Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HOI ijcv cii \.y t We i loads. I leton, y\' \ m pi IllP I ' i |;: 1 W::i fe' p If peop] ?t * - wouldn gg P right, tl K. these y< Err?-*'. % m let us si iff, have a i WmkK s w; I; i ^ - 1 i vj. j | The Live StocI BADGEK GAME CHAKGED. South Carolina Man and His Wife tare Implicated. Washington papers the past few days have been full of the alleged "badger game," worked on Harry Rosenthal, a merchant of that city, by James Knott, formerly of North, S. C., and his wife of three weeks. Benjamin Knott, a brother, is also held as a witness, as is a man by the name of Alton Armstrong. The Knott family is well known in South Carolina and well connected. The badger game is as old as the hills?the Marquis of Steyne thought 4 he was a victim of it when Rawdon Crawley unexpectedly walked in on his lordship and Becky Sharp in the j IV.: 3 4. ~ e 41 1 ? 1...4 4U ~ T7^?44., tililu itct Ui till? play uut LUC xviiulis ?seemed to have introduced new features. According to the story as published in the Washington papers, the room to which the Washington merchant was invited by the pretty wife of James Knott was fitted up with brilliant ceiling lights, and when the merchant suggested that the lights should be turned down the charming Mrs. Knott explained that she was very much afraid of the dark, and the explanation sufficed. Later, when the outraged husband made demand for $5,000, the visitor discovered that the lights were the kind used by photographers to make photographs at night and that he and the pretty woman had been caught by the camera, as well as by the husband. Charge of Blackmail. The Washington Herald of Friday gives the following account of developments in the case: "A charge of blackmail was last night lodged against Benjamin Knott of South Carolina, who was arrested as a United States witness when his brother, James Knott, Alton Arm-] strong, and Mrs. James Knott were taken in custody for attempting to extract $5,000 from Harry Rosenthal, of the firm of Rosenthal & Levy, after photographs of the merchant and Mrs. Knott alone in an apartment in the Cairo had been made. The quartet will be arraigned in the police court this morning. "Benjamin Knott had declared he knew nothing of the alleged black mailing scheme and his statements were corroborated by his brother, sister-in-law, and friend, but the witness unwittingly disclosed the hiding place of a letter to detectives yesterday afternoon, with the result that he is now accused of implication in ... - , - jr?i' . li. *SE! ive Head lie i-l XIC OCUIIIg U1U1 We are selling Hampton, Ba "Thei le did not know that 't come twenty and t be prices right,' and jars is our best advei low you. We have fine pair for you if y \ FRA c and Vehicle I the plot. "What was found in the letter the police will not say, but officials de-j clare that 'new information' shows: Benjamin Knott was a member of I what has been termed the most daring band of blackmailers who ever j operated in the national capital. Benjamin Knott appeared dumbfounded when informed that he was no longer a witness, and that the charge against him was the same charge on which James Knott, Alton Armstrong and Mrs. Knott are being held. Tinvp? H>i- Husband. " 'Yes, I love my husband, and I think I proved I loved James Knott when I did what I did for him,' said the woman in the case at the First precinct station last night. "Behind the cell bars at the First precinct station the four prisoners | talked with reporters, telling their version of the crime of which they | are accused with as little concern as though discussing a topjp of no interest. Mrs. James Knott, formerly Florence Bennett, the bride of three weeks, who was used as instrument j by the alleged blackmailers, is the most interesting member of the quartette. "Leaning back in a chair with hands folded in her lap, the girl gave fragments of her past life and admitted that she is half Indian. 'I am proud of the Indian blood which [ flows through my veins,' she said. 'My father was a Cro.w Indian and | my mother was a white woman, j Some doubt my Indian blood because I don't look like an Indian. Any one who has seen me angry does not doubt it.' "Mrs. Knott has facial characteristics which, to a student of physiognomy, would denote Indian ancestry, but to the layman the girl appears to be of English ancestry. Although she has been described as 'pretty,' Mrs. IS /-.+ f ie nrnha Vil v t V> mndt n ti fll 1 XVUVtU AO VK/UMAJ kUV/ MVMV4V4A.V4A girl who has ever been a prisoner at the First precinct station. "Her hair is jet black, and contrasts strangely with her black eyes. Her eyebrows are black and finely penciled, straight and similar to the brows of a Japanese. Her nose is ! thin and straight and her lips are perfect in shape. Her profile is regular. Slight of form and possessing a thin, lithe figure, the girl appears barely more than 16 years old. When arrested she gave her age as 21 years, but she says she gave the age because the records at Rockville * show her age as 21 when she was married on November 25. "Admitting she is but 17, Mrs. r. ' ... 