Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SUMTER AND CAMDEN CITIZENS GIVE VIEWS ON SHORE ARREST Kin tor Columbia State: In The State of the ,14th instant, there appeared a special news item from Camden, stating that Mr. Geo. 1). Shore, Jr., of Sumter, S. C? on being tried before the Recorder at Camden, had pleaded guilty to a charge of Via. luting the traffic rules, and was found guilty upon trial of a technical charge of the resistance of arrest. Inasmuch as. thU matter has thus found its way into the public press, the writer being a personal friend of Mr. Shore, and one who was present at the trial, and feeling that an issue tf grave public interest is involved, desires to state to a candid public Home of the facts of the case. On January 1, Mr. Shore was trav eling by automobile from Sumter to Rock Hill. While passing through Camden at a rate of speed which was a technical violaticm (ft. their ordi nances, he detoured around a corner to avoid colliding with another car, which was travelling equally as fast. After turning the corner, he stopped his car and was about to again pro ceed on his journey, when he was rudely accosted by the Chief of Police and another officer, who told him to put up bond or go to jail. Mr. Shore requested to see the mayor, giving his name and address, it being his inten tion to pay any minimum fine and go on his way, rather than put up bond in excess of the fine, necessitating his return to Camden for trial. Without heeding his request, the officers as saulted him, grabbing him in the col lar, tearing his shirt open, scratching Mm about the face, and proceeded to drag him out of the car. Mr. Shoro, being unusually tall, it was difficult for him to get from under the steering wheel, and he, quite naturally, placed his hands upon the wheel. Whereupon the officer hadcuffed him and thus getting him out of , the car, led him to jail and locked him up. The police themselves say his oitly resistance was holding to the steering wheel and that he did not offer to strike or abuse them. They disregarded his request to see certain friends. At the door of the building where ho was confined, they met a Mr. Little, a reputable citizen of Camdeh, whereupon Mr. Shore took a roll of money out of his pocket and requested Mr. Little to count out a bond, but the Chief of Po lice obstinately refused to accept it from Mr. Little. Mr. Little's u testi mony bears this out. The chief Te~ fused to accept the money from Mr. Kittle and demanded that Mr. Shore would have to hand it, to "him, himself. Mr. Little had to return to tho jail with the money and give it back to , Mr. Shore, and went off and got the, chief to come back to Jthe jail before Mr. Shore could tender the bond and be released. Even after his release he met a. friend, Mr. Tom Ancrum, but the chief of police would not allow him to tell Mr. Ancrum What had occurred. The Chief's own testimony shows that while on the way to the jail, when Mr; Shore complained of the shackles causing him considerable pain, he ordered his subordinate to "hold what you have got." It is interesting to advert, to some of the dictum of the Recorder in dis posing of the case. He said in part: "I don't know; of course I have not talked to the Chief about the matter, but common sense tells me the Chief of Police made this charge of resist ing largely because he thought it would to some extent justify him in the manner in which the arrest was made; that the charge was made of resisting arrest to show that the force used was necessary to overcome the resistance." "I think it is more of a technical thing. I really don't know what to say about the fine, but I would like to make the fine as .small as possible. I feel, you understand, that, under the same conditions, I Would have felt out raged myself, but I feel that the atti tude of the parties, such as their tem per having risen, would have nothing to do with the resisance." Quite a number of the prominent citizens of Sumter by attending trial, evidenced their silent protest against the uncalled for indignities which have been heaped upon Mr. Shore. Among those who testified to his good reputation were: Hon. R. O. I'urdy, former Circuit Judge of South Carolina, Messrs. J. A. Raffield, and R. L. McLeod, who, with L. D. Jen nings, Esq* one of the attorneys rep resenting Mr. Shore, comprise the en tire city council of Sumter; Hon. D. D. Moise, State Senator from Sumter county, Dr S. H. Edmuftds.supcrinleri1 dent of *thc City Schools of Sumter; C. M. Hurst and H. L. Scarborough, Sheriff and Clerk of Courts respective ly; Dr. J. A. Mood, president of the Sumter Rotary dab; Dr. George W. Dfck, W. Loring Lee, E. C. Haynes worth. Master in Equity for Sumter county, H. C. Haynea worth and T. C. And tit addition gCTT ,7tfemen, who mctnmlly took the stand, practically the entire bar of Sumter \vaa present at tho trial as an ex preci sion of their confidence in Mr, Shore ami their sympathy with him in the situation in which he had been placed. The issue presented in this affair is whether or not officers should be permitted to so far oVerstep their line of duty as to impose treatment of this kind upon