Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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y A FIEND HANGED" "Coot" Lever, a Black Boy, Executed > For Attempt to Commit Rape. y CONFESSED THE CRIME Assailant of Dutch Fork Farmer's t Wife Tays the Death Tenuity on ^ the Scaffold?Admitted Ills Guilt, ' but Claimed he was Influenced to l)o it by a Negro Doctor. Declaring that the Judge, jury and solicitor that tried his case will see their mistake in the day of judgment Coot Lever, who was convicted of attempted rape upon the person of the pretty wife of a prominent farmer of the Dutch Fork, on the first day of last November, went * to his death on the gallows at Lex- 1 ington Friday. Friday morning when the corres- 1 pondent of the News and Courier 1 called to see Lever he acknowledged his guilt and repeated the same story 1 ho told on the witness stand at the i trial. He said that a negro doctor, < Lem Judge, was responsible for his 1 crime, and that he, Judge, would 1 have to share in the punishment. He said that if it had not been for 1 Deputy Sheriff Miller he would never < have been permitted to get right with God. i On the gallows he made the fol- i lowing statement: "Of course, I was In the fault, but I want all to take < notice. The Judge, jury and solcitor did me wrong, and they will see ' their mistake on the day of judg- 1 ment. Tell everybody to meet me in Heaven. Mr. Miller and his family and Sheriff Corley have shore been nice to me and have treated me ? right. I hope God will bless them all." Just after Sheriff Corley had placed the black cap over his forehead Lever asked for some preacher to 1 pray for him, and at Sheriff Corley's request, the Rev. W. W. Keel, of the Baptist church, came upon the scaf- i fold and offered a fervent prayer for i the condemned man. Then the knot r- was thrown. Being tied Lever ex- i claimed: "It's too tight, boss." Just as the sheriff was about to i announce that everything was ready Lever asked to be allowed to say just one word. He said: "Tell our race for God's sake to keep out of trouble. Tell everybody to let this be a warning. Everybody pray for me. May God bless Sheriff Corley, Mr. Miller and all." Lever was bidden good-by by the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff Miller and ^ a second later his body was dangling In the air. lie died without a move, * his neck being broken by the fall. The body was cut down and turned over to the coroner. The husband of the victim of Levers brutal attack witnessed the hanging. He said that he was satisfled, and was glad that the law had been allowed to take its course. A day or two ago Lever made a will in which he requested that the amount of $f>50, which he claimed that he would get from the Society of Sons and Daughters, of which he was a member, be equally divided between >v his stepmother and his wife. t\ tlin rVliiWV J vr* vy? The crime for which Lever paid the death penalty on the gallows was one of the mast revolting in the annals of the county. On the first day of last November, while the husband of the victim was ploughing in a field near his home. Lever slipped up to the house and entered the yard, where the woman was hanging up clothes, with her innocent little two year old child playing by her aide. Lover, without any warning of his intentions, grabbed her around the neck in an effort to choke her into insensibility, at the same time throwing her to the ground. So tightly did he grasp her throat the the blood flowed freely from the wounds inflicted by the finger nails of the brute. Nearly every garment was torn from her body, and it was only by the most seemingly superhuman effort that Lever was prevented from accomplshing his purpose, the cries of the woman bringing her husband to her rescue. "A The news of the attack spread like wildfire before a sweeping wind, and within a very few hours the usual quietness of the neighborhood was in a roar of excitement. Men who had not shouldered a gun in many years?some of them probably not Blnce the war?scoured the country in an effort to get a shot at the fiendish culprit. Deputy Sheriff Miller was rushed to the scene in an automobile and y with the aid of two or three men, he succeeded in capturing Lever and landing him safely in jail before the mob that had gathered knew what had happened. The officer arrived SUBSCI ? 