The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, September 18, 1936, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2
"Rolling ito Hellon
Wheels," Says Judge
(Tuesday's Greenwood Index-Journal)
JudKe J. Henry Johnson's criticism
of drunken automobile drivers and his
appeal for some steps to make life
safer In Houth Carolina In his charge
to the grand Jury ut the opening of
criminal court this morning provoked
so much Interest that he was interrupted
before his charge wus completed
by several ofTiciuls yylfh brief remarks.
Judge Johnson, near the conclusion
of his remarks hud just said: "It is
my honest opinion that any mun who
getk himself drunk and then gets Into
an automobile doesn't give a dam
.whether he kills anybody or not,"
when I. II. Taylor, foreman of the
grand Jury, arose and thanked him
for the charge.
"I am glad to hear you (Hhcush this
important matter," Mr. Taylor said,
"because our county has suffered a
great deal ulong this line and It has
given the members of the grund Jury
as well as other law abiding citizens
of the county much concern. Our barrooms
are wide open and they ar? increasing
in number.
"Our county officers are probably
as efficient us In any county In the
state," Foreman Taylor continued,
''but It seems they can't control the
- situation. We appreciate what you
have said,"
Mr. Taylor's statement suggested
another line of thought for Judge
Johnson and a few minutes later brief
remarks were rnude by others.
"They told us a few years ago,"
continued the Judge, "that If we repealed
prohibition It would put the
bootlegger out of business. I listened
to the siren voice. Hut I recall that
the statistics during this year -show a
greut increase In automobile fatalities
every month.
"I know we can't stop drinking by
law and that It has to bo done by education
In the Christian homes and In
the ^schools, but I do believe our presentliquor
law should be tightened
up, that publication of the names of
drunken drivers who lose their licenses
should be mandatory and that
a limit should be fixed as to the amount
of whiskey any one Individual
may have In bis possession."
Solicitor Homer S. Hlackwell said
an effort to pass such a law had been
made and the sheriffs of this circuit
had approved It, lint It had failed to
get by. Sheriff K. M. White nodded I
assent and Senator W. H. Nicholson
confirmed the statement.
Then Representative D. A. (J. Ouzts
arose and suggested that the court
"lecture" the newspapers for not publishing
the names of drunken drivers
who lose their licenses.
"The house passed a bill," Mr Ouzts
said, "removing the Inhibition against
making the names public and I think
the newspapers should be made to
publish them."
Judge Johnson, however. Interrupted
to say that he was not lecturing
anybody or any institution in his remarks
to the grand Jury.
At the beginning of his charge
Judge Johnson said he was more concerned
over "the cheapness of hutran
life in South Carolina" than over anything
else and he discussed at length
the large number of intentional and
unintentional killings. *
He added: "Statistics show that
America?-Christian America, if you
please ?is the bloodiest nation on the
face of the globe and South Carolina
is the bloodiest spot In the bloodiest
nation on the globe. Let us compare
with homicile record of South Carolina
with that of Ixmdon, Knglnnd.
Most of us are descended from Kngllsh
stock 1/ondon has a population
more than four times that of South
Carolina and therefore In proportion
to population should have four times
as many homicides as South Carolina,
but the facts are that in South Carolina
we have '.100 or more every year
and on this basis London st\puld have
1.200. but actually Ixmdon has only
Lr- to 20. In other words, we slay 60
or r>0 while Kngland Is slaying only
one. thus making life 60 to 60 times
cheaper here than in London."
Continuing, Judge Johnson asked:
".Why is this true? 1 don't know, but
1 believe that all of us are a little too
hot-blooded and too quick on tho trigger.
London occasionally goes a
whole year without a single homicide. I
I believe one reason 1b that Kngland
in 36 of every 100 killings the man la
caught, tried, convicted, sentenced to
t)e hanged, appeals to every higher
court and Is hanged in three months.
In South Carolina sometimes when a!
man doesn't want to come to trial it
may take three y^ars. We execute
about two out of eveYy 100.
