Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BOILER EXPLODES 1 On Locomotive While the Train Was in Slow Motion. ? / TWO MEN ARE KILLED. The Accident Occurred on the Aslievilli* Line of tlie Southern ltnihvay Near HHlghl, N. C. The Accident Was Not Due to Low Water. The liiK Engine Was Illown Into Scrap Iron. Tho explosion of a locomotive on the Asheville division, a brief account of which was published, was a most tinuasual as well as most shocking casualty. The Asfteville, GazetteNews has tho following account of the explosion: "The remains of Engineer George Lauderback, one of the victims of a terrible accident near Hillgirt, on the Asheville & Spartanburg line of the A filipvi 11 n /1\ \T 4 {i\r\ 1 ?ahI j?.. . u> i ic.n/11, auuut, CJttUll Uiiy midnight, when the boiler of engine 1 No. 62 8 blew up with frightful re- J milt, were shipped to Augusta, Ga., ' for interment. The remains of Fire- 1 man W. M. Kemp, the second victim of the accident, were sent to Candler, ten miles from Asheville, where the interment occurred. "The frightful accident cast a gloom over the railroad boys of the division. The remains of the two trainmen were brought here and given in charge of Brown's undertaking parlors, where the bodies were prepard for burial. During the morning many trainmen and others visited the undertaking establishment. The accident was the one topic of conversation, while much speculation was indulged in relative to the cause of the explosion. "That the explosion was not due to low water is certain l>ecause it has been established as fact, according to trainmen, that Engineer I^audert>ack stopped at Hendersonville, just (JI v TP41 f rrvm t Kn c/?nno nf I ? will Vliv KTV'VUV VI IUU ClWldent, for water, filling up before making the run from Heudersonville Into Asheville. It is said that the accident may have been due to a defective boiler. Such an accident as that of Saturday night never before occurred on the Asheville division within the memory of the oldest railroad men. "The track at the scene of the accident was badly torn up and it was not until shortly before noon the next clay that the damage had been repaired and trains sent past the scene. Train No. 14 from Asheville to Spartanburg was held here several hours awaiting the clearing of the tract. "The explosion, it is believed, occurred while the train was making between 3 0 and 35 miles an hour. It made a frightful noise and aroused farmers in the Hillgirt section for a mile or more around, who came flocking to the scene to learn the trouble. The boiler was literally blown to pieces, while the great mogul of the rails was almost converted into scrap iron. The drivers were blown a wav and the entire one-Inn lifted and blown 50 feet or more from the tracks. Four of the seven cars constituting the extra freight were derailed, two of them, it is said, being hurled clear off the right of way. "The brak^man of the freight had a norrow escape. He had, just a few seconds before the explosion occurred, left the engine or near the engine and gone to the rear of the train. Had he remained near the engine another minute or two a third victim would have been added to the list The engineer and fireman were burled a great distance through the air and their bodies almost blown to pieces. "When picked up Fireman Kemp was disembowled and one leg and an arm were missing. These members were found, however, somo distance from the body. Engineer Lauderback was also terribly mangled. "That death was instantaneous is certnin. The men never knew whet struck thera. Conductor W. C. Bryon was in charge of tne extra freight. He escaped uninjured. The freight was headed for Asheville and was just turning the hill at Hillgirt, 18 miles from Asheville, when the explosion occurred. In discussing the affair one railroad man declared that nn accident almost smilar occurred on another division of tho Southern some time ago, a boiler exploding while the train was in motion and resulting in the death of the engineer and firemen." BLIND MAN WANTS OFFICE. Prof. J. E. Swcaringcr a Candidate for Superintendent of Education. Prof. J. E. Swearinger of the Cedar Springs Institute, who has announced his candidacy for State Superintendent of public instruction, says he will issue within the next few days a statement of his views and an outline of his platform. Prof. Swearinger is a nephew of Senator Tillman. He is totally blind and has held the osition of professor at Cedar Springs, the State institution for the blind, for nine years. He is a man of recognised ability and has a wide acquaintance and eoaneotion throughout the State. He is a native of I jrv 1 ' WHAT IT COST \ O RA18K A POUND OF COTTON I IIY Ictuul Figures as Work Was Roue on I a Georgia Farm and Reported for (lie Cultivator. Mr. I). J. Wooten, a Georgia farner, furnishes the Southern Culti- 1 rut.or with the actual amount it cost ' ( tiim to raise his cotton. He says he , started in January, 1907, in a rough < way to see what ills cotton cost him } l?er pound to raise it. He had eight > teres planted and here is what it < .'ost. Itiin to make it: ' Pirst breaking of stalks (two ' days $ 1.00 I Cleaning off stalks (,'1 days) . . 