Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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yy > ' COES SCOT FREE Cnaw Write Par Jut Wish Hitler, * a Ftraer ClicM if Hit WHO HAD KILLED A HAN ? Slayer of Elbert Gopeland Relieved of Serving Eight-Year Sentence in Penitentiary by Act of Governor Who, as Attorney, Represented Him in the Courts. A special from Columbia to The News and Courier says: "Governor Rlease has pardoned G. Washington Hunter, the Laurens County man, who has been under parole for the last several months. Hunter, who is generally known as "Wash" Hunter, was convicted of the killing of Elbert Copeland, at Clinton, and sentenced to eight years in the State penitentiary. The case went to the Supreme Court of the United States after having gone through the Courts of this State. Hunter lost his appeal to the United States Court last fall and shortly after Governor Blease came Into office he was paroled until July the first. Covernoor Blease prior to his elecj tlon as Governor, was one of the law' yers who represented Hunter as counsel, and F. H. Dominlck, Esq., of Newberry, who was Bloase's law partner and campaign manager, Is one of Hunter's attorneys now. "Wash" Hunter is brother-in-law of "Hub" Evans, of Newberry. Hunter was tried at the February term of Court, 1906, and being convicted of manslaughter, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. There was a change of venue in this oaso from Laurens County to Greenwood. Four times Hunter was tried in Laurens county, there being one conviction. the verdict of the Jury being <set asido. Then there was a change of venue granted. It was taken to the Supreme Court and the Circuit j Judge was sustained. Then came ~ the trial at Greenwood, with the re^ suit that the conviction and sentence was secured. Then up through, the .State Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court the case went. The Hunter case was one o-f the most noted in the history of criminal cases in South Carolina. There were over 700 names signed to the petitions for pardon. Among the signatures were several of the Jurors who served when the case was tried in Laurens. J The postmaster of Clinton signed and among other signers were some from Abbeville County. Senator J. H. Wharton, of Laurens, signed the j petition; also Col. Thomas B. Crews, a (late); Representative David II. Ma?4 " 1"Tre\ nnmhop nf others. K' I JIIIU U I'ai fiv uuu? V. Governor Blease stated that he was k moved in this case by the Supreme Court's reversal in the Laurens case, I this case reversing the Hunter case; i that if the Hunter case had the adJ vantage of a previous decision in the Lazarus case, it would have been de^ cided differently. Governor Blease indicated that he would, later, at the proper time, amplify his statement in the Hunter ease as to reasons for pardon. ("Wash' Hunter was paroled on February 20th by Governor Blease. At the time it was stated that it was desired to make a motion for a new trial. On the same date the Supreme Court ordered a stay of remittitur The pardon papers were made out for "Wash' Hunter and he, therefore, goes free. MAN LORD AND MASTER. Wife Has Nothing to Say Holds a " y Massachusetts Judge. These precepts for the guidance of wives and husbands in cases of difference over household economy were laid down by Judge Chas. L. Long of Springfield, Mass., Friday in the i separate support case brought by Mrs. Kdith S. Marsh against Henry D. ( 'Marsh, assistant treasurer of the Five Cent Savings Bank: "To begin with, the husband is absolute lord and master of the ex? u 'Vrtu Af? II t'UOquvi. "Under the law he Is entitled to his meals at any hour he wants them. "He may select such food as he chooses. If ho wants one food and his wife another, the husband's decision goes. "A servant girl to whom the husband object must be discharged. "Finally, man, who pays the bills, and not woman, is boss." Judge Long advised the Marshes to patch up their differences. Mr. Marsh left the courtroom wreathed in smiles. Mrs. Marsh did not inf dorse the Court's opinions, and said so very plainly. Fatal Automobile Accident. One man, still unidentified, was ; hilled and Edward Ward and Charles Irwin, of Pittsburg, Pa., were fatally hurt In an automobile accident near Braddock, Pa., sometime during Friday night. The dead body and the two unconscious men were found by ; the roadside early next morning. HOLD UP FAST TRAIN MALL AND EXPRESS CARS RIFLED BY BANDITS. The Mull Cleric