Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

I I fl / I . KILLED SEVEN" The Murderer of a Wnole Family Electro cuted at Richmond. V- t WAS ALL ROUND BAD MAN After Murdering His Victims, Seven in All, llo Attempted to conceal Ills Crime by Setting Fire to and Hurtling the House With the Bodies in it. _j# . At Richmond, Va., Howard Little, who murdered Mrs. Betsy Justis, her eon-in-law, George Meadows, and the latter's wife and three children in their home near Nurley, Buchanan county, Va., last September, was put to death by electrocution in the penitentiary at dawn Friday without unusual incident. (Most murderers are executed foV Binglo murder; Howard Little has seven to his account. Thero were six in tho wholesale butchery for which he was sentenced to die in the electric chair her? Friday?a man, two women, and three children. The victims were Mrs. Betsy Justis, Geo. Meadows, Mrs. Meadows and three children of tho latter couple one might last fall. Little was no ordinary "low brow ed" criminal. He bore an excellent reputation in the community in which he lived and a number of friends till bolieve 1m his innocence. Ilis character appears to have been strikingly on the I)r. Jeykl-Mr. Hyde order, to one side being attributed the atrocious crime which brought him to the shadow of ignominious death, the ?ther being such a nature as to hold #he friends who stood by him until the last. Little is described as one of the handsomest men in the State; more than six feet in height, weighing 23 6 x>ounde and being, in Bhort, a more than ordinary fine spentmen of phyeical manhood. He held the position of United States marshal for the -eastern district of Keotuck.v for a n"?u,or of y??rs. KJtcept for his association with women he declared himself generally without reproach. Ho was a sort of rural "Don Juan," however, and he himself declared? "that women had been his ruination." It was while in the office of United States marshall that he shot Geo. McKinley, in eastern Kentucky, and was sentenced to a life term in the Kentucky penitentiary. Ho was pardoned after a short period and moved back to Virginia, where he was made foreman of a large lumber company at Hurley, i Buchanan county. While in this position he lived with the family of Geo. Meadows. Mrs. Little and her children lived in tne frame house. Mrs. Little Is alleged to have been jpreseni wnen me muraers were committed, but she was not allowed to tfceetify In the case. It was alleged by the prosecution sand believed by the jury that Little coming homo one night, killed the three Meadow children, Mrs. Justis and Mrs. Meadows with an axe and shot Georgo Meadows as the latter ran from the house. Next morning the Meadows home was found in ashes. Dead bodies, f* only??partly burned met the eye on almost every side. They were in arious postures, indicating that some of the victims at least had made terrible strugglos to save themselves. Robbery was established as the direct motive for the crime. It was known that tho ill-fated family had kept a good deal of money in the "house, and that Little afterwards appeared "flush." It is believed that he intended to leave Virginia with his latest woman friend. At one time there was talk of lynching him, but public anger cooled, especially at Little was promptly convicted. Originally the man was sentenced to die January 7th, but Governor Swanson respited him in order that the case might go to the court of appeals. That tribunal sustained the convicted. ? MAIUUAUK IACENSK llll.li. Parses the State Senate With Several ^ Amendments. "The marriage license n'U * wu* passed to third reading Friday nig ?t in the State Senate. Senator .Johneon Instituted an Insistent request for the bill's consideration ea.'iy In the evening, and It was finally called an 1 passed, with amendments. The h'!l occassloned much discussion, but finally was passed. An amendment making the fee $1 for the license instead of 25 cents was adopts 1- A!*o It a committee amendment reading "Nothing herein contained shall renr der any marriage Illegal without the Issuing of a license." , SUBSC , ; ... MURDER CHARGE AGAINST STONE SAIl) TO HE AN ESI'A DEI) LUX ATIC. Detectives Think Man is One Who Killed Dr. llicktnan in Augusta on February 2ml. A special to The State from Aiken says a warrant was placed in the hands of Chief of Police Howard Fri day afternoon for the arrest of a man who says he is Lieut. Wit Hani C. Stone, now being detained in \ik-en as an escaped lunatic 'ro?n the Richard Gundry Home for Lunatics of Catonsville, Md. The warrant charges William C. Stone with ?ho murder of Dr. Charles W. llio.unan, in Augusta, February 2nd. As a result of the warrant Cult C Howard Friday afternoon refused to give Stone up to the authorities from Catonsville who sent deputies to carry him back to the institution from which he escaped. Friday morning it became apparent for tlie t\"st time that the man was suspected of having