University of South Carolina Libraries
mS^y- Wte h% v y. HM \m OF MW toil lilt El I LIEU IB UFt’J SECIET UTEB A DOUILE LIFE .1 W Mot MUi WK*, Kaow Mbat Mia A Mai ty livod ia «bo Se- ala<U4 Room la Mm Roar *t Mia Plaoo of MuMaaaa, a WllUac EKa- . oaar of Hia Tka Mathar Gobeeck of'Balaac’a ft«- tion, transplanted from tke romantic Parisian setting of tho aarly Nine teenth century, carhe to life in Mon- ^Icello, N. Y., this week when MelTin M. Couch was found dead in the law offices he had long occupied In the Masonic building, in that city. Mem bers of his family, entering for the flrst time the inner room of his office, which he had always guarded so care fully from intrusion, found hidden there a frigbteneJ>0;earful woman— a stranger to them Ml. Yet this wo man—Adelaide M. Brance—had lived ha that inner room for three years, and not a soul hut her and Couch knew of it. If the woman went out at all It was late in the night, when ail the vil lage was asleep, and if aay “night- hawk” ever chanced upon a strange woman slipping out of the Masonic imllding the story never reached the village gossips. For three years she ad endured her voluntary imprison- ent for the sake of being the secret •ompanion of this man, and so suc- oesafully was her presence there con cealed by the man t^mself that the naembers of his own Uamily never •von guessed it. ~ Dread-of discovery grew with the passing of every month, and in the last year she had ventured out of the •fjjlce only once until one day this week when sh^-ran from the building to the. offlpe^of the nearest doctor as her Ipver lay dying of heart disease a cot in' the office. Couch was when the doctor arrived and when the latter looked around for the w;oman she had disappeared. The wife and daughter of the dead man were summoned to his office. Mrs. Couch, after giving directions for the disposition of the corpse, at tempted te enter the ' mysterious Inner room of the offiee, but found the door locked. She asked one of the men to climb over the partition, hut as he tried It he wan halted by n woman’s voice that came from the tarkness beyond. “I’ll come opt If yon don't ham r* • Once a week, with the coming of Sunday noon,, he had walked labor lously up the hill to the Conch home dined In state with. Mrs. Couch. So that made it posalblafor him to live at his office, and to take things —from the, gmeerfr his office without arousing the gos sips of the towa^to any suspicion of (he troth. FOUR SHOTO FIRMD liiTO MAM AT cmamlmsTon. MviS Thai Man Bodily leader* M. Aeeeta, ef Memphis. Monday sket and killed Id ward J, Meehan, at Charleston, better known in tke npertimg circle# ef that plaee as “Mickey”. After enamination by the eoroner’n Jury Aeosta was ab solved, on the grounds of justilable homicide. While the verdict practi cally mesas acquittal, friends of iaosta put up $1,000 bond for his appearance before the grand jury next February., \ ^ The evidence showed that Police man Bowick, who was standing at Market and Meeting street Monday morning when he heard four pistol shots. , pi started down Meeting street 'to Investigate and met Acosta near the Circular church. He said that he asked him if he had heard the shots. Acosta replied, stated the policeman, that he did tke shooting, and supposed that he had killed a JteW YORK POLICS FACB6 rerz- 2UM« MinU>MR CAM. ^ ' 'V* .• - / , THUNK CONTAINS COHPSE it Peek Cert hi Which Two Mew They Gerry the Trunk, Buuh iug It on the Sidewalk, Wh'le They Walk OR, Ostensibly te for , j it iwta Pew Minute^ A murder mystery, which promises to rival the famous barrel murder of a <|ozen years ago, was brought to tlie attention of the New York police Monday when a boy notified them that for half aiChdur he bad watebed a trunk which two mep had unloaded from a push cart and left in the gut ter street, on the East Side. When the triink was opened at a police sta tion the atjH warm body of a man about 40 year* old, shabbily dressed and emaciated, was found in it. The tad killed a bod y w ** Inter Identified by Joseph man oat Chalmers street. • Officer Molloy, a former room mate as that JUNIOR WITH ITS BCHBMM. at the Measure Pro tecting the Famaere. t IK lECtn- ONE VICTIH WAS HITE There came the Bound of the key In the lock an<J the woman stepped •nt into tlje office, stood for an in> •tant at the foot of the cot where the