1 ?mi i WALKED OUT ASLEEP jEFT PULLMAN AT WAV STATION IX HIS PAJAMAS. Alien Housed lie Said Ho Was a New Yorker?Sinoo Ketiring He Kemoiiibers Nothing. When the telegraph operator in r he St. Lou*.s and San Francisco raiload station at Tulsa, Okla., stepped rom ins omce 10 uio piauorm at 1:30 o'clock Tuesday morning he was greeted with the sight of a pajama:lad figure pacing back and forth. The night was bitter cold and when he operator had recovered his composure he inquired whether the valker was taking a constitutional valk. , 1 Receiving no answer tho operator ' ipproached closer and closer and 1 'ound that the eyes of the thinly clad 1 person were closed and that the : stranger was to all appearances as- { leep. I When awakenod the somnambu- < ist, his teeth chattering so ho could barely talk, explained that ho was r. B. Jamison, a business man of N'ew York, and that he had been i passenger on the St. Louis train en route to Oklahoma City. The last he remembered was retiring to 1 his berth in a Pullman sleeper. Explanations concluded, Jamison began to collect a wardrobe. From ;>ne station employe he obtained the loan of a pair of overalls. Other railroad men furnished him with the rest of a serviceable outfit. Somewhat picturesquely attired, Jamison took the next train for Sapulpa, where his clothing and additional belongings had been taken off the train. CHILD'S HITK KILLS DOCTOR. rho Germs of Diphtheria Aids lilood Poisoning. I Dr. Charles C. Burhenn, a leading physician of Jeanette, is dead from most peculiar dioou poisoning, several days ago, while attending a child, about ten years old, wao had contracted diphteria, the physician placed his finger in the lad's mouth to aid the child to free his stomach. The little patient brough hi3 f oth down on the doctor's linger, cutting the flesh and causing blood to flow and in a few hours symptoms of blood poisoning developed and the physician became very ill. Sp vdal physicians were hurried from fnhsburg to the siek man's side, but the poison from the first seemed to lime taken hold of the entire system, and but little hope was given the physician's family. In his weakened condition pneumonia seized him. The blood poisoning from tho unusual source seems to greatly puzzle the medical fraternity of the locality and those who attended the physician. * NEGliO LOSES A LEG. A Laborer is Horribly Munglcd by a Pile Driver. Wednesday afternoon Charles Gibson, colored of Eastover, one of the crew 011 the Atlantic Coast Lin s pi! driver, which is now at work ?. n the Thompson creek trestle, attempted to cross underneath the machine, when the negineer, not knoviug that he was there, gave the slgna. and Gibson was caught. lie had his left leg horrably niang.r1 fi n fou* t/? thigh. Dr. Hull, the local Coast Line surgeon, assisted by other local doctors, amputated the leg, and on Friday afternoon tho negro was taken to the Coast LP*** Hospital at Rocky Mount, N. C. V * Mail Dog Rites Four. At Mobile, Ala., four persons were severely bitten by a mad dog, which up to noon Saturday had not been killed. Patrolmen all over Mobile are on the lookout for the dog. * at the jail during the early hours of morning, but beforw he could get his man in jail several men rode up on horseback, and tho deputy had to hide his man for several hours before placing him behind the bars. So wrought up were the people of the neighborhood that a second effort was made to get Lever. On the 2d of November a posso of from fifty to seventy-five men drove up to the jail with the intention of taking Lever out at any and all hazards, but the officers having heard of the probable attack, rushed tho , prisoner to tho Penitentiary, where i he was kept until the day before he I Tif n n + rv an i i it'u That the majesty of the law has been upheld is gratifying to the people of the county, and the husband of the pretty victim is being commended on all sides for the part lie t has played throughout the whole t proceedings, - KIBE NO BITTER FIGHT s On in South Dakota Between the Re publican Factions and LEADERS ARE WORRIED rho Progressives and Stalwarts Are Kngaged in the Hot ami Hitter Struggle, Which Will, it is Said, Last 1'ntil the Primary Takes Place in June. A dispatch from Huron says the mlitiral ntmoKithiM'o nf Smith nnlfntn :lireatens the most serious storm Lhat has swept the State in years. Unlike Iowa and other States the tight here between the "progressives" uul "stalwart" Republicans is not confined to representatives in congress, but ofllcers from the governor iown. Early In the month the "stalwart" Republicans came out with the announcement that they intended to put a complete ticket in the tield, made up sorely of their own faction. Friday the leaders of the "progressive" faction inet in conference at Huron to take similar action. This is taken to mean that between now and June 7, when the State primary will be held, there will be a battle I to the death between the rival Republican factions of South Dakota. Former Governor S. II. Elrod Is slated for the gubernatorial nomination on the "stalwart" ticket. In the formal announcement of his candidacy he indorsed the principles enunciated at the "stalwart" conference held at the beginning of February. It is not anticipated that he will have any opposition in securing the nomination of his faction. In addition to the governorship the "stalwarts" have also picked their candidates for congress and for nearly all the Stato otlices. The "progressives" so far have not been able to present so