The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, March 30, 1911, Image 6
WANTSLIGHT
Cel. Felder Celt Get. Bleat I* Tern
Mere Light
HE RETURNS THE CHARGE
Felder Says That When Blcase Has
Explaiood His Course in Senate
and Rxecutive OfHce There Will be j
Some Further Queries As to Ills
Conduct.
The State has permission to print
the following letter from Thomas B.
Felder of Atlanta to the Charleston
News and Courier, the same being
called forth by an Inquiry from the
Charleston paper whether Felder had
offered To will immunity from prosecution
for $5,000. The Atlanta lawyer
takes the occasion to propound a
number of questions to Gov. Blease:
Charleston News and Courier,
Charleston, S. C.
Dear Sirs: I received last night
the following T. D.:
"Reported you offered Towill immunity
from prosecution for $5,000.
please wire reply:
"News and Courier."
To which I replied: "Statement
that I offered Towill or anybody else
Immunity from prosecution for
00 or any other prosecution for
$5,000 or any other amount, a base
nninitierated lie."
I beg to confirm thiB answer and
to say that the next report, I take it,
will be to the effect tha tTowill declined
my offer on "advice of counsel,"
the advice coming from the general
counsel of the plunderbund, Cole
L. Blease.
On yesterday I mailed a communication
to you for reproduction in the:
columns of your paper. As I recall,!
I stated in the article that I wum?. !
not further trespass upon your space
until after the lapse of 3 0 days. Upon
reflection, I feel that I should withdraw
this proposition, so that I may
give to the people of South Carolina
through the columns of your paper
some reasons why "His Fraudulen
cy," Cole L. Blease, 6hould approve
the joint resolution creating a committee
to investigate the conduct of
the late winding-up commission and
the agents and attorneys thereof, together
with the conduct of all other
persons who have had relatione with
the winding up commission of the
late South Carolina dispensary.
The people of the State are entitled
to know all the facts and the oni>
possible way for them to acquire this
knowledge is through the medium of
this investigating committee, out
fearing that the governor might object
to the investigating committee
turning the searchlight upon the conduct
of Attorney Blease, and that this
consideration might impel him to veto
the joint resolution, by way 01 emulation
of his example in having recourse
to the public prints, as the
proper means for ventilating these
matters, I wish to propound to him a
few questions which, if they should
fall to impress him as being pertinent
and relevant, win aouDueas uttve a
contrary effect upon the public mind.
They are as follows:
The Questions.
1. During your incumbency as a
State senator, please tell the people
of South Carolina what vote you cast
against and on what occasion you
spoke in opposition to any measure
pending in that body, aimed at the
regulation or abolishment of the old
State dispensary as an institution, or
inimical to the interests of those who
managed its affairs?
2. Why did you, as a senator, oppose
all measures pending, in that
body, having for their object and puipose
the investigation of the conduct
of the affairs of said institution and
the honestly of the management
thereof?
3. Why did you, as a member of
the committee, created by joint reso
lution, charged with tno tuny or investigating
the affairs of the said institution
and the conduct of the officials
thereof, use every artful means
and cunning device to stifle the investigation
and thwart the objects thereof.
4. Why did you, pending the sessions
of the aforesaid committee,
meet daily and niehtly during the recesses
of said committee with the dispensary
officials, whose conduct was
under investigation, and discuss with
them and their friends who attended
said caucuses ways and means for securing
for them a whitewash? Is it
not true that said caucuses were attended
by divers liquor dealers, who
participated in your deliberations;
that at said caucuses the course to be
pursued by you as senator was agreed
unon and followed by you to the letter?
Senator for tSrnfters?
5. Is It not a fact that when the
resolution was pending carrying ai.
appropriation of $15,000 to be used
by the attorney general in the prosecution
of grafters, you opposed the
passage of the same by your vote and
Influence; that In your opposition you
spoke frequently against it and resorted
to every parliamentary device
to compass the defeat of the same?
