The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, June 01, 1911, Image 1
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Established 1891 BAMBERG, S. C., THURSDAY. JUNE 1,1911. One Dollar a Year f|||
COUNTRY NEWS LETTERS
SOME INTERESTING HAPPENINGS
IN VARIOUS SECTIONS.
News Items Gathered All Around the
County and Elsewhere.
Ehrhardt Etchings.
Ehrhardt, May 29.?It was a glad
at Aft Pipasant. last Thursday.
ascension's day. From all over this
section about 800 people gathered
together with the Mt. Pleasant Sunday-school
to celebrate, according to
a time-worn custom, an annual picnic.
The weather was fine, the order
was good, and in every respect
the day was a grand and successful
occasion. Beautiful songs were rendered
by the school. Rev. W. B.
Aull, the Lutheran pastor of Fairfax,
delivered the address of the day, and
fitting was his subject, for he discussed
education in a broad sense.
T> *.- ? TT* A HfnUnnroll +Vi?k Ranticl
1\C V JLi n. iuvl/V/ n Viij tuv/ i^u^/v4w
mi lister at Ehrhardt, was present
and was called upon for a few remarks,
which he made very aptly.
An interesting feature of the day
w a>- the immense dinner that was
served on the grounds. Bountiful
were the provisions, and every one
feasted sumptuously on the good
things and drank to their heart's delight
of cold lemonade.
The afternoon was spent pleasantly.
Many young people will look
back with keen pleasure to the occasion
and say it was good for us
to have been there. In fact the whole
crowd was happy notwithstanding
the dust. "Behold how good and how
nleasant it is for men to dwell to
gether in unity." JEE.
SHOCKING CRIME CHARGED.
Deaf and Dumb Girl Alleged Victim
of White Man's Attack.
Spartanburg, May 29.?Charged
with attempting to criminally assault
a deaf and dumb girl, 20 years old,
who is also partially unbalanced^mentally,
Jake Bostin was lodged in the
county jail here Sunday afternoon
to await a preliminary hearing on
% Tuesday morning. The warrant
against Bostin, who claimed both
fialiehnrv and Old Fort. N. C.. as his
home, was issued before Magistrate
Kirby and was sworn out by Jailer
Wilson, in whose keeping the men
who captured Bostin placed the prisoner.
The alleged attempted assault was
made at a point midway between
f Rock Cliff Springs and Drayton
Mills. The girl, after spending the
afternoon at the amusement rendezvous,
was on her way home and Bos*
1
tin, it is said., followed, and on
reaching a secluded spot, he accosted
her. Her assistance arrived almost
miraculously.
J. P. Wilson, E. Hemory, Wallace |
Belcher, Walker Allen and J. W.
Bolton, all residents of Drayton
Mills, say that they saw the strange
character about the parks Sunday afternoon,
and also noted that he
seemed to be following the poor, unfortunate
girl. Their suspicions being
aroused, these men quietly followed
the girl and the-man. They
state that when the girl had been
thrown to the ground they rushed
upon Bostin, who at once fled; a sensational
chase ensued, and within an
hour he was captured. When the
man was finally caught he was carried
to the county jail.
The atrociousness of the alleged
crime was multiplied by the fact that
if
the intended victim is a powerless
idiot, without the power of calling
to some one for assistance, and this
only lends a more hideous aspect
$ to the deed. Arrangements for the
preliminary hearing to-morrow
morning, before Magistrate A. H.
Kirby, are being made. C. P. Sims
has been appointed to defend Bostin.
Major Kirby refused to grant bond
to Bostin pending the outcome of the
preliminary, and he will remain in
I jail until arraigned.
Th case is a most revolting one,
and should the evidence be sufficient
to bind the defendant over to the
court, he will be given a trial at the
next term of criminal court, which
convenes the first Monday in June.
Attempt at criminal assault under
j the South Carolina Code carries with
t it a penalty of death.
Although unfortunate in being a
mute and mentally afflicted, the intended
victim of Bostin is said to be
J a pretty girl.
Bostin Acquitted.