"I tell you. men," Judge Johnson
added, "if the citizens of South Carolina
knew that 95 out of every 100
guilty of killing their fellowmen ware
going to awing for it we would be
elower on the trigger.
"I hope to live to see the day when
it will be unlawful In 8outh Carolina
to sell trousers with hip-pockets. The
blp-pocktt it the cause of many intentional
killings. How many timet
j" ~ ~ TT ?
"* * -------
have you heard a defendant say In
court about the man he killed: "I
saw him roach to his hip-pocket and ,
1 killed him.' And yet often when the |
victim is turned over officers can't |
even find a pocket-knife.
"1 often wonder and I sometimes
wonder why juries don't wonder why
It is that the man who goes to his
hip-pocket first never seems to be
able to shoot first."
| Judge Johnson then launched into
n discussion of what he termed "the
criminal waste of human life on the
highways of South Carolina." During
the IS months A-merica was engaged
in the world war. he said, only 50.000
of her soldiers were killed by all the
modern weapons of Germany and her
Allies. Yet. in peace time 54.000 people
are killed in America every 18
[months, a quarter a million more are
[injured permanently and a million
j more injured otherwise. Think of the
loss of man power in the killing of
36,000 people every 12 months!
"In the last 10 or 15 years more
people have been killed with automobiles
in America than this country
[ lost In every war in which it has en
gaged since its foundation more than
a century and a half ago."
Judge Johnson said some leader
should devote some of his time towards
relievcing the situation caused
by the appalling number of deaths
from automobiles. He said he never
had any assurance when he loft home
than one of his loved ones might be
killed by a car before he returns and
he always suffered agony on opening
telegrams or answering long distance
j telephone calls, living In dread " that
some drunken fool may have run into
some member of my family."
| "Why don't we punish them? Why
don't we take away their licenses?"
he asked and continued: "1 would
rather take my chances with a drunken
man with a rifle shooting indiscriminately
than with a drunken man behind
the wheel of an automobile. 1
often meet some fool coming mound
a curve oc.eoe one on a blind hill trying
to get ahead of the car Just in
front of him and taking chances on a
car ho is meeting Just to save a second
or two and I have almost become
an expert in taking to |he shoulders.
l>own in my country where they drive
about TO miles an hour and that speed
means 105 feet a second.
"We need stricter traffic laws," the
judge said, "and those In authority
should see that the proper legislation
to improve conditions is passed."
He also referred to the maximum
sentence of three years and the minimum
sentence of three montha imposed
on automobile drivers In unintentional
homicides, and-spoke of the
appeals made for those who kill their
fellows by preachers and others.
Judge Johnson, again appealing for
education on this subject in the
homes and the schools and saying
that if America is to stand it must
be upon a foundation of religion,
(closed with the statement: "I say it
[ with sadness, sorrow and reluctance,
i but we are rolling to hell on wheels
j as fast as we can go."
V _ ' ; .
* #
EDUCATE THE ADULT
The casualty insurance Industry,
said Henry Swift Ives In a recent ad(Iress,
|h takliiK au increasing Interest
In accident prevention, especially
highway accidentm. It has long realised
thut It is more desirable to prevent
accidents than to merely indemnify
victims and their heirs-? and
today it is askliiK public cooperation
in seeking to reduce Amoilca,'S horrible
and unnecessary death and injury
toll.
Th* soul of accident prevention
work that will produce results is education.
It is necessary that law enforcement
agencies, especially our
traffic patrols, be improved, and that
laws governing motor vehicle operation
be brought up to date. Iiut the
reckless or ignorant driver will continue
to endunger lives in spile of
tiie best efforts of legislatures, Judges
and police officers?unless the force
of public opinion is enlisted to make
him mend his ways, or keep off the
highways.
