The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, August 18, 1921, Image 1
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$2.00 Per Year in Advance. BAMBERG, S. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 18,1921. Established in 1891.
. DEMANDS AJ
OF SOU1
FOR INVASION OF S. C. MOB INTO
GEORGIA.
BY JUDGE HAMMOND.
Augusta Judge Writes Letter of Protest
to Gov. Hardwick Asking
Delivery of Member of Mob.
August 15, 1921.
His Excellency, Thomas W. Hardwick,
Governor of Georgia, Atlanta,
Ga.:
Sir: As a citizen of the state of
Georgia I respectfully request that
you lay the following statement of
facts before Hon. Robert E. Cooper,
governor of the state of South Carolina,
and that you demand from him
apology for what has occurred and
immediate effective action in righting
a grievous wrong to a sovereign
commonwealth, of which you are the
chief executive:
On the 8th day of August, two
o'clock at night, near Leesville, S. C.,
S. J. Kirby, C. O. Fox, and Jesse Gappins
foully robbed and cruelly murdered
William C. Brazell, the driver of
tke taxicab in which they were riding.
In the stolen car the three murderers
came to Georgia, passed through
the city of Augusta and county or
'Richmond. At McBean, near the
Burke county line, the car broke
down and while two of the three went
forward on. foot, the third, S. J.
Kirby, sought a nearby chaingang
official, W. D. Roberts, to whom he
made*a statement charging the other
two with the robbery and murder.
He was arrested and J. T. Plunkett,
sheriff of Richmond county, notified.
' Immediately the sheriff put in motion
?very force at his command?drove
with two deputies sixty miles. At
Greens Cut, in Burke county, with
the assistance of Frank Hurst, its
sheriff, he effected the arrest of the
two fugitives from South Carolina
and lodged them securely in the
Richmond county jail. More than
this; he actively and skilfully and yet
by legitimate means obtained from
? i
xne inree cunsyira.i,urs cuxxic?oxuii.o %?-*.
guilt ample to secure their conviction.
The sheriff then immediately got in
communication with the South Carolina
authorities. One of the prisoners,
consenting to return to South
Carolina, was faken by the sheriff of
Richmond county in the death car,
which bore blood stains, and was car|
ried to Leesville and led to the scene
f of the murder, Sheriff Plunkett turned
over to Sheriff Ruff, sherifl of Lexington
county, at the Lexington coun
- '' - ot T
ty jail me prisoner o. u. ivuu;.
' Sheriff Plunkett then returned to Augusta,
accompanied by Sheriff Ruff,
it being his purpose to remove the
other two prisoners to Lexington
county, but before the prisoners were
removed Solicitor T. C. Callison telegraphed
Sheriff Plunkett as follows:
''Don't let Sheriff Ruff leave Augusta
with prisoners tonight. Have him
call me." Sheriff Ruff reported that
the solicitor told him over the phone
iV - ' - ? V _ f/M>minrr fn WOvtaV
Lflclt a UIU U was IUI luiug " uj??.
"him on the road and take his prisoners
from him and that he would ask
the sheriff to hold them for him. This
the sheriff of Richmond county consented
to do, and the sheriff of Lexington
county left for his home.
Your Excellency is asked to take
into thoughtful consideration the
foregoing as the first act in the drama
which led to the outrage put upon
the state of Georgia by the state of
South Carolina. On August 10, at 8
o'clock at night Sheriff Plunkett was
notified that the Augusta Chronicle
had received from the Columbia State
a message stating that an armed mob
in automobiles was forming in Columbia;
that it was going that night
, to Georgia and take by violence irom
the Richmond county jail the two
slayers of Brazell and lynch them.
Upon receipt of this information
Sheriff Plunkett immediately called
over the telephone Sheriff Heise,
Sheriff Ruff, of Lexington county, and
Chief of Police Derrick, of Leesville,
asking about the information that had
reached him, requesting that he be
given further information and that
these peace officers, one of them located
in the city where the mob was
forming, and the others along its
proposed line of march, should inter\
cept and use all necessary force to
prev.ent the mob coming to Georgia.