Spartanburg, May 30.?J. H. Bos -
tin, the white man who was arrested
on Sunday afternoon on a charge of
attempting a criminal asasult on a
young woman who is a deaf mute,
was to-day fully acquitted of the
charge on the testimony of the young
i woman herself.
I
HEWLETT GETS VERDICT.
Awarded $788.25 Actual Damages in j
Suit Against Seaboard.
Barnwell, May 26.?After completing
the case of J. H. Hewlett vs.
Seaboard Air Line Railway Company
at an early hour last evening,
the May term of the court of common
pleas for Barnwell county adjourned
sine die.
The case was a suit in which the
plaintiff sought to recover $788.25
actual damages and $10,000 punitive
damages, alleging that his business
had been ruined bv the failure of
the defendant company to transport
promptly a car of cotton seed from
Ulmers, this county, to a point in
Mexico. After deliberating about two
hours the jury returned a verdict in
favor of the plaintiff for the amount
of actual damages asked. The counsel
for the defendant immediately
made a motion for a new trial, which
Judge Devore refused to grant. It
is understood that the railroad company
will appeal to the supreme
court.
Pleasure Resort Burned.
San Francisco, May 29.?Two men
are believed to have perished in a
fire that destroyed the chutes, San
Francisco's largest amusement resort,
early to-day. Occupants of an adjoining
lodging house which caught
fire, were roused from their beds to
find escape cut off.
Before the firemen arrived Delia
Alviso, a 19-year-old girl, and John
Peist, jumped from a second-story
window. Both were / dangerously
hurt. William Williams, an employee
of the resort unable to prevent
Miss Alviso from jumping, attempted
to catch her as she fell and
suffered a broken arm.
Mrs. Ida McFarland, who was
sleeping hi a room with two other
women in the lodging house, awoke
to find her companions hysterical
and unable to move. She dragged
them to a window ledge and held
them until the firemen arrived with
ladders. John Boetinger and another
man whose name is not known,
who were sleeping in the lodging
house, are believed to have perished.
The theatre of the chutes, which
was built of concrete, is the only
building w-ithin the resort saved. The
loss is estimated at "$250,000.
NOW NO DEFICIT.
First Time in History of Department,
It is said.
Washington, May 28.?For the
first time in the history of the service,
it is said, the deficit in the
postoffice department has been entirely
wiped out and $1,000,000 surplus
for the current fiscal year ending
June 30 next is in the treasury
to the department's credit
Postmaster General Hitchcock has
signed a warrant returning to the
secretary of the treasury $3,000,000,
the last of the amount set apart from
the public funds to assist in defraying
the expenses of the postal service
for the present fiscal year.
Refarms in the field system, it is
said, have made the refund possible.
Train Goes Through Trestle.
xr rt o o a
vuanutttr, . u., ?o, xv
double header coal train plunged
through a burning trestle two miles
east of Bostic, N. C., about 6 o'clock
this afternoon, killing both engineers
and firemen and seriously injuring
other members of the train
crew.
The reported dead are: R. M.
Green, engineer, Monroe, N. C.; J.
M. Lindsey, engineer, Monroe. N. C.;
Roy Dooley, fireman, Monroe, .N. C.;
Early Lewis, colored, fireman, Monroe,
N: C. Seriously injured: Lon
Neely, colored, brakeman..
Capt. Frank Howell, of Charlotte,
was conductor of the train and meager
reports at hand do not mention
his fate. Fifteen of the 29 loaded'
steel coal cars crashed through the
fire eaten woodwork of the trestle
into Watkin's creek, piling up.on the
two engines, and burying the helpless
victims in a mass of wreckage.
The heavy train was loaded with
coal from the Clinchfield mines destined
for the coast and was picked
up by the Seaboard at Bostic. The
engineer of the foremost locomotive
did not discover the half burned
trestle until too late to avert the disaster.
The State league of the Building
and Loan associations of South Carolina
will meet in Chester June 14 th
and 15th.
TVia fiirl nroo hrnbon fnr
uiou uii 1/ nao MA
Greenwood's $12,000 hospital on
Friday. The contractor is E, M.