1'roof of what safety education can
accomplish is found in the magnificent
record produced by sufety Instruction
in the public schools. This work was
started some fourteen years ago, and
was inaugurated by the National Bureau
of Casualty and Surety Underwriters,
representative of our leading
casualty insurance companies. During
those fourteen years, thore has
been a 196 per cent, increase in traffic
futalitios to adults?and a 2 per
cent, decrease In traffic fatalities to
children of school age or under. According
to Mr. Jves, if the trend in
tiie case of children had been the
same as in the case of adults, 53,800
more young lives would have been
snuffed out.
Now It is time we educate the adult.
The insurance companies arc doing
their utmost to this end. So ure
other private and public agencies. Hut
their campaigns can produce little unless
the people wholeheartedly join
them.
Uolnnri will set up labor camps to
widen training of the army.
Columbia Girl Back
From Warring Spain
(From Sunday's State)
The Hputter of machine kud and rifle
bullets on the walls of the Hotel
National of Madrid; the tinkle of
shattered window glass as it fell to
the court below; trucks and taxis tilled
with armed men; the crisp orders
of officers to soldiers; the dead body
of the hotel manager across the threshold?these
are among the vivid
memories of Miss Katherine B. Ileyward,
Just returned to Columbia after
a trip along the Mediterranean, A
trip which was designed to be a leisurely
Journey, by automobile, through
Spain and France but which wound
up with Miss Heyward In the sheltering
care of the United States cruiser,
Quincy, held at Valencia to take Americans
from a war-torn country.
For three days of anxiety and suspense,
with the sound of Intermittent
firing reaching even Inner hotel rooms
Miss Heyward and other guests were
practically prisoners In the National,
under orders to keep close inside,
while, outside, soldiers kept guard
and no one knew what the next hour
would bring forth.
And yet when finally quiet and order
was restored, and the Americans
were able to go to the American embassy,
about a mile distant, they
found the populace singularly undisturbed
and business proceeding about
as usual.
"The trouble at the hotel," Miss
Heyward said yesterday,- "was
brought about, I think, because there
was a suspicion that the hotel was
Fascistlc In Its sympathies. One Fasclstl
in the hotel committed suicide
by hurling himself from an upper
story."
With a friend Miss Mildred Hart,
member of the faculty of a college In
Cleveland, Miss Heyward, head of the
department of art at the University
of South Carolina, sailed from Montreal
early in June, aboard a freighter,
taking with her a new automobile.
They landed in France and drove thru
to Spain and spent some three weeks
along the shores of the Mediterranean;
went up to Grenada and to Seville,
where they spent some six days.
For three weeks they drove through
Spain.
"'1 here seemed no trouble brewing,"
Miss Heyward said. "There were no
inconveniences to travel; there was
no intimation anywhere of trouble;
the people were most kindly and considerate;
altogether, we had a delightful
trip.
"We arrived in Madrid July 18 and
we spent July 19 at the Prado Art
museum.
"Then a certain tenseness developed;
there seemed a suppressed excitement
and we were advised not to
leave our hotel. Soldiers were in the
streets; trucks were seen loaded to
capacity with armed men. Many citizens
began to leave Madrid,
"The National hotel looked out over
a square and we saw about 100 guns
issued to civilians, mostly Communists.
"We were told we must remain inside
and not go near windows.
"We Americans and English did
stay away from windows, and that
day at lunch, we were advised that all
guests occupying outside rooms?that
is rooms facing on the square, were
to move to inside rooms.
"And I forgot to say that Monday,
July 20, a boy, a civilian, poked an
automatic in our ribs when we were
down in the lobby and demanded our
handbags. We turned them over, as
did the other guests, and they were
examined. They were searching for
arms, and the handbags were returned
once they had been inspected.
"At 4 o'clock that afternoon and
again at 6 there were small arms
bombardments at the hotel. The rattle
of machine guns and the noise of
rifle shots tilled the air. Lights flickered
and the acrid fumes of burning
powder near filled the place.
"There were loud voices and shouting
in the lobby and armed men came
in. The hotel manager was killed at
the front door.