and the Conductor Were Injured by Being Shot by the Band of Robbers A fast mail and passenger train on the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad was held up Friday night, five miles from Erie, Pa., by a band of a dozen masked men. The mail and express cars were rifled and two of the crew C. H. Blockof Erie, mall clerk and H. D. Rooney, of Erie, conductor, were injured. Block was shot In the right side and taken to tne hospital In a dying condition . Itconey received serious Injuries wlun lie wan hit with a store f lown b. reio of t'-e robbers. The train wis due in Erie at 10:10 o'clock Friday night. A few minutes before ten o'clock wnen the train was making a largo curve, the engineer saw an obstruction ahead.' He applied the brakes but couid not i stop the train before the engine crashed into the ties and telephone polos placed across the track. When the train hit the obstruction it was believed by the pasengers that there had been -a collision with another train. The next moment how So nm n\r r?f r?vr?lvAI*H flC.nuaint U ? Ol J til V 1 >. vr ? v . -V. w a ed them with the real cause of the train's stop. As the train came to a standstill the passengers alighted to learn the trouble. Their presence i drew the fire of the band and they hastened back to the cars. An unknown passenger caught hold of one of the robbers and was picked up bodily and thrown over a 300-foot embankment. His condition is serious. Almost before the train had struck the obstruction, the masked men hart taken up their position at practically every entrance to the cars. When the pasengers began pouring from the cars there were a few gruff words from the men to get back ftiside. When a number of the excited passengers failed to take this advice, the bandits opened fire. They shot along the sides of the cars, level with the windows and this effectively put an end to the curiosity of the passengers. Within the cars there was a panic. A number of women fainted while the screams of others caused much confusion. The train reached Erie about midnight. The pasengers were badly frightened and could not give a connected story of what had occurred. According to the opinion here, it waa not a train that experts could be expected to attack. It is believed the bandits were foreigners. Within a few moments after word of the hold-up was received at Erie every officer of the city was called into action. Many of them boarded a special train for the scene, while others were taken there in automobiles and other conveyances. Late Friday night the surrounding country was filled with men and lanterns, searching for the men and contents of mail bags and valuable packages taken from the train. Albert Carey, engineer, by making a quick stop of the train, probably prevented a serious disaster. Railroad men say that had the train struck the obstruction with more force it would have thrown the en tire train in the ditch. * . WOMAN RAN AMUCK. Kills Three Children and Ended Her Own Life by Hanging. Crazed by heat, Mrs. Maud McCrary, of I,os Angeles, Cal., killed her three small children and ended her own life in a vacant house at Lockney, Texas, Friday. This became known Saturday when a searching party scoured the countryside for the woman and children, thinking they had become lost, found the bodies of the children in weeds near the vacant house and the body of the mother hanging to an unused wind mill at the rear. Mrs. McCrary was In Texas on a visit to her mother. - - ^ - A A. ~ t Friday Mrs. Mcurary went out ui her mother's house unobserved and with the children, sought seclusion in the deserted house, some distance from Mrs. Hamilton's residence. The house is a two-story structure. Apparently, Mrs. McCreary took the children one at a time into seperate rooms upstairs where she cut their throats with broken glass taken from windows and tossed the bodies into weeds outside. The children's ages were three years, five years and three months, respectively. The woman left a note stating that no one was to blame except herself, but the wording caused the belief that she was temporarily insane from the excessive heat which prevailed during the last few days. * Man in Grave Didn't Care. The Altruist Society of Montclair, N. J., had a picnic there Thursday for some children from the New York east side. It was held adjacent to a cemetery, and the little ones were warned not to enter the burying ground or pick flowers. One of the laborers, however, was astonished