8.00 ' Running out stalks (2 days) . . 2.00 ? Cost of guano.. ..' 23.50 Handling guano home 2.00 < Cost of manure and hauling. . f>.00 1 Cost of stowing guano 2.00 ' Cost of stowing manure. . . . 2.00 s Cost of covering guano and < manure 4.00 ? Hreaking out the middles. ... f> 00 1 Cost of cotton seed 5.50 CoRt of planting J.50 < Harrowing 1.50 ' Cost of tools 3.00 ! Cost of ploughing tnst time. . 2.50 < Hoeing first time 7.00 i Ploughing second time 2.50 ' Hoeing second time 3.50 I .,i.? 1. I? (...o e /\ J iwilfSillll^ 111IIU Ploughing fourth time 2.50 Hoeing third time 3.00 1 Ploughing fifth time 2.50 Coat of baskets for picking.. 1.20 < Cost of picking (5,100 lbs. (50c < per hundred.) 20.50 Cost of hauling to gin 2.00 , Cost of ginning (5.00 Cost of bagging and ties. . . . 4.20 Hauling to warehouse 3.00 Horse feed 52.00 Total $1 83.90 , Amount of cotton made, four bales; weight of all together, 1,950 pounds; cotton seed, 3,900 pounds. The Editor of the Cultivator, in commenting on the above figures says "we often see estimates of growing cotton; but we have never seen a full itemized statement of the whole expense from January to January. Of course it would beb a difficult account to keep. There are so many incidentals and indirect expenses. But two things stand out; a farmer must make a bale per acre to make any money, and second, he should have other crops and some form of livestock to profitably employ his time when not engaged in working his cotton, if he <1 4 r\. i\HAiti\An 14 m/\ii 1 <1 n/itil <1 Im Ul>Dl I CD IU |il UO|JC! It TVUII1U Ll"l mill* ly tnke the Heed, even at $1.00 per hundred to pay Interest on land nnd taxes. So we would have Mr. Wooten'? cotton to cost hlni about 9 V& cents. We are satisfied this is a fair estimate of the cost of the crop for 1907, for labor and everything else was high." SENATOR TILLMAN AT ATLANTA He Will Be Treated for Nervous Breakdown by Exports. Senator B. R. Tillman of South Carolina reached Atlanta at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning accompanied by his wife, and went at once to the Robertson sanitarium on Capitol avenue, where he will remain for several weeks, possibly a month, after which it is his intention to go abroad. A dispatch to The State from Atlanta says Senator Tillman camo here for treatment for nervous breakdown, the result of overwork. While his present condition is rfot serious, it is such, it is stated at the sanitarium, that it might take a serious turn at any time. A reporter who cnlled at the sanitarium and asked to see the senator received word from him that he was not feeling well enough to talk now, and suggested that he return later in the week. While he is off but little in weight, he is exceedingly feeble and has little of his customary animation. He had reached the point where a collapse was liable almost at any moment and he determined to prevent it If possible. While his present complaint is nothing more than nervous breakdown, it is said his main object in taking a prolonged rest is to prevent a threatened attack of paralysis, Indicated by the almost numbness of his left arm and a pain in his left side. While it can not be definitely stated now, the belief seems to be that he has taken hold of the matter In 41m/v 4Knf V*lo hit will l\r. I ha lime nuu mat 14 iq i vw tvi j h hi uu effected. FIVE MEN KILLED By Big Storm in and Around New York City. A dispatch from New York says: "Five men are known to have lost their lives, a number of boatmen are reported missing, and dozens of persons were injured Saturday in a furious wind storm which set in that afternoon. The wind velocity, according to the local weather bureau, ranged generally between 40 to 50 miles an hour, but at times was as high as 60 miles. Pedestrians suffered much discomfort besides being in oonstant danger from falling signs, shutters, awnings and other