Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1SAD CASE to Charleston Attempts :o Kill Self and Wife. TO BE INSANE. i 3onnoitt, of Darlington, Be- < tg, It Is Supposed, Suddenly e, Attempts to Kill Himself j When Prevented Shoots His a Bride of a Few Months. e Sent To The Asylum. i ning Is it believed, suddenly , Thursday afternoon, R. L. , of Darlington, who was vis- i the residence Mrs. Laura B. *o. 34 Rutledge avenue, Charattempted to kill himself and , lis wife, a bride of a few , endeavored to prevent him >mmittlng the crime, he turn- < igely upon her and fired his Inflicting a wound which will nrnhntil llf u npnvn ? - - f ?.yvrv/???v^ I pi\/TCI iniai. Jj A few moments later Bonnltt ata >mpted again to couimitt suicide V ith a knife, but was *ented and n lly inflicted upon himself a slight wound. Mrs. Bonnitt was Imme1 ately removed to the Riverside In mary and at a late hour Thursday Aght it was said that there was 1 itBo hopes of her recovery. Bonnitt las arrested and taken to the police lation, but was later removed to the Aoper Hospital, where he was held i mder guard. 1 The man was examined by physiAans and was pronounced insane Aid papers committing Bonnitt to le Insane Asylum were obtained i loni Judge of Probate Judge Geo. A Bryan, Solicitor Jervey consenting id Bonnitt was taken to Columbia fthe early train Friday morning, i e solicitor has waived the right prosecute Bonnitt and the whole i atter is settled. < The News and Courier says the ly assignable reasonA-for the at- i , ck of Bonnitt on his^vife is that became temporarily insane. Some ars ago he was an inmate of the isane Asylum at Columbia, his con- i [tion being caused, it is said, by a low on the head, resulting in a ||"od clot on the brain. About 12 fears ago he was discharged from lie asylum, apparently cured, and luce mat time ,ias been in good i . 1th. lr. and Mtr. Bonnitt have been ing in Darlington and came to | larleston Thursday to pay a visit Mrs. Hertz, who is a sister-in-law /Mr. Bonnitt. About three o'clock , i >. Bonnitt was heard to scream 1 Mr. Matthew Hertz, who fortu ely was in the house at the time, -ihed to the room in which were . and Mrs. Bonnitt, and there he und that Mr. Bonnitt was holding pistol to his wife's head. Mr. Hertz mediately grappled with Bonnitt, 110, however, fired the pistol, the llet taking effect in his wife's side. Jaissle then ensued between the |? for the possession of the pistol, Wch was finally taken away from jBnitt by main force. Hi the meantime help was summed from the Police Station and E ambulance was telephoned for. Ihile waiting for the patrol wagon lnnitt plunged a knife in his least, but only inflicted a slight liund. He was taken to the police lition in the patrol wagon, offering i I resistance, and was locked on the |Barge of aggravated assault and bat. jl*y, but later he was removed to w Iloper Hospital and confined to 3 insane ward. Mrs. Bonnitt was taken to the ltiv irtde Inflnmary, where an operan was performed in the afternoon the hope that her life would be fed. The bullet was recovered, but was ascrtained that an intestine t perforated and little hope is d for her recoyery .> ffter the shooting r0mnitt became y quiet and offered no resistance the officers. He refused to say thing about the shooting. It was [ted, however, that in the room , b his wife he attempted to com;.t suicide and his wife had prelited him, which seemed to anger i, causing him to place a pistol iJier head. '[Che whole affair is sincerely reLtted, as the family ia k prominent i; the members have many friends If'rs. Bonnitt is the daughter of 1 J** Caleb Bass, of Darlington, and 1s the second wife of Mr. Bonnitt. They were married about 4 months ago. 11 MONUMENT TO HAGLEY Tlii President Invitei^o the UnvailJng Ceremonies at Italiegh Senator Overman called on Preside-1 Roosevelt Thursday to invite hill to attend the ceremonies of the unj eiling of a monument in the Stu e House grounds at Raliegh, N. C., to Ensign Worth Bagle/, the first American killed in the SpanishAmerican war and the only naval ofil|ber who lost his life i.i that struggle. The ceremony will take place May 28. Ensign Bagley was killed on the torpedo boat WInslow early in the war, while directing some of the movements of the vessel. The President said he would like very much to accept the invitation, but it Would not be possible for him to do so. H, 1 Close Call. kn east bound D %^er and Rio nde passenger train left the track miles west of Antinio, Cal., Fridi j night and 35 passengers had a m