united a front as the "stalwarts," but it is expected that Friday's conference will accomplish much toward bring-! ing about the desired harmony and unification. Governor Vessey is slated for renomination on the "progressive" ticket. Much is believed to depend upon the attitude of It. O. Richards, one of the prominent leaders of the State. Mr. Richards, after having supported the "progressive" Republicans for five years, broke with them over a year ago in a letter repudiating Governor Vessey and Senators Crawford and Gamble. Ever since the break occurred, politicians have been wondering what, ticket Richards would put forward this year. Recently it has been reported that a truce would be arranged between Richards and the Vessey factions, whereby Richards would be allowed to frame the platform and the Vessey people uame the ticket. These reports have been denied and from all indications it will not be definitely known just where Rchards stands until after the present conference of the "progressives" is over. There Is also some curosity as to the course that will be taken in the coining campaign by former United States Senator Petigrew. He is quoted as having said privately, that there is no longer any Democratic party, that what was left of it was destroyed during the consideration of the tariff bill, and that there ought to be a new party. Alleged extravagence on the part of the present "progressive" Republic,an administration will be the principal slogan of the "stalwarts" in the impending battle for supremacy at the June primaries, while antl Cannon will be one of the main issues upon which the "progressive" I Republicans will wage their fight for continued control. The "progressives" confidently declare that VasOOtf " rv. r? ,1 rv ? ? 11 ov; ncio iiiciut" su uruuiuioiQ a record as governor that no one can beat him. Some of the more hopeful Democrats profess to believe that the fight between the Republican factions will be so bitter that thousands of members of the faction which is defeated in the Juno primaries will at the election next November cast their votes for the Democratic ticket. # ? I-'ight Fatal Duel. A dispatch from Vienna, Austria says a duel with pistols was foughl there Saturday by two Austrian government officials, Dr. Oscar Mayai and Baron Hermann Widerhofer Maynr shot Widerhorfer dead. Hurled by Avalanche. A nifioooorii Ivx/.v j/..v/..vy lll.MII Will lnoe, Idaho, last Sunday night sah twenty-five families, probably 7; people in all, were buried under ai avalanche. W TO SOME IDLE TALK ABOUT SKNATOIt TILLMAN'S HUSH; XI NO HIS SKAT. Ami Who the Governor Would Ap|H>int us Ills Successor Should lie l)o So. A Columbia dispatch says the fe 1in? that Senator Tillman may resign on account of the condition of h's health is causing a deal of political talk here as to who will likely get his toga, it is known that Senator Tillman has been forbidden to do any more work at the preset) c session of congress but the likelihood of his resigning has no additional foundation other than that of a sort of vague feeling. The politicians, however, seem to be placing some faith in the report. In case ho does resign it will be Governor Ansel's privilege and duty to appoint his successor for the short term, so talk is centering on whom the governor is likely to appoint. Had the vacancy occurred during the sitting of the legislature that I body would have made the choice, and it is likely that Speaker of the House Whaley, of Charleston, would have gotten the place, as he is about the most popular man in the legislature as well as perhaps the ablest. But is is an easy bet that Governor Ansel would not appoint any man from Charleston, which has been lighting him so hard for many years oh account of his attitude in regard to Injunctions and the way no went about the tiger injunction business. Lewis \Y. Barker, the cotton noil man, whose home is in Gre n\ill", and J. A. McCullough , another of the Governor's fellow townsmen, a"o regarded as among the strong prohu oil ilies if Governor Ansel has the appointing to do. Ex-Governor 1). C. Heyward and J. Fraser Lyon are also spoken of in this connection. MADE A lil'CKY GUESS. Woman Stenographer Wins $.">,00<) Concrete House. Miss Lillian M. Williamson attended the cement show at the Coliseum and heard her nanio called off as the winner of the $5,000 concrete house offered to the woman guessing closest to the total paid admissions at the cement show on Washington's birthday and the following day. She is stenographer in a bank and is nineteen years old. She guessed the attendance for the two days would be 15,060. The total paid attendance was 15,965. Other guesses ranged from 11,500 to 80,000. Miss Williamson recently made the last payment on a thirty foot corner lot and has $800 saved on a building fund. "I think part of this good fortune came from my fortunate posession of a lot," said Miss Williamson. "What should T have done with