articles which were torn from their fastenW? #i W. WIT y /ERY STRANGE CASE. RKACIIKR AIUIESTFI) FOR MUR- ' 1)KR AT HRANCHYIMiF i ly Jt Protended Detective and Carried to Rambcrg, Where the Vretended Detective Disappears. Branchville had a genuine sensaiou on Tuesday when Hev. William JeiTerson, alias William Blackmail, jolored. was arrested there, charged vith the murder of his wife and two diildren in Alabama In 1902. The irrest was made by W. B. Williams, Jr., a colored detective of Bamberg jounty. Rev. Jefferson (as the brethren call him) has been preaching o his people at Branchville for the last two years and seemed to be well thought of by his congregation, but ilas, murder will out. It is reported that Rev. Jefferson ihose as his text on Sunday the following Kprlntiii'rt* "Tlinu *>? ...!? ? O r^ . a IIV/I onai t UUl cill." It is reported that there was * reward of $300 offered by the State )f Alabama for the arrest of Jefferson ind that his reputation in Alabama Is not at all Rood. It is further said that when the detective found Jefferson and ordered him to throw up his hands that indead of doing as commanded by the afticer that he attempted to resist arrest and that the officer fired at him with a shot gun and hit him in the abdomen with several small shot The correspondent of The State at Bamberg savs "the case of Kev. William Jefferson, alias William Blackman, has been discussed here on account of the fact that he is in in the county jail here and is in a very precarious condition. The other negro, B. W. Williams, Jr., who claimed to be a detective and made the arrest of Jefferson on the charge of murder, has very mysteriously disappeared, and that without claiming any reward, though according to his own statement there is a reward of $300. "Jefferson says that Williams called him out to see some pictures and when he went, that Williams said 'you are my prisoner' and without more ado shot him in the abdomen. Jefferson savs that he has ncvr been in Alabama and that ho la of the opinion that Williams must have had some private Kl udge against him. He also claims that he has never committed any crime. "All search for the accuser in the case fails to reveal his whereabouts. When Williams had taken the Injured man to Magistrate Zeigler he left for somewhere, but where is unknown. The shooting occurred in Orangeburg county and should be handled by the authorities of that county according to law, but the condition of the wounded man may not warrant his removal at this time." This seems to have been an outrageous affair, and shold be sifted to the very bottom. Williams, the negro, who shot the preacher, should be apprehended and made to answer for his crime. Did he have a warrant? If he dd, where did he get it, and on whose affidavit was it issued? These are questions that should be looked into. KILLED HIS SON IN LAW. Man Barricated Himself but Finally Surrendered. At Fort Worth, Texas, enraged over domestic troubles, Isaac Knight, a teamster shot and killed Edward Larmon, his son-in-law Saturday night, and then to evade capture, shot and mortally wounded Oscar B. Montgomery, captain of police of North Fort Worth, and seriously uuuuuru t\ii;ucti u nunuii, <t luniiVl city marshal. Pursued by armed, men and women, Knight sought a point of vantage in the Stone creamery, where he had been employed. He finally agreed to surrender to any unarmed citizen who would guarantee his protection. J. F. Bryant, a citizen, accepted the proposition and walked behind the walls of (he creamery where Knight surrendered. The prisoner was taken to Dalias for safekeeping. I>armon was married ten days ago to Knight's step-daughter. Domestic trouble, it is stated,\prevailed in Knight's homo and the marriage widened the breach. After Larmon and his wife had been ordered fcom the Knight home, Knight followed them to their new home, n,Ii V? a uhnf (run P.ntcrinff <ho nuucu nivu w unvv^uui w- Vmv house he killed Larmon. Knight endeavored to escape, followed by officers and citizens. He flred at his pursuers as he ran, wounding Montgomery and Howell. After Knight had sought refuge in the creamery he fired several shots into the crowd but no ?thers were hurt.. * KILLED HIMSELF. A Lexington County Farmer Takes His Own Life by Shooting. The Columbia Record says Mr. T. B. Edwards, the middle-aged Lexington county farmer, who at an early hour Tuesday* despondent over the sale under foreclosure of his homeplace, shot himself In the head with suicidal intent, died In the Columbia Hospital. Mr. Edwards