committed the crime in Augusta of the second of this month. Stone was placed under arrest as an escaped lunatic on Wednesday afternoon. Karly Friday morning Pinkerto.i detectives arrived in Aiken and quiet y Wont to work, but their actions weie j carefully guarded and no one Knew I it. They had an interview witli Stone and later in the day had photograpus made of him. These, with measure-' ments and a full description, they carried with them back to Augusta. Later they came again to Aiken, t :i is time placing a warrant in the h.t'.ids of the chief of police so as to prevent the Maryland authorities getting possession of Stone. The warrant w is sworn out by Lieut. Rritt of Augusta. TllftV cift i n n/iull 1 u/\1 ?? h " ' D 1 f . .. . l llilt, oium: IS the man who murdered Dr. Hickman and robbed him on February 2. What proof they have to sustain this belief is ruot known at this time. It became known, however, that they had previously described the man who killed Dr. Hickman as a white man, a man of military turn, one who wore a dark overcoat, broad shoes, cap, mil filer, and had figured on his size. Stone wears about a No. 7 shoe, the soles of which are broad. He is very neatly dressed and has a black overcoat. lie has no collar or tie but has a silk mufiler. Stone also claims to be a lieutenant of the United States army and letters taken from his person are addressed to him as lieutenant. There is no doubt that Stone escaped from the Gun dry hospital. As soon as lie was arrested he admitted this, stating that the authorities had allowed him to walk about alone and one day he managed to escape. The authorities at Aiken immediately wired to the homo in Catonsville and received a reply confirming Stone's story and requesting that he be held until deputies could be sent for him.* Warrant Withdrawn. The warrant against Lieut. William G. Stone, a retired army officer, charging him with the murder of Dr. Charles W. Hickman of Augusta, Ga., about two weeks ago was withdrawn late Saturday afternoon. Stone was turned over to the Maryland authorities who returned him to an insane asyium rrom wntcn lie had escaped January 23. HOW TO KILL SMALL POX. If Month Old liahies Were Vueohiatc(l It Would Go. "If every child was vaccinated when only one month old, smallpox would soon lr& ancient history," said I)r. W. 11. Sumerall, superintendent of Grady hospital, of Atlanta, discussing the prevalence of the disease. With more than a score of physisicians still busy carrying out the order of the hoard of health, requiring compulsory vaccination, the situation in Atlanta is well under control. There are less than 100 cases in th? city, il is stated, all of whom hava been Isolated. WOMAN WASHED ASHORE. Had llahe Tightly Clasped i'i Her Lifeless Arms. The supposition that the Tr? nch trans-Atlantic steamer Gen. CMn/.y's boilers exploded after she struck on the r<-ef near the Island of Minorca, Thursday night, is base 1 largely upon the character of the wreckage of the ship, which was induce 1 almost to kindling. The so survivor so far .* s is known, was Marcel Model, and his mind is stili far from clear after his terrible expert moThe work of salvage and reco/ery of the bodies continues, but it \s greatly retarded by the high seas. Among the bodies washed ashore wa \ a woman with a baby clasped in her arms. mm MANY ARE LOST The Steam Ship Lima Wrecked in the Straits of Magellan eighty eight perish British Steamship Ilathumet Took OlY of the Stranded Steamsliip Ovnn T...? II ? It < .. >.? ?* i i ni> iiuiiurt'U i ri?|?u*, Itlll Was Compelled to Abandon Nearly a Hundred to Their Fate. A dispatch from Santiago, Chili, says the Pacillc Navigation company's steamer Lima is ashore on one of tlie islands of the lluamblad passage of the Straits of Mcgellan and will probably be a total loss. The chief pilot and 5 0 passengers were drowned. The British steamer Hathuinet rescued 205 of the stranded steamer, but was forced to leave 88 persons aboard whom it was impossible to rescue. The steamship Ilathumet has arrived at Ancud, Chili, with 188 men i and women and 17 of the crew oi the steamer Lima, which is on the rocks in West lluamblad Passage, Straits of Magellan. The steamei went ashore in a storm on February 5. The steamer ofllcials k port having left 88 persons aboard the Lima their rescue being impossible. They had no drinking water, the tank* having burst. The first mate of tlu Lima and fifty passengers wer< drowned. The stranded steamer Lima is r British vessel owned in Llverpoo and plying between that port and ! the ports of South America. Sin j was last reported as sailing fron I Bahia Blanca, Argentia, on January 2 6, and was on her way to Chilean and Peruvian ports. The Lima is 401 feet long, registered 3,115 tons and was built ir (.laseow in 1007. The place where tho steamer was wrecked, la probably lluamblad Pas j sage, located between the soutl I shore of San Pedro Island and Chile I