If you should answer this question in
the affirmative, then I would ask II
&?* the course you pursued in relation
V--BL thereto was not the result of an
agreement that you made with tlie
representatives of certain liquor
houses, who were on the ground resisting
In every way possible the
passage of said resolution? Did you
not receive adequate compensation
for your efforts in this behalf?
6. Is it not rue that between tne
date of your election to the governorship
and the date of your message in
which you recommended the raisins
of the joint committee you had several
caucuses with your criminal associates
whom you were under obligation
to protect, when and where a
conspiracy was hatched to thwart the
efforts making for the punishment of
your clients who had plundered the
State, and is it not true that in order
to effectuate the object of this conspiracy
it was agreed that you should
do certain things, which you have
since done? Coming from generalities
to specifics, I will enumerate
them:
To Control tlio Bench?
(a) Did you not agree that no special
judge should be appointed to pie
side over any of the courts of the
State where the grafters were under
indictment except of your own selection;
that you could afford to take
no chance of getting another judge to
try your clients like the one who
presided in Chester?
(b) Did you not agree, In these
caucuses, to pardon any citizen of
South Carolina who might be convicted
under pending or future indictments,
and that you would issue no
requisitions for foreigners?
(c) That you would dismiss the
winding-up commission so that they
could not, under authority reposed in
that body by the act creating it, continue
their investigations, and in dismissing
these commissioners were
you or not influenced by the rurtno
consideration that they had issued a
subpoena for one of your political
lieutenants in the State; that he had
ignored the same and they had issued
a rule nisi requiring him to show
^ause why he should not be attached
for contempt?
(d) In these several caucuses,
when the difficulty in obtaining the
approval of the prison commission of
your State to the course to be pursued
was under discussion, did you
not advise your confederates that you
had at hand the means for overcoming
this difficulty, to-wit: ignoring
the prison commission?
<>n Horseback.
(e) Did you, or any of those wno
were in caucus with you, suggest that
on the theory that "the end justified
the means," in effectuating the object
of this conspiracy, you could
with safety resort to any means, from
character assassination to personal
assassination; that after so long a
time you "had the whip handle," or
were "in the saddle," or some phrase
of similar or substantial import?
7. What compensation did you re>
ceive from the liquor dealers and
what "rake off" did you get from the
dispensary officials when you were
"senator at law?"
The Campaign Fund.
8. While perhaps not so pertinent,
I consider the following relevant:
What campaign fund did you have at
I your command when you were a candidate
for governor? How mucn wab
raised before the first primary and
how much between the first and second
primaries? What liquor houses
or dealers, corporations or the agents
of corporations, contributed this
money? If you should answer
(which I do not think you will, because
it is the truth) that very large
sums of money were raised, kindly
state whether or not it was used to
debauch the electorate of your state.
In conclusion: You honored the
State of Georgia recently by paying
her an official visit. What ex-dispen
sary officials and liquor dealers entertained
you in the city of Atlanta
and in the city of Augusta? What
conferences, if any, did you have with
then) with reference to your future
official conduct?
Lastly, why don't you approve that
joint resolution that you demanded?
I understand that you say that the
senators appointed on the part of the
senate as members of the committee
are not satisfactory to you. Would
you be willing to approve that resolution
if the names of all the 3e??n
tors and all the members of the house
should be put into a hat or box and
shaken up and the names for membership
on the committee be drawn
* t
L llt'I \Z I I \J ill .
When you have answered the above
and foregoing, I have a few more
questions to submit for your consideration.
Yours very truly,
T. B. Folder.
IJofused to Make Statement.
TT. H. Evans of Newberry, former
chairman of the old State dispensary
board, was in Columbia yesterday,
but refused to make any comment on
the Felder-Blease controversy. at
said that later he might have another
statement to give out.
Further Experiments.
The further experiments to be
, made with the ship will be confined
to attacks on the armor belt and turrets.
No effort will be made to raise
. the San Marcos. It would cost sev,,
r? a r>rw1 I )ir\ lie fin/l /IrOlnrK to float
) CI 14 1 II u mi i v v? viivuuuini m vw ?