tc see <a little girl with an armful of roses. On being questioned, she an? swered, "I got them off Mr. Blank, and he's dead and don't care a bit." 4 LAID TO REST Martial Rite* far CeiMeratr Prisearr* t War at the Nwtk DIED IN TRAIN WRECK The Remains or geventy-xwo ?ouinern Soldiers, Victims of a Railroad Disaster at the North During the War Removed to the New York Cemetery A dispatch from Lackawaxen, Pa., says a wartime disaster, the terrible Shohola wreck in July, 1864, in which more than 100 Confederate prisoners and their Union guards were killed, has been recalled by the removal of the remains of the victims of the wreck to Woodlawn cemetery, New York, where they have been reinterrnd with military honors. The work has just been completed under the supervision of Capt. Fenton, Second United States Cavalry, and aide-de-camp to Gen. Frederick D. Grant. It was done under an act of coagTess whijcjh authorized the government to have all Confederate and Union soldiers killed during the civil war removed to national cemeteries. It took three days to complete the work of exhumation, place the remains in boxes and ship them to New York. This was done by a firm of Port Jervis undertakers. As near as they were able to estimate, 7 2 bodies were recovered from the trench on the Still farm at Shohola, on the banks of the Delaware river, ailthough the o/ffioial estimate at the time of the disaster gave the number of killed as 51 Confederates and 10 Union soldiers, many of whom died later, number 123. The trench in which the dead were buried 7 6 feet was long, 8 feet wide and 6 feet deep, and as it was close to the river, there have been reports that some of the dead were washed away during spring freshers but this is denied. Some relics were found during the exhumation, among which were two combs, the heel plate of a shoe, a daugerreotype picture and part or the frame and glass, a pipe, a po-cketbook, razor, inkwell, a bugle, the ornament from a soldier's cap, a gold pin and many other trickets. There was nothing, however, by which any of the dead could be identified. The wreck victims were a part of a shipment of 10,000 Confederate prisoners from Point Lookout, Va., to Elmira, N. Y., where a prison camp had just been made ready to receive them. The Erie Railroad train on which they were being conveyed from Jersey City to Elmira contained onft piinrrlffi bv ni'l/UI. ? ?V V^UtllV/UVl ?V?.| Q about 125 Union soldiers. It was made up of emigrant cars, box and cattle and all sorts of odds and ends that could be scraped together In the railroad yards. The guards with loaded muskets, were stationed on the platforms at the ends of each car. The train had lefts Jersey City about 5 o'clock in the morning and passed through the little Delaware valley hamlet of Shohola early in the afternoon, moving at the rate of 25 miles an hour. About a mile west of Shohola there was an awful crash, followed by shrieks, groans and wails of anguish. A collision with a heavy coal train going east on the same Single track occurred on a curve In a deep cue Vnown locally as Kin* Fuller's cut. r.o.h locomotives reared straight up in the air like grap ' * ? 1 A b ^ /v faof pun.? glHIILB, lilt; uuc jaiiiuicu iuijv against the other. From the mass of tangled and splintered wreckage the bodies of the 75 or more prisoners and their guards who were killed outright were taken Many of the injured died l>efore nightfall and others lingered for a time in neighboring farm houses and other places nearby, where temporary hospitals were established. The fireman of the coal train was killed, but tlfe engineer escaped by jumping. The engineer of the prisoners' train was caught in the wreck of his locomotive, pinned against the boiler and slowly roasted to death. The survivors tried to rescue hln?, but the dying engineer warned them away because of the danger that the boiler might explode at any moment. The wreck was caused by the mistake of Duff Kent, a telegraph opertV.\maa <1riinlf while on dutv (IIV/I f ?? A A W ?? V?