He received absolutely no word of
warning nor aid of any kind, nor as
^ far as is known was any step taken
by these or any other officers to pre
vent this invasion of Georgia by an
?OLOGY
rH CAROLINA
| armed mob.
The mob formed in Columbia and
proceeded in a campact body along
the usual highway to Augusta. It is
known that Sheriff Heise knew of the
formation of the mob before Sheriff
Plunkett telephoned him. It is known
that Chief of Police Derrick saw and
sDoke to the members of the mob in
the automobiles as they passed
through Leesville. On the uncertainty
as to whether the mob would or
would not attack the jail the sheriff
deemed it best to remove the prisoners
to the city of Savannah.
At 4 o'clock a. m. Wednesday night
an organized mob of over 100 heavily
armed men went to the county stockade
on Fifteenth street and with
curses and therats forced and com|
pelled an entrance to the stockade,
made a search of the premises, aroused
fifty or more sleeping convicts. Not
finding their intended victims they
. then went to the Richmond county
jail, a brick structure surrounded oy
a brick wall ten feet high. Again
with threats and curses they scaled
the wall, entered the jail yard and
porch threatening to batter down the
doors of the jail unless Fox and Gappins
were instantly turned over to
them. The jailer assured them that
"the prisoners had been removed from
the jail, but these assurances were
set at naught and the jailor compelled
to turn over his keys<and admit them
for the purpose of search. They
aroused the inmates of the jail, going
from cell to cell in a serch for
their victims. Not finding them,
they again with threats and curses
and in tumultous fashion left the jail.
The members of this mob were guilty
of a felony under Georgia law and
subject to a punishment of from one
to twenty years in the penitentiary.
Mobs and lynchings have become so
much the order of the day that unless
some unique feature is presented
mere comment upon the condition
would seem to be vain. But up to
'this time mobs have been intra-state.
This one was inter-state. Peace officers
have been called on to deal with |
mobs formed within their own bailiwick.
Has it come to pass that a
sheriff may expect a mob from a
neighbor, perhaps from a distant
state?
However this may be, as a general
proposition, the concrete situation is
presented to Your Excellency of your
sheriff, exerting almost superhuman
effort to render service to the state of
South Carolina?successful service,
and the reward of such service is .the
invasion of Georgia territory by an
armed, organized mob, the peace and
quiet of a great city violated, the
state's stronghold assaulted, its keepers
and defenders defied. Must you
not require of the state of South Caroline
genuine activity in securing and
delivering to Georgia authority some
of the 'hundred offenders who have
outraged it? Three South Carolina
criminals were arrested by Georgia
authorities and returned to South
Carolina with evidence to convict.
Will not South Carolina arrest and
deliver to Georgia one of the one
hundred men who broke and defied
its laws? Had this very incident occurred
between the countries of Mexico
and the United States on the
south, or the Dominion of Canada and
the United States on the north, would
not full explanation and apologies
have been instantly made, and if not
would the occurrence not have been
a cause of war? Georgia and South
Carolina are as distinct sovereigns as
are the two countries. A new condif
tion is presented -to your Excellency
and you should take thought?serious
thought?of how you should meet
it. Here is invasion of your state by
an armed force, defiance of its laws
and your authority. Assault and capture
of" your jail and stockade, your
property seized, and what have you
from South Carolina or its governor
in satisfaction of these unthinkable
outrages?
What answer does she propose to '
make or will you exact?
Respectfully,
HENRY C. HAMMOND.
Bobbed Hair Must Go.
Chicago. Aug. iu.?uraers were!
posted by Marshall Field & Co., one of
Chicago's largest departments stores,
today that girl clerks with bobbed
hair must wear false nets until their
tresses grow again. One clerk was
dismissed for refusal to obey the rule.
? m hi ^?
After August 1st I will sell only
for cash. I will have no books and
will not charge anything. G. O.
