Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Barnwell M Ju»t Like a Member of the Family" • > t Volume xl. ’BARNWELL, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, MARCH 8TH. CRIMINAL COURT RECITAL AT BLACKVILLE. COMES TO CLOSE. Mu8lc Dun - ONLY FOUR DAYS OF GENERAL SESSIONS. A Resume of Cases Tried and True Bills Found Since the Last Issue 1—- of The People. - ——• The’ Spring term of the Court of General Sessions came to an abrupt close Thursday afternoon, After being jn session only, fqur. daya. During that time, however, quite a number of crim inal cases was disposed of. Petit ju rors had been drawn for three weeks, but owing to the fact that the Bamberg County court, which convened Mon day morning, conflicted with the Barn well court, adjournment was neces- aary. Below wiir be found a list of the cases disposed of and the true bills found since the last issue of The People: Cases Disposed of. • Frank Johnson, charged with house breaking and larceny, was convicted on the second count of the indictment; a new trial was granted. * . Dick James was convicted of shoot- A^H'into a car or train and a sealed VHdict imposed. JlCharlie Lewis was found guilty of ‘^n-support and sentenced to pay a • fine of $200 or serve one year on the chain gang or in "the penitentiary, at hard labor. bar Delight Audiepce. Special to The People. Blackville, March The music pu pils of Miss Josephine Dtinbar gave a most enjoyable recital in the tygh school auditorium last evening, be nipg-at 8:15 o’clock • The-program i iull was as follows: “Blow Bugles”—R. De Vilbrac— Imogene Still and Mary Still. “Narcissus”—Ethelbert Nevin— Bertha Baxley. “Little Flower”—Schmoll—Azile Hair. >$ “Flower Dance”—Bachmann—Flor- rie Storne. “Rose Petals”—Paul Lawson—Dor othy O’Gorman. “Prairie * Blossoms”—Engelmann— Evelyn Still. “Violets”—Streabbog—Ruth Creech. “Under the Elms”—Lichner—Imo gene Still. “Dance on the Green”—Gurlitt— Pura Still. “The Beetles’. Dance”—Edward % Holst—Nannaline GeWitt and Bertha Baxley. “Cinderella, Op. 98, No. 1”—Dick Slater—Master E. G. Sanders. “Ballerine**—Lack—Vera Creech. Step by Step”*—Streabbog—Abagail Sanders. •" “Melody Walts”—Mack—Eugene Still. , Military Array. Op. 243, No. 3”— Kern—Maggie Sanders. Anni* Hankinson pleaded eu.lty to' So"K of Son*., \ocal Soto- Wt chaw of houacbreakintr and lar- ’ * ,rr !; OWm * n ceny and «a> wntenced to four month. „ •* 1 ^- ' ? „ 3 V; i . No - 2 T in th« county jail or in the State pen-, jtentiary at such labor a. .he can per-1 Dan " of th * »• No - form. Eddie Scott, alias John Dunhar, pleaded guilty to the charge of hpuse- breaking and larceny and was sen tenced to 18 months at hard labor on the chain gang or in the penitentiary + John Hanktnson was convicted housebreaking and larceny and Sen tenced to one year at hard labor on the chain gang or in the penitentiary. Henry Brown was acquitted of the charge of housebreaking and larceny. # Wash Bing pleaded guilty to the charge of larceny of live stock and was sentenced to one year at hard labor on the chain gang or in the peniten tiary. • i Archie Thompson and Willie Single- ton were charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, the former being found gftilty of asaault and bat tery of a high and aggravated nature and sentenced to pay a fine of $125 or serve six months at hard labor on the chain gang or in the penitentiary. Kattie Dick* was convicted of vio lating the dispensary law. Gus Sanders pleaded guilty to the charge of housebreaking with intent to commit an assault and batter)' of a high am) aggravated nature and was sentenced to three months in jail 1”—Charles Cadmaa—Gladys Hair. “School March”—Lichner—Sarah Fickling. “Aveu, Op. 30, No. 2”—Ed Schutt— Naanaline DeWitt. “Andante—’From the Surprise Sym j phony*—J. Haydn—Florence Nino- stein. “Romano*”— Georg e Eggeling Louise Willis. “Melody”—F. Le Couppey—Thelma Rhoden and Gladys Hair. , “Dance Caprice, Op. 30, No. 4”-— Raymond Howe—Sadie DeWitt “Happy Hours”—Streabbog—Edna Belle Fickling. “March Militaire” —Schubert—Sadie DeWitt and Miss Dunbar. “A Dream Song”—Forman—Thelma Rhoden. “Spring Time”—Bachmann—Mar tha Still and Miss Dunbars - •* fa) “Nut Race”—Bohm; fbl “An dante Pastorale”—Haydn—Mary Still “The Hunt's Up”—Ludovic—Flor- rie Storne and Sarah Fickling. A PROGRESSIVE CONCERN. PRESENTMENT OF THE GRAND JURY MURDERERS GET DEATH SENTENCE HOME DEMONSTRATION WORK. People of Barnwell County Are Tak- . Ing Hearty’Interest in Work. PURCHASE HOUNDS OF TWO BLOOD RECOMMENDED. , • - Supervisor to Be Allowed Amount Not to Exceed $150 to Defray His Traveling Expenses. ^ t ~ Barnwell Fruit Company to Manufac ture Ice Cream for the Trade. One of the most progressive con- or in thr p-nitmtury «» «*ch Uhor «« ,. ern , in thr rity i , th<> Barnwell Fruit be CM pal fin ■ |<'»im>any,. . Several weeks JUT" the 1 young men who own the bu.Hinefti in- I True Hills. Nelson Hughes, Brown Adam and ck Allen, larceny. • Gus Sanders, housebreaking with in tent to commit an assault and hat- stalled an ’expensive and up-to-date soda fountain,* whic h is proving very |H>puIar among the consumers of soft drinks. Having observed the large tery of a high ami aggravated nature. quantity of ^ cn . am shiprHMi here ev . Henry Coleman, assault and battery ery . 