Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

WATCH THE DATE ON YOUR LABEL Chronicle WATCH THE DATE ON YOUR LABEL ..m j. 1 ? ? VOLUME XXXV. - CAMDEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1923. NUMBER 14 officers losk commissions. Kcvoked by Governor McLeod After A Hearing. Magistrate A. L. Coqk and Consta ble D. F. Phillips, both of "Buffalo township, Kershaw county, were yes terday removed from office by Gov. Thomas G. McLeod, tffe commissionH of the. two office>(H>eing revoked as a result of their arrest and convic tion on the plea of guilty in St. Mat thews to charges of being drunk and disorderly conduct. The two commissions were revoked yesterday afternoon following a hear ing at noon in the governor's office v on a rule *9 show cause why the two officers should not be discharged. The rule to show cause was issued by the governor several days ago when it was called to his attention that Cook and Phillips had been arrested and fined in St. Matthews on a liquor chargc while they were en route from Kershaw to Charleston to appear in federal court as witnesses in prohibi tion cases. "I regret the couurse I have to take," Governor McLeod said in com ment upon the_ revocation of the two commissions, "but I have no choice. A magistrate can not even be parti ceps criminis in the violati6n of law and no officer, can get drunk without becoming particeps crimini*. in the sale of liquor." Magistrate >Co</k, the governor; de clared, was one of the most eealous magistrates" in the state, in the en forcement of the prohibition 1? WW, and probably had to his credit the largest number of such cases reported by any magistrate in the state. "His record is remarkably good," Mr. McLeod said, "and his services in the enforce ment of prohibition will be missed. Quite a number of influential citizens of Kershaw county have written and visited me to ask that clemency be extended Cook on account txf hisr re cord and efficient service and because of their faith in his purpose to con tinue to be a good officer. But a magistrate is in no position to enforce the law when he aids and abets in its violation." Neither Cook nor Phillips were pre sent at the hearing on the rule to show cause and neither made any showing as to why the commission should not be revoked. Th6 resigna tion of Magistrate Cook was received by the governor yesterday just before the opening of the hearing, having been sent in by mail. Phillips made no reply to the rule to show cause served upon him.. With no defense offered the hear ing accordingly was a brief affair, the governor hearing officers from- both Calhoun and Kershaw counties in statements relative to the arrest and the records of the two men. Cook and Phillips were arrested in St. Mat thews Friday, & week ago by Chief of Police W.-W. Jones. Their car was searched without protest, about three |quarts of liquor being found. Charges were prferred against the two, resulting in fines of $100 for Mr. Cook and $50 for Mr. Phillips. The two officers were said to have been on their way to Charles ton for attendance upon the federal court, where they were to testify against a white man and a negro for alleged violation of the prohibition laws. r : ^ i ' . I , ' p. Attending the hearing were: W. W. Jones, chief of police of St. Mat thews; F. F. HilV sheriff of Calhoun county; J. B. Prickett, member of the house or representatives from ? Cal houn county, "L. O. Funderburk, sena tor from Kershaw county; J. M. Munn, J. E. Copeland of Kershaw county. ' Senator Funderburk has been offi cially notified of the vacancies exist ing as a result of the Revocation of the^two commissions and is expected torecommend -to the governor the nan^e of some Kershaw county man to be appointed to fill out Cook's un expired term. ? Friday's State. ' ? ? ? Negroes Fight oh Main Street. Two brown skinned colored men en gaged in a spectacular flst fight on Main street ir. front of the post office * Saturday afternoon when the street wa? pmwW, Chief" Whitaker was close by and separated the men be fore any damage was done except JLUVm* a1 KIavMuIk Iha f o/?n (/) thm gniA 11 T~* ? * tjttj TT n III iliu ? ?tvw fv fMw OIIIP" s er of the two negroes who was en deavoring as best he could to get out of arma reach. Bc?h were made to Rive bond for their appearsnce Mon ~Jttrsste<i'- th+_ yoBBfir of tha ja?E9Hfi|. he did acknowledged that he had MRS SMEAD DKAD Ah Result of Auto Accident Near Aiken Monday Afternoon. Aiken, July 2, ? In an autuomobiie accident about ftve mile* from Aiken on>tho Columbia road at 5:80 o'clock this afternoon, Mrs. Ida Green Smead of Bishopville sustained injuries from which she die<i shortly afterwards at the Aiken hospital. Her daughter, Mrs. Valerie Green Plumb, Mrs. Plumb's baby and a negro nurse also sustained serious injuries. Mrs. Plumb and the nurse are in the Aiken hospital, Mrs. Plumb in a crit ical condition, and the baby*, suffering from possible internal injuries, is at the home of Dr. lien F. Wyman, where it is being cared for. The