'a - - V < >' ' -J - *!&*. a'.. . ...i*. 5 A on Ham n, of course, bi % stock not onl> rnwell, and A e's i we carried the best hirty and forty mile our satisfactory de "tisement. We hav recently received s ou need them. NK Wan 4 ? Knott laughingly declared she knows more of the world than most women three times her age, and she added: 'Tt hasn't hppn a verv nica world to me.' "Mrs. Knott says she first met Rosenthal about the middle of last summer. 'He appeared to be infatuated with me,' she said, 'and he showed me much attention. Rosenthal did not tell the truth when he said he did not know I was married. When he called to see me at the Cairo, 1 took a picture of my husband from the bureau and showed it to him. We both laughed, but Rosenthal knew I was telling the truth. " 'My husband told me what to do, said I must do it, and I did as he told me. That is all. He and Armstrong planned the thing together. When they told me of the scheme I said I thought it would be more successful if the victim was a married man, but they knew Rosenthal's father had mnn/M- on J 4" Vl on KollOirftH t Vl ?? fotVlOf muiicj | auu iucj uv?nv? vu wuv j.ubuv* would deliver the goods.' Woman Xot Worried. "Mrs. Knott showed little evidence of worry. She admitted she had not worried much since her arrest. 'That bed in there,' she said, pointing to her cell, 'is very comfortable. In fact, I've slept on beds that were not near as comfortable. This station house is warm, and, although the food might be a little better, it is nourishing. What more could I ask for?' Talks With Reporters. "James Knott also talked with reporters, but his view of his incarceration was different from the attitude of his wife. Knott said he came within 'an ace of shooting Rosenthal, and he wished he had.' " 'Is it not enough for a man to stand in a closet and peep through a hole in a door at another man with his wife? What more could any one ask a husband to tolerate? When I entered the room and pointed those revolvers at Rosenthal I intended to kill him. But he threw his right arm over his face, and I saw he was crippled and incapable of defending himself. That crippled right arm was all that saved Rosenthal's life. I wish I had shot.' "Rosenthal suffered an injury to his right arm when he was a boy and the member haa since been deformed. The right is smaller than the left and the bone of the right arm is crooked. Declares His Innocence. "Knott declared he is innocent of wrongdoing and also asserted he expects to gain his freedom. 'There are a lot of facts which have not yet ND 1 Now ai Lit we are cons r in Bamberg, bi iken counties. i Re lot of stock in this s s to buy from us. 1 alings with a large e pleased others, we ome beautiful pairs c BA jcome to light, and when they do this ' thing will look different. I engaged ! an attorney the day after I discov;ered Rosenthal fras calling to see J Mrs. Knott. The prisoner grew ex! cited while talking, and apparently forgot the confession the police say he made shortly after his arrest. ! "When asked if he still cared for t 'the girl, Knott replied: 'No.' " 'I wish she would hang,' he as| serted, 'and yet?well, anyway, I j loved her when I married her. That's | enough. I heard of her long before 11 first met her here in Washington, iand I know who she was and all | about her and her people and her | past life. I " 'T hnvp pne'fle'eri an attorney. and I'm going to fight this fight to the finish. My brother, Joseph Knott, who * is a merchant at my home town, North, which is about 30 miles south of Columbia, S. C., has been notified of my arrest. He is coming to this city as soon as possible with the money to defend me, and my brother, Benjamin. I expect to get out on bond as soon as Joe arrives here.' "Knott says he studied for three years at the University of South Carolina before coming to Washington to study at the Bliss Electrical School. Before entering the university he was a student at a military school at Edgefield, S. C. "James Knott, Benjamin, Knott, Alton Armstrong and Mrs. Knott were photographed yesterday morn-| ing at police headquarters." MANY LIVE IN CITIES. Interesting Census Facts Made Public by Bureau. Of the 92,000,000 people in the United States more than twentyeight and a half millions reside in cities exceeding 25,000 in population, as shown by a recapitulation issued by the census bureau. There are 2^8 of these cities. Nine| teen of them have a population exceeding a quarter of a million and I fifty exceed 100,000. "The exact i population of the two hundred and | twenty-eight is 28,508,007. Of this i nnmhpr 2 0.2 02.047 reside in the : larger cities of more than 100,000 i population. i ! ? ; Prosecuting Attorney?Your Hon| or, the sheriff's bull pup has gone I and chawed up the court bible, i Judge?Well, make the witness l kiss the bull pup, then. We can't ; adjourn court just to hunt up a new ' bible.?Lippincott's Magazine. ' -Vi"* MU id More