I the Blilp and restore her to her original
condition and she is not worth It.
Firemen Are Killed.
Four firemen are dead, two others
i are' dying and several suffering from
' injuries, the result of the collapse of
i the roof of the Middleton Manufacturing
Company building at Milwaui
kee, Friday.
WRONG RIGHTED
Aa Old Veteraa's Petitioa Tamed Otwa
aad Brandid as False.
WANTS HIS PENSION
-
A. S. Salley, Jr., State Historian,
Writes an Article in Which lie
Cites His Unbounded Faith in the
'
Honor of the Gallant Old Confederate
Soldiers.
Confederate veterans ought to be
chary indeed about disputing claims
J - ? ? ^ ?1 rv r, V?tf oth Arc ty\ r\ rn
IllHGt? IUF |H?U0IU110 ,UJ viuui Of iuv/1 V
especially when their only reliance
for such action is upon their memories,
after the lapse of nearly half
a century. So thinks Secretary A.
S. Salley, Jr., of the State historical
commission, who cites a recent nstance
where the State board of pen
sions, guided wholly by the personal
recollections of a member, disapproved
an application for a pension,
when examination of the records
showed the applicant to have made
a statement entirely truthful, even to
have undervalued hie own military
service; for he did not mention in
his papers the fact that he was captured
and kept for several months In
a Federal military prison.
The applicant was Private J. W.
Crook, now living near St. George,
who claimed that he served in Company
II, 11th South Carolina Volunteers.
After his application had been
disapproved, a member of the boaid
who served in the 11th regiment having
declared he remembered no such
man in that command, Mr. Salley
wrote to Washington for information
and was advised that such a
person had been a member of the
company and regiment as stated in
o nnltpn t Inn I
tliV lipj'livv* v?w??.
In reference to the pension controversy,
the following signed article
has been given the press by Mr. A. S.
Salley, Jr.:
As the Confederate records of this
State are in my custody as secretary !
of the historical commission of South
Carolina, and as I am engaged in
working them into shape for practical
use, I feel that I should have
something to say in the matter of the J
controversy now going on in the i
newspapers over the condition of the
pension rolls. It has been alleged
that there are men drawing pensions
who did not render service in the [
commands which they claim on their j
pension papers to have served in. In
every case officers or men who are
known to have served in those com- |
mands swear that the applicant did
so serve. Therefore, if the claim is
false the applicants have perjured
themselves. I do not believe thai
such is the case. No evidence but j
the memory of individuals sustains
the charge. I have been engaged in |
historical study now for over twenty 1
years and for over 1 2 years historical
work has been my chief business occupation.
My experience teaches me
that the memory of man is a very
treacherous thing and that the human
mind rebels at accuracy. An
old soldier can not possibly remember
a man as being in his own company
if that man was not in that company,
but if the man was in the company
and one of his former comrades does'
remember him then that feat of memory
is a much more reasonable feat
of memory that that of the man who
does not remember any such comrade,
yet is willing to assert that no
such man was in his company or regiment.
I have just done a little in-,
vestigating on a case that came to
my attention when the pension board
met last week and the result of it is
an excellent illustration of the frailty
of the human recollection of such
matters. A member of the pension 1
board for whom I have a strong personal
liking came into my oilice with j
an application for a pension from J. J
W. Crook of Dorchester county, and
said to me: "Now, here 1r a man
from Dorchester county who says he
was a member of Company II, Eleventh
regiment, and I will swear that
there was no such man in that company,
for I was a member of that regiment
and I don't remember any such
man. Let's look on your rolls and
see if his name is there." I replied:
"My friend, these rolls were compiled
from memory after the war by
survivors of the various commands,
and the people who handled them
before I took charge of them were
untrained in such work and they are
not to be relied upon." We looked
on the roll of Company IT, Eleventh
regiment, and, sure enough, Mr.