paprty was traveling in a Ford runabout en rouute from Bishopville to Augusta, where they were to be met by Wibbie Green of Atlanta, a brother of Mrs. Plumb, intending then to proi-ecd to Orlando, Fla., to visit relatives. When about five miles from Aiken. Mrs. Plumb, who was driving, sensed some trouble with the car and at tempted to apply the, brakes. The car took a sudden plunge, turning over three times. It is believed the radius rod had broken. Mrs. Smead and her daughter, Mrs. Plumb, wore pinned beneath the car, and were extricated from this perilous position only when help arrived. - , - The injured were then brought quickly to Aiken and medical atten- 1 tlon summoned, Mrs. Smead dying from her injuries a few moments af ter reaching the hospital. Dr. Thompson Green of Elloree has been summoned by telephone to at tend his sister's bedside. Her condi- , tion is considered extremely critical. Mrs. Smead was before marriage Miss Clark of Lancaster and a mem ber of a family prominent in social aAd business circles throughout South Carolina. ? - ? Girl Has Tetanus. .? Miss Hattie Lee Catioe, 15 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Catoe of Cassatt, Kershaw county, is at the Columbia hospital, suffering with tet anus, caused by sticking a splinter in her 'foo.t. The young girl suffered this accident about two weeks ago and tetanus did not become evident until Saturday. She was brought to the hospital for treatment Sunday and was said to-be showing some improve ment yesterday. ? Tuesday's State. Crossing Law Now Effective. If you go to North Carolina now andtfail to come to a full stop before crossing a railroad track, you not only take a chance on being struck by a train, but you take a chance jof being arrested for violating the North Car olina law because an act of the .State's legislature to thateffect became ef fective Sunday. The lay requires that every motorist come to a hill and complete stop before each grade cross ing. The task of enforcing it may be difficult, but reports from North Car olina are to the effect that a well planned and general effort to enforce St. to the letter is to bd made. Country Club Gets Charter. The Kershaw County Country club of Camden was chartered by the sec retary of state Monday with a capital stock of $100,000. Officers are: A. D. Kennedy, president; W. E. Johnson, Jr., vice president; S. J3. Robinson, secretary and treasurer. Negro Had Turned White. Fifty years ago Sam ,Gantt was born in Greenville county of Ethiop ian parentage. Friday qftemoon he was buuried in Richland " cemetery and his skin was as -white as that of any Caucasian. Sam. died at his home off Webster street Thursday afternoon at 1 o'clock following a atroke of paralysis. Early in life, according to the i stories told by Greenville' people who were acquainted with' him at that , time Sam's skin began to change white in little circles on. his hands. Slowly these little circles spread to his shoulders, then to his face and at the time of his death there wm not a dark spot on him. Physicians attending the case said that the negro's color was changed by a tropical dlaeaae known as "ditt lidi" which destoyed the pigments in the skin, thereby causing it to lose all color. Sam wa? well known in Greenville, laat^pyrfr oj his life was devoted to the trade of plMMtezpifr _ tyecould be freauenttr atea jfct tilt, ftiUraection df Main and Brodd streets as this sesmedjo be hit keadqnartert.-? ASKS PAROLE FOR CONVICT. Rev. Sunday Would Have Would-Be Murderer Set Free. (Monday's Columbia State.) The Rev. William A. Sunday, evan gelist, and A. Fletcher Spigner, solic itor of the Fifth judicial circuit, are pitted against each other, the issue being a petition for a parole to be heard by the pardon board of South Carolina June 10. Mr. Sunday b?^ lieve? that the prisoner is repentant, and thinks that if released he will be come "an asset rather tfean a liability to the state." The solicitor, however, holds to the contrary opinion, !>&-' lieving that the petitioner, having pleaded guilty to "one of the most ouutrageous and brutal crimes that has ever been 'perpetrated in the statu, of South Carolina, should serve every1 minute of the sentence imposed." LeRoy Robert Franklin, the man who has enlisted Mr. Sunday's aid, is now in the peitentiary, having served over two years of a five year sen tence following .his" plea of guilty to charges of highway robbery, larceny and assault and battery with intent to kill. Having been converted ap proximatey 18 months ago, Franklin says, he now wants to be released that he may prepare" himself to be come a gospel singer. Writing to the pardon beard from Logan, West Virginia, Mr. Sunday Bftidt.. .. . - _ "1 want to express to you my in | terest in one of the prisoners at the I state penitentiary and the hope that j you may see fit to parole him. He is 'LeRoy Robert Franklin. We were first atracted to him by his singing. I [ think he was in one of our meetings [somewhere. Rodeheaver got person ally in touch