Guest.
IN THE PALMETTO STATE
SOME OCCURRENCES OF VARIOUS
KINDS IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
State News Boiled Down for Quick
Reading?Paragraphs About
Men and Happenings.
The South Carolina Goods Roads
association will meet in Spartanburg
in August.
Tom Staley, colored, was arrested
in Anderson on Tuesday on the
charge of poisoning his wife.
The Bank of Mountville, at Mountville,
Laurens county, has been commissioned,
with a capital of $25,000.
J. W. H. Dukes, who has been
mayor of Orangeburg for several
terms, has announced that he will
not be a candidate for re-election.
Plans are on foot for the building
of a new dormitory for Wofford college,
Spartanburg, to have 75 or 80
rooms and to cost $40,000 to $50,000.
A verdict of $300 was given Manning
Williams by a Spartanburg
jury on Tuesday against the Pauline
oil mill for the loss of three fingers
while working in the mill. He sued
for $o,000.
Orangeburg is the next place in
South Carolina to get a postal savings
bank, the order to this effect
having been issued last week jy the
postmaster general.
G. G. Holman, a young white man,
shot and killed Mike Suash, colored,
at Ridge Spring on Tuesday. It is
said the negro was advancing on the
white man with a pistol when he was
shot.
The city of Orangeburg has already
paved a good portion of its business
street with vitrified brick, and now
it is proposed to extend the paving
to the Southern passenger station,
which will be done shortly. '
The two-year-old child of Mr. and
Mrs. B. H. Peace, of Greenville, died
Friday from drinking carbolic acid,
having drank the contents of a bottle
obtained from a bureau drawer
without the knowledge of the mother.
Mrs. James Snow, of Reidville,
Spartanburg county, committed suicide
on Tuesday by taking enough
Paris green to kill three hundred
persons. She had become despondent
because of long suffering with
rheumatism.
Ernest Feaster was killed on Saturday
at Leeds, Chester county, by
Arthur Brown?both colored. Brown
cut Feaster's jugular vein with a
knife, causing him to bleed to death
in a few minutes. The cause of the
trouble was a irine.
Fourteen prisoners were released
from the State penitentiary Monday,
all being pardoned or paroled by the
governor. Twelve of these were released
on the advice of the prison
physician, and the other two were
turned loose out of the kindness of
heart possibly of the chief executive.
The five-year-old daughter of Congressman
Legare was killed on Friday
at the home of a neighbor by
the falling of a large flower jar upon
her. Mr. Legare got home from
Washington just about the time the
child died, not knowing of the accident
that had befallen his little
daughter.
W. T. Jones, the wealthy white
man of Union, convicted of murder
ing his wife and sentenced to a life
sentence in the penitentiary, has issued
a statement saying that he will
submit to the sentence without delay,
and will begin to serve his sentence
this week. He stated that as he was
innocent he used every means to be
relieved of the sentence, but as the
courts had decided against him and
the governor had declined to interfere,
he would enter upon his sentence.
Jones has been confined in
jail at Union ever since his conviction.
George Nichols, a white man of
Illinois, was convicted at Lexington
a short time ago, along with three
negroes, of the murder of Paul Williams,
a young white man of Columbia.
The killing occurred on the circus
train of the Hagenbeck-Wallace
shows between Columbia and Augusta.
Nichols and the negroes were
with the circus as employes. His
relatives are now endeavoring to ob ni"
Vlio nord/in and it is PYnPfltftd
taiu 1110 yai uvu) *w -w v?rw? ?- ?
that the governor will act on the
case this week. Judge Gage and Solicitor
Tiramerman have both declined
to recommend the pardon, and
the judge says that under the testimony
Nichols might well have been
hanged. The prison physician says
Nichols is in good health. His sentence
is for life.
. .. vv - . - . ;
v ? * ' *-< .1*4- aT - ^
PAYS DEATH PENALTY.
For Attempted Assault Negro Hanged
at Spartanburg.