reputable citizens, even though they may be guilty of techni cal violation of ordinances. An arch criminal would have had a right to expect better treatment than was ac corded in this matter, . Any citizen is apt to find himself facing a condi tion like this, and, while officers should be zealous in the enforcement of their duties, the authorities above them should so restrain them as to see that . this zeal does not amount to abuse. It seems to tho writer that if the .city of Camden is to maintain its an cient reputation for courtesy, its au thorities cannot do less than order an immediate investigation into the con duct of its Chief of Police upon this occasion, and unlefes facts are therein developed which would servo to miti gate the impression created by the testimony adducted before the Re corder, tender its apologies to Mr. Shore. M. W. SEABROOK, '? Sumter, S. C. . January 16, 1924. Mayor Carrlson Replies To the Editor of The State: Under date of the 18th instant my attention was cailed-toan nrticlc pub lished in your good daily over the sig nature of a Mr. Seabrook, *a citizen of Sumter, and seemingly one of the ag grieved friends of George D. ?>hore, Jr. In the article referred "to Mr. Seabrook has seejj fit to again bring into the limelight the trials and trib ulations of his friend who was re cently arrested for disregarding the traffic laws of our town, and goes on to furnish details seemingly with the intention of casting further reflection on our much maligned chief of police, and, perha'ps, our town in general. I have no desire to take issue with Mr. Seabrook or any of our Sumter friends over- an affair which to me ha^ been magnified many times more than it would merit, and neither do I wish to seek publicity in opening up a matter which I feel has been justly settled, but for your correspondent through the columns of a widely read paper to be the author of an article calculated to reflect on this community and my friends would seem to justify my desire to present another side. As Mr. Seabrook has carefully treated the public to all of the details as to the manner in which his friend was arrested by our police officers, statements, by the way, which some what conflicted with the evidence sub netted at the trial, but in the main I will admit, showing that Mr. Shore was by force placed in the lockup un der circumstances regrettable, to say the least, let's see the reason for it all. That the speed limits were broken on one of the principal streets of the town and a collision narrowly averted has been, I believe, acknowledged. Very well. When accosted by an offi cer, who had no reason to be discour teous, nor was he from all I can learn, and informed that he would have to arrest him for speeding or have him put up a bond, why was there need for argument? Sush a request was notvout of the ordinary, nor was the ten dollar bondr :^?.,=S!!ore^ir ;a law yer; he must know what laws are for; Why was he entitled to any more con sideration than any one else,so far as the officer's request was concerned? Laws, I believe, are intended to reach the high and the low, the rich and the poor, pull and bull to the contrary not withstanding. And why, pray, could not the request have been heeded to drive his car to the police station, and then when told to get out of his car, did the evidence show that he had any intention of so doing? Was it not time for an officer to become exasperated? I regret the use of force and the seeming humiliation entailed thereby, but who caused it? The exhibition of a little ordinary judgement on the j part of Mr. Shore would have certain ly averted it. I believe something was said about the length of Mr. Shore's legs making it difficult for him to get out of a car. This handicap could have hardly affected his running his car to the police station when told to do so by the officers. Chief Whitaker must by this time be convinced that in a popularity con test staged in Sumter and conducted by the worthy mayor, whose oratorical effort* at the trial were seemingly for Mr. Whitaker's benefit: that in such a contest he would be among those who also ran and in this 1 judge he would be correct, but just a. word Un in his chief -of police ligthU town for 14 ho has tilled the place honorably, courageously, with strict rogajxl to the absolute truth and without fear or f*v<)r# as to. personal consequences, his aciions fostering the regard of his l\iends and the respect of his enemies, ;nd the recent attempts to show him up as a disciple of Prussianism, in arrying out an unpleasant duty made necessary by force of circumstances, can not bo considered in any light but one of prejudice. That your correspondent feels an apology due Mr. Shore by our city is of course ridiculous. We naturally appreciate the support given him by the elderly prominent men of his home town,, ouch support can pot bo- other than complimentary and was so re garded by us, and 1 am compelled to think that when these gentlemen left hero their opinions as to the whole affair were rather different than on their arrival. It would seem further that they will look with disfavor upon any statement to widen any