The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, July 19, 1923, Image 1
-A
VOLUME XXXvn
CASES FAVOR 1
CONWAY FIRM
Against 0. J, Bell, R, L, I
Bell, And Estate of
f J. L, Bell
TOTAL OF $3720.98
n
Jury Remains Out for Many x
Hours Before Agreeing
t
c
The three cases of Cooper-Smith |
Company, plaintiff against O. J. Bell, ,
R. L. Bell and J. L. Bell, were all call- ^
e<i up and tried together in the court '
of common pleas last week.
These cases have been pending for (
some time and have been continued .
from term to term on account of a .
1_ _ 1 -1 1- A I
congested aocKei. j
The suits, three in number had been j
brought on itemized, verified accounts
for goods so'd and delivered to ihe de- (
fendants by the plaintiff two or three ,
years ago.
'Hie complaints in the three suits
were practically identical. Each pomplaint
stated the account as to the ,
whole of the debits and credits and demanded
judgments for the balances '
due. The balance due as claimed in the (
complaints were as follows:
( O. J. Bell, $804.75
) R. L. Bell 1094.15
J. L. Bell 1182.29
On each of the accounts there was
credited to the defendants a sum re- 1
ceived as the proceeds of lots of cotton
which the defendants had pledged
with the plaintiff as security on these
accounts. The cotton had been sold,
after notice but no posting or advertising
in the newspapers, and the marl
ket price of the cotton in each in^
stance had been credited on the ac^
counts and the balance struck.
The defendants each answered
setting up that they denied each and
evory material allegation of the complaint,
as to one offense, and then in
a further defense admitted the makof
the account hut claiming that
jFlhev h-nl paid what they owed to the
plaintiff under it; and as the last defer:
se in each answer there was a
counter claim in which it was alleged
in substance that the cotton had heen
disposed of contrary to law, rnd
and against the protest of the defendant-;
and without advertising the svme
as it should have heen, and claiming
damages to a large amount in cach
ca;e for this alleged wrong set forth
in these answers.
It appeared that since the action
had heen brought, the defendant J. L.
Bel! had died. It had heen agreed however,
that an order might he taken by
consent substituting the administrator
ofl^^s estate as a party defendant in
place of the original defendant.
Before the cases were commenced,
it was further agreed that a'l three of
the suits would '>e disposed of at one
and the same time, so that ?ii3 jurv
ti'rvnl/l UntfA f a fi .>/) f ! * wiv/l irf c? 1 _
? wimi i m > c v\* iiiiu v 11 i v?? *w v w i \ i v. c - iii~
stead of one when they passed i>n the
case.
On motion of the attorneys for the
defendants each ind every jurymen e n
the vejiire was sworn on his voir dore
ns to whether he was related to the
defendants or had any connection with
the plaintiff company, or whether he
had expressed any opinion on the merits
of the case. It did not appear that
any of the jurymen had expressed or
formed an opinion, hut two of them, J.
I.. Vereen and J. W. Carter were related
to the defendants and these
were excused. The jury was then selected
without further delay.
The jury retired with the cases, all
three in number, some time in the
afternoon of last Wednesday. They remained
<<ut until past bed time, when
the judge and the court stenographer
and the lawyers engaged in the case
were sent for by the bailiffs of the
court.
The jury remained out ^or nearly
haif/ an hour after the court had reassembled.
Later they announced that
theV 'had agreed in all three of the
cases and 'upon being brought out
their veridcts were read out in favor
of the plaintiff in the three cases as
follow:
r - it.. ??r c?.-w,;4-u
in Lilt; ca.^c l?l V/U?|JCl-oiruni VUIIIpany
against O. J. Bell, the jury found
for the sum of $1030.04.
Tn the case against R. L. Bell they
found for the plaintiff the sum of
$1204,02.
In the case against the administratrix
of J. L. Bell they found for the
plaintiff the sum of $11100.32.
The above amount included the balances
claimed in the complaints to be
due on the accounts, with interest on
the balances from the time as alleged
in the complaints. There was no proof
introduced at the trial of the cases
about the interest, as by their pleadings
o^d action in court the defendants
admitted the correctness of the
HI accounts, excepting of course that
**************************
JK 1*
* There are fruits of the tree, J
X which man mav eat, outside of *
| * the Garden of Eden; and so long *
Jt Jr r?* t? ere is any Adam left in any *
of us, there are temptations to *
be met, and they must be ac- X
cepted or denied, as our strength *
may decide. $
I R************************
mt
REQUIRES SUM
BE INCREASED
Jnless Larger is Paid New
Trial Results in Thompson
Case
After the trial of the case of M. B.
rhompson vs. A. C. Thompson there
vas an interesting development in regard
to the amount which had been
?ound by the jury. The jury found for
;he plaintiff the sum of $500.00. The
iourt had instructed the jury before
hey went out to consider the case
hat if they found there had been a
binding' contract for the sale of the
itock in the Conway Bargain House as
;o one-half interest therein and that
:he plaintiff had made a part payment
3n that stock, they would have to find
it least the sum of $2,500.00 for the
plaintiff with the interest on the same
From July 31st, 1919 at 7 percent per
annum.