SIMMONS.?adv.
i
([ BASE
BAMBERG WINS FIRST.
Whiteside Too Much for Williston's
Heavy Hitters.
V? \\TV? 4 f Af i /I a Drt w Vv At?r*'n r?i v_
?* iLii *> uiicoiuc, uauiuci5 a OIAteen-year-old
local pitcher, on the
mound Bamberg defeated Williston s
heavy hitting team on the latter's
diamond last Friday in the first of
the post-season series. Smythe did
the hurling for Williston, and pitched
a good game, only one earned run:
being made off of him, but received
poor support at times from the Williston
infield, the errors counting large1
t* in tViQ min molrincr Rumhercr co
AJLk A UU IUU?1U?}> JU/UUA<UV* Q WW j
cured nine hits from his delivery, but:
the most of these came after the side!
should have been retired. There was
a large crowd present, who seemed to
enjoy the game, notwithstanding the
fact that the home hopes failed to
come through with a win. There
was a number of visitors from the
surrounding towns, the most of whom
were rooting for Williston.
Bamberg scored four'runs in the
first inning and three in the ninth.
Williston scored their two runs in
the third and fifth. The following
will show how it was done:
Large up, fans. Bamberg hit to
second, who let the ball get away,
Bamberg stopping on first. C. Rentz
singled to left. Warren hit through
short, who let the ball go through,]
scoring Bamberg and Rentz, Warren
going to second. Radcliffe singled to;
right scoring Warren. L. Rentz hits i
to right for a single scoring!
Radcliffe, who had gone to second;
on the play. L. Rentz went to third
on a passed ball by the catcher.
Brabham and Price fanned in their
times up. Two errors, three hits,
four runs.
Lott up, walks. Willis hit to 3rd
and on a pretty stop and peg Lott
was out at second. A. Kennedy fouls
out to catcher. Dodge fans. No
errors, no hits, no runs.
Second Inning.
Whiteside hit to first, out. Large
hit hot liner to short, out. Bamberg
fans. No errors, no hits, no runs.
Sherlock fans. Quattlebaum hits
pop to short. Trottie hit to 2nd out
at first. No errors, no hits, no runs.!
Third Innning.
C. Rentz fans. Warren fans and!
catcher misses third strike. Radcliffe
fans. Warren out trying to steal:
second. No errors, no hits, no runs.
Q. Kennedy up hit to right for
single. Smyt'he hit to short, Kennedy
out on second. Lott hit to right for
two bags, Smythe stopping on third.
Willis up, out at first from pitcher,
scoring Smythe, Lott on third. A.
Kennedy fouled out to L. Rentz.
No errors, two hits, one run.
Fourth inning.
L. Rentz hits long fly to center, out.
Braham hits long fly to center, out.
Price hits easy chance to third, out at
first. Xo errors, no hits, no runs.
Dodge hit to third, out at first.
Sherlock out from third to first.
Quattlebaum pops out to pitcher. Xo
errors, no hits, no runs.
Fifth Inning.
Whiteside out Lott to first. Large
hits high fly back of tnira ana is oui
by pretty catch by Lott. Bamberg
hits to right for one bag. C. Rentz
singles to left. Warren . gives left
fielder a hard chance and is out. No
errors, two hits, no runs.
Trottie hits one to short too hot
to handle and is safe on first. Q.
Kennedy walks. Smvthe hits to second
an? on error all bases were full
with no one down. Lott pops out to
first. Willis grounds out to first
scoring Trottie. A. Kennedy gives
third an easy roller and is out at first.
One error, one hit, one run.
Sixth Inning.
Radcliffe pops to center. L. Rentz
hits to right center for two bags.
Brabham up, and on passed ball L.
Rentz goes to third. Brabham fans.
Price hits high fly to center and is out.
No errors, one hit, no runs.
Dodge hits long drive to center for
two bags. Sherlock hits to third and
Dodge is out on play between bases.
Quattlebaum flies out to second, i
Sherlock out trying to steal second. \
Xo errors, one hit, no runs.