It is a narrow passage full of dan gers and very difficult of navigation I Huanihlin rocks, two In number anc | 65 feet high, mark the entrance tc I this passage. SHV1CN BLOWN TO ATOMS. Kan Gasoline Car I'pon Lighted |)yn aiuite Fuse. Heedless of the warning of a fore man in charge of excavating opera tfcons along the line of the privah motor road from Kelvia, Ariz., t( the Hay Copper mines, the motormai of a gasoline car containing six pas sengers ran his car close to the sput tering fuse of a heavy charge of dyn amite and the car and its seven oc cupants were blown to atoms. The foreman had discovered i missed shot in the excavation at nooi and before the motor car came ii sight he had relighted the fuse. A the car approached ho signalled t the mofcorman and warned him of th impending explosion. Motormai Lyalle, believinig that he could tak his car past the charge to safety paid no heed to the warning am started again at full speed. .Just as the car was passing th charge the explosion came and th car with its load of human freigh was blown high into the air amid i great cloud of debris. The dead mei were all prominent in mining affair in Arizona. 1 THREATENED WITH VENGKANC1 Tobacco Growers Ordered to Loav Tlieir Crops. Several farmers in Rockinghan county, N. C., have received circular and post cards In the last few days threatening deeds of violence utiles they pool their tobacco in the dr; prizerios and stop the practice o disposing of the leaf on the ware house floor. Some warnings wen sent through the mail, while In othe instances a number of prominent to hacco planters found circulars threat ening violence tacked upon their ban doors. Efforts to trace the author ship of the circulars have proved fu tile and some of the farmers are in clined to treat the threats as a prac tical joke. The promoters of the dr; prizerios disclaim any connectioi with the warnings. Raton by Wolves. A dispatch from Vienna says Bar on Otto Orhan, a rich landowner o Langystfalva, took a ride through hi forest, when suddenly his horse shiei and threw him off. A garvgof wolve soon approached and literally devour ed tlie poor baron. When the Ivors came home .alone the servants rushei ed to the forest, but found only few bones. W TO Li I WILL BE IN RACE ltlCIIAllDS ANNOl N(i:s HIMSELF FOll W3OV10KXO11. States Whore Ho Stands on All Public (Questions in n Plain Outs|x>kcn Platform. Representative John G. Richards, Jr., Friday announced that he would )\n n nn Id n t i\ ? ? -v .. - 1,1 ii vit uuiiiuia i v > i iiiuiri iiui illirs jeur, The announcement was not a surprise to Mr. Richards' friends, who have for some time expected that he would enter the race. Two years ago Mr. Richards was urged to enter the campaign, but declined and since the definite announcement that Thos. G. McLeod, now lieutenant governor, would enter the race there is added interest in the situation. Mr. Richards has had a number of years of legislative experience and has taken an active part in tho various issues along certain lines. When asked about his candidacy, he said: "Yes, after seriously considering ? the matter, I have determined to enter the race for governor of South Carolina. For some time my friends i in every section of tho State have been encouraging me to run, and af> ter considering the matter carefully, , 1 have decided to enter tho lists. "While I am not prepared, of r couso, at this stage to state in detail - what my platform will contain, 1 , have no hesitancy, as is my habit in ' stating clearly my position on some } of the more important public ques? tlons that are of vital interest to the > State and to the people of tho State. "I shall advocate equitable support i of our hicher educational institu1 tions and the fullest and most un1 stinted support of our common school ? system with particular attention to i the development of rural schools and i education. Our public school system i is the vitalizing force that supplies our colleges and Is one of the verv - foundations of our republican insti1 tious. We are now making great improvement along educational lines * in South Carolina, but the tranacen dent imiyortance of this question dei mands an even greater effort on our . part. "I shall stand for and urge such . legislation as will make for the full1 est development of the agricultural > industry of tho State for it is the bed rock foundation of all our prosperity. I shall stand for vigorous support of all agencies making for the development of agriculture and . for such legislation as will tea l to induce capital to come into the Slate for the purpose of developing to the fullest measure our splendid resources. a "I shall stand for and advocate 3 State-wide prohibition, with r strict and impartial enforcement of the law. "I shall stnnd for retrench meat in the expenditure of the people's money whenever and wherever it cert he done without impairing the public service. ^ "I shall stand for a