Crook's name was not there. That
convinced my friend of the pension
board that Mr Crook's claim was
false, but it did not convince me. f
pointed out the fact that two men
whose names were on the roll in my
ofllce had sworn that Mr. Crook bad
served in their company, but it seem*
that their sworn statements would
not be received against the roll in my
ofllce, which was compiled from
memory some years after the war
and in which both the elements 01
clerical and typographical errors arc
,,n,wi n? the annlication if
I U i?V i v;vuvnv??f ??M m
i marked: "Disapproved. Can't fine
name In historian's office." here I;
' a special act on our statutes wh'.ef
gives me tho authority to enter upor
the roll of any company In my ofllc<
the name of any man when two oth
era known to have been of that company
make affidavits that such man
was in their company. Therefore, if
I want it understood, was not sufficient
proof to me that Mr. Crook's
claim was false and I wrote the following
letter to the adjutant general,
war department, Washington,
who is the custodian of the Confederate
records captured in Richmond
and who has for years been engaged
in making those records available for
use:
"I have the honor to respectfully
request information as to whether or
not the name of J. W. Crook appears
among the records of Company H, |
Eleventh regiment, South Carolina
Volunteers, Provisional Army of the
Confederate States, In your custody.
This man is now drawing a pension
from this State, said pension being j
based upon affidavits from two men
known to have been of the above
named company, but it is claimed
that the pension is obtained fraudulently.
Our records here are far
from complete and I do not thins
such a charge should be sustained
upon the showing made by them. A
reply will be appreciated."
To this the adjutant general replied
March 17, indorsing the following
on the back of my letter:
"The records show that J. W.
Crook, private, Company H, Eleventn
South Carolina infantry, Confederate
States army, enlisted June 11, 18 63,
at Coosawhatchie; that he was captured
near Town Creek February 20,
1865, and that he was released at
Point Lookout, Maryland, June 26,
1865, on taking the oath of allegiance."
Upon comparing that record with
that given on the application for pension
I found that Mr. Crook sta'ed
that he had enlisted at Coosawhalcliie,
but he failed to make as good
a show for himself as the ofllcial records
in Washington made for hiin.
I suppose, like all of the poor old heroes,
his memory is bad, or he did
not regard details as essential. These
exhibits show that an injustice has
been done Mr. Crock and the two old
soldiers who swore to his service#
and in almost every case where some
man tries to put negative evidence
dependable upon his recollection of
something that happened over forty
years ago against positive evidence,
even though the latter be dependent
the two men who swore to Mr.
'o morvrrl V* o rl m O rlo MlPI V Qffl
V I UUIV O 1 ULV/J u nuvi juuuv vii vm i uaa<
davits for me I would have entered
Mr. Crook's name on my roll ana
then the pension board would have
found it there and would not have
had that ground for disapproving. I
said that the absence of Mr. Crook's
name from the compilation in my office,
which I did not make myself,
upon recollections extending back to
the same time, the same sort of injustice
will be done, or gross historical
mistakes and myths will be
perpetuated.
From the examples I have seen 01
records obtained from the Confederate
papers captured in Richmonu
and now in Washington I am satisfied
that a pretty near complete set
of records were captured, and all
such questions as have been ralseu
recently in regard to the truth or
falsity of the claims of certain pensioners
can be settled therefrom witn
reasonable certainty, and I submit
that it is unjust to the gallant old
soldiers or tnis ?taie 10 reject ineir
claims on the negative recollections
of other old soldiers when the ui
ficial records are extant to settle
such questions. The old fellows had
hardships enough during the four
years of terrible war to immune them
now in their old age. I don't believe
that there are many men in
South Carolina old enough to have
been in the war who would engage In
fraud for the pitifully small sum given
as a pension, and I believe tha?
the number of bona fide Confederate j
soldiers who would swear te a lie id
aid some one else to perpetrate a
from charges of perjury and fraud
I fraud is smaller than one of those
pensions. A. S. Salley, Jr.
Columbia, S. C., March 21, 1911.
? +> ?