5Ummi . r from Augusta and Colum- with intent to kill. . bia, Jthey saw no good rt»ason why this John Brown, \iolation^of the prohi- product could not be manufactured at bition lawi • a p ro ^t j n Barnwell, and they have .Mai ion Chess, assault and battery j us t received the necessary maehin- w ith intent to ^ill-^ » - ' ary, including an electric churn, ice John Dunbar, Percy Reeves, Lock- s | laV(M > etc., which will ho put into Op- wood frogler and Green \N illiams, as- era tio n when Winter no longer ling- jers in the lap of Spring. In addition- sault and battery with- intent to kill and carrying concealed weapons. to supply mg their own trade, they \V. II. Rivers, violation of the prohi-,j w jjj se jj j ce cream at* wholer.ale prices to near-by towns ami will al^o make a specialty of supplying cr'efim for par- Sinims—Oliphant. ^ ties, etc. > -I. <The Coclin brothers, who were all bition law. -X/ Thursday night the Church of tj?e born in Greece, came to Barnwell sev- Hoty-Apostles in Barnwell was ^the cral years ago and began business at scene of a pretty yyedding, when Miss their present s^and with a small stock May Simms, daughter of Mrs. W. Gil- {of fruits. By fair dealing and a close more Simms,* was united in marriage application to business, they soon won to Mr. A. D. Oliphant, of Columbia, the confidence of their customers and The ceremony .was performed by the built up a dividend-paying trade. It Rev. S. Carey Beckwith, of St. Philips’s might also be remarked in passing Church, Charleston, assisted- by the lor j that they believe in the efficacy of ad- cal rector, the Rev. A. E. Evison. In I vertising and attribute much of their he following is the presentment pf the'GVand Jury, which was made at the recent term of Court: To the llonorable Frank B. Gary, Pre siding Judge: We, the Grand Jury, have complet ed the term of duties and passed on all bills handed to. us. beg leave to report to the Court as tpllows: 1. We find that the County Jail and premises are at present in an extreme ly good and sanitary, condition. The county should be under obligations to the jailor, Mr. Main, fo* keeping the jail and premises Ln such a sanitary condition. We* undierstan^i that the former Grand Jury recommended that the County Board of Commissioners expend a sufficient amount of fooney for the construction of a kitchen^ In making an inspection of the ises, we find that this kitchen been constructed. We, therefore,' again recommend that the County Board of Commissioners act upon this matter in order that the kitchen may be constructed as early as possible. 2. We have also inspected the poor house and yard and find them in ex ceedingly fine condition: The stew ard, Mr,.Allen J. Owens, does every thing in his power to make the in mates comfortable and.have the hous- ta and yard in a sanitary condition. There is, however, need of good water. We recommend that instead of digging a well at the poor yard or have the city of Barnwell furnish the water, a well be bored. We are of the opinion that this well should bo bored at once and rccommetid it to the County Board of Commissioners that they take charge of this matter. 8 . . 3. There have been several reports to the Grand Jury to the effect that slot machines are being operated in different towns in Barnwell County, and after considering these reports, we are of the opinion that these mat ters should be reported direct to the town councils of the towns in which the slot machines are being operated. Wt* believe that the town councils in the different municipalities of this county will property regulate the same. * 4. We recommend that the County Board of Commissioners purchase two blood hounds, the same to he kept at the County Jail and placed in charge of the jailor. 5. We recommend that the proper authorities require all jurors.and wit nesses to be in Court when the same convenes.: We. observed on Monday, the first day of Court, that it was dif ficult to locate certain jurors and wit nesses, which caused the Court to be delayed and which indirectly cost the people of Barnwell County money. fi. The Supervisor has cal led 1 to our attention the fact that it is necessary for him to expend considerable mdhey in order to.properly go over the county to inspect the roads and supervise the chain gang.' We have considered this matter thoroughly, and after- giving the matter dqe consideration, we re commend that the County Board of Commissioners ullow the Supervisor an amount, not to exceed $150.00 with which to defray his traveling expenses. 