Seventh Inning.
Whiteside hits to third and out at
first. Large flies out to center. Bamberg
fans. Xo errors, no hits, no runs.
Trottie pops to pitcher. Q. Kennedy
hit by pitcher. Smythe flies out
to left. Lott flies out to right. Willis
fans. Xo errors, no hits, no runs.
Eighth Inning.
C. Rentz fans. Warren safe on er
==^
BALL j
ror of Lott. Radcliffe sacrifices
Warren to second on grounder to A.
Kennedy. L. Rentz hits long drive '
and on pretty catch by Q. Kennedy is
out. One error, no hits, no runs.
A. Kennedy out from short to first.
Dodge pops out to third. Sherlock
out from third to first. No errors, J
no hits, no runs.
Ninth Inning.
Brabham safe on first through ;
wild throw by third. Price singles to (
left. Whiteside sacrifices to A. Ken- 1
nedy, Brabham and Price on third
and second. Large singles between
short and second scoring Brabham
and Price. Bamberg fans. C. Rentz
singles through short scoring Large. '
Warren hits in front of plate and is
out from Dodge to first. No errors, J
three hits, three runs.
Quattlebaum flies out to Whiteside.
Trottie grounds to second out at first.
Q Kennedy fans.
Time of game: one hour and a half. J
Batteries: Whiteside and Large,
Smytne and Dodge. Umpire: Smith.
Wins From Orangeburg.
Bamberg swamped the locals Wednesday
afternoon in a game which
started off to be a close contest but
which took a turn for the worse in
the fifth inning, finally ending in a
score of 12 to 1.
The visitors made one run in the
cocrmH o n H nnp in fhp thirH thpn rPSt
gvvv/uu UUU WV AAA VUV tUi* v? , V wM *
ed during th? fourth.- When the fifth
opened up they also opened up and'
started in on a hitting expedition.
Before the inning was over six hits
had been secured off Bill Wolfe and
seven runs had been piled up on the
score board. Two more runs marked
the eighth and another was chalked
up in the ninth. Orangeburg managed
to put one across the plate after
Johnnie Scoville made a three-bagger j
and Able followed with a scratch hit.
Bamberg went through the game
without making an error. The locals
made six errors.
Warren, for Bamberg, allowed 7
hits. The visitors got 15 hits off Bill
Wolfe. The visitors played fast
throughout the entire game and ex- ;
hibited pep until the last man was
out. ti'verv man on me visiung ieaui
out one is credited with at least one
hit and several of them got two and
more.?Orangeburg Times and Democrat.
Bamberg Loses.
In the second game of the post
season series which is being played
to decide the winner of the pennant
in the Tri-County league, Williston
defeated Bamberg in Williston Tuesday
afternoon by the score of 5 to 3.
Warren, pitching for Bamberg, was
hit hard in the fifth inning, yielding
five clean hits which netted Williston
four runs. They made one run in the
early innings on a squeeze play.
The Bamberg boys lacked the necessary
punch to put over a win. It
was stated that 'the Apollo Music
club, which enjoyed a picnic near
Williston yesterday, fed the ball play- ,
ers too high, which might have ac-i
counted for the listless way some of <
the men played. Charlie Rentz play- f
ed well in the field, having caught 1
several flies that would have gone for
extra bases if he had failed to get
them. The Bamberg team had an excellent
chance to win the game in the
eighth inking, 'the first three men
having connected with hits, but the
best that they could do was to make
two runs, although there were two *
men on bases with none out when
they made the two scores. Score:
Williston 5 12 4
Bamberg 3 9 1
? - . a _ 1
Batteries: smytne andwuoage;
Warren and Large. Umpire, Mr. '
Smith.