leaves several children. He lived about three 'miles out of the town of Lexington. DIED IN JAIL. rHK COIXHtKD PKKACHKK WHO WASVAKKKSTKl) lZAnd Shot Hj Another Colorrd Man, Claiming to He a I'nllcd States t>e> tective, Dies of Wound. Kev. James Jefferson, the colored preacher who waS arrested and shot at Branchville the first of last week by a negro named B. W. Williams, who claimed to be a United States Detective, died at Ham berg, on last Saturday from the wound inflicted by Williams. After arresting Jefferson and shooting him Williams took him to Ham berg and committed him to jail under the name of W. II. Hlackman. When carried to Hamberg Jefferson was suffering from a pistol shot wound In the abdomen, inflicted by Williams, and at an curly hour Saturday morning he died from perotinltls as a result of the wound. A jury of inquest was empanelled by Coroner Zeigler, which, after hearing the evidence of Jefferson's wife, Dr. H. F. Hoover, J. B. Hunter, sheriff, and C. H. Free, rendered a verdict to the effect that the deceased came to his death from a pistol shot wound inflicted by B. W. Williams, Jr. From the evidence adduced at the inuuest it would seem that a most uncalled for murder has been committed by this man Williams, and he should be mncje to pay the extreme penalty for his foul crime. Williams, who murdered Jefferson, seems to think that his claiming to be a detective should have sheilder him from arrest and punishment for his outrageous crime. It was also brought out at the inquest that'Williams, who did the shooting, saw an advertisement offering a $200 reward for an escaped criminal from Alabama and concluded that Jefferson was the man wanted. He accordingly went to Magistrate Zeigler, of Bamberg County, and swore out a warrant charging him with murder. Armed with this warrant he went to Branchvllle, accompanied by Quillie Drawdy, a white man, and drove up to the residence of the deceased at about 3 o'clock Monday afternoon, April 6th. Jefferson was asleep in his house when they hailed at the gate. His wife responded and was told to ask her husband to come out to look at some pictures in the buggy. She woke him up and he went out to see the pictures, but as soon as he reached the buggy Williams, "the detective," threw his pistol on him and it went off, and Jef* A ? * t?/\ nllv 11* rson ifii iu i nt." giwuiiu uiui Kin; wounded. Neither "the detective" nor his white friend made any explanation of their action, but securely tied the wounded man and put him in the buggy and drove off to the residence of Magistrate Zelgler, in Bamberg county. He was kept there until Tuesday afternoon, when he was sent to the Bamberg jail in almost a dying condition, where he remained until death relieved his sufferings Saturday morning. To say the least of it the magistrate acted very strangely. He should have investigated the matter when he found the prisoner so desperately wounded. Williams, "the detective," admitted to Messrs. C. B. Free, J. B. Hunter and others that he did the shooting, but claimed that the deceased jumped at him when he started to arrest him and took hold of his hand, and that his pistol went off, but he did not know how. This is a lame tale and should not. be believed for one moment. If an innocent man can be called out of his home and shot down as Jefferson was by a socalled detective there is a defect In the law and it should be remedied at once. The above are the facts in this very strange and outrageous case as was brought out at the Coroner's inquest at Bamberg on Saturday. Most of he testimony was given by the wife of the murdered preacher, who says she was a eye witness of the whole affair. The body was shipped to Branchville for interment, accompanied by *the wife of the murdered preacher, who had been nursing him since he was first put in jail on Tues day, April 7. The deceased is said to have been a resident of Branchville for the last six or eight years, and a preacher of the Gospel. Williams, hearing of the death of Jefferson, and having been made to believe that the fact that he is a detective will save him from persecution, went to Bamberg Saturday and surrendered to Sheriff Hunter. Sheriff Dukes, having been notified, he sent over to Bamberg and had Williams brought to Orangeburg and lodged in Jail, where he will likely stay until he is tried, and we hope convicted, if the caes is like it is reported above. Most Not Deface Postcards. As a result of numerous complaints of postal postcards being defaced b? postmarking, the