7.. We have not visited any of thF county offices for the reason that with in the limited time we could not ac complish anything. In conclusion, we desire to thank your, honor, the . presiding Judge for your able and efficient charge to the Grand Jury and for the assistance and courteous treatment you h^.vc teiKibred us, and to the ’So licitor anti Court officials for the as sistance given us, in the performance of our duties,.all of which h respect fully ^.i omitted. J. P. GUESS, Foreman. ' Barnwell, S. C., February 28, 1917. . ■ ■ It is with pleasure that I note the interest of the people of San Hill com munity in Home Demonstration Work. These people arc alive and wide a wake. They have already got on foot plans for a community fair to be held there this fall. I understand that the San Hill section had a good fair last year, but the* people this year have a . , . , , , . , purpose to surpass all past records, murder, w.thout recommendation to since ^ men ^ m en and emtafen mercy, was the verdict returned here JASPER COUNTY MEN CONVICT- ED OF MURDER. Judge Moore Refuses New Trial and Fixes April 6th as Date of Electrocution. * Ridgeland, March . 3.—Guilty of tonight against Aleas Cooler and Will Davis, white men, tried on the charge of murdering W. D. Thomas a woods rider for the Okeetee hunting club. Judge Ernes* Moore sentenced Cool- er and Davis to be electrocuted at Co lumbia on April 6, after refusing the defendants a new trial. The case will be taken to the Supreme Court on ap peal, it. is understood. The iase was given to the jury at 5 o'clock this afternoon and the ver dict was returned at 8:30 tonight. . The convicted men appeared to re ceive the verdict calmly, but their wives, who were in court when the jury reported its findings, broke down and sobbed. * Situation Continues Tense. Feeling among the friends of Cooler and Davis and their alleged victim is still very high here. About twenty special deputies have been sworn in and ars guarding the jail in which the . . ... , prisoner* we confined. So far no at- *”• ,h "' ^ to you. to tempt at violence in any manner haa h” oubl * y ” Ur m ‘h* wwk “ been ifca.le and the authoritiea are tu-1 0rd,,r th,t Barnw -" Co « nty •• « are joining in this enterprise, it is sure to be a success. This nspirit^of cooperation is one well worth cultivat ing. The women of Hilda Community have also entered heartily in to Demonstration Work. They will hold a regular monthly meeting of their club every- first Thursday afternoon. The women of Double Ponds have never had a home demonstration club, but this year they are asking to have one. This is simply an instance where the women have recognized the value of getting together to share with each other their experiences and the infor mation gained by practice in their own homes. Here the little school teacher is a great helfT to the work. She has the interest of the women of the com munity at heart and ia doing much to encourage the patrons to nobler and better livings This support from the teachers is one of the main stays in the Home Demonstration Work, teach ing every pvWatttfe* possible to pre vent trouble. \ r * Cooler is about thirty-five years of age, married*add has seven children. Davis, the other defendant. Is twenty- nine, has a wife, but )|o children, hav ing only been married a few moaths. Mrs. Davis ia a first cfcusin of her husband's codefendant. Tbomaa. the dereased in the case, was sixty three years old and left a wife and eight children. Probably the State has never had another trial where the rirrumstances were exactly aa they were ia this cm Each defendant and his counsel en deavored to fasten the guilt upon the other defendant. _ /, may make great progress during the year. - (Miss) Clifford Barratt, .Home Dem. Agent, Barnwell, 8. C. ( 'a Sea Main Witness. Ulmers’ Dramatic Club. $ spite of the inclement weather, a large success to the fact that they keep the number of friends of the young couple buying public advised that ‘the best was present* Just before the cere- goods can be found at their stoj*e. mony Schubert’s Serenade was'-sung, - ^ by Mrs. S. B. Moseley., .the marches p SeigUngville News, and other mttsic wen* furnished by! .* —— v' Miss R. E^ Gill, Miss Thelma E. Bailey; ■ Seiglingville, March 5.