The jury when they found the sum
r>f $500.00 evidently established the
fact that there had been a bindingcontract
between the parties and that
part payment had been made by the
plaintiff in turning over to the Conway
Bargain House, at the request of
C. Thompson, his ginnery at Wampee
at the agreed valuation of $2,500.30
as part payment on the interest in
the business, and it was for that reason
that the court granted the following
order:
Order
State of South Carolina, County of
Horry. Court of Common Pleas.
M. B. Thompson, plaintiff, against
A. C. Thompson, defendant.
The above stated case was tried before
me at the nresent term of this
Court and the jury found a verdict
for the plaintiff for the sum of Five
Hundred Dollars.
The plaintiff moved for a new trial
upon the minutes of the Court.
After argument by counsel for
plaintiff and defendant, on motion of
H. H. Woodward and W. F. Stackhouse,
Attorneys for plaintiff, it is:
Ordered, That the verdict heretofore
rendered in said case he set aside
and the plaintiff he granted a new
trial unless the defendant A. C.
Thompson, through his counsel cause
to be entered in the record of this cose
within ten days from the date of this
orler a consent in writing that the
plaintiff may enter up judgment
atrainst him in this case for the sum
of Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars
with 7 percent interest thereon
from the 31st dpv of July 1919.
S. W. G. SHIPP.
Presiding Judg-e.
July 12th, 1923.
The above stated order means that
unless the increased amount is paid by
the defendant there will be a new trial
of this case at the next term of the
court.
MARK THOMPSON
riTimxT iTT^nrvinm
Ijrl V iliiM VfiiltL/lt l
Tlie onse of M. B. Thompson against
A. C. Thompson was called for trial
Tuesday morning, July 10th, when the
court convened at 9:30.
Following is the jury list:
D. M. A If ord
K. C. Gerrnld
Rupert McNiell
J. A. Rooth
G. Ij. Johnson
E. M. Gerrald
P. M. Dorman
D. A. Lawrimore
Henry Smith
J. C. Ayers
J. B. Williamson
ID. Graham
W. F. Stackhouse of the counsel for
the plaintiff stated the plaintiff's case
to the jury reading portions of the
complaint in so doing or rather referring
to the complaint in the course of
his remarks.
The story in brief was to the effect
that A. C. Thompson, the defendant,
induced the plaintiff, his brother, to
romp to Conwav and take a half Inter
eat in the Conway Bargain House;
that plaintiff came to Conway, disposed
of some property at Wampee and
that at the end of the year the defendant
refused to allow* plaintiff any
share in the profits, accused him of
theft, and refused to deliver plaintiff
any interest in the business.
The answer was read, and composed
of a general denial and an allegation
that he was ready at all times to sell
the h.alf interest in the stock of the
Bargain House.
The plaintiff was sworn, and testified
in effect that prior to the year
1919 the plaintiff was engaged in the
mercantile business and farming operations.
He decided to take up the
proposition to take a half interest in
the Conway Bargain House. He moved
to Conway in March and with A. C.
Thompson ran the business of the
Conway Bargain House. Later his ginnery
at Wampee was moved to Conway
and this ginnery was paid on the
.purchase money of the one half interest
he had agreed to buy in the stock.
At first there had been some talk
about Mr. A. T. Collins taking an in(CONTINUED
ON PAGE SEVEN)
they denied that they had been given
the proper amount of credit for the
cotton disposed of by the plaintiff.
Mtttv,
N
CONWAY, S. 0., THURSDAY,
********
J CREDIT TO THE 1
$ The world sees the succes
| knowing* what brought their
% cribe the results to luck.
% They do not consider that
* work was at the bottom of v
! One reason why the succes
* ter example for others to fc
I common mistake of giving* cr
work as the thing which brii
No man can reap the ben
* paying the incident costs of
* which every man must answ
* of attaining my desires, or
| where I am and not shouldei
*
*
WM. PAGE SUES !