Spartanburg, May 26'.?Paying the
death penalty, to which he was sentenced
on March 26, for attempting
to criminally assault a well-known
1 ii /I it r\f Vii'p niti' r?n PohTliarv
u i ic iau > ui lino wtj vu * vw*
26, Gary Gist, colored, was to-day
hanged in the county jail by Sheriff
W. J. White, of Spartanburg county,
assisted by Sheriff Poole, of
Greenville; Sheriff Owens, of Laurens,
and Sheriff, Thomas, of Chero
kee.
Gist ate heartily last night. He
read the 9th and 10th chapters in
the book of St. Mark. He arose
early this morning and told Jailer
Wilson, who carried him his last
meal, that he was ready to meet his
God. No other person saw him today,
except the Rev. R. S. Truesdale,
pastor Central Methodist church, '
and the Rev. J. S. Earle, a colored
minister, who offered prayer and
spiritual comfort.
Dead in Eleven Minutes.
A great morbid crowd gathered in
front of the jail, but few were admitted.
The death trap was sprung at
11:15, after Gist had stepped on it
without a quiver. Passing by the
Rev. Mr. Truesdale, in the corridor
of the jail, the pastor said to him:
"God bless you, Gary." "He will,
and I am ready to go," the negro replied,
and the black cap covered his
face. His feet were bound and his
hands were cuffed. The trap fell.
in eleven minutes pnysinans pronounced
him dead. His body was
turned over to his parents for burial.
Before dying Gist gave out the following
statement to the press:
"Whiskey brought me to this. I got.
my whiskey from Ed Johnson; I
used a pint between 12 and 1 o'clock
on that day. and didn't know anything
until I came to the jail. Tell mother
to meet me in heaven, and all my
relatives to be good. Tell all the
young men, both colored and white,
that my death should be a warning
to them. And that it is best to live
good lives. Good-bye, God bless
everybody."
(list's Crime.
A wire was received from Gov.
Blease at 10 o'clock stating that as
the young lady upon whose person
the attempt was made refused to
sign the petition for an extension of
time that he could ont interfere.
Gist's mother and father were both
too sick to see him. Gist, it is remembered
entered the home of a
white woman and pushing her over
and also throwing her 1-year-old in
fant to the floor, was prevented irom
accomplishing his purpose only by
her screams, which brought assistance.
He was captured, after an exciting
chase, and placed in the county
jail, where he has since been confined.
Gov. Blease States Position.
Columbia, May 26.?Gov. Blease
this morning refused finally to interfere
with the death sentence imposed
upon Gary Gist the Spartanburg negro
who was sentenced to death for
an attack upon a white woman in
that city.
Gov. B lease's position in the matter
was that the negro had been given
a fair trial and the jury had not
deemed him worthy of any mercy.
For attacks of this kind Gov. Blease
has repeatedly stated his stand. In
his inaugural address he referred to
the matter. A few days ago at the
penitentiary when several negroes,
who are imprisoned for assault upon
white women, approached Gov.
Blease ne told them that it was no
use to present any petitions for pardons
in cases of this kind.
In the Gist case overtures had
been made to Gov. Blease by Attorney
William McGowan. While out
of the city Thursday more requests
came to Gov. Blease over the wires.
To-day, following a conversation
with Dr. Turner, of Spartanburg,
here, Gov. Blease gave out his final
statement to the press to the effect
that he would not interefere with
the sentence of the court in the Gist
case.
Board Arrests Murray.
Columbia, May 31.?Dr. W. J.
Murray, former chairman of the
State dispensary commission, was
taken in custody this afternoon by
Marshal Wilson, of the present commission,
under a ruling for contempt.
Dr. Murray, by his counsel, refused
at a morning session of the commis
sion to turn over certain vouchers demanded
of him and the arrest folic
wed.
Habeas corpus proceedings have
been instituted before Chief Justice
Jones, and argument will be had on
these this afternoon.
ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION.
COMMISSION SWEARS OCT WARRANT
FOR FELDER.
Charges Attempt to Bribe H. H.
Evans.?Felder Sends Characacteristc
Letter.