A Whopper. c
D. C. Murph, of Orangeburg, is
greatly interested?academically?in '
The Times Whopper Contest and sub- J
mits that a gentleman from "down *
the country" said that during the
recent wet spell there was a barrel 1
with both ends out lying on its side 1
i -n Vi i ? Konl- ro rrl T~111 r i n cr nno nf tVlP c
j. liinj) ; ui u. JUUIXU^ wi ~
"showers" it rained through the ]
bung-hole, which was on the side of
the barrel which was turned upward. *
faster than the water could run out
of both ends of the barrel.?Calhoun
Times.
Gabrielle d'Annunzio asked permission
of the French government
to live in Paris as a "sovereign in
exile."
TWO PR
FULL
NO GOOD IN LYNCHING.
"The Law Has Done Its Part in Capturing
the Murderers and it Will
Punish Them.'
M. E. Brazell, the father of William
Brazell, the slain taxi driver,
In a statement given The State yesterday
made a personal appeal
against mob violence; asking that theofficers
be allowed to bring the prisoners
to trial and punishment unmolested.
"I am a law abiding man," Mr.
Brazell said, "and though I know
that no punishment, however cruel,
could possibly be too severe for these
men, yet I would prefer to see the
law allowed to take its course.
The lynching of the three men, or
two of ttoem, can not give me back
my boy and it may possibly cost
the life of some of my friends or
my murdered boy's friends. It is
the sworn duty of the sheriff to protect
his prisoners and I should not
blame him for protecting them from
a mob any more than I should blame
him for risking his life to hold them
should their friends attempt to rescue
them. If I were in the sheriff's
place I should hold them if it cost
m 1 i f n T n AH* AvrvAAf f Vi A
1X1^ Ui^ HJ.X? auu A A1VS W Lmz
sheriff and other officers to do likewise.
I should be true to my oath;
they will be true to theirs.
"The representatives of the law
first arrested the men, who otherwise
might by now have made good their
escape, and I know that the law can
be trusted to hold them and to punish
them for their brutal crime. The
death or injury of a sheriff or of
some friend of mine or my boy's
will not help me to bear my loss. If
I were to read tomorrow that Fox
and Gappin had been lynched I
should feel no better or happier than
I do now. These men have broken
the law and will be punished without
delay by the law. The lynching
of them will not make their punishment
more certain. Two crimes do \
not make a right. The law has done
its part in capturing the murderers
and obtaining the evidence against
them; it will do the rest by punishing
them."
Mr. Brazell also made his appeal
in person to men, supposed to be
members of the mob, asking them to
discontinue any efforts to take the
men from the hands of officers.?The
State, Monday, August 15.
Good Rations for Brood Sows.
Clemson College, Aug. 15.?Good
rations for brood sows suggested by
the animal husbandrvmen are given
below.
Ratinn 1.
Corn 6 parts.
Oats 3 parts.
Tankage or fish meal 1 part.
Ration 2.
Corn G parts.
Bran 1 part.
Shorts 3 parts.
Tankage or fish meal 1 part.
Ration 3.
Equal parts of corn meal, shipped
3tuff. and ground oats. It is help
ful always to keep the following mineral
mixture before hogs.
Charcoal .... 5 parts.
Wood-ashes 2 parts.
Lime 2 parts.
Salt 2 parts.
Perfectly Natural.
"The Brown's have a new baby."
"Yeah? Well, folks generally get
'em that way."
road near Leesville, in Lexington
county, were lodged for safe keeping
in the Charleston county jail yesterday
morning after arrival at dawn of
the Atlantic Coast Line train from
Savannah arriving In tne union station
about 5 o'clock.
Sheriff Roof and two deputies had
tharge of the two prisoners, who were
thoroughly handcuffed. The party
traveled to Charleston in an ordinary
coach. They came in the face of the
governor's announcement that in no
circumstances would they leave Sarannah
Saturday night. The hasty
departure from Savannah to which
they had been spirited from Augusta
ifter the mob demonstration, evidently
surprised interested men.
So secret was the movement that
OV.at.iff Tncanli A \ Vmi 1 n A t" wa <5
jUUiil > u *?1 J. vvtiuw ?. ?.?/
not apprised of the fact that he was
to be responsible for the safety of the
two men until they are removed from
here to the state penitentiary in Columbia.