JOHN T. FLOYD
Forty Thousand Dollars is I
Now Claimed in His
Complaint
IMPROVEMENTS TO LAND
Grows Out of Verdict in Fa- i
vor iof Floyd For
Land 1
The particulars of the case of John
T. Floyd against William Page for the ]
recovery of a tract of land in Galli- i
vants Ferry township, appeared in our ]
last issue, and wherein it was stated 5
that the action resulted in a verdict \
for the said John T. Floyd for the 1
land sued for and the sum of five
hundred dollars in damages. ,
The law provides that when a pur- l
chaser of land, supposing his title ]
thereto to be good in fee, makes im- <
provements on the land in good faith, ]
he may bring action against the person
who may recover the lands from ^
him in a suit like this.
This is known as betterments in ihe
law cases, and it now appears from ^
the records at hhe court house that
isince last week, when the Floyd-Page
case was tried, Mr. William Page has ^
brought his suit for betterments on
the land as the complaint now* on file ^
reads as follows:
William Page vs John T. Floyd.
The plaintiff complaining of the de- r
fendant alleges:
1st. That heretofore to wit: on or \
about the 2nd day of August 1020, the
defendant commenced an action in the (
court of common pleas for Horry ,
county against the plaintiff for the j
recovery of all and singular that cer- (
tain piece, parcel and tract of land j
situate in Gallivants Ferry Township, j
County of Horry, State of South Car- j
o!ina, containing' one hundred fifty '
(150) acres more or less, formerly the }
property of one John L. Floyd, and <
part of a two hundred fifty acre tract ]
granted to Thomas Jenkins the 10th
day of April 1771, being designated .
as tract "A" on plat made by James ,
C. Beaty, deputy surveyor, 16th day .
of April, 18G7. * ' ]
2nd. That this plaintiff, then the (
defendant in said action, made answer
to the complaint therein, setting up
title in himself and interposed the ^
plea of statute of limitations and presumption
of a grant; an issue being (
joined thereon, the said case came on
to he heard before his honor S. W. G.
Shipp, Judge Presiding, in the 12th
Circuit, and a jury duly empanelled at 1
the Fall term of Court of Common
Pleas for Horry County, to wit: on
the 7th day of July 1023 and the said
jury rendered a verdict in favor of the
plaintiff in said action on July 3rd,
1023.
3rd. That the plaintiff herein purchased
the lands and premises involved
in the aforesaid action, in good
faith, supposing at the time of said
purchase, such title to be good in fee,
and to convey and secure the same to
this plaintiff the full and complete
Fee Simple title.
4th. lhat atter the purchase ot the
said premises, and before the commencement
of the aforesaid action,
the plaintiff believing his title to be
/rood in fee, and acting upon said belief,
and relying upon the title so obtained
by him by the purchase aforesaid,
cleared up the major portion of
the aforesaid lands, erected a dwelling
house, out houses, fences and fixtures
upon the said premises at the cost of,
at least, the sum of Forty Thousand
($40,000.00) Dollars; that the actual
value of the premises so recovered by
the plaintiff without the improvements
so made by him, at the time he
purchased the same, was not exceeding
the sum of One Hundred ($100.00)
Dollars, and that the said premises
by reason of said improvements,
namely, the clearing and improvement
of the land, the erection of a dwelling,
out houses, structures and betterments,
in the way and manner aforesaid,
have thereby been greatly increased
in value, to wit, to at least,
the sum of Forty Thousand ($40,000.00)
Dollars; that the plaintiff is informed
and believes and so alleges
' that under the statute in such cases
made and provided, he is entitled to
t
8
JULY 19, 1923
***********************-. i
* I
WRONG CAUSE I
*
*s of great men without %
- success about. They as- % '
*
I
instead of mere luck, hard *
yhat was done. *
5S of the great is not a bet- * !
>llow is to be found in this * 1
edit to mere luck instead of * I
igs the results. *
lefits of greatness without |
attaining it. The question %
er is, shall I pay the cost %
will I be content tb remain *
the responsibility. *
*
*
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STANLEY CASES
AGAINST CASEY
Grows Out of Personal Difficulty
at Loris Warehouse
TOBACCO SALE CHECKS
Case Creates Interest. The
Last Jury Case Disposed
of
The case of M. M. Stanley against
P. R. Casey et al, was called for trial
on last Wednesday, involving a claim
for damages for assault and battery
illeged to have been committed upon
the plaintiff by the defendant some
time ago in the town of Loris.
P. R. Casey, one of the defendants,
is a tobacco warehouse man and has
been interested in the tobacco warehouse
business for a number of years
?ver since he became interested in the
Loris tobacco warehouse.