i aculous escape from death. All tl i passengers were hurt, but none 8< lously. FOUND IN WOODS. George McCormick May Have Been Dead Since Feb. 17. Man Who Killed Hlx Wife and Shot His Mother-in-law lias Been Biscovered Dead. A letter from Aiken to The State says a very tragic climax to a brutal murder case developed Wednesday morning when the decomposed body of Geo. McCormick was found near the scene where he committed a heinous crime on the 17th of February. The body was found on Mr. Jim Green's pluce near Toatha. It Is is supposed to have lain there since the day after he murdered his wife and seriously wounded his mother-in-law. Coroner Owens went down to the scene Wednesday, accompanied by Dr. H .H .Wyman, Jr., and held an Inquest. The evidence adduced was 1 tin circumstauciat, but a chain of in- i cidents was linked together which pointed strongly to suicide. A rehearsal of the murder and tho incidents leading up to the finding of the body will be given below: On Sunday night, Feb. 17th, Geo. McCormick went to the homo of his mother-in-law, where his wife had flown from him, and after trying in vain to induce her to return to hint, he flew into a frenzy of anger and began beating her. Her mother interfered and McCormick pulled his pistol and shot* her. He then turned his weapon upon his wife and shot and instantly killed her. He then went, so the theory goes, to his own house and there drank two bottles of laudanum, and immediately went to the home of Fd. Hicks, a short distance away, and begged to be allowed to remain that night. 1 licks stated that he was peculiarly affected and was in some kind of a stupor. He stayed over night there and next morning Hicks ran him off upon learning of his crime of the proceeding night. McCormick complained of feeling queer and said he thought he was going crazy. He staggered off and has not been seen since and it is supposed that he went to where he was found, which is only a short distance from the house, and laid down and died in a stupor. He was heard to say previously that if he could kill his wife's mother he would be willing to (lie ; himself. He was supposed all along to he a fugitive from justice in Georgia and UAHIO 1 \ O l*f Inu frvl Irvnmrl V* n t i?* * ?? uv/mv |iui tivo iuiiv;nrvj n iiat I IH\V 111 I?~ took for his tracks to Katwood. The governor offered a reward for his arrest a few days ago. The verdict of the coroner's jury was that he came to his death at his own hands. This ends one of the most aggravated murder case that has ever occurred in Aiken County and it Is supposed that remorse possessed him and he died at his own hands rather than face punishment for the brutal crime he had committed. WQMEN SHOT TO 1)KATI!. Assaulted a White JLady, Her Sou And Daughter. Charged with having used a rasor with probable fatal effects on Mrs. Ella Rheton, a whit woman, and her daughter, and kicking her son, a small child, about the road, two colord women were shot to death near McKamie, Tenn., Thursday night by a mob. According to a statement of Mrs. Rheton, she and her two children were attacked by the negro women, while walking along the public road. She and her daughter received knife wounds, which it is feared will prove fatal. The women were arrested and placed under guard at the school house at the town of McKamie, that place being without a jail and from which they were removed by the mob at a late hour that night and shot to death. TERRIFIC KXPIiOSION Heard Five Miles and Kills Two People Instantly. A dispatch from Prosperity to the News and Courier says a terrific explosion startled that place on Tuesday of last week. Many ran out of the stores and offices to find out the cause of the noise, but nothing unuasual could be seen. In about fifteen minutes a 'phone message came to Mr. A. M. Leslie to the effect that a boiler belonging to Mr. N. Ii: Lester, his brother, who lives near St. Luke's Church, about five miles from Prosperity, had exploded, and that Mr. Lester and a negro had been instantly killed and another negro seriously hurt. Mr. Lester was a wellto-do planter and a prominent man in his community and the church. POISON CAN FRUIT Kills Two Hoys and Makes the Mother Sick. As a result of ptomaine poisoning caused by eating canned peaches, Mlvin Ives, aged thirteen, and Leonard Lee Ives, aged seven vears. son? of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Ives, of Hamton, Va., are dead and their mother is believed to be dying. The mother and boys were stricken on last Wednesday. Leonard died Saturday and Melvln Sunday afternoon. (jot It at Last. A man at New London, Conn., Swallowed a piece of glass thirty years ago, and it has just been recovered by a surgeon to whom he complained of a pain in the shoulder SAVED BY A DOG. Negro Attempted a Criminal Assault on a Lady. THE FIEND LYNCHED. The Husband of T1m> Iaidy Fired tho First Shot. Ilcyound Confessing His Ciuilt the Scoundrel Would Have Nothing to Say. He Was Summarily Executed by a Mob of Three Hundred. Cleveland Harding, the negro who attempted to assault Mrs. Ren * . Rice near Florence, Ala., Friday and who was driven off by Mrs. Rice's shepherd dog. wns summarily executed Sunday by a mob of 200 or 2 00 persons. 