thorough and complete revision and readjustment of the tax laws of the State and thf inauguration of such a system ol assessments as will make all proper(1 ty hear its horest and just proportion e of the burden of taxation. r "The agricultural lien law, so long the hindering cause of lack of agri cultural progress and independence and the greatest preventative of Jot proper control of our negro labor L has at last been repealed. I led 'he fight for the farmers and I shall urge upon our people the necessity of ac cepting the changed conditions .insi 9 brought about with a detenni ia?.ior upon their part to give the new law ? a fair trial, and I feel that the wis J | dom of this legislation will be demonstrated. (> I "The building of good and permanent highways will add more to tlu value of property and to the wealtti 11 i of our State than any other publb s | utility. The effect of good roads l> thoroughout the state would be fell s In every walk of life, but they would v' come as an especial blessing and n f great economy to our people whe " live in the country districts. I shall B stand for the permanent improver ment of our highways, such improve" ment being made under local self government in the various counties 1 < 4 I 1 A t tit - ii ii snouin do my goon fortune " to bo selected by tho people of our " proud State to bo tho governor 1 shall endeavor with all my strength " at my command to thoroughly fanii'?V arize myself and keep in constant 1 touch with tho working force of all * of our public institutions and branch, os of tho government, and endeavor to so post myself in regard t > no - public 'affairs as to intelligently ref commend to the law making power ol s tho State those things that tho public tl weal and needs of tho hour demand, s "I do not care to say any inor* ?1 this time than this: That every pu' ? lie spirited citizen of our St-U.? i: d anxious for hor welfare, her proapev a ity and material advancement in al . things and none Is more so than my THE HO RESCUE FIEND Brute Shoots Down Young Girl and Assaults Her On the Road, WAS SAVED FROM MOB lly tho Sheriff, Who Successfully Ciot By it Large Crowd That Wanted to Lynch tho Fiend, Although llo Was Mysteriously Shot by Someone, Who is Unknown. After hiding from a mob of angry citizens at Whistler, a small town nead Mobile for nearly six hours, Sheriff Drago Saturday night succeeded in landing in jail Henry Leo Moseley, the negro charged with criminally assaulting and beating Katie Walters, a white girl 112 years old. It was at first reported in Mobile that thi' mob had taken Moseley from the ofllcers at Whistler and this gave rise to wild reports of a lynching, but Sheriff Drago succeeded in eluding the mob and landed bis prisoner in the Mobile county jail. Shortly after two o'clock Saturday afternoon the little girl was walking along the railroad at Bestor, Ala., two miles north of Whistler. She noticed a negro standing on a trestle and saw that lie had a gun. She turned and ran, but the negro fired upon her and she fell to the ground. The girl was painfully wounded in tlie back, but her injuries are not of a serious nature. The negro came to the prostrate form of his victim and seeing that she was alive, evidently tried to kill her by striking her ovter the head witli the butt end of his gun. A resident of Whistler, Emmett Myers, came upon the wounded girl carried her to Whistler whero she received medical attention. Tho physician announced that her wounds wore not of a fatal nature. W'lK'ii tho negro, soon after hia eapt ire, was taken before the little I girl, she positively identified him aa her assailant. He was taken before her again for Identification and sho seemed to bo doubtful as to whether or not he was the guilty person. At both times she was In a highly nervous condition as the result of her experience. Intense oxcitemcnt prevailed following the negro's arrest and there seems to be some confusion as how > he was shot. The negro, however, was shot in the hip, but by whom It is no known. Persons living near tho scene of the alleged attempt say that they . saw a negro answering Moseloy's de> scriptlon walking along the railroad : track about the time the attempt was made. I When arrested there were spots of blood on Moseley's shirt and a shot! gun he carried had been lately disf charged. It is said that he admitted . having the gun and explained its coni dition by saying that he had shot at a bird. F<>HTK IW A ON ( )ST 1 CI S.W. i That Is What u Preacher Says of the ? Carnegie Fund. Iiev. David J. Burrell, pastor of the r Marble Collegiate church of New i York, in an address before the exer ci'.tive committee of the western section of tho Presbyterian Alliance of - the world, Thursday attacked the "Carnegie Foundation" as fostering . antagonism in religion. ? "I have been called to ask," ho i said, "for saying that the blhical in? st ruction in Princeton University has 5 boon under tho