Postmaster. General has ordered discontinuance of the postmarking of cards at the office ol addaesa. The postcard fad has reached such enormous porpotlons that the new ruling will be received with interest by die thousands of postcard ooUactors. ** 4 I -I) ' A FATAL FIRE IN A CROWDED NEW YORK TENEMENT FRIDAY. Two Lives liost and Many Persons Injured in the Conflagration Which Is Supposed to Have lleen Set. At New York two lives were lost, a score of persons injured, and twelve families driven panic-stricken and half clad from their homes in a fire in the five story tenement house at No. 25 Pitt street, early Friday. The police believe the fire was set by thieves for th purpose of drawing off the police from the neighborhood. The dead: William Chesner, 4 1-2 years old. Solomon Chesner, 3 1-2 years old. The seriously njured: Jacob S. Chesneri, burned about the face, bands and body. Mrs. Jacob Chesner, burned on the face, hands and body. Hutchki Chesner, burned about legs and body. Abraham Lustig, a boarder in the Chesner family, h^nds and face burned. Julius Spalner, of Engine Co., No. 3 1, who was off duty, but happened to be passing the house when the alarm of the fire was given, nianag ed to clamber from the narrow cornice on the adjoining building, to the cornice over the stores of the first floor of the burning tenement. Clinging to the wall and with several o.thers forming a humaH bridge, he succeeded in getting a dozen persons to safety. A squad of firemen had fought their way to the third floor with a hose when they were blown down stairs by a tremendous back draft. Herman Bower, the nozzleman, was knocked unconscious and over come by smoke. He was carried to the street by his comrades. He revived quickly and immediately went back into the building. In the meantime iMrs. Chesner had discovered that her boys were missing and urged by her frantic appeals men from truck No. 18 finally succeeded in making their way to the top floor, w^iere face down and suffocated by the smoke, they found the body of William Chesner, four and a half years old. Later the body of three-year-old Solomon Chesner was found upon the bed on the top floor, whither the little fellow had crawled in a vain effort to avoid the flames. After the fire was under control, Samuel Seligman, reported to the police that his store at No. 27-Bridge street had been broken into during the excitement of the fire and a considerable sum of money taken from the cash drawer. The police believe the Are was set to draw off men* anennon ana give mo rooDers a chance to break into the store. * PREFER TILLMAN TO TAFT. Threatened That Negroes Will Knife President at the Polls. A letter addressed to Representative Rainey of Illinois, by Walter S. Thomas, chairman of the Ohio-AfroAmerican League, with headquarters at Columbus, Ohio, was read in the House of Representatives Saturday, j Thomas referring to a speech some time since in the House in reply to the one by Mr. Rainey, declared that the negroes of Ohio "refused to be led like dumb driven cattle to the voting booths^ and there cast their ballots for President Roosevelt, his' Secretary of War or any other man he may see fit to support for the President of the United States at Chicago." The letter points out that a grave injustice was done the negro race in the Brownsville matter, and states that the negroeB of the country will support no candidate for President who does not stand squarely upon the broad principles of justice. In conclusion the letter says: "We have almost reached that point where we can say thank God for Senator Tillman, for we believe him to be at least honest in his expressions and we believe him square in his life. I am absolutely convinced of this one fact, that should Secretary Taft be nominated at Chicago for President of the United States the colored voters of Ohio and of the whole United States, 95 r\nn /\f 4 V* r?