body lay, glanced at the dead man, then looked up and aaw hia wife and daughter. She made as If to speak, but suddenly eank to the floor In a •woon. Those present-looked long and hard at the woman’s face as they lifted her and one or two recognized her as one whom they had in years past seen frequently in Monticello end so . frequently visiting Couch’s office that there had been some gossip for a time—gossip that stopped, of course, when the woman had appar ently'^Usappeared from the town. Miss Brance waa revived, and the unique story was told. She gave her name as Adelaide Brance, and her home as Goshen, N. T. She said that she had known Mr. Couch for 15 years. On« dgy she had gone to Monticello canvassing for Subscriptions to a book. Shwhsd gone to the office ot Mr. Couch and had •ried to sell him the book. That was their meeting and the relation which they formed began tjien. For years It was a matter of an occasional visit Business would seem to bring her to Monticello and she would manage to epend some time with the lawyer.. The visits became more and more frequent, and more and more they tended to stretch from a night at a time to ar week at a time. It was three years ago that the two decided there was no reason why the secrecy they had been able to maintain for a week could not be maintained for ft gear or for a lifetime. The woman told Couch she would come to Monticello, tftke up her quar ters In the inner office, and never step Out in the da'yllght again. An oil stove, a table, some chairs ftnd iron bed were put Into the Inner room. Miss Brance came there under eover of darkness. Couch announced at his home that he had become so crippled with rheumatism—trouble returning to a foot from an injuryJte received while running as a boy that tt would be out of thi question for him to mount every day the long hill leading to his home. Hereafter, he said, he .would five at the office, Sleep at The office, eat at the offlc&*' M t'that this secret could have been pre- Bowick then a Informed Aeosta that he was under arrest and took him to the ■eene of tke killing. Aa they neared Chalmers strest Officer Bowick said tkat Policeman Slattery eame from around tke corner, holding a pistol in his hand. He called tt> hia brother officer sot to fell Uneasy, as he had the man who did the shqoting. The next witness wss Officer Slat tery, who stated Jhat he ran to the scene on 'Chalmers street from his post on Broad street, and found Mee han lying dead on the north side walk, a short distance from'Meeting. The body wae lying face down, and partly under it waa a pistol. He picked up tbe weapon and found that Us content^ were Intact. He rushed around the corner and met Officer Bowick and Acosta coming down the •treet. . At the police station the prisoner’s name was taken and he waa charged with shooting and killing Meekan, whose name waa given then as-Ma hon, because Acoeta did not know the man well, and the police had’not- tlme to find any one to Identify the body. He waa lodged in * lobby cell and waa held there until the inqueat. Acosta was asked at the inqueet if he wished to make a statement, but was told that it was not compulsory. In a calm manner he related the de tails that led up to the ahooting. He •aid that Meehan had followed him to within a few ptepcof.'his boarding place, on Chalmers street. Ai this point Acosta said that Meehan*asked him for $3.0 and threatened to kill him If he did not give him the money? Acosta said that he refused to give the money, and when Meehan whip ped his weapon out of hia pocket he hurriedly d'ew his pistol out of his right overcoat pocket and fired four shote. He laid that he believed that his life was in danger and that if'ha had not acted as he did he would have either been killed or aerloualy wounded. He said that he hated to kill the man, but that he waa forced to do so. When questioned by a Juror he said that he met Meehan about -the first of the month. He related that about two or three weeks ago Mee han followed him and on Meeting street, near Chalmers Street, demand ed at the point of pistol that he give him $100. He did not glva him the money then, he said, but the next day gave him $60. He was approached again, he told the Jury, and this time gave him $20. According to hia view of the affair Meehan was blackmail- ipg him. He did not propose to