The plaintiff has been a member of
.he legislature and is a son-in-law of
the li^te Calhoun Butler.
There was an array of lawyers on
ihe opposing sides.
The pleadings were read.
M. M. Stanlpv testified. is n
farmer and school teacher at this
:ime. He began teaching when eighteen
years of age. He said the defendmts
are in the warehouse business in
[.oris, coming from North Carolina.
Fhev own an acre of land and a
warehouse in Loris and knew of his
mying a tract of land.
On the day of the difficulty, young
Casey came and told him his father
wanted to see him, and he went back
in the warehouse and looked at a pile
:>f tobacco that had been sold and told
him he wanted him to give back to
lim. There was a ticket on the pile of
tobacco. The ticket was produced in
:ourt and was inspected by the attorneys.
Witness saw the ticket marked,
rhat the ticket had been changed and
le said he saw Mr. Casey erase his
lamn off it and mark it "No Sale."
The bill made by the clerk of the
warehouse was then shown. This was
\ bill of the sale of the pile of the to!>acco.
Tt is sent to the office where the
hecks for the tobacco are issued.
Ho said that he got a check for this
pile of tobacco for $89.20, this being
[ho value of the pile of tobacco. He
nut the chock in bis pockot. The i
Casey's made him give it up. When he
went in with J. .T. Casey, while standing
in the house he requested that he
give up this chock and ho refused saying
that he had gotten it in regular
course of business. But thev insisted.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE EIGHT)
recover of the defendant herein, md
from the plaintiff in said former action,
the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars,
namely the amount which said
premises were, at the time of rendition
of the said verdict and judgment,
worth more in consequence of said
'mnroveinents, than they would have
been had not such betterments been
made.
5th. That the plaintiff is a purc'nas
er of said lands for valuable consideration,
and he supposed at the time of
such purchase his title to be pood in
fee; and that thereafter, he made the
improvements aforesaid, verilv believing
at the time he made such improvements
or betterments, that his title
thereto was pood in fee, and that he
would not have made such improvements
and betterments had lie not believed
his title to be pood in fee.
WHEREFORE, plaintiff demands
judgment against the defendant for
the sum of Forty Thousand dollars together
with the costs of this action.
This complaint is executed by
Messrs. Tfcobt. B. Scarborough, Cordie
Page and Sherwood & McMillan, as
attorneys for the plaintiff.
This suit for betterments, which is
an outgrowth of the former suit in
which Floyd won a verdict for the
lands will come up for trial at a later
term. In the meantime it is understood
that an appeal will be taken in the
original suit to the Supreme Court of
the State, and a bond given under the
law will tie up the matter as it now is
until the case for betterments has
been tried out avd the appeal has been
decided.9
: ^ ? - >
mXL
?
CAR COLLIDES
WITH A TRAIN
R. W. Lane, the Owner of f
The Car, Was Not
Injured
There was a collision on Main j
street last Monday, just after the
noon hour, when the mid-day passen- ,
?er train ran into a new Buick car belonging
to R. W. Lane, resulting in a
broken and demolished step for t he
rear coach and a bent and twisted
fender, and lamp bracket for the
Buick.
No expressions have been heard as c
to whose fault led the accident. T
Mr. Lane had run down Main Street [
and after turning the center post, was '
about to cross the railroad track in J
the direction of the Cooper Motor
Company where he keeps his car, *
when the engine of the Buick. which
Mr. Lane was then driving himself, (
suddenly went perfectly dead. At 1 his 1
time the passenger train was backing
up the street from the depot in order i
to turn off on the siding for the trip '
to Myrtle Beach. The car and the 1
train were not very far apart at this :
time. The engine of the automobile 1
would not budge, and the conductor of 1
the train could not get a signal
through to stop and put on brakes, so
that apparently both parties had to |:
stand as they were until the train hit
the machine and pushed it some distance
along by the side of the track
before the train could be stopped.
All the step to the coach on that
side was demolished except the top
board and this was merely hang-in#.
As the train came to a stop the conductor
stepped out on the platform in
order to see what had taken place and
to find out if the car or its occupant
were under the train. As he placed his
weight on the demolished step it gave
way and he fell to the ground. By this
time the train was pulling away from
the demolished car, and this unexpected
drop on the ground on the part of
the conductor came very near to being
a serious thing for him. He had to run
the best he could out between the
train and the demolished car and it is
said to have been a wonder that he
was not mashed to death between the
two.
