Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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XXXI COUNTY FARMERS' UNION MEETING NEED IOO CONSTABLES PRESIDENT B. tURRIS. f. N. HTATT AND DR. GOODRICH WERE PRESENT AND ADDRESSED THE UNION MEETING. SO SA1S MAGISTRATE TOWLES A LETTER TO GOVERNOR ANSEL. The County Farmers’ Union meet-1 State President Harris was in- i ing Monday was one of unusual • troduced by County President Pad- ‘ interest. There were about onelgett. He wa-vtlad to be here but 1 hundred members of the union | would doubtless never have come here but for this meeting of the farmers. The farmers union appeal- present as delegates and as visitors, j and an interesting secret session was held, presided over by the State j President, B. Harris of Pendleton, S. | C. ^t the conclusion of the secret session the doors were thrown open and addresses were made by Pres. Harris of the State Farmers Union and Hon. F. H. Hyatt, president of the State Good Hoads Association, I and»by Dr C. L. Goodrich of the ! Department of Agriculture. These addresses w'ere all good and listened to with much interest and attention by those present. » Those present were: President Padgett; Vice Pres. J O Jaques; Sec-treas, G W Sweat; doorkeeper L H Koger; conductor, J A Willis; business agent, W W Smoak, Jr. and the following delegates; with a number of visiting members: Horse Pen Local, No589 Jos Lang- dale, C F Koger and J W r Koger. Smoaks Local No 580, A C Pad gett. Edisto Local No 646--W C Baiiey, S J Patrick, A OYarley. Sniders, No 600—M A Crosby, L L Herndon, H J Brant. Be'ls Local (no charter)r-E C Crosby, W W’ Bryan. Maple Cane, No 582—Robt Baz- zell, Jno. O. Jaques. Jr. J. A Willis. Lodge Local, 578- P M Johns. Stokes Local, 500—J H Blocker, B C Saunders, W F Copeland, A B Chassereau. Walterboro, No 501 Jas E Peuri- foy. K E Jones. - Hun. 1) C San- ed to him as nothing else had ever done because he saw in the move-1 ment the salvation and redemption ' of the farmers. He read the de-j claration of purposes and the princi ples of the order and explained what the organization would do for the farmers. The farmers of Colleton do not know the value of organiza tion, or they would be organized. W'e have three planks to make a platform on w’hich the farmer should stand. 1. Organization; 2. Co-operation; 3. Diversification. If you people understood the pow’er of organization it would take a giant with a club to keep you out. The farmer has mure power to go up against speculators than any other class of people under the sun. The farmers’ is tne most important of all the callings and the highest. Only one other man he puts ahead of the farmer ami this is the man who is called of God and who goes out to preach against all forms of sin. Tne organization of railway engineers started twenty years ago with ten men. Now this order ex tends over the entire railroad world, i They have accompiished something too. When they organized the; engineer was paid $50 jver month— ; oc I- R G W Meggett, No ders. Hendersonville, ! Bryan. Islandton, No 51*1 C R Mears. Bethel, No 51)7 H C Breland, J A Breland, D B Breland' Adams Run, No — J R Fox, W J Ferrv. Hudsons Mill. No -J W Smoak J M Benton. Weimer,—W J Yarn. A resolution was introduced be- i fore the Union by Jas endorsing prohibition i now he gets • shorter hours. President Harri ! mers are going to twice as much and s believes the get togetner far- and do much to make the order Jbccess- ful. and t • claim their own. “How many men in this audience 1 who are planting cotton,” asked the : W J Connelly.! speaker, “know what you are going I to get for your cotton.'’’ No nano j was raised, “vs :iat do you think of the man who plants something and does not know w tiat he will get for ‘ it?” “Did any farmer in Colleton county by any corn last year;” “Yes answered several voices. The speaker cited instances of E Peurifoy,! many farmers who made corn for and urging 20 cents a bushel, showing what the the union in Colleton county to aid \ farmers of Colleton lost who bought in ridding the county of the evil of; corn at $1.00 per bushel legalized sale of liquor. There was not a dissenting vote and the result was applauded. The resolution fal low’s: Whereas, sobriety is one of the virtues the Farmers’ Educational and Co-operative Union of America stands for; and. Whereas, our Constitution and Ritual insist that our members be, not only honest and truthful, but that they be sober, and enjoins them to beware of the cup; and. Whereas, the liquor traffice in Colleton county is a menace to the sobriety, happiness and prosperity of our members and of the people generally. Now, therefore, be it resolved, ^ 1. . N That the Farmers’ Educational and Co-operative Union of Colleton County, in convention assembled, does hereby declare that it is un alterably opposed to the manufac ture or sale of whiskey or any al coholic beverage within the bounds of our county. 2. That we earnestly urge all our members to vote against the liquor traffic at the election to be held, August 17th, and to use all of the “Have any of you bought any bacon this year?”