"The tiring was directed at the top
of the hotel; window panes were shattered
and in some of the upper rooms
plastering spattered the floor.
"Some one, it was thought by the
troops, had fired on them from the
top of the hotel, hence the bombardment.
"During the afternoon guards went
into every room, searching carefully
for concealed enemies; they wanted
to assure themselves that the place
was free of enemies.
"Some shot came through the walls
into the room we had previously occupied.
From Monday until Wednesday we
were kept in the hotel, practically
shut off from outside communication.
"No, there was no scarcity of food
and the hotel routine went right ahead.
The sound of intermittent firing
came to us, but since we were in
an Inside room, we really knew little
of what was going on ontalde.
"The only time we wrqnt out Wednesday
was for a vklt to the copulate
to register and get protection for
?
> S I _v- ~
the automobile. The streets were
quiet then and the people going about
their business. After the hotel manager
had been killed, quiet came.
"Thursday we got in touch with the
consulate and at 3 o'clock all Americans
were ordered to the embassy,
where we proceeded later in the day.
We were housed at the embassy from
Thursday until the following Wednesday;
we had our baggage taken from
the hotel to the embassy and the automobile,
too, was driven to" the embassy
and placed under a tree."
"And where is your car now?"
"Under that tree at the embassy, 1
think. I hope, however, to get it
again."
"We went out daily from the embassy
without interference of any
kind. We were always accompanied
by Red guards. .......
"We*could not get away in the automobile;
trains were running for
two days at any rate, from Madrid to
Valencia, a port. We knew of one
American who had 'made it' and on
the chance that there might be a boat
at Valencia, my friend and I bought
tickets and went aboard. The train
was long and it was packed with
Spaniards. In each coach there were
armed guards. We were the only
two Americans aboard.
"When we reached Valencia, all
Spaniards were searched for arms,
but not the Americans. We were met
by the vice consul, Mr. Wells, and
were given every attention. He told
us the cruiser, Quincy, would be in
next day; within a short time all Americans
who had been at the embassy
in Madrid came down and we went
aboard July 31 and sailed the next
day. There w*e 170 passengers on
the boat and were treated as honor
guests. Captain Amsden was in
charge and we met Commander
Beachman in charge of supplies. He
was originally of Clio, and put forth
every effort to make the trip as pleasant
as possible.
"We were taken to Marseilles,
Prance, and remained there some ten
days until we could get a boat home."
"When we were in Madrid, when
we went on the streets, we always
wore small American flags, and the
people were unfailingly friendly and
interested in America. In no country
have I found the people more naturally
courteous than in Spain. They
often spoke of the 'two republics', the
United States and Spain.
"Spain is a lovely country. The
struggle going on there now Is a
struggle to the death; it is so terribly
involved; there are so many factions
on each side. But readers of the
newspapers kre probably better informed
than I on what has taken
place in recent weeks.
"The people we liked. There are
excellent roads and good telephone
service over the peninsular.
"But I'm glad to get back tn Columbia
again.
"Don't write too much either.** ?ht
" admonished. kits* Heyward is a
daughter of former Governor D, C.
Heyward.
'% ' . . . t
?
Brothers Go Free
For Killing Man
Dallas, Ga., Bept. 15.?The ancient
Mosaic code of an "eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth," today superceded
laws of the ptate of Georgia as a jury
freed two0^K>thers who killed the
murderer of their sister.
Worth and Pence Urown, middle*
aged farmers, were freed of murder
charges in connection with the slaying
of lienry P. Howe, Atlanta bootlegger,
who killed their Bister. The
Jury wus out only 58 minutes.
Howe, who was captured in Chicago
after the slaying of his wife, was
shot by the brothers ar he walked toward
the courthouse here where he
was to go on trial for murdering his
wife. He died Instantly.