give him any more money, he said, and bought the weapon with which he killed the man. Hp also stated that Meehan waa a drug fiend ,of some kind and that he did not care to take any chances with him. A dispatch from Memphis says that Isadore M. Acosta of that place, who shot and hilled E. J. Meehan at Charleston, Is well known there, where he has extensive property In terests. He resides with two daugh ters and is known as a quiet, peace able citizen. Sentenced to Walk 70 Miles, r Edwar^ Deo and John Nolan, 17- year-old boya of New York city, who ran away from home, were arrested at Middletown, N. Y„ on a charge of Illegal train riding. They were re leased on their promise to walk the 7$ miles back to their home. w-s-e Two Horses Are Killed. Two young men, sons of Mr. J. 8. Smith, living In the Carolina section, ten miles above Dillon, were riding In a tournament on fTrlday, when their horeee collided, Wiling both animals and seriously Injuring both riders. served with almost every moment of- ferlng the risk of discovery. For the Masonic, building in Court square*ls In the heart.of the village, and ten other lawyers have their offices in |he building. Only constant vigilance, heart A.hatnher’a.txxj thjB datflrmlnatlon of-the womaa her-} day echool pnptl, Lftcmg BwCft Chl- paper suiter nese who disappeared, and was aft- eueed by the police aa her Another unsolved trunk mystery lelf never to pass a window where the could he seen from the street and never to go to the street except when all the village ijaible tho beeping of this secret of John Kremen, a Russian Pole, for merly employed In a coal mine at Charleston, W. Ya. According to the coroner, death had been caused by strangulation. In forcing the body Into the trunk, tke sian’s neck had been broken. Stout ropes held the head and neck to the kneea and feet. A large bandanna handkerchief had been -used fts a gag and a woman's petticoat had been wrapped about the head. About 10 o’clock Monday morning, Josepli Cooper, an employee of a “push cart tables” on Bherlff street, nearby, rented a cart to two men an swering the description given by the boy who called tke police to Pitt street. One of the men had asked the boy to take care o^ the trunk after It was damped Into the gutter. Cooper said one of the men wae tall and well" dressed. The other man, a little shorter and dressed ia a dark sweater and cap, wheeled the cart, and is believed to hive been merely the employee of the well dressed man. When the cart reached Pitt street the tall man'gave his com panion a coin and then helped him unload the trunk. After this the man In the sweater returned the puak cart to Its owner, while the other asked the street urchin to watch tke trunk. By drawing in the net of Investiga tion begun Monday when the body was found in a trunk on the Kast Side the police are confident the Identity of the murderers will be pos itively established. This Is the third trunk murder mystery iir four years. The two previous mysteries have re mained ansolved. ' - The. police also hoped Tuesday to gather in a number of men answer ing thjs description of the two who dumped the trunk containing the 6ody from a push cart onto the side walk at the Pitt street tenement en trance.* One pf the men, evidently the employer of his companion, was tall and well dressed. He directed the unlpadlng of the trunk and em ployed a boy of the neighborhood to guard it, promising- ( to return In a few minute.s The man who pushed the cart wore a dark sweater and cap and is described as shorter than the other man. Both disappeared after disposing of the truflk, the well dressed man hurriedly, while the other truhdled the push cart* down Pitt street and later returned It to a cart yard, In the vicinity from which it was rented To Identify the body the police placed It on view In a police station and more than 4,000 residents of the East Side—men and women—passed by It before Mike Molloy, proprietor of .a Polish boarding house, declared that it was that of John Kremed/a form§r coal miner of Charleston, W. Vai, but more recently empioyed in New York city by house wreckers add as a stableman Although Molloy was positive In his identification several headquar ters detectives were Inclined to be lieve that he might have been mis taken and that the trunk victim probably followed a higher vocation than that of a laborer. Molloy’s statement was borne out In part by the calloused hands of the dead man and by hjs stature and muscular de velopment that such work would make possible. , —?