—“Yes,” again answered several voices. “Well you can raise it for 3 cents a pound.” “Do you buy any horses and muies in Colleton?”—You can raise as good horses and mules here as can be raised anywhere in the United States and a horse can be raised here for $75 till three years old. Hence we see the need of divesification. Mr Harris made a very favorable impression and encouraged the far mers present to stand fast in the organization. His talk was earnest and contained much valuable advice and many practicable suggestion: Mr F H Hyatt was here called upon. He said he had been in every county in the State but in Colleton, and when he had an invitation to come here he decided to come. One of the best friends he ever had was from Colletcn, and he was a man of whom we should all be proud—Gov. D. C. Hevward. He hoped he would be able to do some good by coming here. The trouble with us is we do not think. This is why we have so many failures power and influence to banish this in life—Only 2j>er cent of our . men curse from our county That we ask ail the people of the county to join us in the effort to exterminate the whiskey evil in | every shape and form. .| The following resolution was also unanimously adopted, introduced by W W Smoak, JY, Whereas, the future welfare of the county is dependent upon an educated and enlightened cit’zen- ship; and, Whereas, the farmer will continue to be the backbone and sinew of all progress, therefore,’be it resolved, 1. That the Colleton County Far mers’ Union place itself on record as favoring a more liberal education for the fanners’ boys and girls; 2. That it urge the County Board of Education and the Trustees of the several School ^Districts to re quire that Agriculture be taught in the common schools of the county. The following delegates were elected to the State Farmers’ Union meeting which will be held at Columbia July 28 and 29th; L C Pad- J?eit, Jas. E Peurifoy, J O Jaques, Jr., W W Smoak, and C F Neyle. - It was decided that the delegates hir^ that^ they and visiting members be requested each to bring to the next meeting of the County Union, August 7th, lunch and that it be spread at the court house and eaten. At the conclusion of the secret *»siaa. the addresses to the public succeed. An educated man is he who khows what he wants, where it is and how to get it. He wished he had time to po into his road building and diversification ideas, but it would take him too long. Richland county was the model for sand-clay roads in this State. The county commissioners of Richland had had an up-hill time ’ of it, but now they have them models of sand-clay roads. He urged diversification and wants the people of this county to wake up to tne needs of good roads. The farmers do not., think. They need to be in touch with the busi ness world. If your president, could get a central organization in Colum bia, and the sub-organizations in the counties and locals, you could accom plish a great deal—You could "'get into touch with the money centers and get some of the cheap money— and we are going to have it. The speaker had an interview some days ago with some capitalists, whom he took over some of the good lands in Marlboro and Sumter counties, and these capitalists told * >een lending money out West, but the krmers there had all become to wealthy they could not lend any more money there, and they were, looking for new fields. After seeing some of oar farm lands, they saw no rsaaon why the farmers down ban should Magistrate D. H. Towles has written the following to Governor Ansel in reference to the liquor sit uation in lower Colleton. This let ter will prove interesting reading, but there are those who will con clude that Magistrate Towles uses rather extravagant language in de scribing conditions, or that he fan cies conditions are going to be much worse down there than ever before. In either event the duty of the Magistrate is plain and he will doubtless do his duty. It would possibly be better for him to exhaust his power as Magistrate and then call upon the Governor for assis tance. But this letter follows: Meggetts, S. C. July 12, 1909. To his Excellency, Gov. M. F. Ansel, Columbia, S. C. Dear Sir,— I wish to invite your at tention to a section of Colleton, county, as the election for Dispen sary or no Dispensary is near at hand. I w ish to say that our county is being invaded by what is known as so-called prohibitionists (.Blind Tiger), for I am well informed by the railroad employees on the A. C. L. railroad that whiskeys and beers are now being delivered all along their lines, not by the gallon but bv the barrel and car loads. I would fur- tner say that the so-called prohibi tionist is i >.>king to the 17tu of Au gust as ours ’hool children are look ing for Christmas. 