with him and feels he has undergone a complete reforma- j tion. I think the ends of justice will not be defeated if you think it' exped ient to plaice him on parole. He im pressed me as being repentant and his letters have a ring of earnestness and convictiqn about them that makes me think he will become an asset rather than a liability to the state if he is given his release." Franklin was tried March 10, 1921, in Kershaw county with Sam Stern and Joseph Dougherty, all of them soldiers from Camp Jackson, sentence being imposed by Judge H. F. Rice. Solicitor A. Fletcher Spigener of Columbia, who prosecuted the case, i* not inclined to favor - clemency 'for Franklin and has so written the par don board. The three soldiers, the solicitor said, were accused of, and pleaded guilty to, the robbing and as saulting a Mr. Earle, at that time a student at the University of South Carolina. Leaving Camp_ Jackson without leave, the trio contracted with Mr. Earle to carry them to Camden in his automobile. En route, however, young Earle, who was driving his car, was assaulted, beaten, robbed arid left by the road in an unconscious condi tion. Franklin drove the car on, fi- ' nally abandoning it in a ditch, near Camden. The three men were arrest ed in Camden while they were waiting at the station to board a train north. . Earle at the trial told the court, MrT Spigener said, that one of the men as they were leaving him in the road turned back and remarked, "He may not be dead, hit him again." One then tore his watch from his pocket and another hit him in the head with the butt of an army pistol. "Earle was certain," the solicitor said, "that they thought he was dead." "In view of the fore^oirg facts, and no mitigating circumstances have since developed," Mr. Spigner wrote, "I am of the opinion that the sen tence imposed by the court, namely, five .years, was very, very lenient; and I am also convinced that if it had not been for the fact that Judge Rice was distantly related to the wife of Earle, which fact he fully explain 'ed to the defendants, before their pleas were taken,. he would have im posed a much longer sentence, but in his conscious desire to do justice to the said defendants the above sen tence was imposed. "I feel that this was one of the most outrageous and brutal crimesN that has ever been perpetrated in the state of South Carolina and that the prisoner should serve every rsirvjte, of the sentence imposed " Barn Destroyed. A barn on the place of Mr. Dan L. Sowell, in the Beulah neighborhood, waa destroyed by fire Saturday night about nroc flirty o'clock, flw barn contained a lot of feedatoffa and also some building q^aUriAl which .-Jfej Sowell had stored away. Mr. Sowell Mllwalni hir lota at aroend $l ,000, I M l>RO V KM KN T SHOWN. In Number "of Centralized Schools For Kershaw County. The beneficial result* of Chamber of Commerce interest and active co operation in Kershaw County luial schools improvement was very plain ly and enthusiastically described by Mr. A. B. Murchinson, county super intendent of education, and the same effective results by the Chamber <>f Coimnerc^in cooperation with the home demonstration agent, Miss Jen nie V. Boyd, and with the county agent, J. W. Sanders, was also in terestingly and pleasantly referred to | by Miss Boyd at a meeting between the directors of this commercial or ganization and representative men and women of the rural districts and the eogfon mill villages of Camden held July 2nd. Superintendent Murchinson, and Miss Boyd and bounty agent Sanders, with the rural representatives, ap peared before the directors seeking cooperation iri the proposed Kershaw County Fair for 1923 and the putting on of a full time agricultural and livo stock specialist who Will teach agri culture at Kershaw County graded and high schools. Mesrs. J. H. Burns and E. I. Rear don were appointed as a special com mittee to confer with Superintendent Murchinson about the cooperation needed to make the agricultural teaching program more advantageous while Messrs. J. Blakeney Zemp, and R.*M. Kennedy, Jr., from the board of directors were appointed to confer With the Retail Dealers Association of Camden about getting up a meeting at an early date between Kershaw County people and business men and women of Camden for completing ar rangements for the county fair. July 18th, at the Opera House in Camden, at 11 olclock, was set for the county fair meeting. Superinteident Murchinson said that he wanted it known that as a re sult of the cooperative work which Secretary E. I. Reardon has done with the superintendent of education and trustees of schools and talks made by the Secretary in the school dis tricts that three school districts where the opposition to a centralized high school was almost unanimous had swung into line and signed petitions for a centralized high school by in creasing1 the school tax levies from eight to fifteen mills, that Secretary Reardon's work has been of untold benefit, that whereas the only high school in Kershaw