— The trunk, which was used to dis pose of the body, was 22 inches wide, 22 1-4 Inches high and S4 inches long. It was manufacturer, accord- long. It was manufactured, accord- Ined it by the Petersburg Trunk and Bag company ef Petersburg, Ta. Bmt for the tin corners, which were •lightly dented the trunk wae com’ paratlvely new. The tray was miss ing and detectives hunted for it Tues day. One of the unsolved "trunk mys teries”. was the murder of Moses Sachs, a Jewelry peddler who was killed June 18, 1810. Just a year be fore the murder of Sachs, Elsie Sie gel’s body was fonnd In a trunk in n room occupied by her Chinese Sun- Senator B. D. Smith it stepping in FToreaee for a lew days betere going to Washington. Ms Is . sspeeially proud qf the work - that he has ac complished, but it is not the pride that vaunteth Itself, but that which rejoices la what has been aecom- pl'shed for his fellowmem ia the cause im which be was enlisted. Senator Smith aeye that the people .of ibis country hardly realize just what that currency bill means to the South particularly. He says that the South will begin to realize the bene-' fit from It at once, because the chang ed conditions in regard to money will make it seek investment, and th^t in the future the currency of the coun try will be based strictly op. the real wealth of the land, andjlt la backed by the land Itself. , There cap not hereafter he any In flation of the values of ihe country, nor any contraction thereof, for the money which la the measure of the value la based on and runs wltb the wealth of the country Itself, he aaya. In the new currency bill the very essentials of true banking are carried out. Money Is based on the wealth of th* people, not on the debts of the government, nor the amount of gold that some Individual may happen to have, nor any yet of Individuals, and money becomeis really and truly a medium of exchange rather than a commodity controlled by a set of men for their ewn beneflt. For the farmer the benefits may be summed up by saying that of the flrat time In the history of this country the farmer and hia business are rec ognized in the banking law. The farmer and hia friends were criti cized for trying to get advantage under the _new law ahead of every one else, but those who urged such argument were ignorant of their real facts... Senator Smith .eald that he was Uned up In the fight for proper aid fbr the development of' roada through government aid and the viewpoint that 4e and his friends had was that with 'the Increase of the business of the parcel post the gov ernment must need heavier vehicles and the roads would be more of an Item than now. As the government paid for the epkeep of the railroads in part, by the hire of their cars, so the government could and should contribute a share forth* mainte nance of the roada used for the same purpose, the pepple doing thejr share, and the money of the future and re solved tb keep on in post office de partment coming back to them In support of the roads. Senator Smith said that In passing he would like to say that the country n<V recognizes in the Democratic party that the bitter school of the past 50 years has made a lot of post graduates in question of legislation just, fair and equitable, ant^ that to the astonishment-of the Republicans the Democratic party has been of one mind, ' one purpose, united, •olid. * -r ’ ' ~ * Philadelphia Taper FREES FOUR MORE. Goveraor Blease Paroles a Few More Negro Coavicta. Governor Blease freed four more copvicte Wednesday afternoon, all under paroles. They were: Rocky Colly, colored, convicted of assault with intent to ravish at Barnwell In March, 1910, and sentenced to eight years on the chain gang. William Oliver, colored, convicted at Anderson in February, 1900, dt murder with _ recommendation to mercy, and sentenced to life.Impris onment in the State penitentiary. Sumpter Brooks, colored, convicted at Aiken In February, 1910, of mur der with recommendation to mercy and sentenced to life imprisonment In the penitentiary. Henry Felder, colored, convicted at Bamberg In November, 1909, of mur der with recommendation to mercy and sentenced to life