GIRL KILLED 11V MULE TEAM.
Took Fright From an Engine and
Han Away in Columbia.
The State says struck by a runaway
team Wednesday in the western
section of Columbia, Annie May Harris,
a negro girl, 12 years of age, was
killed. Jule Robinson, a negro driver
for the Palmetto Fertilizer com.
pany, loft a two-horse team steading
, in front of the fertilizer mills in
!charge of his son, Moses Robinson.
.The animals became frightened at a
passing railway engine and ran
'away. The girl was in the road and
. the team ran over her, breaking her
!neck. The negroes were taken to the
.police station, but Tuesday night the
j desk sergeant declared that they were
not locked up. This probably means
their release, as it was brought out
that the boy tried to stop the team
and was not to blame, according tc
Coroner Walker.
1 - - |
j Postofllce Dynamiters.
, 1 Bloodhounds from I.ancnster wert
early taken to Gahanna, Ohio, Tues
i day morning to attempt to trace th<
? tlve robbers who early Tuesday dyna
, mited the postofllce safe and securec
j a small amount of money and seven
, ty-five dollars' worth of stamps. N'<
j trace of blood was seen Tuesday fol
j lowing the battle with a posse of cit
> izens during which it was though
_ one of the robbers was wounded.
BANK OF
Conwa
Has largest capital and surplus of i
than the combined capital and surf
CAPITAL STOCK. . ..
SURPLUS
LIABILITIES OF STOCI
SECURITY OF DEPOSIT
DIREI
Robert B. Scarborough,
EL L. Buck,
George J. Holiday,
We offer our customers every acc
will justify, and we
ftobebt b. scarborough, I
President.
We continue to pay 5 p<
SFIRST NATH
4 OONWi/
? CAPITAL STOCK
SURPLUS PROFITS
? TOTAL ASSESTS
iAk
jjf DIRKC
J. A. McDermott, John <
Ml B. G. Collins, H. L. 1
jh M. Burroughs, C. P. Qu
Successor to the Bank o:
it Horry County, and a pioneer
W ly allied with the recent de\
% Republic. Backed by the
ilk United States Bonds, we are i
W tomerg any reasonable accomj
jk H. A. HPIVKY,
f Cashier.
PROFESSIONAL CARDS.
i
k
' H. H. WOODWARD
attorney and Councilor At Lai
CONWAY, S. C.
K. B. SCAR It ROUGH
CONWAY, 8. C.
Attorney at Law.
fit. H. BURROUGHS
Physician and Bsrgeoa.
CONWAY, 8. O.
B. WOFFORD WAIT.
Attorney at L*/.
Bank of Horry Building.
CONWAY, 8. C.
WE WORLDS GREATEST SEWING MACHINE
k hUGHT RUNNING, ^
Mluu want either a Vibrating Shuttle, Rotagg
Shuttle or a Hingle Thread [ChainJSlUcA\
Sewing Machine write to
Ml SEW HOME SEWINI MACHINE COMPASV
Orange* Mass.
tflSar eewfn* machines are made to sell repmllmd
galit|(but the New Home U made to wosa
Oar ruaranty never runs out.
(MM If authorised dealers eaQpWj
SOS SALSSW
BURROUGHS & COLLINS COM
CJonway, 8. O.
ii ? *- .
I
Koht>c<l Mrs. Bryan.
i Mrs. William Jennings Bryan wa
robbed at. the Majectls Theatre Nev
i York of a handsome seal hand bag
containing $75 and valuable souve
nirs collected by her and her hus
band in their recent travels, last Sat
urtday afternoon. Mrs. Stephen 13
j Ayres, wife of the Congressman
. whose guests Mr. and Mrs. Brya:
} were in the Bronx, made the fac
. public.
1
Might Alarm Him, However.
> No, Constant Reader, the order
- Just issued from tho war depart men
- were not sent out for tho sole pui
t pose of reassuring Congressman Hot
son.