County is now the Camden city school, that there will be within the next school year four and possibly five rural centralized high schools in Kershaw County? one lo cated in the city of Camden . Mr. Murchinson also directed at tention to a significant fact of state wide interest. Up to less than two years ago Kershaw County stood at the bottom of the list in South Caroli na in the per capita amount expended for rural school purposes and ranked highest or next to the highest in il literacy. But today Kershaw County fyas jumped from forty-eighth to the twenty-sixth place in rural school im provements and>.per capita expendi tures. At this same meeting President r. H. Harding called on the committee, Messrs H. G. Carrison, Sr., and E. I. Reardon regarding the movement by this chamber of commerce to re-estab lish the tobacco planting in Kershaw County and. furnishing of a tobacco market in Camden. Mr. Reardon re ported1 that Mr. QarHson will soon get up a meeting of farmers and other business men about this tobacco industry; that Mr. Carrison is back ing 'up the tobacco warehouse for 1923; and that the Tobacco Coopera tive Marketing Association will be asked to help with this plan ? and that free, first class, disease-proof tobacco seed will be distributed this fall and early next year. Others present guaranteed their cooperation in re newing of tobacco production and a first class tobacco market: The To bacco Association seemed a in marketing methods, because oYvtoc Jbig increase in tobacco prices brought about ~ by cooperai:ve * marketing methods of this association. Estimated Acreage. Wiuibington, July 2. ? This year's cotton crop was forecast at 11,412,000 bales today by the department of ag< riculture. The forecast was based on the condition of the crop on Jane 26, jrMch im <M per . ^BT normdk on the ??y of the.jpta under cultivation at that time, which was 38,237,000 acres, or 12J per Mi son than last year's area on that. date. ' I ? ^ \ ?!c^ xt VrEr ' ' f ? OLD Ml KDKKS MAY OUT. Arrvtit of Kay May Solve Two Ander son Murder Mynterie*. Anderson, June 29.? The arrest this morning of Arch Kay, charged with murder, may solve the mystery which has long baffled the effort* of >the authorities in the cases of death of P. M. Hutto and of J. M. Burnete. Both were aged storekeepers who stores were murdered in their storey and robbed . Hutto was killed some 12 years' ago, while Hurnete was rour de red in 1021, Arch Kay Is charged , with both killings. Kay's arrest came after city and county officers htid overheard him telling Slight Hilliard of killing the two men. Kay vfras trying to per suade Hilliard to accompany him on a like expedition, and had made the statement that lu- had killed the two men several times before. Hilliard informed his brother Base Hilliard, a member of the Anderson police de partment and last night, Kay visited Milliard again. Sheriff Marrett and fib&f Of police Priskell, deputy \V. A. Clamp, and a policeman Base Hil liard* were secreted in the house when the man came to talk with Sligh Hilliard, and were not more than 3 feet from the two men when the talk ing took place. According to the' officers' state ments this morning, Kay was trying 1 again to persuade Hilliard to go with him and rob somebody and told Hil ; liard he wantetd him merely to stand outside and watch for him'. I "You haven't got the nerve to go I through with it,'*- Hilliard is quoted by officers as saying, and with an oath Kay then told of having killed the two men. The circumstances surrounding the two murders were strikingly similar and have been responsible-for the con clusion that the slayer of Burnette was the same who slew David Hutto although the crimes were perpetrat ed' more than nine years apart. The body of Mr. Hutto was found December 29, 1911, in his small store several days after he had been killed. 1 His store and pockets had been rifled of what money he possessed at the time of the crime. The left side of the man's head was crushed in, indicating that a heavy instrument had been em ployed, and that he had been^struck a terrific blow by his adversary. Matthew B. Burnette, some 60 years t)f age, met death on the-mght -of De cember 14, 1920, when his skull was crushed and his head otherwise man gled by means of a heavy water key, the jagged teeth of which furnished a formidable weapon. The discovery of the crime was not until several hours after its perpetration. For the past few years the murder hfts baffled local authorities and al though they have made efforts to ap prehend the criminal and numbers of suspects have been arrested, the tracks of the criminal appeared to have beerr^overed well. The Burnette murder was one of those which W.?s about to "be put away among the un solved mysteries of this section, to remain forever unsolved perhaps, or until a death bed confession should place the blarne in the proper place, when the arrest of Kay was ef fected. Mr. A. H. Boykin Dead. Mr. Alexander Hamilton Boykin, one of the best known citizens of the