material for a $5,000 home if 1 had spent all my spare money for millinery or chocolate creams." * COATS AN1> SIIKK1*. Herds Will Ho Shipped from This Country to Japan. Herds of goats and sheep are soon to lie sent from the United States to Japan for the uso of the Japanese government in developing stock raising, according to l)r. loda Taniirnira, (loan of animal industry of the university of Tokio. He came to Chicago from the East where he has visited several universities, and after a day )r twe in Chicago lie will continue his journey to San Francisco and Jap in. "We raise a few sheep in Japan, ho said, "but no goats, and our purpose now is to go into the industry to a large extent, providing it w'l prove profitable and feasible in qui climate. 11 STRENUOUS RRIRKGROOM. , Walked Fftcon Miles for License am Five With Wife. Rather than delay his wedding bj ' waiting Friady night for a trair ' that was late, John M. Miller, a farm 1 or living five miles from Duquoin 111., walked five miles to Pinckney ' ville to get the license and ten milei to the city with the temperotun near zero. His marriage to Mrs Mary A. Terry took place on scheduh time, but to got back to his home , where a reception awaited them, tin t bride and groom were compelled t< walk the five miles, through th * lack of any conveyance. ' ^ Slashed Lady With Knife. negro entered me bod room o Miss Luella C. ITancey at Fort Myen - Fla., Friday morning and attempte 1 to assault her. When she reslste 5 desperately he slashed her on th 1 arm and wrist with a knife and the escaped. THE HO SOME HOT STUFF Pinchot Scores Ballinger, Who, He Says, Deceived the People. BETRAYED THE PEOPLE Declares That There is no Such Decision us the One Cited by Mr. Tuft?Dim-hot Insists that tilavis . .Told the Truth About the t'ase When Testifying on the Stand. With Clifford Pinchot on the witness stand, the Balliuger-Pinchot inquiry entered its second phase ou Saturday. The dismissed chief of the forest service, before being sworn, systematically declared that when his story had been told the country would demand a verdict "in harmony with the general conviction that the secretary of the interior has been unfaithful, both to the public whose property he has endangered, and to the president, whom he has deceived." Mr. Pinchot accused Secretary Hallinger of having made an explanation of his conduct to the president that was "essentially false." lie charged him with being a "dangerous enemy to conservation." He charged him with having made a statement that was shown by undispted documentary evidence "to be absolutely false in three essential particulars." Ho also charged him with having "willfully deceived the president," and of being disloval to the oresldent Mr. Pinchot's flrst hour on tho witness stand was as replete of sensations as had been promised and the suffocated crowd in the hearing room hung intently upon every word that fell from his lips. A tritie nervous at llrst, Mr. Pinchot soon became accustomed to his surroundings and maintained a con fled nt poise thereafter. His recital had not progressed very far, . however, when there came an objection from Mr. Hallinger's attorney as to the witness repeating conversations had with Presdient Taft. It was contended that the relation of these conversations would put the president in an attitude where he would either have to remain silent or else appear before the committee as a witness, which it was declared would bo undesirable. The conservation movement begun under the administration of President Roosevelt was progressing splendidly up to the time that President Taft and Secretary Hallinger came into olllce, declared Mr Pinchot. He charged that in less than a month thereafter, Secretary Hallinger had practically broken the backbone of the central idea of the conservation movement by restoring previously withdrawn water-power sites to the public domain and laying them open to private appropriation and monopolistic control. Mr. Pinchot charged that when the restorations were made Mr. Hallinger gave no hint that he would withdraw the power sites and that as 1 a matter of fact lie did not rewithdraw.any of them until after Mr, Pinchot had gone to the president and had made a vigorous protest. The restorations by Mr. Hallinger were made without any investigation of tho object whatever, said Mr. Pinchot and ho charged the sec j retary with having deliberately orIherately ordered the ofllcers of the ' reclamation service against their will to recommend that some of the re> storations should be made. One of the most dramatic inci , dents of the day was left for the lasl half hour of the session, when Mr Pinchot declared that there was nc ( such decision by the comptroller 01 the treasury as had been cited bj President Taft in his letter of Sop tember 13, 11)09, to Secretary Hal linger, dismissed the GUvla charge1 and authorizing the removal of Glav is from the sorvlce of the linitec