' llorry, I
y. S, C. I
iny bank in Horry county. More k I
Jus of all other banks in the county. I
$60,000 I
12,500 1
CHOLDBR8 .... 60,000
rORS 112,600
:iors J
D. V. Richardson. i
W. A. Johnson. , g
Will A. Freeman. / 1
ommodation which their account!^ I
solicit your business. ^ I
a wu a ^ n
). v. kichakdsuin, W1JUL, m.
Vice Pbesidkht. Cashiba
it cent, on yearly deposits.
>*????**????
DNAL BANK|^
ly, s. c. ?
125,000.00 ^
2,500.00 ?
125,000.00 JK
tors: jr
3. Spivey, D. T. McNeill,
luck, W. R. Lewie, D. SL
attlebaum, D. a. Spivey. ^
f Conway, the oldest Bank In
In Eastern Carolina. Close- 5:
'elopraent of the Independent
Government and secured by
prepared to extend to our cus- 2K
tnodationB. W
b. ?. collins, ^
President. 9
GOV. H IjE ASK VS. < OL. FELDEIt?
The Governor Says lie Has Nerve
"My Dear Hub" letters.
If Governor Cole Tj. Blease knows.
;ik much about the alleged evil-doingsof
Col. Tlios. n. Felder as has been
intimated, and if Col. Felder knows
as much of the governor's alleged
rookedness as newspaper readers are
led to infer from his published letters,
there will he merry times
throughout the entire summer. Governor
Blease says he has more of the
"My Dear Hub" letters, and Col. Felder
promises to write a history of the
old state dispensary and some of
those connected with It. Col. Felder
will not do this if Governor Blease
signs the resolution to investigate themembers
of the dispensary winding
up commission, but the resolution
HoH r?nt i?#?pn Rierned this afternoon,.
and there is little likelihood of its receiving
the ofhcial signature of Mr.
niease. Col. Felder promises to om't
none of the details in his story, and
it is quite likely that the alleged dealings
of the "chief of the plunderund"
will be laid hare. Col. Felder s.
style is so easy and his expression so
clear and forceful that everybody in
South Carolina will read his story.
Worse writers than Col. Felder have
sold their stuff for money. It is tobe
hoped that the public will be given
more of this kind of reading.
TKAIN SAVKl) BV BOY.
?.
Young Wrecker Itepeiited in Time to
/
Prevent Terrible Wreck. ^
Eleventh-hour repentance by a boy
averted a wreck of an express train
hound from Kansas City to Chicago,
at a tretle near Holt, Mo., this weekFioscoe
Townsend, the hoy who did
not repent, was so furious when his
chum, Walter Carpenter, appeared
with the posse that, instead of surrendering
when called on to do so, he
showed fight.
"Sure, I meant to wreck the train,"
lie said, pointing significantly at a
big iron crowbar and chains that had ' .
been used to fasten it to tho tracks. V
"A lot of passengers would have been
killed, and then I intended to rob* 1
the ones who were dead in the Pullmans.
They would have had the most
money."
He was taken to Holt and locked
lip. Carpenter, as a reward for his
action in saving the train, was released.
Hoth aro the sons of farmers.
When the posse reached the'
trestle young Townsend had Just fas
' * A - A.% X 1 ...UU
jterea me crow.oar 10 mo iracKs wuu ?
chains. Those who saw the way the- *
work had been done say the obstruction
certainly would have sent the
train into the ravine.
Caught by a Train.
b Early Mack, colored, was run over
v and killed by a train at Mayesville
on Saturday night. Mack tried to
- pass between cars of the train, when
tho train moved, catching him,
mashed the life out of him. He was
t. discovered shortly after being
i, missed, and the cars being moved to
n release him, he fell out dead.
Maiden of 70 Sues Bachelor of 74.
Ola Osmund, a bachelor of 74, I?
cited to tell a jury in Minneapolis,,
s Minn., why he refused to marry Miss
t Anna Olson, aged 70, following a
- complaint which she has filed against
>- him. She seeks damages in the sum
of $5,000.