1 suppose you have seen by the papers of last week w hat has I: pj-ened by what is gener ally kn »wn as blind tiger, or so- called prohibitionist. Now, Gover nor. I wi-h to say tni.t I am not in favor of w hi*key I'eing sold any way ns 1 a:u sure that ft is not need ed by any man or woman’s needs, for I wish to state that ail men who know me know that I have drank my share of the evil when I drank it, and now for three years or over I have not drank a drop. My health ! is better than it has been for years. Therefore. I say w hiskey is not need ed in any ones needs for existance. I will sav that if we are to have prohibition, why not suppress the evil even if it takes every dollar of the taxes collected for all purposes to suppress it. Now, Governor, 1 am for suffering this evil as you see that w’e have had in the last few days two old citizens killed from the cause of blind.tigerism. and 1 ask of you. Governor, if possible to appoint oqe hundred constables, as 1 am cer tain it will take that many to keep the blind tigers down on the line of our rivers and railroads in Colleton county, for I feel that ninety men out of every one hundred in our territory should be made constables to watch the other ten, and then we may have the blind tiger suppressed, and without that we won’t, for it will take from one to two men at every railroad station in Colleton county, and the same at every steam boat landing on our rivers, and some to watch the landings that sail boats can land at, and then keep our public roads full of constables, and with that kind of fight ana war against blind-tigerism we may get prohibition to some extent, fori tell you if you don’t have this many con stables appointed. whiskey will take the lead, and law and order will be a thing of the past. Thanking you in advance and hoping you may make inquiry from our representatives, and you will find I am right. Your obedient servant, D. H. Towles, Magistrate. getaU the money thoywaated at 6 per cent or less. “This,” said the speaker, “can be done only through your organization.” Mr Hyatt kept the audience in a good humor by several apt jokes, and drove home some telling truths. Prof C. L. Goodrich was the next speaker. He had been here before and had been accused of making a speech of an hour and a half. He would not sheak so long today. Dr Goodrich had a number of charts arranged along the wall illus trating diversification and the use of fertilizer. Farm life centers about plant life. The ordinary farmer thinks only about the part of the plant above ground. There is a part underneath equally as important that should be considered. The root must grow. The soil should contain inch ele ments as will conduce to growth of roots. The soil must have a suffi cient supply of humus. This can be gotten from stable manure, through the cow pea, and from winter cover crops, such as vetch, clovers etc. "V. Several charts showed the value of the fertilizer dements in these legumes. The coodnsion is that it is esssntiil to intelligent economy to uae these legumes. He hopes the fanners are getting reedy for plant- MORNING. State of South Carolina. Colleton County—In the Court of General, Sessions—Summer Term 1999. To the Honorable S. W. G. Shipp, Presiding Judge: We, herewith, submit our present ment for the aforesaid term. We have passed upon all bills of in dictment submitted to us by the so-, licitor and our finding are endorsed thereon. The following committees have been appointed from our body to in-1 vestigate and report, at the next, term of the court, upon the follow- - ing subjects. Committee on Officers and Offices —J. E. Kinsey, C. A. Eckhardt and E. O. Garris. Committee on Chain Gang—A. C. Hiott, G. C. Parish and J. D. Colson. Committee on Poor Farm—J. H. Sloman, J. E. Britt and A. E. Griffith. The first named of each committee to act as the chairman of his committee. Six magistrates have submitted their books to us for examination, namely: J. M. Padgett. P. J. Wilson, W. S. Weeks. C. N. Langdde. H. A. Cummings and R. G. W. Their books are neat and wdl according to law; % We desire to bring to the. atten tion of the supervisor a very objec tionable condition which prevails in the water closet situated in the new wing of the court house. This closet is now and always has l>een used by both races. This certainly should j not be permitted, and we suggest, that he either build another closet or permit the present one to be used by whites alone. ^ We also respectfully recommend to the supervisor the urgent necess-! it)’ of renovating the jail and pro|>er- ly equipping the rooms where the 1 prisoners are kept. The present! condition of these rooms and cells is ; a disgrace to it civilized community. They are abslutely devoid of furni ture or equipment of any kind what soever. Thus forcing the unfortu nates who may be imprisoned there to sleep upon the bare floor. We earnestly recommend that bunks or cots be purchased at once and placed in the said rooms. The one room which is used for white prisoners contains a bed and suffi cient bedding. We note that only water closet and bath tub has been placed on the second floor of the building, which must necessarily be used by prison ers of both races. This condition should be immediately remedied and the white and colored wards be for ever kept separate and distinct. That this state of things should ever have existed is an outrage upon decency, and we urge upon the supervisor that he provide at the earliest time possible a bath tub and