A warrant charging T. B. Felder of
Atlanta with "offering and attempting
to bribe a State officer and with
conspiracy to defraud the State of
South Carolina, was sworn out Monday
at Newberry by B. F. Kelly, secretary
of the new dispensary commission.
The warrant was sworn out
before J. C. Sample and was placed
in the hands of Sheriff Buford of that
county.
It is not known whether an at
tempt will be made to secure extra-,
dition papers. Mr. Kelly when asked I
if extradition papers would be secured
said, "that is a bridge that we
have not crossed."
The warrant against Felder was
sworn out following the adoption of
the following resolution by the new
dispensary commission:
"Whereas, certain information
having come into our possession,
which we are advised is sufficient i
upon which to secure a conviction,
"Be it resolved, that the secretary
of this commission is hereby instructed
to immediately swear out a warrant
for the arrest of one Thomas B. |
Felder for offering and attempting
to bribe a State officer of tbe state
of South Carolina and for conspiracy
to defraud the said State."
No Official Statement.
The commission has given no official
statement as to the State official
Mr. Felder is charged with attempting
to bribe. The swearing out of
the warrant follows sensational
counter charges on the part of Mr.
Felder and the governor of South
Carolina. The governor recently
made public a letter purporting to
have been written to H. H. Evans,
former chairman of the State dispensary
board of control, by T. B. Felder,
offering to "frame up" a deal
A T A A AAA m ?,,
IOT lilt: letter iu qutstin
was signed "T. B." This letter
was secured from H. H. Evans by the
governor. Just what kind of information
the commission has against
Mr. Felder is not kno^n.
The commission met.in Columbia
Monday. Several weeks ago an order
was issued requiring Mr. Felder,
a member of the firm of Anderson,
Felder, Wilson & Roundtree of Atlanta,
to come to Columbia on May
28 and tell what he knew of the acts
of the governor as private citizen,
State senator and chief executive in
connection with the dispensary situation.
Mr. Felder did not come to
Columbia. The commission accordingly
adopted the resolution directing
that a warrant be sworn out
against him. Mr. Welder sent a letter
to the commission in which he
explained his position.
The letter of Mr. Felder follows:
Felder's Letter.
"May 26, 1911.
"Mr. James Stackhouse, Chairman,
and Mr. B. Frank Kelly, Secretary,
State Dispensary Commission of
South Carolina, Columbia, S. C.
"Gentlemen:
"Receipt of your valued favor of
the 19th instant is hereby acknowledged.
I have been absent from the
city for the past week or 10 days,
conducting some investigations on
my own account anent. the matters
referred to in the second paragraph
of the series of resolutions adopted
by your commission at a meeting
held in Columbia on the 19th instant,
a copy of which you caused to be
transmitted to me here.
"After mature consideration, I
have reached the deliberate conclusion
that if 'your governor' could with
propriety create a commission who
are 'all friends of mine and personal
supporters' to investigate the
members of the old commission, the
attorney general of the State of
South Carolina and the agents, attorney
and employes of the old commission,
and to make 'a rigid investigation
of all of my (Blease) acts as
State senator, private citizen and
governor of the State,' I could with
eaual Dronrietv resolve myself into a
committee of one to make investigations
as to the said Blease, his allies
and affiliates. I think it will be
conceded that my jurisdiction is
equally as broad as yours; that I
have the same authority to subpoena
witnesses, compel their attendance,
and to give evidence touching the
premises, as you possess; and I feel
that I may say, without undue arrogance,
that my 'findings of both law
and fact' will be just as binding and
carry with them the same degree of
weight and respectability as yours.
Extensive Investigations.
"In conclusion, permit me tic say
*
BURNED AT STAKE. ( /.
American Superintendent of Railroad ?]
in Mexico Rejected Demands.
t San Francisco, May 29.?Refusing >f|l
to comply with demands for money
by a band of bandits at Ajuno, Micho- 4^
acan, Robert J. Sweasey, an American,
superintendent of the Central
railroad of Michoacan, was burned '
at the stake on May 16, according :<Mm
to the story of Joseph Hansfelder, j
one of the refugees who arrived here
j yesterday on the steamer Newport*
from Manzanillo.