> M...? v at this place, four miles west of the scene of the disaster. It was before i the days of double tracks, semaphores or automatic signals, and ' when the coal train came down the H'omesdale branch from ITawley bound for New York the conductor asked the operator at Lackawaxen, where the branch joins the main line, if the track was clear, so that he might proceed east. Kent had been drinking all day , and all the night before. He told - him to go ahead, having forgotten in : his befuddled condition that he had , been notified that the extra train i bearing the Confederate prisoners ? was bound over the same track. > A corone.r's inquest was held at > Shohola and the verdict exonerated f every one from blame, although the criminal carelessness that had caused , the disaster was known to all. Kent ' was not molested, and the night oi CANT GET WATER GIVES EliECTRIC POWER COMPANY TROUBLE. And Cotton Mills Forced to Close Down on Account of Insufficient Electricity. Because of the low water in Broad river, occasioned by the drought, the Electric Power and Manufacturing Company, is navmg conBiuerauio trouble in developing sufficient power to serve all of its customers with power for manufacturing purposes, the power having recently been cut off at the Woodruff cotton mills and the Cowpens Manufacturing- company, Both of these cotton mills were closed down several days ago on account of lack of power. The vacation is being enjoyed by the operatives of both mills. Not in years has the water in Broad river been as low as it is at present and unless there are heavy rains over the water shed from whence Broad river derives its water, the stream will become lower still with the result that the street car service and lighting system may be crippled. All of the power that is now being developed at Gaston Shoals on Broad river is being used in furnishing power for lighting the towns and cities that purchase power from the company? Broad river is not the only stream in the Piedmont Carolina that has reached an exceedingly low stage on nn/.nnvil' nf 1l<l flfflllirht f O T* T1 P Jl t* 1 V (U/VUUML i/i mv/ ui uurj?<.| . overy stream in the up country is short of water. The city of Charlotte is on the verge of water famine because of the low stage of the water at the source of supply. The condition over there is said to be serious. Spartanburg's water supply has also suffered because of the low water in Chinquepin creek and it has been necessary for the last several weeks to pump water from Slioaley creek. In case there are no rains in the immediate future to relieve the situation the water commissioners will pump water from a point below Chinquepin creek in order to help out until clouds come to the relief of the city's water supply. The condition in Spartanburg is nothing like as serious as it is in Charlotte, for there is ample supply here for the present and for all purposes. I3.ilt in Charlotte the water commissioners have found it necessary to stop consumers from using water for sprinkling their lawns, flowers and gardens, the water being used for drinking purposes and cooking. kidded and injured. Roof Collapses Kntonibing Victims in Steel and Water. Ten men were crushed to death and seven others seriously injured at Buffalo, N. Y., Friday in the collapse of the roof and other portions of the Buffalo water department's new pumping station. The dead are bur-! led beneath hundreds of tons of steel, brick and mortar. | Most of the injured were at work on the roof, which was 300 feet long and 100 feet wide. About 200 feet of this suddenly fell in; from what cause has not .been determined. The fire and police departments rushed emergency apparatus to the scene, and the injured were quickly removed and sent to hospitals. It will be hours before those buried in the pumphouse can be reacnea. They were installing machinery in the pit fifty feet below the level or the first floor. One of the injured died in an ambulance and two died at hospitals. Others of the injured are not expected to live. * MONEY FOUND IN CEILING. Box With $000 in Currency end Gold Fulls to the Floor. Patrick Baker and family of Fredericksburg, Va., moved two days ago into an old frame house back of a larger residence, which was probably built 150 years ago. In repairing ait r. lrl rnnlnro In th#? SOCOnd StOl'V. tWO pieces of plank fell out of the ceiling and a big box dropped on the floor. Mrs. Baker found it contained $400 in gold coin and $.r?00 in currency. Owing to Its being so old, the currency was in very bad condition portions of it falling to pieces in handling. The house has a long history and no one can tell to whom the money belongs. Mrs. Baker rented the house and it Is not known whether the owner of the house will put in a claLm for the money. * To Form Great Society. Steps tlow*ard form jag a Young People's society of Baptists in all parts of the world. A committee of 25 leading ministers and the