auspices of a man : who does not believe in tho Inspired I worthiness of the scriptu'rs as tho i word of (lod. Tho same affirmation ? might bo made and still strongly, 10I speeding many of the institutions of learning under avowedly Christian control. "In my judgment tho Ci^oeyle Foundation is the most significant 1 movement of modern times in tho in terest of agnosticism in general cdu[ cation." i ? He Claims Kin. ; The editor of the North Carolina I Christian Advocate claims kin with Daniel Boone, who Is soon to be ap propriately honored at the old Yad kin river home. r soif. In entering the race I wish to j ? say now that I will make the Issues clear-cut and to the point, looking t ever to the substantial advancement of our State, and will go before the i people upon a platform, every plank - of which shall stand for the people's 1 interests and the upbuilding of our - State." I RRY HE! i. 11 ONLY ONE SAVED 1 ??????? H ONK IH'NDKKD AND FIFTY MKV I l'KKISH AT SKA. I IiOnc Survivor Driven Insane by Tor* -I tures Following Shipwreck of the ' Steamship on k? ? t\ I Driven helplessly from h"r course, I In one of the wildest s'orms that has swept thf M.'.iit'mm .iii- aii mm in forty years, the Fr? neh Tt ins Atlantic (I steamer (leneral ('ii.in/y ash'-d at rl full speed, in the dead of night. on the treacherous reaf near the island of Minorca and ail i>ut one of tbo 1"?7 soul on hoard perished. The sole survive:- is .m A . ian IB customs ollicial, Marcel Kodel, wtw was rescued by fishermen, lie 'ies in the hospital at Cludadela, raving as a result of the tortures through which he passod, and unable to give and account of the disaster. In the ship's company there were I 87 passengers, of whom 30 were in the first cabin. The crew numbered 7 0. It Is not thought that any Americans were aboard the liner. The ship was in command of Cupt. Cayoi, one of the most careful oiiicers on the line. In his long experience he had never before met with an accident. He had intended to retire from the service in the near future. The passengers of the Chanzy were mostly French otllcers and ofllclals, returning to tluir posts in Algeria, accompanied by their wives and children, a few soldiers, some Italians and Turks, and one priest. The only Anglo-Saxon names on the passenger list were Green and Stakely. They were mem hers of an opera troupe of 11, which had been engaged to sing In the casino in Algiers. The Chenzy sailed from Marseilles Wednesday at noon and was due to arrive at Algol Thurday ^afternoon. ? WAVED HY CRY OF 11AHY. Dancing Party Overcome by Escap* ing Has. At Chicago on Sunday thirteen people were overcome by illuminating gas and a woman was killed by inhaling gas. At the home of Henry Kolkey, twelve people, who remained over night after attending a party, were saved from death by the cry of a baby. The family and the visitors had retired after dancing until almost daylight. While they slept a defective gas pipe poured fumes into the crowded quarters. I At one p. ni. Sunday a baby sleeping in another room by a wiudow gave a loud wail. This aroused Henry Kolkey, the only one in the house not comnleteiv overcome. He managed to crawl to a window and call into the street for help. Outsiders found tho Kolkey family and their visitors all unconscious. They were taken to a hospital where it was thought they would | recover. In a hotel tho police found Annie Miller, 2 4 years of age, dead from the effects of gas, and Annie Edwards, 20 years of age, in tho same room, dying. THIItTY YEAltS IN PRISON. Self-CConfessed Slayer Found Guilty of Murder. A dispatch from Oxford, N. C., says in a very able speech Solicitor Gattls furnished his concluding argument Saturday morning in the case J of the State against Solomon Shep> ard on trial for murder of Engineer j Holt of the East Durham coal chute in December, 1 908. The jury Satj urday afternoon brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in the second J degree. The prisoner's counsel pleaded for mercy. Judge Biggs com | pllmented them for their handling ! of the case but stated that the jury had extended all the mercy the prisoner deserved and he sentenced the j prisoner to 30 years in the State's prison at hard labor, the maximum punishment for second degree murder. Mosby (iucrillas Dead. Another of Mosby's famous guerillas, John II. Core, aged 70, died at i>is home in Norfolk, Va., Monday, after a short illness. Mr. Core, who was one of the wealthiest men in Kastern Virginia and the largest individual holder of real estate in Norfolk, was for many years in the mercantile business in Norfolk. Smallpox at an Ornhttnuiro I j A dispatch from Thomasville says it will he a source of deep sorrow to North Carolinians to know that there I are fifteen cases of smallpox at the Thomasville Haptiat Orphanage. The I fact was discovered a few days ago by Dr. Julian, the orphanage physician, and the disease has spread to some extent. IALD ? ' '