county, died at his home in the Boykin section Saturday morning after an extended illness. Mr. Boykin was one of a large family of brothers lojig prominent in this section and was re garded as a high toned Christian gentleman. He was in the seventy seventh year of his age and was a Confederate veteran, having served as a member of Company K, Seventh South Carolina Ca,valry. Mr. Boykin was twice married. His first mariage was to Miss Elizabeth Richardson, and by this union he is survived by one son, Mr. A. H. Boy kin, Jr., and one daughter, Mrs. Wil liam Hughes, of Charleston. His sec ond marriage was to Miss Julia Man ning, who has been dead a good many years. To this union (here are three surviving children, Miss Mae Boykin, E. Miller Boykin, of this county, and David Boykin, of New York. He is also survived by three brothers, Bur well H. Boykin, Allen J. .Boykin, and L. Whit .Boykin, And one Sister, Mrs. Manning, all of t he Boyk i n section. The funeral was held from Grace Episcopal church in Camden at noon SvBdny and the burial was _ to the CAMDEN TAKES TIIKKE. Bane Hall Swoon Opened Here With Four (inmt'H With Columbia. The newly organized baso bull team under the management of J. N. Mal lonee, who waa >aa?agev ? . two years ago, opened Monday afternoon with a series of four ganiea with the Columbia All S.tar team. The fiydC game Monday was broken up at the end of the fifth inning by a heavy downpour of rain, with Camden win ning by ftjicore of 0 to Ji. The a tend ance was small on the first afternoon. Tuesday's game also resulted in a vic tory for Camden by a score of 5 to .3*.-. The attendance was better- Tuesday afternoon. U The game Wednesday morning was a listless affair played before a fair sized attendarivT" and was won- by Columbia 8 to f>. The large*! attendance of any of the games was on Wednesday after noon when Camden won by the wide margin of to 8, The Cnnub n team left Thursday morning for a three days' series with Orangeburg and will be at lioine Mon day, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week for a three-day series with the M ollohon team of Newberry. Mollohon has one of the beat teams in tftefttatc and has.last but. few games this season. Fans looking for real baseball will no doubt see some good sport: when this team plays. It is believed that Manager Mallonee has gotten together equally as strong a team as that piloted by him two years . ago, and those who are backing the club are asking a good attendance at the games for next week*. Dempsey Wins. Jack Dempsey, world champion pugilist, still retains the championship having won from Tommy Gibbons at Shelby, Montana, Wednesday, on points. The battle went for the scheduled 15 rounds, .and the champ pion could not land a knockout blow. Neither of the men were - severely punished. * BETHUNE NEWS NOTES Happenings . of Interest As Told By Our Correspondent. ?Bethune, S. C., July 4. ? Mrs. Mark King and son of Neeses are visiting at the home of her father, Mr. N. A. Bethune. * Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Smith spent Sunday in Darlington with relatives. Miss Kitty Best is visiting Miss Claudine Gardner ar Tillers Ferry." Mrs. Hannah Malloy of Florence Is spending some time with her daugh- ? ter, Mrs. W. M.~Stevens. Ernest Truesdell, Jr., left Saturday for Camp Osceola, near Henderaon ville, for a months stay. Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Maystand Miss Annie Mays of Cartersville spent the week end. with relatives here. Mr. Ralph McCaskill and Dr, R. J3. Severance of Columbia were week end visitors here. Mis Ruth Watts left Monday morn ing for Crossmore, N. C., to resume her work. Miss Katherine Stevens is spending ?ome time in Cher aw with her aunt, Mrs. L. A. Micklejohn Mrs. Randolph and children of La rpar spent the week end with her pa rents, Mr. ar\d Mrs. J, E. Severance. Mrs. B. L. Norwood and children of McBee spent Wednesday in Bethune. Miss Mary McKinnon is spending this week in Florence with relatives. Mr. C. R. Cansady has been real sick for the past fe\tf days. Misses May and Beth Noi*wood of McBee art* visiting Katherine and Margaret Treuesdcll. Mr. George Kelly and family of Bishopville are visiting at the home of Mrs. L. M. Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Oliver of Quit man, Georgia, have moved here. Mr. Oliver expects to open up a groccry store in the near future. Misses May McKinnon and Stella Bethune entertained their Sunday School class at the Big Spring last Wednesday. Vance Morgan and John Neil Mc Laurin arc spending some time with* relatives in Marshville, N. C. A picnic was given on the planta tion of Mr. A. J. Smith by the B. Y. P. U. to the young people, QtJkS. town _ last Wednesday evening. The merry crowd assembled at the school build ing at six o'clock were taken on trucks- to the picnic -grounds. Re turning at ten o'clock, chaperoned Ey Mesdamea Smith, Long and Rev. B. M. Gunter. - Mr. atod jMrs. J. M. Forbis spemt the fourth in Partington with Mr, a?id Mr*. Bright Williamson.