breach which may havp been made, affecting the relationships of Stfmter and Cam den, being willing rather to let the matter rest after having had a fair, impartial trial in our police cOui*t; I can see nothing to be gained by re hashing the affair again so far as the courts or the press is concerned, it would seem to involve two men, not nocessarily the relationship of two communities. Thanking you, Mr, Editor, for the courtesy extended me and with best wishes to your good paper, The State, I am, H. G. GARRISON, JR., Mayor of Camden. Camden, Politeness. i ; Ed. H. JDeCamp in The- Gaffney Ledger. A good friend, who is a prodigious reader, consuming everything that comes Within his vision, recently ran across an article in which appeared this sentence: "It is generally agreed now, amongst the elder statesmen of society, that the up-coming genera tions have no manners." Our friend was so impressed with the statement that he directed our attention to it, adding that people were not so polite in this day and generation ab in days gone by. We confess that we had not given the subject any serious consideration and the first impulse was to agree with the conclusions reached. But we later decided that it would be more | satisfactory if we would go to the trouble to make a few observations, which we did. Saturday morning the thermometer was very low, and we believe you will agree with us that it was not a good day for anything except to kill hogs, but as we wended our way to the of-? flee we met three persons. The first was a little girl on a bieycle. She was well ctacT. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes shone like two stars. We are' not acquainted with h^r and know, nothing of her parents.' As she passed she greeted us with a cherry good morning. v; A block further on we met a col ored boy. He too, was riding a wheel. We did not know him, bither by sight or name, but as he passed, he said, "Howdy do, Mr. DeCamp." . A little further on we met a typical old Southern colored woman carrying a pail and a bundle. We confess to no acquaintanceship with her, but she said, "Morning, Mr. DeCamp. How is the Missus ? I hear she ain't been so well lately." " As we reached the business section it seemed that every person we met, both white and black would greet us with a kind word, a smile or a friendly nod. So we concluded that our friend was either wrong or we had selected an unfavorable day for the test. And then we remembered that our friend generally rode down to business in his car. "He is polite and affable, and almost invariably stops and gives someone a lift. He is generally engag ed in conversation with some one in the car and does not have the oppor tunity to meet the pedestrian. We would suggest that if he would take the trouble to walk down town that it would not only benefit his health, but he would have an opportunity to meet people who can't afford to ride and he will, we believe, find that they are, generally speaking, only too glad to pass a friendly greeting. It is barely possible that the world is losing some of its old time polite ness, but we haven't found that to be the case when we attempted to test it out. << Augustus I>ang, Philadelphia boot legger, is being held by a judge in that city on a charge of murder in having caused the death of one Harry Miller by selling him poison liquor. The judge, on finding that Lang had been in the country for ten years and | had not becow a eiiHtm toki hin Arnold Anderson has been sentenc ed to die in the electric chair at Tren ton, N. J., during the week of Febru ary 17, largely on evidence given by his father, Albni Anderson of Brook" lyn. The father's testimony was based on a confession of a murder, made to him by his son, FINAL DISCHARGE. Notice is hereby given that one month from, this date, on Monday, January 28th, 1924, I will make to th? Probate Court of Kershaw county my Una) return as Administratrix of the estate of Charles H. Stephenson, do ceased, and on the same date I will apply to the said Court for a Anal dis charge as said Administratrix. MHS. MARY H. CLYBURN, Administratrix. Camden, S. C., Dec. 22, 1923. PINAL DISCHARGE. ? % 'Novice is hereby given that one month from thia date, on Saturday, February 2nd 1924, I lyill make to tho Probate Court of Kershaw county my final return as Executor of the estate of Addie English, deceased, aria on the samo date I will apply to the said court for a final dischaVge from my trust as said Executor. NEY BILLINGS, Executor. Camden, S. C., Dec. 31st, 1923. FINAL DISCHARGE. Notice is hereby given 'that one month from this date, on Thursday, February 14th, 1924, I will make tQ the Probate Court 'for Kershaw County my final return as Guardian of the estate of my daughter, Mrs. Ida E, Ives, she having attained her ma jority, and on the same date I will apply to the said Court for a final dis charge from my trust as said Guard ian. LAURA S; BARNES, Guardian. Camden, S. C., January 14, 1924. MASTER'S SALE. State at. South Carolina, County of Kershaw, Court of Common Pleas. Korsnaw County, Plaintiff, against W. II. Tiller, James Parker, J. B. Colt Company, American Wholesale