seminary loaders were appointed to complete the work of otganization. > the wreck he attended a ball at Hawi ley and danced until daylight, while the victims of his mistake lay dead : and dying. But the next day the neighborhood began to realize the i horror of the catastrophe. Kent [ heard the rising voice of public in: dignation and disappeared. He was * never heard of again. ENDS HIS LIFE Sad aid Pathetic Death ef a Teaacssee Bar Fae Fred Bis Heaw. A PITIABLE TRAGEDY Lad Who Runs Away From His Home and Comes to South Carolina Meets With Tragic Knd in Greenville County on last Saturday.?Attempt Made to Locate hoy's Parents. Roy Roach, a 17-year-old runaway lad, of Jefferson City, Tenn., was killed In a playful attempt at suicide, at Old Hundred, a settlement in Oakland Township, some 18 miles below Greenville County Court House, about three o'clock Saturday afternoon. The circumstances surrounding the tragedy are most pitiable. The lad came to Greenville some three months ago and sought employment on the farm of Arvin Boyce, near Old Hundred. He worked faithfully and gave every indication of being a trustworthy young fellow. Saturday afternoon he and a 13-yearold boy, Fred Austin, son of County Commissioner J. M. Austin, were in a room together in the house of J. Li. Pearson, a brother-in-law of the Austin lad. According to the testimony offered by young Austin at the coroner's inquest, tho two were preparing to go in swimming. Young Austin said, that, while he was dressing, Roy Roach picked up a breech-loading gun and asked Austin to watch him shoot himself. Austin said he told Roach to look out, for the gun might be loaded, whereupon the lad replied that he did not care. In an instant the Roach lad had fallen to tho floor, the right side of his throat being torn away by the discharge from the gun. Young Austin ran for help and soon returned to the house with several neighbors. Testimony offered at the inquest by - i _ 1. U. ? ^P 4 1./-. IIIOSO I1TSL I'tJitCll Hie S3v;c?io wi uic tragedy is somewhat puzzling. A single-barrelled gun with a discharged shell in it was found standing in a far corner of the room. Near the body, and leaning against the side of a bed, was a repeating shotgun, with loaded shells in it. Efforts have been made to locate the lad's people in Jefferson City, but so far no word has been received from anyone. A heartrending scene, and one that moved the jurors of the inquest to tears, was the reading of a letter found in the dead boy's pocket. The communication was from the boy's father and the burden of It was a prayer to the wandering boy to come home. "I look for you on every train, my boy," the letter ran. "Oh, when will you return home?" The last paragraph of the letter read: "Roy, No. 11 has just gone by and I had to stop writing and look out to see if you had gotten off. Come back, boy, and bring the old banjo." iThe body was carried to Greenville and embalmed. A purse of $50 was made lip by those who attended the inquest to defray the expenses of shipping the body home, in case the boy's parents can be found. * ? ? noi/r restores speech. Flash and Peal Frighten Woman and Give Power to Talk. A flash of lightning and a sharp peal of thunder in a storm Friday restored the power of speech to Miss Jessie B. Fishcel of New Orleans. She had been dumb two years. The failure of her voice followed a period of illness. Physicians and specialists from all over the country had diagnosed her trouble without result and only last Wednesday a physician declared in his opinion her case was hopeless and further treatment a needles expense. A sudden gasp and invuluntary exclamation by Miss Fischel followed the lightning flash and peal of thunder and to her surprise she discovered she could again talk. Her voice is normal. * liightning Kills Three. Three negroes, each at a ainereni place, within a radius of five miles of Summerton, were killed by lightning Friday afternoon. It is said that a fourth was also killed, but this can not ,be verified. Frasier Caldwell, was killed while asleep on his piazza, while Manning Keels was killed in a field while ploughing. The namo of the third party could not be ascertained. * ? Preyed on Her Mind. Brooding; because she failed to pass the final examination in the Anderson Street School, Miss Louise M. , Doty, aged 16, at Savannah, killed herself Saturday by asphyxiation. iThe body was found in the bath room of the Doty home by the girl's brother. o Thief Sails to Safety. At Sayne, Okla., a pickpocket, pursued by the town marshall, leaped into the basket of a balloon neat there Saturday, Just as the air craft was leaving the ground, and sailed away to safety. He is still at large.* TO COVER CRIME WOMAN SLAIN AND HER BODY PLACED ON TRACKS. But She Writhes Off Ralls in Death Agony, and Crime of Assailants la Revealed. Lying beside the Reading Railroad tracks about half-a-mile from Williamstown Junction, N. J., the .body of Mrs. Mary Green was found Friday morning. She had been murdered. The woman had fought off a most ferocious attack until she was made unconscious by strangulation. Her murderer had evidently laid the body on the tracks, expecting it would be ground to pieces and Ma crime hidden. But the County Prosecutor believes the woman In her death agony writhed her way off the tracks and foiled his plan. Coroner .haggard of Berlin, after an autopsy, declared the woman had undoubtedly been the victim of outrageous assault and had died in the defense of her honor. Her clothing had been torn to threads. Her face had been scratched and ground into the earth till it was a mass of bruises. There was a depression on her left temple as though she might have been struck by a blackjack or brass knuckles. A strange feature of the mystery is that her husband and their Infant child are missing from the Green home, which is on a farm about four miles west of Willlamstown Junction. Mrs. Green herself had left home about a week ago to visit friends in Philadelphia and the authorities had not been able to account for all her movements since then. She was about thirty years old, prepossessing, and bore an excellent character. The police have obtained the description of two men who were seen with a woman whose description coincides with that of Mrs. Green. They were observed about midnight near the junction. Persons there heard pistol shots about half past twelve. There were, however, no bullet marks on the woman's body. BACH MUST PAY $25. * South Carolina Corporations Failing to Make Reports in Time. Many South Carolina corporations failed to make their reports to the commissioner of internal revenue on the first day of March, and also failed to apply on or before that date for the extension of thirty days, which is allowed under the law, if formal application is filed with the Government. Corporations which made their reports on the 2d or 4th of March are equally culppblp, technically, with those which did not report until the 30 of March. The fine provided by the statute for such delinquency is from $1,000 to $5,000 for each offence, but the Secretary of the Treasury has decided that the law gives him authority to reduce the penalty and ho announces that he will impose a fine of $25 upon each of the corporations appearing to have violated the statute unintentially. ? ? DREAM CAUSES CONFESSIOX. Murderer Says Ills Mother's Ghost Told Him to Reveal All. Morris Kirkland, a prisoner in the County Jail, at Canon City, Col., sent for Sheriff Esser late'Saturday night and said ho had been impelled by a dream, in which the ghost of his dead mother counselled him to tell the truth concerning the killing of Domlnick Mangino, murdered between Portland and Concrete June 11. His story to the Sheriff implicated John Smith and Charles Bosley, now in jail, who have since confessed. Prior to the confession little was known of the crime. COTTON CONDITION. +. Average Date June 23 Shows Condition 85.0 Per Cent. From the replies of 2,081 special correspondents of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, of New York, of an averago date of June 23rd, the percentage condition of cotton is found to be 85.9, against S3.8 for the corresponding date in May, or an increase of 2.1 points. This compares with a condition of 80.1 a year ago, and 7 6.8 the year before, and a ten-year average of 81. Improvement showed itself in all States except Louisiana, wnicn iosi 0.7 point, and Florida, 6.6 points. North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee all gained about 6 points. Texas just held her its own, while Oklahoma gained 14 points. * ? ? Many Poisoned by Salad. Forty persons, who were guests at a wedding* at Plains, near Americus, Ga., Friday evening, spent most of Saturday in the throes of ptomaine poisoning, and though greatest alarm 1 was felt In regard to some of them, all are said to be out of danger now. ; A mixed salarfl course is said to have 1 been responsible for the wholesale 1 sickness. !