Imprisonment In the penitentiary. This makes the total number freed by Governor Blease 914. • Far lag the Year—Tw* Credited te > ' the Keith Defease ef •.» ’ T . , barg Jail le Noted. ' " " ' \ . r \ ’ “Only 44 lynching* Tchewa te he such beyond,deubt have occarced in the United State* this year,’’ accord ing to t. dispatch from Chicago te the Philadelphia North American, and this is the lowest number for IRTT^dl- The table flamed prior te Beeemhnr It. •t 181$ and 1811, to feath CareUna. The preliminary totals ter the ttato was made public by the bsreea ef the censu4 at Washington. . The eorreet- ed toljal and the nmemata tor the dif ferent eountlee for the crops-ef 1811 and 1812 are furnished for publlca- tion to the leeftl papers. The quanti ties are given la -running bales, counting round ns half bales. List en are hot included: Abbeville^,* many yean, more than KPYf^rh'g re Aiken Tried to Sell too Cheap. When Jim Jackson offered to sell a Greenwood hone dealer a fine mule for $100 Saturday he was at once taken into custody. Sunday the own er, n farmer, turned np and claimed th« mule which had been stole* from hia plantation. corded last >ear and as many as 25$ In some previous yean. -The decrease in lynching ln > Southern states Is at tributed ^largely te efforts made by governors, sheriffs and prominent elt- izens to prevent mob violence. “A notable example waa set nn uguat 11 by the sheriff at Spartan burg, S. p.. In spite of tbe fact tkat dyngmite was used, he prevented a mob from lynching a negro who was accused of assaulting a white wo man. Later the negro was tried be fore a white jury and found not guilty. “The record shows decided im provement In other respects than la numbers. So far as the newspaper accounts show none of the victims waa burned at thei atake. Nor were any of the lynching! accompanied by the so-called race riots, which always added to the number of victims a*d intensified antagonism of the\whlta and black rases. “Harrison, Miss., furnished the nearest approach to ft 'reign of muiv deri, when two drug-crazed mulatto boya, on September 28, ran amuck and started a riot, in the cenrae of which three white men, four negro men and one negro wotnan met death. Aa the two boys met death while resisting capture t&e case can not strictly be classed ts lynching. “In the 44 lynchlngs the victims of all hut one were negroes, and all bnt two occurred in Southern states. ‘'North Dakota and Montana were the twe Northern states in which lynching* occurred; At Ray, N. D., Cleve Culbertson, n white man, ac cused of the murdftr of three per sons, was taken from Jail and hang ed. At Mondak, Mont., in April, J. C. Collins, a negro, who shot and killed the.sheriff ftnd deputy sheriff of the county, was hanged by a mob. “The States to which lynchlngs oc curred and the number to each were ftp follows: Alabama 2, Arkansas i; Florida 4, Georgia 8, Kentucky 1, Louisiana 4, Mississippi 8„ Montana 1, North Carolina 1, North Dakota 1, South Carolina 1, Tennessee 2, Texas 6. There waft at least one lynching for every month in the year, August, thf hottest month, leading, with el|ht. -. X “Doable lynchlngs occurred nt Blanchard, La., Cornelia, Ga., and Pauls Valley, Okla. At Houston, Miss., two" negroes were lynched a day apart, being accused of complic ity to the same crime'. ' At; Drew, Miss., a negro waft lynched by mem bers of his own race ftfter he had shot and killed two negro women pnd two negro men. “As to previous years, murders of white persons and crimes or alleged crimes against white women caused most of the summary executions. The murders were in the big majority, afid cases in which attacks on women were charged showed a decreflse. “Nineteen Of the victlma of the 44 lynchltfgs were accused of the mur der of white men. Fonr were charg ed with murdering white glrle or women. Attempted criminal assault is on record as responsible for nine of the lynchlngs.. Two negroes were lynched for frightening white wo men, one for Insulting a white wo man, and another for being fonnd concealed under the bed to a wo man’s room. Two negroes were lynch ed for shooting, or assaulting white men, one for robbery and shooting, one for assisting a negro murderer to escape, and anothel for horse stealing. 4 In one case the crime charged was not stated.’