States. The president had contendet that Mr. Hal linger had acted upon ? decision of the comptroller whict f permitted of no appeal when he lia< i abrogated a co-operative agroen.es: - with the agricultural department . whereby the forest service was *ivei - control of the forest reserves of In dian lands. Mr. Pinchot admitted that then was an opinion by the comptrolle s which forbade the detail o" a clei 1 . from the forest service to lh<* Inniai a oflice, but contended that it had noth ) Ing whatever to do with tne work o e the forest scrvic-* in the li?i I Mr. Pinchot's lntlnn.hu tin . > luviu i mi Had euner DiH >! mis led or utterly mistaken brought ,f rapid fire of questions front Senator Uoot, Sutherland and other m* tuber (1 of the committer. They read int (1 the record thf> v t.ious decis'ona n e the comptroller, whi'dt they corner^ n ed had a bearing on t ie matte", bn Mr. Pinchot won d not withdraw IRRY HEI ii r i i nMirirWrnii" KILLED A DEPUTY HIT IS SLAIN IN TI'ltN HY OTHER DEITTIES. A Desperate lU-hvoon Outlaw All Hound Bad N<'({ro and Oilier* of the I jaw. In a desperate battle early Friday between negroes and the deputy sheriffs ten miles east of Memphis, Tetin., Deputy Sheriff \V. H. Lucy of Germantown, was killed by Aaron Norfleet, a negro, who then attacked Deputies Kay and O'Neill and was killed by them. The affray was the result of an effort on the part of oillcers to arrest NorMeet on a charge of larceny. After having had the warrant read to him by Deputy Lucy, Nortleet agreed to accompany tho oillcers and asked permission to go Into the cabin to get his hat. Not suspecting trouble, the officers consented to this move. Nortleet entered the houso and reappeared in a minute with a single barrel shotgun in his hand. Before Lucy could move, tho negro raised the gun and fired upon him at close range, literally blowing the officer's head from his sh oulder. Swinging his empty gun as a club, the black leaped upon Deputes Kay and O'Neill, knocking tho former down and leaping over his prostrato body. Both the officers had drawn their revolvers as soon as they saw Norfleet appear with the gun. As Norfleet passed over the form of Kay, O'Neill fired at him with his revolver, hut Ills aim was poor. Deputy Kay began 11 ring before ha had regained his feet and both officers continued to pour bullets after the fugitive, who was disappearing in the darkness. Aften ten revolver shots had been fired at him, Norfleet fell to the ground, pierced by 4 U t --11 - A _ * iiireo uuiieis, (lying witnin a row minutes. 1)1101) ON THE TRAIN. While on Her Way to Visit Her Parents in Hraiilhville. The Augusta Chronicle says Mrs. Julia Jones died very suddenly on Thursday morning of heart failure 011 the Southern train just as it was pulling out of the Union station, at 7..10 o'clock, llor husband, Mr. W. K. Jones and her little daughter were with her at the time, and she was carried as far as the City Hospital 011 the outgoing train; hut nothing could be done for her, aa death was instantaneous. She had been in ill health for several months, and it is thought that the rush and excitement of catching the early mornng train was too much for her. She, her husband, and little girl had started 011 a visit to Mrs. Jones' mother and father in Rranchvllle; and the body was sent 011 to that place Thursday afternoon?the same ticket that had been purchased by the daughter earlier in the day carrying her dead body to her sorrowing parents. She was 23 years old, and besides her mother and father, leaves her husband and daughter. KILLED 11V UNKNOWN PARTY While Searching for His Wife Man , Is Shot from Ambush. 1 A dispatch from Adrian, Cla., says John Swain was niiofi .? a iiuioua/ night by an unknown person near the t house of W. 10. Moore. Swain and . his wife had asperated. Swain, sup> posing that a man by the name of f llutcherson was in company with r her, went to Moore's home searching - for the couple, and finding llutcher. son, severely beat him, and as Hut* cherson ran, fired four shots at him. . Swain then returned to the house 1 in search of his wife and was shot 1 down from out of the darkness by nn ! unknown person. The coroner's in^ quest failed to reveal anything def1 inite as to the guilty person. t ? ? They Deserve Death. i At Kurac, Russia, a timber mer chant named Levkin and two peasants were condemned to death by e the military court for arson, commitr ted merely to make a market for < Levkin's building timber. Levkln'a l terms were $1 for every house fired. - The peasants had applied the torch f to about ten houses tilled with sleeping peasants. i- from his position that there wa? a absolutely nothing in the decision s which tho president had referred to, s which In any way warrancad Ji* o abrogation of the cooperative agre?-> f niont by Secretary Hallinger. He doi clared in fact that a previous opinion it' aneclflcnl'v held that the agreement, kv was lawful. , j j sar SALD m .