closet in the white ward. W’e re commend that cuspidors be placed in each room and cell used for the safe keeping of prisoners. Our entire body went over and in spected the jail, which we find to need immediate repairs in several particulars. We find that the outer door to the jail is never used, but that prisoners arc conducted, in and out, through the living apartments of the sheriff. This is done because the doors at the outer entrance have been found to be so unsafe that they have been permanently fastened. Certainly the sheriff should not be forced to conduct his prisoners through his living rooms, and we urge the supervisor, if necessary, to get new doors and locks or properly repah* the present ones. The lock open the door on the second floor, leading to the colored ward, is also patently unsafe, and should have immediate attention. As was said by a former grand jury in their re port, we do not see how the sheriff, under the circumstances, can be held responsible for the safe keeping of his prisoners. We further recommend that the lower floor of the jail building, used by the sheriff and his family, be in stalled with water works, that is a bath tub and closet. In addition to this, that these lower rooms be re paired by replastering wherever needed. We further recommend that the supervisor construct at a proper place in the jail yard ashed or house in which the county wagons, road machine and other property may be securely stored and protected from the weather when not in actual use; and also that he construct stables wherein the county mules and other live stock-may he kept, such stables and shed to be of such dimensions as the necessities of tne case require. We further recommend that the supervisor at once purchase and keep at the jail with the sheriff two first class blood-hounds, as provided forint recent act of the legislature. We farther recommend that the eupemeor make a tour of the roods In Thursday’s Ne v s and Uourier: In connection with, the report filed with Governor Ansel Monday by Mr R E Hill, who investigated the Col leton County offices, there now ap- f pears some interesting sidelights on fata lly wounded t the situation. In 1997 Comptroller j years old. of Ravenel. Mr. Fishbume General Jones reported to the > was shot through the body the bullet Legilature the result of the check-1 penetrating the lung and mg up of Mr I) L Smiths books. .. , . . . , showing that a shortage of .£( ^ Pul'mnaO artery, causing death existed in the State, county and > n a short time. Mr. Altman s school funds. The amount was paid exeept $179. which item was ex plained in Mr Jones’ repot. The present investigation was not from the office of the Comptroller General. It was ordered by the General Assembly. Therefore, Mr Jones, as Comptroller General, has nothing to do with it. It should be understood, also, that the shortages covered in this report were for periods before Mr Jones went into office. There was also no shortage pointed out in the funds over which the State has direct control. All were county matters. In 1907 Mr Jones made the fallow ing report to the Legislature on Col leton county, which will be very in teresting in the light of the recent investigation of this county’s affairs: *Tu Colleton county there was aj tedious investigation from the year ! 1900 to the transfer of the office to the present treasurer in January. 1 1907. -On January 8. 1907, County Treasurer D L Smith resigned, and Mr RE Janes, his successor, took charge as county treasurer. Janu ary 16, 11*07. MeMaR E Jones and D L Smith ttoqueetoff the Compt roller General to mabt tiM transfer i in person. Mr Srmth oalilMta com plete settlement of h county treasurer. But. ai it well kno.vn.it was imp. s-ibTe fw the Comptroller General or any of hip clerks to then leave his office. “During the month ot October I sent Messrs E B Wilson and D H Wise to make a thorough investiga tion of the books during Mr Smith’s incumbency in the office, seven years, from 1900 to 1907, inclusive, it was found that a balance was due the State, county and school fund of $2,635 63. Mr Smith was duly no tified and turned over to Mr Jones, his successor, $1,024 in bank and askei that he be allowed credit for $1,100, that he had in unpaid'tax re ceipts. I could not accede to this re quest, for the reason that Mr Smith was carrying these tax receipts as a personal matter. The full balance of $1,610 63 was demanded and was complied with.. Mr Smith turned over to Mr R E Sones, county treas urer, that amount. This discharges all claims against Mr Smith as county treasurer, found in the in vestigation, except $170 which, in my opinion, is exceedingly doubtful as a charge against him. and will require futher investigatin.” The report of Mr Hill places Mr Smith’s shortage at $5,144 18 on the three accounts, viz, borrowed money account, bond account and dispen sary account, the years named be ing from 1»99 to 1903. of the county for the purpose of as certaining whether abutting land- owners have encroached upon public highways by building their fences thereon, and that wherever he finds such to be the case the