* Richland . . \ i 21.653 18,881 Saluda . , . X 83,«»1 ^ *t;4»i Spartanburg-: . V85,644 1 - 68,157 Sumter . , . . 68.428 83,026 Union . . . . 18\l7 16.761 Wlljiamaburg . 84,148 *2,l8f York . .X. . 37,16f\ 81,661 ' — ~ Tragedy at Stm. Jordan Will wan—ahot, fatally, and his wife killed outright Thursday afternoon at ft turpentine still near Marlow, Ga. Deputy sher iffs are to search for the supposed murderer. rSto Artist Mollie Chatfleld, an artist,' was fonnd dead in her studio nt New York Monday afternoon with n steel Herself, an artist. Pier II, East river on Junnarf If, 4101, after the trunk had fonnd In n trunk on theffe flor nOng. driven Apparently It through'* suicide. Cave Drag by Mistake. A drug administered by mother as medicine was the c&nie of the deaths Saturday of puny and Laura Plfer, respectively 81 and St year* old, of Altoona, Pa., and of two younger chlldren and the mother her self fwe week* ago. Anderson . . Bamberg , , Barnwell . , Beaufort . . Berkeley . . Calhoun . . Charleston . Cherokee . , Cheeter . . Chesterfield Clarendon. Colleton . . Darlington . Dillon . i . Dorchester . Edgefield . Vftirfield . Florence . Georgetown Greenville.' Greenwood . Hampton . ' Horry . . , Jasper . . , Kershaw . Lancaster . Laurens . , .Lee , ... togton . Mi Marlboro New her Oconee Ornngabui 1 Pickens 1818 1912 80,$32 27,248 44,0*8 - 34,371 64,452 49,721 26,III 18,904 6$,516 40,821 " <,046 4,944 12,116 ? 10,862 24.146 19,004 "ll.Alt 0.270 14,<17 18,228 - 21,1(4 86*616 -27,026 ; 21.16 4 11,171 82,864 11,104 18,116 $4,326 88,634 33,301 44,768 15,023 12,811 80,310 24,662 22,190 24,#68 41,084 84,818 8,468 2.087 88,717 29,111 28,856 26.188 ‘ 48,097 18,468 1.012 8,878 5,Off 4,688 '- 24,858 84,837 21,815 24,362 40,818 22.967 84,808 81,666 24.f*l 2%,774 14.266 „ \ 17.134 47,940 42.511 —86,798 *1,768-. 11,208 12,694 74,493 4 M* 4 ** 1C,411 U4M Total A- COTTON SEED ' - -■ ♦ y Figures Given Out by for This Season. Statistics of the : cotton seed pro ducts industry for the present cotton season, announced by the census bu reau Thursday, show 281,118 running bales of llntsrs had keen obtained end 2, 201,271 tons of cotton need had been crushed from the crop ofl 1818 prior to December 1. The num ber of cotton seed oil mills and other denoting establishments active dor- . l ?f. period prior to December wan 850. ’ 1 ' " - — The number of active entablisk- menta, tons of cotton seed crushed and running bales of llnters obtained prior to December 1, by states, fol low: 'X ■ - ' Establish- Stolen meats Seed Alabama ; . . 81 188,488 Arkansan ... 48 117,888 Florida .... A Georgia . . . .152 278,281 . 32 74,581 ......iif 18.5,700 . 4„ 18,748 «2 108,812 68 186,848 88 172*886 82 88,211 m Louisiana . ' JilississlppL. Missouri . . N. C. . . . f* Oklahoma . . S. C. , ... . Tennessee . . Texas . . . .220 677,688 101,486 All other states 6 20,841 8,606 ■! » Linton 83.168' 16,298 1,887 J 46,886 ti84< 93.076 • 1,648 11,788 80,166 19,108 13.618 FIRECRACKER EXPLODES. . i Rebels Repulsed. After four days of fighting th* Mex ican federal garrison nt the seaport of Tampico reinforced by the arrival of gunboats with troops, amnnitlon and dynamite Sunday drove the at; tacking Constitutionalists out' of of their guns. Clogged by-end Bodprj -.Whan his eftr7refn*@4 to respond to full current at mi early Wir Thura- dfty morning jkfotorman H. A. Strong, of Tampa. Fto., wan horrified, ou ex amination. to find the mangled re- utotoa of a human being eloggtoc tbs Allendale Lad Narrowly Death te Firing Cracker. Little Warren Reeves, the 11-year- old son of Mr. end Mrs. Robert Reeves, of Allendale, was seriously Inj ured by the explosion of .A. "can non” firecracker Wetawday ftt his home. An iron pipe stock Into tho d was being used for holding the crackers. A very large one was dropped into the pipe, and discharg ing before the little fellow could move ont of range, struck him to tho lower part of the stomach, toileting A Horrible wound, last as tho dis charge from a gnu might hate dona, Tbe doctors say tho wound Is nofl necessarily fatal, requiring a number of stitches. - - ■ ■ 1 % Auto. Runs White crossing Broadway it fitxtyv fifth street hi Nsw Yolk surly Fri day. Richard Lao, u Brooklyn a j chant, and his wifi werO run by an automobile. Both wuro derod unconscious and Mrs. Lao while being token to * hospital. ■ ' v . i'. n.*i«hi i.»<* I’nr tt’ \ L.vnp Aa #*rt