Corporation, Defendants. Under an order of His Honor, W.J H. Townsend, Presiding Judgo in the. Fifth Judicial Circuit, dated January 17, 1924, I will sell to the highest bidder at public auction for cash before tho Kershaw County Court | House door, in Camden, in said State,1 during tin* legal hours of sale on the first Monday, being the fourth day' of February, 1924, the following de scribed real estate: All that piece, parcel o" ' e land situate, lying and being in the said State and Couuty and in Wost Wateree. cellaring acres, more or less, bounded North east by lands 01 Ben vi.uvdo ik', Southeast by lands known as the Chestnut lands; Southwest by lands J formerly of Henry Savage; Northwest; by landa of Bearfoot. The above described tract of land is the same conveyed to Cuddy Powers by deed of Henry Savage of date No- J vember 1st, 1V>04, and recorded in the j office of the Clerk of Court for Ker- 1 shaw County, in Book S, S. S., page 42, and convoyed to W. H. Tiller by ; L. A. Wittkowsky, Master for Ker shaw County. Anyone desiring to bid at said sale shall first deposit* with the under signed Master a certified check or cash for the sum of One Hundred ($100). Dollars, as an evidonce of good faith and as a guarantee of com pliance with the terms of such sale, which sum shall be roturned to the unsuccessful bidder or bidders at the conclusion of such sale. B. B. CLARKE, Master. January 17, 1024. MASTERS' SALE. State of South Carolina, j County of Kershaw, [ Court of Common Pleas, i Ci. C. Welsh, Plaintiff, against S. J. Stover, Defendant, Under an order -of His Honor, W. j H. Townsend, .Judge Fifth Circuit,} dated January 0, 1924, I will sell to j tho highest bidder at public auction, ! for cash, before the Kershaw County Court House door, in Camden, in said State, during the legal hours of sale on the first Monday, being the fourth day of February 11)24, the following described real estate: "All that certain picce., parcel or* lot of land, lying, being and situate in the County of Kershaw, State aforesaid, containing one (1) acre, more or less, bounded as follows: North by mm. M. E. Jones; East by Public lioad, leading from Kershaw to Camden; South by Mrs. G. F. Lati mer; and West by right of way of tho Southern Railway Company, and be ,ing the same tract of land this day conveyed .. to me by tho said F. E. Welsh, this mortgage is given to se cure the balance of the purchase money due upon the land hereinabove described." I * B. B. CLARKE, Master. ' January 12, 1924. MASTERS' SALE. Siate of South Carolina, I V'Otint y of Kershaw, \ Court of Common Pleas. j li. C, Welsh, Plaintiff, against Melvinlyy Kirklaml and Sam Uolliua, IWeiiuants. t'iuier an order of Ilia Honor, W. H. Townsend, Judge Fifth Circuit, dated January 9, 11)24, 1 will soil to iho highest bidder at public auction, foy. cash, before the Kershaw County Court House door, in Camden, in said State, during the h>pl hours of aale On the first Monday, being the fourth day of February 1924, the following described real estate: "All those pieces, parcels or tracts of land, situate, lyinK ami being in the County of JCershaw in the State of South Carolina and formerly belong ing to Everett Kirktand, deceased. One tract No. 7 consisting of Twenty five (25) acres; One tract No. 7 con sisting of three and ane-half (3 Mi) acres, as represented by plat of same recorded in the office of tho Clerk of Court for Kershaw County in Plat Hook No. 5, Pago 82." 11. li. CLARKE, Master. January 12, 1924.. MASTER'S SALE. State of South Carolina, County of Kershaw, Court of Common Pleas, Hex Jones, ot al., Plaintiffs, against Paul Jones, ot al., Defendants. Under an order of Ilia Honor, J. W. DeVore, Presiding Judge of Fifth Ju dicial Circuit, dated November 14th, 192$, 1 will sell to the highest bid der at public auction for cash before iho Kershaw County Court House door, in Camden, in said State, during the legal hours of sale on the first Mtmriav. being the fourth day of Feb ruary, 1924, the following described real estate: All that certain piece, parcel or tract of land lying, oeing, and situate ih tho County of Lancaster, state aforesaid, containing sixty-seven (67) acres, more or less, and bounded on the North by lands of R. S. Floyd and Thomas Williams, South by lands of the estate of Norman Hilton, Kast by ' lands of E. R, Horton and Mary Duren. To bO sold at the riak of the former bidder. B. B. CLARKE, Master. | January 17, 1924, Lower Priced Than Ever Before F. O. B. DETROIT FULLY EQUIPPED ' I 'HE many desirable qualities inherent A in the iFordor Sedan commend this car to the consideration of every discrimi nating motorist. When, in connection with these qualities, the low price ol the car is considered, the value of the Fordor Sedan becomes unique. In it you obtain, at the lowest possible cost a car of snug comfort, good apearance, and high utility. Its convenient operation, dependable performance, and long life are weD known. The style of its appearance, the attractive comfort of its interior, are in line with present-day demand. Convenient. Comfortable Seating Arrangement You can buy thii car through tht Kershaw Motor Co., Camden, S. C.