'Hie brothers, heavy-handed, inarticulate
farmers in their 40's, told the
Jury in their own defense that they
had killed Howe because they were
haunted by the vision of our slster'B
body." Their father, they said, was
killed while they were children and
his slayer had served only Ave years
of a life sentence. They feared, a similar
situation would develop around
the trial of their sister's slayer,, they
testified.
The Jury which, acquitted the brothers
was comprised of 11 farmers and
a textile worker. The case went to
the Jury at 2:30 p. m., and the Jury
was returned at 3:36 p, m.
There was no demonstration in the
court room, crowded by friends of
the middle-aged brothers. Pence
Brown was the only one of the two
who commented on the verdict.
"Well?out again," he said as he
walked from the court, a free man.
At Tucson, Arizona, on last Tuesday,
a dead man was elected to the
office of constable over 108 live ones.
Fred Wilding, veteran officer, and
former owner of the famous Silver
Dollar saloon, is the dead man elected
by, a vote greater than that received
by any other candidate. His name
was printed on the ballots and then
he died before the election.
PI8GAH NEW8 NOTES ,
Pisgah, Sept 17.?Miss Eva Baker,
a graduate nurse of the Nebauon hospital
of New York City, returned to
New York last week after a three
weeks' vlfalt to her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. W. F. Baker.
Mrs. J. J. Hatfield, who has been
visiting her daughter, Mrs. C. C. King,
In Clafton, Ga., since last May, s^nt
a few days of last week here with
Mrs. W. F. Baker, going on to Sumter
Saturday to visit Mrs. J. R. Lackey.
Miss Thelma Baker spent the week
end In Bishopvllle with Mrs. J. W.
Kennedy.
Willie James and sister, Miss Ellen
James, spent Sunday at Rembert with
Mr. and Mrs. James Reams.
Mr. and Mrs. Ellle Price and children,
of Lucknow; Mr. and Mrs. J.
W. Kennedy and little son, Mrs. L. B.'
Baker and children, all of Bishopvllle;
and C. L. Baker and son, of
Rembert, spent Sunday with W. F.
Baker and family.
Mrs. T. M. Rogers, Mrs. C. L. Baker
and little daughter, spent Sunday
with Mrs. Leon Stuckey. >
Mrs. Williams and Miss Inez McManus,
of Columbia, and Mrs. Janie
Massabeau, of Camden, spent Sunday
evening with Mrs. John Watson.
Our young folks who are leaving
this week for college are; Miss
Aurella Stuckey, who will be a sophomore
at Columbia College; James
Shiver, a senior at the University of
South Carolina; and Patrick Dennis,
a sophomore at Clemson.
Eleven tons of gold, worth approximately
111,418,000, were shipped from
Cherbourg, France, Sunday, consigned
to New York banks.
Condemned Negro
Files For New Trial
Raleigh, N. C., Sept. 10.?Martin
Moore, Asheville negro, sentenced to
die tor the murder of Helen Clevenger
of New York, lodged a motion through
counsel today for a writ of certiorari
to secure a review of his trial in Bun'combe
county superior court.
Sannor W. Brown, retained by
the Moore's family to defend him,
filed the motion asking that the clerk
of Buncombe superior court be directed
to forthwith send the supreme
court "a true record" of the case on
appeal.
Yesterday the state, through Attorney
General A. A. F. Seawell, asked
the court to "docket and dismiss" the
appeal of Moore on the grounds the
appeal had not been filed as required
by the rules of the court 14 days bel
fore the appeals from the district including
.Buncombe county were called
for argument. The cases were called
yesterday.
On the Bonneville Salt Flats in
Utah on Saturday, John Cobb, race
loving London fur merchant, broke
the world's 24-hour speed record, by
driving his autoniobile at an average
speed of 160.162 for a 24-hour run,
beating the former record made by
Captain George B. T. Byston, also of
England, of 149.09 per hour. Cobb
incidentally beat half dozen other
records in his day-long grind, being
relieved by three relief drivers.
A horse at Panguith, Utah, reared
up on its hind legs and fell back dead,
when it saw an elephant in a circuB
parade.
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