proper legal proceedings be at once taken to have the said highways cleared of any ob structions that might be found thereon. We have been informed that Black Creek Hill, on the road from Snider’s Crossroads to Salkekatchie, is badly in need of repair and we recommend that the supervisor forhwith put the same in proper condition. We also recommend that the bridge across Sandy Run, on the same road, be re paired and put into proper condition. We further recommend that the supervisor, as soon as practicable, construct a proper bride across the Edisto river at Sullivan’s Ferry, and that n the meanwhile and until such bridge can be built, to dig out the crossing at Parker’s Ferry so that the flat now being used there bv the public can reach the main hill or landing. Both of these last recom mendations should he carried out at once. We further recommend that the game and fish laws now on our statute books be strictly enforced by the proper officers and that a game warden or wardens be appoint ed to perform their duties. Finidly we wish to thank your honor, the presiding judge, for the uniform kindness and courtesy which has marked your relations with us, and to express our thanks to the so licitor and other court officials for their aesi stance to usia the perform ance of our duties. ' All of which is respectfully sub- Bitted. I E.KIN9EY>or*maiL wound was in the abdomen, the bullet piercing the intestine in sever al places. He was taken to Charles ton to a hospital where an operation i was performed and everything pos sible done to save his life. There was no hope, however, and he died 1 Friday afternoon about one o’clock. , Wednesday morning, deputy sheriff. Buckner, chief of police, Ackerman. Magistrate Towles, and several of the relatives of Mr. Fish bume went to Ravenel to bring the body back and to try to capture the slayer. Messervey had been placed under arrest in the morning by Con stable Towles, who left him with his brother to come to Ravenel in time for the afternoon train. Deputy Buckner, on reaching Ravenel, at once proceeded towards Messervey’s home but met him and his brother. He at once took charge of the prisoner relieving him of his pistol— a blue-steel, long-barrel Smith and Westerr. 32 calibre revolver, ‘and brought him onto Walterboro where he has since been confined in jail. Shortly after his incarceration. Messerve) was seen by a represen tative of this t*aY*er and asked for a statement of his side of the case. Without reluctance be gave his ver- Mon of the tragedy. In brief it was as iollows: By agreement with the at Ravenel he went there afternoon at 7:15 o’clock for a panltage, which was delivered to him by the agent, who informed him that ConstaUas Mr. Fishbume and Altman had gone to supper. Just as he was turning horaa to leave its bridle was Caught by Fishbume. He began to bag to bt allowed to take the horse to UgfRiPa to whom it belonged. and^^HMin tt at home. This Mr.! stating that he would not let Mm go for two thousand dofit tinued to plead but to i then whipped the horse four Umee but Mr. Fishbume continued to hold the horse. Finally, Messervey sayai> Mr. Fishbume drew his pistol and remarked that if necessary, he would have to use force. Messervey then grabbed up his pistol, w-hich was lying on the seat beside him and shot Mr. Fisbume down. Turning Messervey claims he saw Mr. Alt man with club upraised about to strike him and he shot him down. He then drove off going home. This in the main agrees with the testimony at the inquest, except there is some division of testimony as to whether or not Mr. Fishburne had a pistol drawn. The negro. Brown, who was with Messervey was captured and brought to jail Saturday night. He will S robably be tried as accessory to lesservey. Messervey bears a bad reputation in his coaimunity. He has been a notorious blind tiger for a long time, and has a term on the chain gang to his credit some yean ago for selling whiskey. The pack age he had in the wagon was 50 gallons of alcohol to be used in the manufacture of blind tiger liquor. This has been captured by Magis trate Tcwles who made Brown show where Messervey hid it the night of the tragedy. A special session of court has been ordered by Judge Shipp on motion of Solicitor Peurifoy. This court will be held, begining Aug. 2, by Judge Shipp. The Solicitor will be assisted in the prosecution by Peurifoy Bros., Fishbume and Fish burne, and Howell and Gruber. Measervey has not yet employed counsel. He has. however, made an effort to retain Messrs Padgett and Lemacks, but ft is not known if overtures will be accepted. his R L ADDISON DEAD. Cottageville, July. 12. Special:— R. L. Addison, one of our esteemed citizens, while engaged last Wednes day afternoon in planting slips after the rain, was stricken with paralysis, and died Thursday morning early. Mr. Addison had a stroke of paraly sis about eighteen months ago, hut had partially recovered when this second stroke came. He eras 56 vears old and leaves a wife and seven children. Mia. Addison „was a daughter of J. O. Jaques, Sr. The The funeral was held Friday ing with Interment at the Ml I ru v u. \ V , *