%v> n* 1 ' ' - 11v" i vviik.1 vi im.ni UL 1UHHI UHK'.Uiation, would cast their votes for the straight Democratic ticket for President or remain away from the polls, thus making the election of a Democratic President practically certain." Killing at Badham'f* Ben Thompson, a negro employed by Dorchester Lumber Company, "was 1 killd at Badham on Tuesday by an| other negro named Tom Middleton. Thompson entered the cabin of Middleton early that morning and shortly after a fight started between the i two and the ending as stated. Ekl ' Lee, another negro, supposed to be > mixed up In the affair, was captured > about five miles from the scene of the t killing. Thompson's throat was cut - from ear to ear. Aa yet the posses > sent out after Middleton hare not ' been abble to locate him. Bad hams I Is looated between ReeyeeriUe and 1 St George on the Southern. A LEVER'S SPEECH ^ IN SUPPORTING THK HILL MAKING APPROPRIATION Of Over Eleven iMillion Dollars for t the Department of Agriculture \Va? "** a Good One. In supporting the bill making appropriations of $11,431,1140 for the department of agriculture, Representative Asbury F. Lever made an excellent speech, ic was extended and thorough, and as the agricultural department Is now doing by far the best work since its establishment, and as it is doing at least as much for the South as for any other section, and as the South stands in greater need of that assistance than any other section, Mr. Lever's speech in the house of representatives very appropriately particularly directed attention to the opportunities in the South, and the tremendous undeveloped resources of the South. More addresses in congress and in the North along similar lines would bear rich fruit. , We quote an extract or two Worn Mr. lever's speech: V The true measure of the industrial greatness of any country is the size of the bank books of the arracrn, and their natural, inherent conservatism is the true gauge of the character, stability, and morals of its citizenship. Two hundred and six million acres classified as unimproved farm lands and millions of acres of unclassified land in the South await the elixir of man's intelligence to lay at his feet, their immeasurably rick treasures. (Applause.) And in conclusion: Such. Mr. Chairman, s|re our possibilities, such are our opportunities, such is the record we have made, an/3 today we stand upon the threshold of a great future, the greater triuinps lie before us. Nature has smiled upon this fair land, and the smile has brought joy to the hearts of its people and strength to their arm. The celebrated poet, Emerson, said: "America is another name for opportunity" and that unique character, Greeley, enjoined, "Young man, go West and grow up with the country," but if the great poet and the great philosopher and editor could see he South as she is today, with her snowy fields of cotton, her mountains of minerals, her vast forest areas, her granite beds, her coal and iron deposits, her fertile plains and unequaled climate, her long seacoast indented with incomparable harbors, her rivers lacing her like ribbons of silver, and her reawakened, confident, and conquering people, the conclusion of the one would be, "The South is another name for opportunity" (applause), and the injunction of the other, "Young man, go South and grow up with the country." (Applause.) Mr. Chairman, we read in Holy Writ of a? "good land, a land of brooks of wa ler, or rountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are Iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." And to me it reads like an inspired description of the South fronting the future, confident, bouyant* thrilled by an all-pervading spirit of progress. (Loud applause.) # MUST BK CRAZY. / > Was Told in a Dream to Kill Her Husband. At New York acting under a command which she said had been given to her by St. Joseph in a dream. Mrs. Telma Sardonia Friday, in the presence of her five children, at their home, gashed her husband, Salvatore, with a big bread knife deeply in the neck, in what she declared to be an attempt to cut off his head. The frenzied woman's attack was preceeded by most elaborate preparations of a religious nature. The man was taken, apparently dying to the New York hospital. The wife's frenzied attack occurred in the presence of the couple's five small children, one of whom, Mich- , ael, 12 years old, probably averted what would have been instant death hv RCreftminfir nnri nrniiatmr hlo fotVi er, who thus had time to partly avoid a thrust of the knife aimed at his throat. Mrs. Sardonia was said to have been acting queerly since the birth of her child two months ago . PKIBONEK8 ESCAPE. Eight Break Out of Prison at Gail* fort, N. C. A dispatch from Guilfort, N. "A*., says all of the surrounding country for miles is being scoured by armed men searching for a lot of negro desperadoee who escaped from the county Jail Tuesday. Among the escaped 1 prisoners are several charged with murder and others convicted of man1 slaughter, burglary and various crimes. Bight prisoners in all escap1 ed and np to noon only one was cap* tared. He was "Prince Alfred," a young negro, who Is Insane,