'lied to a tree with his arms up, the negro was riddled with bullets, the first shot, it is said, being fired by Mr. Rice, following which every man in the crowd emptied his revolver at the prisoner. Over 1,000 shots were tired. The negro was captured Sunday about a half mile below town and was taken before Mrs. Rice who fainted at sight of him. Upon recovering she fully identified her assauant and on being asked what, should be done with him, told the negro's captors to do as they thought best. Harding was taken a short distance from the Rice home where a conference of the mob leadrs was hold. Some said burn him, but shooting was decided on. Beyond confessing his guilt, the negro had not h in;; to say and was stolidity indifferent, it seemed, to his fate. The body was left tied to the tree by the mob, members of which made no attempt to shield their identity. ATT KM l'T KI > ASS A V LT Negro Filtered the Room of a Voting Lady. A special dispatch to the Charleston Post says Columbia was excited Saturday over an attempted criminal assault early that morning on Miss Lula Norton, the nineteen year old daughter of Mr. Albert Norton, a well known gentleman holding a ..?in? * - * i i*-i it .ii |/i>MiLiuu in i lie cuy, ai tils home No. 608 Taylor street. The criminal is a negro house boy named John Richardson, who came from Sumter. He gained admission to the room of Miss Norton, who was sleeping with her sister, Miss Leila Norton, near the same age, hy placing a ladder against the window, the sash of which was up on account of the warm weather. Miss Norton was awakened by a hand passing over her bare arm. When she screamed the negro had gotten out of the window. This was at 2 o'clock a. in. The police were at once notified. a#nd an hour later caught Richardson* pretending to bo asleep on bis pallet in the kitchen. At first he denied knowing anything about the matter, but when confronted by the young ladies at a private hearing before the recorder this morning he admitted entering the room with criminal intent. He was sent to jail and held for trial at the coming term of court, for attempted criminal assault. He says he is sixteen years old, but looks to be about twenty-three. So far there seems no danger of a lynching. BRYAN" IS POPULAR With The Masses Rut the Leaders Hate llim. "In all probability Mr. Bryan will again carry the standard of the Democrat party next year. He is unquestionably one of the most powerful political factors in the country today. He has grown. Conditions have favored his growth. "He is underated in no well-informed quarter. His views are not shared by Democratic leaders-, but the great mass of party believe in him?idolizes him?and will follow him. His extreme views have not handicapped him with the rank and file. "He occupies the same position with the Democratic party that Roosevelt holds with the Republican party. His honesty and his sincerity go unchallenged, and therein Is to be found the secret of his great and growing strength." Such is the opinion of the Washington Herald regarding the probable candidacy of Mr. Bryan in the next presidential campaign. RIVAL BROTHERS FIGHT Roth Loved the Same Woman and May Die From Wounds. At New York two brothers who loved the same woman fought with knives and clubs In an East Side saloon arly Thursday, until both were so desperately wounded that they probably will die. The men are George and Givanni Francesco, who came to New York from Palermo about two years ago. There they had both been rivals for the hand of the same girl, who eventually accepted George, the elder. Mail Rag Stolen. it nas developed that the stolen mail hag said to contain about$400,000, was not on La Provence but oh La Sayoie, and it is virtually established that the registered mail was abstracted after the bags reached the railroad stations at Paris, France GREAT BATTLE. One Thousand Reported Killed in the Salvadorean Army. THREE DAY'S FIGHT. The Mcaroffuan Army Completely Triumphed Over the Salvador Ian Army, Which Was Routed, And Left the Field in Great Disorder. This Battle Will Likely Knd the War. A dispatch from Washington says the State department received the following dispatch Friday from Jone D'Ollverez, the American cunsul at Managua, Nicarauga. ,,"This government reports that on March 1 8 an army of 5,000 Salvadomin? nnd i finn "** ' -..v w uiuuuuruDH, com-1 inanded by Gen. Presa, a Salvadorean, attacked the Nicaraguan vanguard near Namisque, Honduras. '"/The battle lusted three dayH resulting in the complete rout of the I Salvadoreans, who lost l'OOO killed. I "Nlcarauga has 20,000 troops at I the front and will commence an immediate attack on Chatluteca and I Tegucigalpa." I Senor Corea, the Nicaraguan minister, has received a cablegram from j his Government confirming the press report to the effect that the Nicaraguan navy has captured the important Honduran Carribbean port of Ceiba. , The naval vessels are now on their way to Puerto Cortez, where they probably will repeat their success, and as /Trujilli already lias fallen in the hands of (he Nicaraguans, practically the whole north coast of Honduras is in their possession. The cruiser Chicago, which has been patroling the Pacific side of the isthmus and Central America, has gone from Acajuta, Salvator, to Acapulco, in Mexico, a thousand miles northward. This voyage is made necessary from the fact that coal is scarce in Central America. The movement for intervention is gaining strength and Assistant Secretary of State Bacon strongly impressed upon the minister from Costa Iilca and Nicaragua the wisdom of sneodilv termlnnfInf tUo . ? ?v..?n vi*v ?? ui ini u in Central America, an it promises to in volve all the other Republics, and it is almost certain, if prolonged, to lead to the presence in their waters of European naval vessels, with possible intervention In behalf of their own citizens. WANTED FROG ARRESTED Negro Woman Who Thought She Had Hren Conjured The Greenville News say tho police of that place had a call from "The Cower Line" of the hurry up description and two of the coolest and best oflicers of the reserves were immediately dispatched to the neighhood from which the call came. They arrived fully expecting to find in progress a family row or rough house but to their great surprise tho request was from a negro woman that they arrest another woman for attempting to conjure her. She alleged that the woman had placed a frog under her door-step and this had prevented her from sleeping a moment during the whole night. She began to dig about the step to prove to the officers that this was a fact but was unable to produce the animal. She was very much in earnest about the affair and stated that her intention was to bring out an indictment against the alleged conjurer. MADE MONKEY MAD. And He Scratched n Little Girl Very Badly. John William's two children and a small friend of theirs thought they would have some "fun" with an organ grinder's monkey. They handed a hot penny 011 the end of a stick to the monkey, when it climbed to the second story window of Mr. William's home, in Richfield, N. J.t The monkey politely doffed his hat and took the penny .then screeching loudly, dropped it instantly. Chattering with rage, the animal sprang at the biggest child, a girl of ten years. It bit and scratched her hands and although she fought it, retreated only when its master yanked with all his strength on the cord that hound it. Returning home Mr. and Mrs Williams found their daughter suffering from shock and nursing her hurts. BOOZE AT AIAj HOURS, The Williamston Authorities Report ' The Express Agent. The chief of police of Williamston, makes complaint to the governor that the express companies at that place are delivering liquor after office hours and on Sunday. This being interstate business It is not thought that the state authorities can inter fore but it is believed that if the matter is called to the attention of the express people they will be disposed to conform to the laws of the state. Gets Twenty Years. Joshua Ilartison, at Elizabeth Cit> N. C., was sentenced to twenty years Imprisonment for the kidnapping 1! and murder of Kenneth Beaaley, t i young lad. ? , PIG SAVES SIX LIVES Swims With Line From Wreckei Ship to Shore. Lifeboat Hma*tied and VonkoI CJolnj to Pieces?Tied Hope to I'orkei and Tossed Him Overboard. Bringing members of tho crow ol the wrecked Welsh bark Annie Lloyd, the Hamburg-American line steamer Prlnz Ethel Frledrich reached New York from Inauga. The men owe their preservation from tho deep to a pig, and their experience explodes the time-honored saying that a pig can't swim. A pig that was on the vessel was used in a rough sea for getting a lino to the shore. The Lloyd was bound for Hamburg when she wns wrecked. On February 22, at night, in a hnlf-gale, the bark was tumbled on a corul reef about twentv mllnu i>__. - - ? ? j .ivu uuui ruriUQQ 1Hland. She began leaking almost Immediately. Captain Wllham tried to get a life boat away from the lee side, but it was smashed into kindling. The sea threw the bark down on her pirt side until she had a slant if fifteen degrees. The waves broke over the ship so heavily that the crew had to batten themselves below. The mate, boatswain. and carpenter finally lashed life lines about their waists and made their way forward to where a water cast was secured. They emptied the cast, and making a line fast to it, threw the cast overboard. It was hoped to get the line ashore in that way, but the project failed. The lines and the cast were hauled back on board and the mate suggested that the pig be tried as a lifesaver. The pig was big, noisy and strong as an ox. The end of the heaving line was placed about the pig's midship section, and with angry protests the animal was cast overboard. "That porker was like a swan," said the boatswain, "He grunted like thunder when he struck the water, but he got ids compass bearings at last and headed for the shore. "We thought he was a goner several times, but lie landed at last, and the natives grabbed the line. Tlipy gobbled up the pig llrst. of all, and several of tliein disappeared up the bench with the animal. "Other natives hauled ashore the hawser, which we bent to the heaving line, and we got ashore in breeches-buoy fashion. I "Captain Hughes was thn lnoi to get ashore. We didn't save a stitch of our stuff. The hark went to pieces the day wo got ashore." It was a mere coincidence of the pig rescue that the reef on which the Lloyd struck is known as Hogsty reef. CASHIER SKIPPKI) After Stealing Sixty Eight Thousand Dollars From Hank. Frank Jones, teller of the Charlotte National Hank, it is charged has defaulted to the extent of $68,000. News was just learned Wednesday morning. The alleged defalcation will no! inconvenience the hank to any ser ions extent as it lias assets of $ 1, 000,000. There was nothing crook ed suspected until Jones left Satur day night, saying ho was summonec to Richmond. This, it is ascertain ed, was a blind, and his whereabouts are now unknown. Mr. Jones lias a wife and severa children. He was a member of th< First Presbyterian church and to t degree was very active in churcl work. He was chairman of the religious work committee of the Y. M. C. A here seven or eight years ago. The other banks of the city read! ly offered to lend aid to the Char lotte National Ilank, but this was not especially needed. The Charlotte Hank has offered i reward of $1,000 for the arrest anc delivery to the proper authorities ol (Trunk tKr> CAME TOO HIGH. The Church Committee Had To Gel Cheaper Attruction. Ttelievng that. William Jennlngi Hryan would be a first-class drawing card, the committee of arrangement} of the Central Pennsylvania confer once of the Methodist church wrote him for his terms to deliver the prin cipal lecture at the annual session to be held this week in Tyrone. Hit price was so high it took the clergy man's breath away. His fee waf larger than a whole year's salary ol some of the ministers. The commit tee concluded to get a less-expensiv< attraction. \VHECK OE A FL'KXACE. Hundred Tons of Brick mid Mortal Bury Workmen. A message from Bessemer say! that the lining of the new furnace of the Woodward Iron Works, a Woodward, Ala., fell In and a hun dred tons of brick and mortar bulled a number of workmen. Five dead bodies have been taken ou from the debris. Dempsey Hayes, i white man and four negroes are th< victims. Dies From Hiccoughs. r Dennis Simon Briggs, a prominer ' lumbr merchant of Wilmington, P ; j C., died suddenly Thursday from hi< 11 coughs while on a but mess trip 1 Washington, N. C. ENDS HIS LIFE i ? Because He Could Not Replace Two Thousand Dollars I r ????? , WHICH HE HAD USED. > ?? > . And lost in Speculating in the Stock Markets. Charles Abbott* * Young i Man, Manager of Ilranch Office of a Stock llrooker in Washington, Kills Himself in the Office, Left , I setters. At Washington, D. C., with the probability of an embezzlement chargo involving 12.000 r?r m**?, _ ? , . - - M4VI XJ VI hlo employers' mouoy facing him, Charles Abbott, twenty-three yours old, tho manager of tho brunch ofllce ( of Wad? & Hodges, brokers, ended , his life ill tho ofllce, at 4 06 Fifth street northwest, by blowing out his brains with n revolver. When discovered, the body lay in the rear oftlco of the suite of two 1 blood and the revolver clutched in and the revolver clutched tightly iu ' his right hand. The bullet which had ended the life of yound Abbott entered immediately above tho right. temple and lodged inside the skull. Abbott for the last three months had been employed as manager for the Fifth avenue branch of tho brok1 ?rage tlrm, which had its main office at SO!) (}. street northwest, and was regarded as a young man of exemplary habits. The tlrs intimation that anything was wrong with their manager's accounts was Friday afternoon, when Abbott was due at the G street ofllce to settle his weekly accounts, but failed to put in an appearance. Repented efforts on the part of Wade & Hedges to contmuncato with their employe, noy only at branch office, but at the home of his father, Julius Abbott, 23 4 Four-anda-half street southwest, where he also resided, proved fruitless. Convinced that matters were irregular, the members of the firm, accompanied by their attorney, went to the branch office with the intention of going over the account, or ascertain the cause of Abbott's failure to settle. As they entered, Mr. Wade, the senior member of the iirni stumbled against, the body of their manager. The police were imraedi ateiy notified and Detectives Hartigan and Evans with a number of patrolmen from the Sixth preclnt, went to the scene of the shooting. Two notes wore taken from the inside coat pocket of the dead man. one addressed to his father, and the second to his employers, which were taken charge of temporarily by the police. The note to Wade & Hedges in a heavily sealed envelope written evidently in a nervous haste, read I as follows: "March 15, 1907." "Messrs. Wade & Hedges, City: "You will be surprised to learn that I am short $2,000 in my ac, counts with you. The C?notes, . which you will find in my pockets, are all bogus. H. Owes me noting, and C. owes $25. I would like to make good, but I cannot, t 'Charles Abbott" The note addressed to his father, Julius Abbott, was: "March 15, 1 907." "My Dear Father: I have been an - awful liar. I have not only lost $2,1 000 belonging to Wade & Hedges, . but all of my own money and not a j small sum of yours. To tell the truth, I have not a cent J could call 1 my own. "The Liar Charlie." The downfall of Abbott is attrli buted to the sudden fluctuation in i various stocks of the New York exchange. One of the members of the i firm of Wade & Hedges said Thurs. day night when contents of the note left by Abbott were made known, - that Abbott's shortages were prob ably the result of several week's i speculations, the differences on the books being made up by the bogus i notes found in his pockets. I Abbott's parents were notified by F Percy Wade, a member of the brokerage firm. Thoy are prostrated over their son's tragic end. In addition to his parents, two brothers survive him. Coroner Nevitt issued a cer tlflcate of death by suicide, and the body was removed to an undertaker's establishment, where It will bo prepared for burial and latter reinovi ed to the Abbott home. ; " Ml'ST HE SI(JNKl). ' Hequest lllunk Feature of Dispell? sary Must He Observed. The request blank feature of the i new dispensary law is to be strictly f observed by the new administration. - if an opinion rendered by Attorney ) Genoral Lyon is heeded It is rendered directly to State Dispensary Auditor West, and he will see to the enforcement of the law. The opinion is clear cut and pos1 Itive. It quotes the law to show that any dispenser or other dispensary officer who fails to carry out this 3 part of the law is to be removed. 3 The patron ipust sign or make his t mark in the presence of the dispen | sor or clerk, who must. nttoHt -- - ? -? -1 the dispensary official may used a 3 I rubber stamp to attest, t! According to the opinion it is the !i I duty of the auditor report to the e I Governor an&sirtailurcSjto strictly enforce, .this and other features. 4\ 1 nt _ ? Against Cigarett*. A Texas farmer declares that a laborer who does not smoak cigarettes is worth at least $2.50 per c. month more than one who does. Farm labores who desire to amass .o wealth should therefore cut out cigarettes.