tantly receiving nt in Orangebur As Mr. Post ason* ection, don't you kn rhey know the anir number of customer can please you. C< >f match mules, and MB1 Bamberg, CHASED BY "RATTLER/* Sportsmen Have Thrilling Experience in Arizona. ADject iear or raruesnases was ingrained in the hearts of two Chicago sportsmen who journeyed recently to the wilds of Arizona. They were told, however, that few snakes crawled and had their being in the particular region which they proposed to visit and therefore sallied forth from the city for their western destination with no misgivings. The story of adventure which betook them while hunting for game near the city of Phoenix is now being retailed by I their friends in Chicago. The camp of the two Chicagoans was pitched in a wild region where one of the men had mine interests. Learning that game was plentiful in the neighborhood, the two sportsmen shouldered their guns one morning and set out in quest for it. About a mile of hilly, wooded country filled with undergrowth had been traversed when one of the hunters heard a T4. A,aii -n A aA onpniniAiiolv 11U1SC. 11 avuuucu SU0JI1V.1VU01; ttav | a rattle and seemed to proceed from a dense patch of bushes. "What was that?" he whispered, the fear of snakes .entering his mind, notwithstanding the denials of native Arizona settlers that few reptiles dwelt thereabouts. "I don't know," quaked his friend. "It sounded like?" "There it is again," the first broke in as his frightened friend trod softly to his side and tremblingly prepared his gun for possible action. The rustle of the gun and the click of the lock as it was cocked, brought another rattling noise to their ears. ' it ain't in the bush. It's right near us," shouted the other. "It's a snake and I'm going to get out of here." And then the rout began. The two hunters, neither of whom is of slim build, dropped their weap-1 ons and with a combined shriek of i in nom"<-> Thpv era shed I LCI 1 VI U^U 1U j ? headlong through the underbrush of the hill sides rolling and crawling to the bottom of each declivity, but picking themselves up after each fall and struggling in rapid flight again. Notwithstanding the violence of their exertions and the swiftness of their retreat the noise of the rattle came plainly to their ears after a particularly hard fall down the side of a precipitous bluff. "He's chasin' us," gasped one of the terror-stricken sportsmen. "He sure is," echoed his companion, as with one supreme effort the winded and perspiring city men got LES A-Comin' ^ j I new g, Col- | : says, > I Z' -i r - , | . v j v '< j ow they 4 nals are 5 s for all J r >. ' )me and |l we will I |p?j n n /i [iKu South Carolina 1 i ^ I to their feet and dashed from the spot toward their camp. Up and down hills and across small valleys and through woods they sped with the ever-present sound of the rattle ! close to their heels. A view of their | tent in the distance lent wings to. ' their feet. They literally flew as the rattling sound seemed more and more i suggestive of venom. At last the camp was reached and they flung / themselves upon the ground with the ; last ounce of their strength. ; As the body of one struck the earth 7 ; the rattle seemed more plain than * |- ever, although they were ,4n open / I ground and no sign of their late enemy appeared in sight. Whenever he moved the sound reached his senes. 1 Could it be that?? He put his hand in his hip trousers pocket and drew out a small pasteboard box half filled (M with pills.?-Chicago News. J DISPOSITION OF KIRK HOUSE. j* ' Death of Miss Kirk Leaves Unsolved a Perplexing Question. I Aiken, Dec. 29.?The death of j Miss Kirk has created a great deal ,< of comment in the city, as to what j disposition will be made of her body - | and the premises in which she lived. U/iw .ftiofiiraa in PV? q rlPst'rvn have been JLJLV^l 1 CiatlT vg 1U i r''i. j notified of her death and are expected in the city to-night; they will ' H probably decide where she will be buried. It is said that if she is not J [ buried here her body will be taken + j to Charleston. In conversation with one of the 4 members of the local board of health A he stated that the railroads required J most careful preparation of dead J bodies offered for shipment, and that ' 1 especially lepers would be hard to J transport. , The disposition of the house in t which this poor woman lived is al- \ O 1 ready discussed, and wnne some ui the most timid who fear leprosy say ^ without hesitation that it should be burned, others take different views of the matter. While the death of ttfe unfortunate j lady brings to a close a most unfortunate condition in the city of Aiken, , ? the disposition of a building in which she lived will still be a source of trouble. Parson's Poem a Gem. -j From Rev. H. Stubenvoll, Allison, la., in praise of Dr. King's New Life + */ Pills: 'Sm "They're such a health necessity, In every home these pills should be. If other kinds you've tried in vain, and be well again. Only 25c. at j Peoples Drug Co., Bamberg S. C. ^ K j