo and It WW her IdU'itUoit to try to Iuhh> the deed. , She found the will of Mr?. Itluok, one of those killed, she said iift?M' the tragedy and hud given It to Attorney Kin#. She uIm> admitted sill' had slip)>ed a hot tie of chloroform to her husband while he was in jail, I#ut said she had no idea lie wanted to roni in i I sulfide. On cross examination Mrs. Britain Mild her husband did not leave the premises While aUv was preparing breakfast the morning after the tra gedy. She denied that her hushand abused his mother and sister on .lanu iiry 8. as testified to by states witness es. Mrs. Black had left the house and gone to Mrs. Klrtou'tt. she 4a Id, but she did not know when Mrs. Hlgliuut and the children loft the bowse. llathoro Is one Of the few towns in Pennsylvania where the women out number the men, 'and the majority are aWe to control the public offices. When hot and thirsty remember our Soda Fountain, where you can get delicious Ice Cream and pure Fruit Drinks. * v - V_.\' . \ - . V; ; " ? ? ' .. \ ' . -? * * , . ? ' . ; ' ? ? .? ' ' 1 W. Robin Zemp's Drug Store TELEPHONE 30 PROMPT ATTENTION Mr*. Sophia K. Honnowioy, on? of tlx* first women in the country to take up the profession of telegraphy rwH'nt ly tiled at tlio ag of 70 yearn. lu Ktfypt It l? tt custom for name* not to go to church for n year or more uftor there been ;? ihntV* is the family, The Apex of Achievemeri tin The Ice Cream Industry ?J With that same pride of achievement that Benjamin Fran klin felt on the day he made known to the world his discovery of electricity, >ve approach you today to announce our own creation in the field of ice cream production. Our chemists, spurred by the incen tive to make PURPOSE GREAT and ACHIEVEMENT GREATER, and driven on by that same impulse th at fathered Franklin s discovery of electricity, have spanned the great est step ever made in the production of ice cream. For years our laboratoriesKave been carrying on a ceaseless search for a formula and process by which a truly xvnolesome, superior ice cream could be made on a large scale from pure cream , pure milk , pure cane sugar and flavored with genuine natural flavors , ? an ice cream which we could ch alienee the world to match ? for QUALITY and PURITY. Step hy step we have perfected this process and today we take pride in announcing that our efforts have been completely rewarded and our goal attained. you cm procure through your deal er this new and superior product* containing only ingredients of the finest qrt-alifaK made into ice cream hy our own individual fiiethod. We do NOT use gelatin , gumsy starch , fillers , imitation flavors or foreign substitutes for cream --- T-folt ^ e use pure JDltl cream , pur)e milk, pure cafie sugar and genuine flavors in " The Velvet Kind" of our creation. * With our ambition to serve you an u*e cream of un equalled quality and purity now realized, we feel a justifiable pride in offering ? The New "Cream of Ice Creams' * W. R. Zemp's DRUG STORE Camden," S. C. 7 ? .k /??-<? U. S PAT. OFF w CH APIN-S ACKS CORPORATION CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA