The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, March 06, 1913, Image 3

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M ^ \ T ' -V' ft* r-, 5. -*V. -V * * , ! FIND THEM TRUE * REPORT IS SUBMITTED ON OLD SOLDIERS HONE. i 9 CONDEMNS CONDITIONS Leglolativo Committee Declares Practicnlly All Charges Drought Against Management of Com fed or ate Infirmary at Columbia Have lleen Sustained by the Testimony. The legislative committee appointed to investigate the Confederate infirmary, or home, made its report Thursday to the general assembly. The report reviews the testimony taken at several sessions of the committee and culls attention la a number of changes it thinks should bo made in tiie administration oL 5tfi alNlaiis. The committee thinks there is lack of discipline at the institu N tion and condemns the practice of members of the commission electing themselves to sallaried positions, stating that this was never the intention of the act. The committee making the report consisted of Senators Hough, Epps and Crouch and Representatives James, Nelson and ' > Greer. The report is given below: Your committee, appointed under a concurrent resolution to investigate "certain reports concerning the management of the Confederate VerorInfl.mu cir " anil i ft roiinrf "till* I U110 ill ill lllC^i J , U11U \ vy * Vf|xw. V , w results of its investigation at this session of the general assembly, begs leave to submit the following: f? Three afternoons were spent in examining witnesses. A stenographer ^ , was found to bo necessary and A. M. Deal was employed to >,ake the testimony, which is herewith submitted, consisting of about 225 pages of typewritten matter, and th<3 same is made ^ t a part of this report. Among the witnsssBi examined rg, were Maj. H. W. Richar Ison, C'.ipt. J. P. Cladweli and I)r. Butler. We likewise took the testimony of a number of the inmates of the soliers' homo, as well as the testomony - of others. Among the complaints of charges * alleged were: (a) That there was drunkenness and profanity allowed on the part of a few of the inmates to the discom * fort of others. (b) Partiality in some respects in the treatment of the inmates. (c) Lack of proper discipline, sick. (e) Pad bread furnished, or brea.d mntfe from musty meal, for a short time last summer. (f) That the home, or some of the rooms, are allowed at times to get in a very filthy condition. Aside from these charges there were others of a petty nature and testimony was taken along the lines The results reached by your committee are as follows: (a) That the charge of drunkenness on the part of some of the inmates and unbecoming conduct resulting therefrom seems to be sua tallied by testimony, it appears tnat the pension money received by many of the inmates goes for whiskey (see) testimony of Maj. H. W. Richardson,1 pago 31). It also appears from his testimony (page 31) that the inmates "have no use for it (the pension money) except for what they consider luxuries," and that the "luxuries" alluded to aro "whiskey and a little tobacco." (b) As to the charge of partiality the testimony is conflicting, but Capt. J. P. Clad well, on pages 91, 9 2, 93, testifies that during last summer ho saw what he regarded as partiality used. (c) The testimony convinces tho committee that there is great room tor improvement in the matter of discipline, as well as in other matters, Myaj. Richardson in his testimony (seo page 37) says: "I will admit that we all have been too lax in discipline. 1 have been." The conclusion forces itself on the committee that IT the ouices or ireasurer auu cornmandant were bestowed upon one man?a man of executive ability and a strict disciplinarian?conditions generally would be improved and the saving of several hundred dollars per annum to the State would bo effected. Capt. Caldwell in his . testimony states that the $100 a month now paid to Maj. Richardson is "thrown away". (Pago 97 of testimony). Tie also says that Capt. Starling performed all the duties now supposed to he performed by himself and 'Maj. Richardson. The inference f- is that two men are being employed to do what one could do, and if, as stated, a man of good executive ability , were chosen, matters could bo improved and money saved to tho State. At present, judging from tho ' testimony, there does not seem to bo head to tho institution?such employee is rather a law unto himself. And in this connection we wish to out tho stamp of our disapproval \ipon tho practice of members of the commi' .ion electing themselves to or holdin , salaried positions. We are compelled to believe that this practice is not only contrary to the act creating the home, but is responsible In some measure for the troubles referred to in this report. It is not a good thing for an employer and emm. i f. SHE WANTS HEART BALM YOUNG WOMAN SUES FOR THE LOSS OF HER LOVER. . Blames the Telegraph Company, Which Faile<] to Deliver Telegram In Time, She Claims* At Charlotte Miss Anna DeMoss has entered suit against the Western Telegraph Company alleging that the negligence of the telegraph company in failing to deliver a message to her lover, one Joseph Flynn apprising him of the fact that she was en route to Charlotte "ready, willing and anxious to enter into the holy bonds of matrimony" as previously agreed upon, resulted in the breaking asunder of the aforesaid ties which in turn occasioned great mental anguish to wit $2,000. Extracts from the complaint are herewith reproduced: "That the defendant, Anna DeMoss, further alleges that on or about the 20th of December, 1912, Bhe had agreed and contracted to become married in lawful wedlock within the courso of a few days to Joseph Flynn of the city of Charlotte and had made arrangements with a priest of the said city to conduct the ceremony. "That on the 24th day of December, she went to Burlington with full arrangements as to the wedding, save as to the date. "That on the 2 3th day of December she received letters from Joseph Flylnn, asking her to leave Burlington the next day. The plaintiff wired in reply that she could not do as requested. This telegram was delivered in proper manner. "That on the 2 9th day of December plaintiff found that she could leave Burlington at 11:17 in the morning and go to Greensboro. She then sent a telegram to josepn v iynn apprising him of her intent to arrive in Charlotte that night his telegram was not delivered until a week later but, acording to information was left in the custody of a ticket agent. "Wherein," the complaint continues, "the plaintiff contends that the telegraph company was unduly and grossly negligent in not making proper and reasonable effort to locate the said Joseph Flynn and deliver said telegram to him in person. "The plaintiff further alleges that because of the negligence of the said defendant in not delivering the said telegram the said Joseph Flynn believed that the said plaintiff had no desire to becomo married to him as they had before agreed* and that she wanted to withdraw from the marriage contract entered into. That as a reiult of the aforesaid negligence of the defendant company the said Joseph Flynn quarreled violently with the plaintiff and hroko off the engagement and withdrew from the contract entered into with the plaintifT. That as a result of the defendant company's negligence, the abovementioned break between tho plaintiff and the said Joseph Flynn resulted and tho said plaintiff is deprived of the company and affection of the said Joseph Flynn for life, that sua has endured much mental and physical anguish and is damaged in tho sum of $2,000." ployee to be the same person when ho has the right to fix both salary and duty. In short, your committee is of tho opinion that too much of the appropriation for the old home goes for salaries. One man of the right kind could perform all of the duties now supposed to bo performed by Maj. Richardson and Capt. Caldwell, and if he possessed proper executive ability, considerable improvement in the management of the home and a large increase in the products of the farm j could be made. (d) The testimony shows lack of proper nursing for the sick. (e) The testimony shows to our satisfaction the charge that for a short time some time last year there was bread furnished to the inmates made out of musty meal. (See page 90, Caldwell's testimony.) This was likewise testified to by others. It is but proper to add, however, that such bread was served only for a very short period of time. (f) As to the charge that the home is permitted to get in pretty filthy condition at times, or portions of it, this is perhaps true. It la also likely true that this condition would improve were the rules of the homo iwnnnrlv nn fnppod J V... . V, * . As to the other charges referred to at the outset as "petty in their nature", wo do not wish to refer to them specifically, but your committee would call attention to the testimony concerning those matters. Your committee is inclined to the opinion that $.15 per month would be good pay for the physician to the old home, since it appears from the testimony that about all that can be done for the inmates, on account of their lack of recuperative power, as shown by Dr. Dutler's testimony, is to give them cathartics occasionally and "something to ease pain." The practice of dealing out daily supplies of whiskey to a certain element at the old home, it appears to your committee, should be discouraged. Court Resumes Sittings. The Supreme Court of the United States, which took a recess on February 8, resumed its sittings Monday. J 'COLE SETS HIM FREE \ TURNS OUT HAN WHO TOLD HIM ABOUT ELLIS CASE BROUGHT HIM LIBERTY F. J. Nichols, "White Convict Who Wrote ttlease Concerning Alleged Cruel Treatment of a Negro Convict, Handed a Parole by the Governor While Testifying in the Case. That F. J. Nichols, a one armed white prisoner, wrote tho letter to Gov. IJlease containing the charges of cruel punishment of the negro, Simeon Ellis, because the latter spoke to tho Governor in spite of the guard's refusal, was brought out before the committee 011 penal and charitable institutions, which Is in vestigating the charges, ut the hearing Wednesday afternoon. The letter was smuggled out of the prison through a prisoner, but who, it was not stated, it was written on the letter head paper of the State Senate. The investigation took place in the hall of the House of Representatives, Senator Laney presiding. Gov. Blease was present and read the letter of Nichols to him about the alleged treatment of Ellis and then] gave the author. Nichols had been brought from the Penitentiary and was sitting in the rear of the hall. The Governor called him to come forward and when bo did Gov. Blease said: "Nichols, you are a free man," and handed him a parole. The committee examined the negro, Simeon Ellis, whom it is alleged, was unmercifully beaten in a committee room as to the nature of his beating. Before the committee in open session the negro repeated the charges contained in the letter printed Thursday morning, making the admission that the "battery treatment" given him by Dr. Jennings was for an epileptic fit, to which he was subami thnt ho hnrl often been given this treatment. It was stated by Nichols in his letter to the Governor that the cries of Ellis when he was being given the "battery treatment" could be heard all over the grounds, and it had been made to appear that this was a form of punishment, Ellis himself admit ted that it was given him for fits, and that 110 burns had resulted. P. J. Nichols, a one-armed white convict, a native of Michigan, formerly employed by the Southern Railroad as a telegraph operator, working in Atlanta, Chattanooga and Columbia, and who was serving a second term in the penitentiary, having served one from Richland for larceny, and serving a second from Fairfield for housebreaking and larceny, followed the negro Ellis when under the treatment of the "battery" in the hospital and that he had gone to his cell and eeen the impressions of the lashes on his back. foil wlin cm 11 trcr] od out the letter he wrote the Governor telling him of the thrashing of the negro j and admitted that he had never seen | the "battery treatment" imposed; however, charging that it was frequently given for punishment, according to what other prisoners had told him. He said that prison officials had treated him all right, except once he had been "tanned" in the "leather house". Nichols said that he has two children who are now living in Georgia. The negro Simeon Ellis, testified that he had been placed in the stocks in the "leather house" and beaten with a leather strop about two feet long all over his hack, from head to foot. lie said that it was on Sunday that ho was called from the chapel by Guard Boy kin, who had been in charge of the detail when he was working on the streets Saturday and had spoken to the Governor without permission; that Roykin carried him before Capt. W. II. Sondley, related the occurrence of his speaking to the Governor, and the latter ordered him to the "leather house". Ho said that Messrs. Boykin, Wilson and Grant accompanied him to the "leather house", where ho was stripped, placed in the stocks and then given 75 Lashes with a leather strop in the hands of 'Mr. Wilson. He said that once he was knocked down in the stocks by the licks and then was whipped from the other side. ITe said that on Monday, when he was taken to the shop to be shackled he fell into a fit. and then was taken to the hospital and given the "battery treatment". He didn't seem to remember much what happened at the hospital, except that he said several men were sitting on him and l the electric current was applied. He said that he yelled and screamed, also that Dr. Jennings, Dr. Dobbins, i Mr. Wilslon and two other men were in the party. lie admitted that the treatment was given him for fits and no burns resulted. The negro charged that he had been whipped many times. Dr. Dobbins said when Ellis was brought to the hospital he thought he was "faking" about his having a fit, but the treatment was given him as a test and was never given as a punishment. ? ? The Bryan-haters have our sympathy, but they will have to bear it. i TRAPPER WAS STARVED HE BECOMES INSANE AND TURNS TO CANNIBAL. Foodloss for Eight Days, Kills His Sleeping Companion and Eats Part of His Body. Tortured by the furies of an Alaskan winter, subsisting thirty days on skins of dead animals and Anally driven Insane by an eight-day period of starvation, Henri Le Caire, a French trapper, killed and partially ate the body of Len Lemleux, a guide of the Hudson Bay Company, near Mile 53, B. C. Such was the tale unfolded in a letter received at Cleveland, O., from a former Cleveland, Frank Richardson, twentythree, of No. 33 91 West Twenty-fifth street. In the letter to his father, from a log cabin at Mile 53, Richardson gave a graphic word picture of the suffering undergone by men on the snowy trails when the wind sends flint-like flakes of snow driving into a man's face until ho is nearly blinded. The elder Richardson, who is stage director at the Euclid Avenue opera house, also received a halfdozen pictures, one showing the dismembered body of the murdered guide. Richardson Jr., has for a partner in British Columbia Einmett Thorpe, formerly captain or tne Luncoin nign School foot ball team. Roth departed in 1012 with an engineering crew, but have since given up that work and are now contracting on their own initiative. In his letter telling of the tragedy, Richardson says the trapper and the guide, Lemieux, departed from Mile 52 on an extended hunt, and as they had but a small supply of provisions they were warned against making the trip. This was in December. A third member of the trapping party dropped out at the start and the guide, Lemieux, and Le Caire continued on their way. A storm overtook them, and when miles away from the nearest settlement they were compelled to travel with the mercury at 5 2 degrees below zero. Finally they stumbled on a deserted cabin about seventy-five miles from the settlement. Here scratched with a knife point on wood, was written the last chapter of a gruesome tragedy. For eight days Le Caire and Lem1 I r? n t /\ /^l mnranl nf o n V lrin/1 I'J li A Lcvr> icu 11U iiivn out vsi. (ill J Jiiuvii While tho wind howled and snow banked up against the cabin walls, the men were starving. By day they sat at the bare table, each man furtively watching his mate. By night they wero afraid to sleep, but terror and suffering closed their eyes and at times both men slept for a few hours. Each man, afraid of tho oth, er, awaited a chance to kill. For the killing of one meant food for the other. As the ninth night came on T,e Cairo watched Lemieux nod and fall asleep. With a bound the trapper was on his guide burying his knife in the sleeping man's heart eight times. Twenty-three other knife wounds were also inflicted. Bo Caire ate parts of the dead man's ,body and then scratched with his knife on the cabin door the story of Lemieux's death. Tho carved part of the door now is in the hands of Ken McKenzie, an engineer from Montreal, but Le Cairo has not been found. A picture forwarded to Cleveland by the younger Richardson depicts the finding of the body, the wooden box in which it was placed and the IMIHHI cmiiTid. ? TREY HAD A TOUGH TIMR. ? The Terrible Experience of Three Men in the Ice Regions. Of the threo prospectors who started a month ago from Atin, a placer camp on tho Yukon line, in search of gold, 0110 nearly starved to death, one lost both feet and one became insane from cold and died. Tho men headed for Silver Creek. They had to break their own trail and traveled light, expecting to replenish their stores at a trading post near Jeslin Rake. The trading post was found abandoned. One man, sent back for more supplies, lost his way and was rescued by Indians when nearly dead. Tho mind of one of the two remaining, a Swede named Lindemann, becamo affected and in his desire for warmth, he jumod into a camp Are. Redmond, his companion, pulled him out, but ho died. Redmond buried Tiindemann in the snow and Mirned tho Holts loose, following them wlier over (hoy went. They finally led him lo an Indian camp and Indians took him (o Atlin, where hoth feet were amputated. t Annual (fathering in Pittsburg. Delegates to the annual convention of the National Association for Standardizing Paving Specifications are arriving at Pittsburg .Monday for tho session which openes with a reception to tho delegates. New standards in paving were discussed. ? ? Strange Ifor.se Disease. Spartanburg County farmers are alarmed by a disease which is attacking mules and horses and which in the last few weeks has caused the death of many valuable animala in various sections of the county. ANTI - FUTURE BILL SENATOR E. D. SMITH PLEADS CAUSE OF FARMER ? DEMAND EQUAL CHANCE The South Carolinian Stirs Up Hornets* Nest by Pressing for Actioa on the Measure to Place the Cotton Buyers and Sellers on Same Level. Senator Smith of Soutn Carolina stirred up a hornets' nest in the senate Wednesday morning when he amlpnvnrftil to tret action unon his bill to regulate contracts for the futuro delivery of cotton. After addressing the senate for more than an hjOur on the subject, Senator 3 mil It iiiovKii to have the committee on the judi' iry discharged from further consideration of the house measure and his bill substituted therefor, the bills being of similar purport. This brought Sen. Clark Wyoming, chairman of the committee 011 judiciary, to his feet with vigorous opposition to the motion, claiming that the committee had n?t had an opportunity to give the bill proper consideration. Senator Clarke of Arkansas came to the support of Senator Smith, urging that some action be taken upon a measure so important to the South and to the country at large. Senator Hoke Smith and Senator Gronna, a Republican, also joined in the demand for a vote 011 the motion. This was oposed by Senator Percy of Mississippi, who said that while Senator Smith had not overstated the importance of the proposed legislation, he was opposed to the measure 011 constitutional grounds. Senators Lodge and Warren objected to immediate consideration 011 the ground that the cotton exchange people were entitled to a hearing before action was taken. This objection was met by Senators Smith of Georgia and Gronna of North Dakota, both members of the committee on agriculture, who stated that the New York and New Orleans cotnvnlinnirn intnfncft! ll !) il honil pi V. IV.'il i:av I I Cl 1 I ?-> Vj ill tv/i v/ovu iuvv? n . v en a full hearing before their committee. At this point Senator Warren still further pressed his objection by reference to the pending appropriation bills and the brief time in which they have to bo considered. It was agreed to allow the matter to go over until Thursday for final disposition. Senator Smith spoke for more than an hour, elaborately discussing in detail every phase of the cotton situation from the time the ground is broken for the seed until the white, fleecy staple is carried to the gin, then 011 to the mill, where it comes out in cloth. There was no feature which he left untouched. In part he said: "We are reckoning with a force to-day that the law of heredity and habit and the consentient inertia make us slow to real ize. Wo are living in an ago unparalleled by any other age; not that human nature has changed, and I am glad that it has not, but the means of expressing the desires and hopes and ambitions of each neart are more perfect than ever. The facilities for transportation and communication and education are so perfect that the man in the woods who has been the victim of the shrewd and the heartless becomes like the man who walks the streets of the city and with better training and with faithful work, with honest mother and father, he has had ground into his bones tho intrinsic principles of honesty and integrity. He demands no more, he will accept no less, and the government has yet to reckon with that class of our people who established it. "The bill that I propose, reduced to its simple terms, means that a buyer and seller shall have the same chance; that what a seller proposes to sell shall bo specifically and definitely named, both as to quality and price, and that ho shall deliver that and shall deliver it at tho price agreed upon and t.he grade agreed u;)on; that the sotting aside of fair competition shall cease and that so far as interstate commerce is concerned. and in so far as congress can regulate that commerce, the law of supply and demand shall obtain. "It is an easy matter, it seems, to dismiss this question and leavo the farmer to take care of himself. It seems to he the sentiment of some that he is doing very well; that he ought to ho satisfied with what he has and thank God that it is no worse. One reason that this sentiment is prevalent is because the far mor lias nor yet roanzeo mar one reason that he is in the condition that he is, is that the legislators of this country have been really indifferent to his welfare. "It is an easy* matter for a man in easy circumstances to take an optimistic view of things in general and of the individual or peoplo who are in a bad fix particularly, but wo are going to have this legislation. "In conclusion, T desire to say that the senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Lodge) the other day stated a thing that struck me as being so forcible that I recognized Its truthfulness at once. He said that the poet by virtue of his high genius and his intui PERIL IN FILM POSING S TRAGEDIES THAT MARK MOTION ft PICTURE PRODUCTION. 9 It Is Not Such an Easy Thing as Peo- I pie Think.?Much Danger is En* 1 countered. .| Acting In front of the camera for j moving picture isn't quite so soft a job as people are apt to imagine. I Grave risks have to be taken and H more or less serious accidents are common. Sometimes these result latally. The other day, for example, a man named BJttner descended in a parachute from the Column of Victory in Berlin with a view to being cinematograplied as he was falling, but something went wrong with his ap^ paratus and the parachutist wasv clashed to death. Similarly, a picture player named Dunne was k 111'd 011 the railway while acting a i>??rt. The unfortuate man was only supposed to bo run over by the approaching train, it being the intention to substitute a dummy at the last moment. llut the rails were slippery, the driver was unable to pull his engine in time and tho actor was mangled to death beneath the wheels. Not long ago an actor plalying the part of a cowboy in Chicago fell and was killed during the reliersal. Miss Alice Hollister, whose face aiul furore are familiar to fre.iU'jnt ers of picture shows nearly lost her | lifo while rehearsing in Egypt. Attired in the voluminous draperies of an Arab phesant woman, she was seated on a primitive wooden wheel which brought up from a deep well water for Irrigation purposes. At acertain moment she had to bring the camel which worked tho wheel to a halt and descend from her seat. Unfortunately the camel re- r sumod its walk too soon, the wheel started revolving again and Miss Hollistor was jerked into the well, which was more than 100 feet in depth. 1 Luckily her cumbersome garments caught a projecting stone in tho side, and, being of athletic build, she managed to hang 011 until she was rescued by means of a rope in the hands of her dragoman. But it was a narrow escape. No one viewing 011 the screen tho superb riding of Alice Joyce, exponent of "cowgirl" parts in Western drama, would suppose that any iiorse could ever succeed in throwing her. As a matter of fact, however, she has met with several accidents. Miss Gene Gauntier, a moving picture company's leading woman, has been exceptionally unlucky. Only recently she was attacked by Bedouins in the Sahara and had to fight hard to get away. I11 Florida she was nearly engulfed in a quicksand. In a battle scene she was kicked by a horse and nearly killed. In another war scene there was a premature ex plosion of a caisson that liurleld her high in the air, and the fall made her unconscious, but it made a great picture. Once when she was to be rescued from a burning house, the company bought an abandoned farm house in the country and set it afire. The fire burned more rapidly than had been provided for in the reliersal, and Miss Gauntler was unconscious and almost dead when the rescuers chopped a hole in the roof and pulled her out. They had intended to take her out through a window, but the real thing made a much better picture. A naval lieutenant is another picture player who has had many nar row escapes, his latest exploit in this direction being a fall from a high cliff near Brigton, England. Once, too, ho was badly wounded in a sword duel with a picture player antagonist. Of course, the injury was quite unintentional and accidental. Alfred Brighton, a young American picture player, lost his life in the Hudson river, a year ago. Ho had to leap into the water and rescue a girl who was supposed to ho drowning. While swimming toward her he was observed to throw up his arms, sink once or twice, and struggle franctically on coming to the surface. Tho spectators on the bank applauded, imagining it to be part of the performance, and the operator kept turning the handle of the machine, while shouting to the drowning man, "Keep it up!" Only when - - - it. J...1 .1 I ho h;v.(l SllMK ror U1W liuru ttuvi Itioi I time did anybody suspect that anything was wrong.?Chicago Tribune. tion. saw deeper into the heart of things than another, and in verse ho was very often able to express it more clearly and tersely and powerfully than another. T came across this verse subsequent to that and it was so appropriate that I shall quoto it. We sit here in better circumstances and do not feel the cry of poverty and the humility of its attendant. evils. We are optimistic in general, and wo are forgetful of our more unfortunate fellows. These were the lines that illustrate the attitude of those whrr can help the farmer. The attitude of those who are indifferent to him is aptly expressed j in these lines: "The toad beneath the harrow knows exactly where the toothpoint goes; The butterfly upon the road preaches contentment to the toad." j