Sheriff Poulnot was advised
;>n the arrival of the party and went
to the county jail where he and Sheriff
Roof held a conference.
IRS MAKE
CONFESSION
FOX AND GAPPIXS TELL OF KILLING
OF TAXI DRIVER.
\ > A,
V
>
HELD IX CHARLESTON JAIL.
Sheriff Plunkett of Augusta Drives
All Night to Evade Mob Which
Storms Jail in Augusta.
1
Savannah, Ga., Aug. 11.?Confession
to having committed one of the
most brutal murders in police annals
was wrung from C. 0. Fox and Jessie
Gappins, the two prisoners brought
to Chatham county jail at 5:55
o'clock this morning after an all
night ride to avert a lynching party
that stormed the Richmond county
jail at Augusta shortly after Sheriff
Plunkett left with the two men.
Their statement of the killing of
William Brazell, a young chauffeur
of Columbia, whom they had engaged
to go for a ride with the intention
of robbing him, was practically the
same as that made by S. J. Kirby,
M Avr* 4m ^ Vl A C AlllVi A ATI
11U W 111 LL1C ou u in vaiuuua pcuncu.
' ?
tiary.
Fox and Gappins were hurried from
the Augusta jail Thursday morning
by Sheriff Plunkett following information
that a party of 50 automobiles
**as coming to take the men.
He left instructions with the jailer
to let the lynching party in to search
the jail. The sheriff with his two
prisoners left the jail and started
for Savannah, stopping only at
Waynesboro to pick up a Burke
county officer who was familiar with
the roads leading to Savannah.
At First Refused.
When the party arrived at the
Chatham county jail they were refused
admittance with their prisoners
due to a rule that no more "foreign
prisoners were to be accepted without
a written order." The men were
placed in the city jail but were later
returned to the county jail upon the
proper order.
In the presence of Sheriff Plunkett
and Jailer Kidwell the two men confessed
their guilt, telling a revolting
tale of the murder of Brazell. The - i
confessions of the two men were then
.
signed, Kidwell witnessing the signa
LU1C3.
In their confessions the two men
stated that they with Kirby engaged
the car from Brazell with the intention
of driving to Lexington. They
planned to get him out of the coun- ty,
they said, and to take the car from
him, but at the time had no intention
of killing Brazell.
Brazell, after driving them about
for some time, stopped the machine
to buy some gasoline and one of
the party stepped from the machine
to see how much money he had with
him when he paid for the gasoline.
It was found he had $3 in his possession.
.s.
The automobile started again and,
stopping for a few minutes in the
road, according to the statement of
the men, Fox struck Brazell in the *
head with a billy. At this point the
three men attacked the helpless
driver with knives, brutally stabbing
him in the body. Brazell put up a
bard fiffht. but was overpowered by
his assailants, two of them holding
his hands behind his back, while Fox
plunged a knife in the driver's body.
Pleaded for Life.
The two men admitted that Brazell
pleaded earnestly with his assailants
that they spare his life,
protesting that he would not turn
them up. His assailants turned a
deal ear to his pleadings. Fox, in
a confession, admitted twisting the
knife around in Brazell's body after
he stabbed him.
The body of the dead man was taken
in the automobile and carried
along the road a short distance be
fore the slayers tooK n mio iuo
woods some yards from the road.
There was very little money in the
pockets of the dead man, but after
relieving him of the few dollars he
had, they drove the automobile off.
The automobile finally broke down
near Waynesboro and the three men
deserted the car. Kirbv told W. D.
Roberts, of Waynesboro, N. C., that
the other two men had committed
a murder. Kirby then showed where
the body of Brazell had been takeir
by the passengers of the murder
car. Kirby is at present under arrest
in Columbia.
Brought to Charleston.
Charleston. Aug. 14.?C. O. Fox
and Jessie Gappins charged with having
had part in the killing of William
Brazell on the Columbia-Augusta