—The R^v- Mrs. Norman Anderson and Mr. Eu- J.,R. Cullom preached an eloquent se gene Easterling, who cqrtpbse the mon here yesterday, which was Barnwell High School Orchestra. much enjoyed’by an large audience. «. The wedding ivas followed by a n*- Mrs; B. F. Storne, of ception-at the home of the bride’s talked very entertainingly of mother.* The pn»sents were numer- S. w-oyk.* . : * j proved very successful. - The admis- ou* and costly.. ’ * ' - - Little Francis Harden, who has been i sion charged will be 25 cents for The moat sensational testimony waa given by the thirtr«n-year-old son of Cooler. The lad testified that he waa with the two defendants when Thomas was killed, that two shots were fired; that he heard, but did not see who fired the first shot, but that he saw Davis fire the second shot. Cooler, *a defendant and the boy's father, stated on the stand that his son told the truth, but that Davis fired both shots. Davis denied that he was with Cooler ami the latter's son when Thomas was killed. The tragedy occurred on December 20 last, on the land of the Okeetee Club, the prosecution alleging that the defendants were trespassing on the club's huntjng preserves when they were discovered by Thomas. „ The jury hail lx»en together “since Thursday, when the trial was begun, and when they filed out of the court room to deliberate this afternoon they had a very determined and tired look upon their faces. Cooler Sticks to Story. • At last night’s session of court Cool er was subjected to a most severe dross-examination by former S*«natqr RAIDING IN WEST. Trench Warfara ActlvUiaa on Front in Northern France. London, March ft.—Except for the front in France, where the Britiah art oppoeing the Ormans, there hove been only the usual outpoet engage men's ami oo*nbordrienta. Around Arraa and nr*i Ciner.) the British tiop* .»ave ca—I*' ou* sue- c?N«fa ! r*tdi egaintf Gr .a # poni- tiona according to London. In the vi cinity of Arraa, King George's NUMBER 28... COURT TERMSFOR BARNWELL COUNTY NEW ACT PROVIDES FOR FOUR- TEEN WEEKS.— Six Weeks Devoted to Trial of Crimi nal Cases, While Civil Suits Receive Eight. • A For the information of magistrates, court officiala, and the public at largo, THe Peoplq has been requested by So- • K. licitor R. L. Gunter, of. Aiken," to pub- tiah that part of the new court Act affecting Barnwell County. The new Act provides for 14 weeks of Court, the General Sessions convening in Common Pleas in April, June and De- cembeer. The Act reads as follows:. “Barnwell County: Sec. 1. Hie Court of General Sessions for Barn well County shall be held at Barnwell on the 'second Monday in February, two weeks;, fourth Monday in May, two weeks; and the second Monday in October, two weeks. The Court of Common Pleas for the said County shall be held at Barnwell, on the ond Monday in April, three weeks; the fourth Monday in June, weeks; and the first Monday in De cember, three weeks. PROVIDED, That in Barnwell County the petit jury drawn for service for the first week of each term of the Court of General Sessions shall not be sum moned to attend upon the Court until the second day of the term, and the first day of each term of the said Court shall be devoM to the receiving by such Court of ploaa of guilty, the handing out. of indktmenU to, and the return of bill# by the grand to the argument of motions for continuances, relating to cases pending before the said Court; and to such other business of Court aa may be petit jury; PROVIDED FURTHER, That ing herein contained shall be •trued to prevent the making of ing, after the first day of th* motions for new trials, t>? such mo tions as could not have been made, kg the exercise of ruaaouahle on the part of the attorneys day of the term; PROVIDED, FUR THER, That the petit jurors ■track at two place* and iaflictad •**»»•• »*••»■» waak if aa* many raaualtm on the Germane, took 42 prisoners and raptured a machine gun. Prisoners also were taken near Ginrhy. Near Burhavesnes the Ger mans endeavored to wrest from the British the positions captured Sun day but met with a repulse. ’ The French counterattacked north of Bois Cauribres, where the Germans had made a gain at one point in an attack delivered over a front of one ami three-quarter miles, and regained part of the captured elements. The French official communication says that elsewhere than in the Bois Cour iers the Germans were repulsed with heavy casualties in their Sunday at tack. There has been considerable aerial activity along the line in France. Bon don reports that six hostile machines were brought down Sunday, two with in the British lines, and that eight others were forced to descend dam aged. It is admitted that the Ger mans forced down two British ma chines and that five others failed .to return. French airmen and anti-eir- On Friday evening, March 9th, at eight o'clock, the Ulmers’ Dramatic Club will present-ibe .play, “A Ken- t :ec3-tucky Belle,” in the auditorium of the very | Fairfax High School. .This play, which ’*»nf-*> ia ! is a comedy in three acts, has been Blackville,'• presented twice within the past two ! e' ;,. .., " * . i ..... I . « ... . « \ . I to it* utmost capacity. thqW.M. months at timers, and both times' , V S. G. Mayfield, of Bamberg, who was assisting in the prosecution, but Cool er gave the same testimony that he gave on direct examination. ', It was brought out that Cooler and Thomas had at previous times been in difficulties, and even that they had had a shooting and cutting scrape. Many other witnesses w'ere introduced to show' of this ill feeling ,and somfe; even testified that Thomas had told them he would leave Cooler ,in the woods if he ever found him on the Okeetee Club land hunting. About 11 o’clock last night both the defendants and the State had rested and court was adjourned until 9 o’clock this morning, when arguments by counsel were begun. The court al lowed five hours for the two defend ants’ attonreys and twa hours for the State’s attorneys. Seven arguments were made in this case, ranging from Qfteen minutes to one hour.* 4 Thtr speeches at times brought tears and at - other times laughter* from the crowd w'hich^packed the court room craft guns accounted for thret Xler-^ man airplanes Monday. The weather on the Russian front has again turned bitterly cold, im peding operations there. Scouting^ parties continue active in Roumania and at various points'artillery duels are in progress! There has been no change in the situation in the Austro- Italian and Macedonian theatres. The repulse of a small Turkish attack near Kalkit, in Turkish Armenia, is report ed by Petrograd. ■ ' ^ of tho Court of Barnwell County •hall not bo to attend upon the aatd until the second day of each th# first day of each term of Court shall bo known as “Rule and Motion Day,” and shall bo devotod to the making of returns to rules; to the argument of motions, including mo tions for continuances, relating to cases set for (rial at said term; and to such other business as may bo acted by the CobH without a jury: PROVIDER FURTHER, nothing herein contained shall bo strued to prevent the making or ing, after the first day of the term of said Court, of motions for new or such motions as could not been made, by the exfreiso of able diligence on the part of the at torneys employed in the cases in tion, on the first^ay of such term.’ Sec. 2r— That the terms of the Court of General -Sessions provided for hi Section 1 of this Act, the Court of Common Pleas shall be open for tha taking of any verdict or judgment fag default or consent, qfad for the trans- the conviction of Davis, and Davis’ at torneys for the conviction of Cooler. This situation was unusual and it practically amounted to attorneys for Cooler assisting the State in trying to convict Davis, and Davis’ attorneys assisting the State in trying to con vict Cooler. ‘ Arguments wefe concluded at 4 o’clock and the rcase was given to the jury at r>, after a very clear and learn* ed charge by Judge Ernest Moore. ^Counsel in the case was as follows: action of equity business, when the same does npt conflict with the busi ness of the'Court of General Sessions. Sec. 3. That this Act shall go iato effect at the summer term of"lhe Cir cuit Courts for the Second Judicial Circuit, beginning the first Monday M May, A. D., 1917. .'Sec. 4. That all Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with^this Act are Approved the Ist'day of March, A. D., 1917. ** ♦ A Severe Storm. A wind storm of cyclonic propor tions, , accompanied by ■ thunder and lightning and a heavy downpour of rain, passed over Barnwell Sunday af ternoon, up-rooting a number of trees in the city and damaging to some ex tent the local electric light plant, part *of the town being without lights Sun day night. It is reported that the ne gro church at Ashleigh waa blown quite ill- with grip, is improving. . L. Bex andTs, Harivy. Mr. ami Mr*. J. U Augity and Huld- of Allendale,.were in.the city on'Uiai-^ren, of Ulmer, vuited relative* ktr* adults and 1$ cents for children Each Defendant Accused Other., This case developed into a three-cor nered fight, each defendant claiming proceeds will go to the new Baptist the other dal the shooting, church, now bAng erected at Ulmers attornrys asked for thr coavicthm of For Cooler, Messrs. H, K. Purdy, W. down and that the roof oft a box ear N Heyward and J. P. Wise, of Ridge- w »* blown across the railroad tracks land, and Col*- L. Blense, of Columbis; ** that place. At SneQing the roof of for Davis, Messrs. Beckett and Aman, • building was Mown ncruoa tho of Beaufort; fer the State, Solicitor also fell in George Wsiren, of Hampton, and S.