Hansfelder says that the bandits
had made demands for money of ;J||M
every American in the district. Some .jyjjS
complied but Sweasey refused to g
pay. Hansfelder declares he made
his way to Sweasey's house; three
miles distant from his own, on May
16, and found the house burned to yyjgg
the ground and Sweasey's body lashed
to a post in the midst of the burning
embers.
Mrs. ?weasey naa aisappearea aua
is believed to have been taken prisoner
by the bandits and held for rffijfl}
ransom.
Fearing his own house would be :^fji
attacked, Hansfelder, with his family; -J ^
made his way to Manzanillo and took
passage for the United States. Sweasey
is believed by Hansfelder to have
been a former resident of San Diego.
Aged Editor Passes Away. ^
Laurens, May 29.?After a four- ipa
week's illness from heart trouble and; |S ^
complications, Col. Thos B. Crewa^^^H-;
the oldest editor in South Carolina,
passed away on Saturday night at
the home of his daughter, Mrs. John - ' ' j?j
F. Bolt. The funeral services were
held yesterday afternoon, being con-,
ducted by the Rev. L. P. McGee,
pastor of the First Methodist church,
of which Col. Crews has long been - ^
an active member. At the grave the JgjjH
ceremonies were performed by the
Masons, a great concourse being jjn
gathered to pay the last tribute "
respect, Senator Tillman, Gov.
Blease, Col. James A Hoyt, (Jen.
Wilie Jones and other well known
people coming from a distance to attend
the last sad rites. t.
Col. Crews was editor of The Latl- '
rensville Herald. He had been a
Confederate soldier, member of the Jss3'
legislature and postmaster of this ;:3?B
town. He was twice married, first
to Miss Eugenia E. Nance in 1856,
three sons and a daughter surviving ^ '
them. For sixty-three years, -CoL ^
Crews was connected continuously
with newspapers, having begun as
apprentice in 1848. He was vew'^iwBonfitra
(n AQmnolorn in ftiA ctl 1?I*incr ''fSSBI
av/tiv^ in tut *u vuv K^W** * ***0
days of the '70s to wrest the State / IS ;
government from the control of the r
carpetbaggers, scalawags, and blacks. J*3R.
During his residence in Atlanta, <
Col. Crews joined an expedition to
Cuba to assist in attempting to overthrow
the Spaniards. Col. Crews v
was a charter member of the State /|||
Press Association, serving as presi*
dent for several years and contribute
ing a number of very interesting pe? //slflj
pers at annual meetings, his retni-.
niscences being particularly inform
that my investigations have been
quite extensive, thorough, exhaustive i-r|
and most satisfactory to me, and
when made public will, in all human probability,
disqualify for service
some of those now seeking to pass J||s
official judgment upon the acts of ~S|!j
my associates and myself. To some
of you this statement may prove
enigmatical, while to others it will
be most clear.
"It does not suit the convenience |8|B
of my committee to meet with yours
at the time and place indicated, but
if we can mutually agree upon a dif-.
ferent time and place, for an inter- &|S
change of views, information and
confidences, I feel quite safe in saying
that the result will be most pleasr
ing and profitable to the people of
the State of, South Carolina, if not
to you and 'yours.'
"While making no unconditional .
promise to do so (for I must in these
matters consult and largely yield to
the wishes of others more vitally in- '
terested in the outcome of this controversy
than I can possibly be, and
I may add, whose views have de- r\
terred me from doing so heretofore,) 'VhS
still, if unrestrained, it will be my ^
pleasure to deliver in the not distant
future a veritable 'broadside.' ;
"With assurance of my most distinguished
consideration, I have the
honor to be
"Yours very truly,
T. B. FELDR.
"Chairman of the Anti-Blease In- ^
vestigating Committee."
Several matters were discussed at ^
the meeting of the dispensary com- ^|1
mission. The secretary announced &
that it has been decided to employ - :l ^
Holman & Holman of Charleston as
attorneys for the commission.