R. W. Lane was unhurt and it will
not cost a great deal to repair the injured
fender and lamp bracket and
straighten out the dent which was
caused in the radiator. R. W. Lane is
the owner of the Lane Grocery Store
on 3rd Avenue. The name of the conductor
on the train at that time could
not be learned at the time of the accident.
MAKES EFFORT
TO ENTER HOME
Negro Arrested is Not Identified
by Mrs. Bertha
Hinson
On last Wednesday night about
0 o'clock. Mr. Holt of the town police .
force, was called hy Mr. .1. II. Marsh
to the home of Mrs. P. O. Snowden, in !
an effort to catch a negro who had
been seen prowling vound the premises.
As has been the case in several previous
occurences of the same kind
lately; by the time the officer got
there, the negro had fled. Examination
of the premises showed signs
where the negro had' waited -it a
smoke house in the yard. Frym the
signs left in the earth he had remained
there for some time.
Then signs were found round the
corner of the street, and here also he
had waited for some time.
When he was discovered by the
family he was in the yard, close to a
window, on the side of the home toward
the Race Path.
The home is occupied by Mrs. Snowden,
her daughter, Mrs. Bertha Hinson
and her son, Percy Snowden, the
latter having been sick for some time
and not able to work.
As soon as an alarm was given the
negro must have heard the noise and
he ran. Efforts were made to stop him
and get him under arrest but he escaped.
Mrs. Hinson obtained a good view
of the negro and said that she would
be able to identify the man if she
could see him again. The officer sp^nt
the night until about 2 o'clock in efforts
to find a negro as the one described
by Mrs. Hinson.
Ho loft a big track, not loss than
ono made by a number ten work shoe.
These tracks, appearing at several
places in the yard wore measured and
the measures kept.
At a late hour that same night the
officer found a negro answering to the
description and he placed him under
arrest. After the arrest he was
brought to the Snowden home for
identification. Mrs. Hinson said that
while the packet the negro wore put
her in mind of the same man, that yet
this man under arrest was not as
heavily built as the one who had appeared
at the window. The man wanted
was described as being coal black
md oi somewhat larger frame than
the one put under arrest by the officer.
The man was then released. The
ne^ro arrested was Henry Gagum, a
I
NO. 13
VIGHT PKOWLERT
IS OPERATING
Megro With Dirty, ..Greasy
Shirt and Checked Cap
On
\DDITIONAL INSTANCES
)fficers of Law Have Rua
Down All Available
Leads
Recently this paper carried an ac ount
of an attempted attack upon
Mrs. W. R. Salmon, by n mid-night
)rowler, as she rested on the porch of
let" home on a recent Saturday night
lefore Mr. Salmon had returned from
ate hours at the five and ten cent
store.
It was impossible to obtain any oviience
upon which an arrest could be
made.
At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bacot
in the residence section of Conway, on
Thursday night following- the holiday,
Mrs. Bacot and the young son of Mr.
and Mrs. Bacot saw a negro near a
window of their home standing up by
the side of a tree with his hand resting
on the trunk of the tree, while in
the other hand he carried a large
stick. They made some noise in passing
about inside the house and before
they could obtain the presence of aid,
and perhaps an officer of the law. the
negro ran away. This was inside the
premises at the home and inside of
the yard of the house.
Again on that same night at the
home of Jesse Bronett, a Swede, Bronett
was awakened by some person
crawling through an open window
near the bed room whereon he and
Mrs. Bronett were asleep. When
Bronett saw the negro half in at the
window and in fact, in the act of getting
on the floor inside of the room,
and not far from the bed on which
they had been sleeping, he, Bronett,
jumped off the bed intending to use
force if necessary to expel the intruder.
He had no more than struck the
floor off Die lied before the negro fled
out at the window through which he
had come. This negro carried a big
stick in his hand, coming in with it
and taking it out with him again. In
both instances the negro was described
as wearing a dirty and greasy shirr
and a cap of some checked mater'al.
There were no tracks found that
would do any good for use in locating
the man. and at last accounts, although
the officers had spent some
time in running down clues, nothing
had been learned upon which an arrest
might be based.
(See another article in this issue
giving an account of another instance
of night prowling, probably by the
same party.?Ed.)
o
A WT ? -
UJINWAY MOVING
TOWARD PAVING
Men representing the Ryan Engineering
Co., of Columbia, have been
taking* elevations and surveying the
streets of Conway relative to the paving
that the town is contemplating.
As soon as the plans for the paving
are submitted a petition will be circulated
among the citizens for their approval
of the project, probably about
the first of August.
The pian the the town has in view
is that the property owners on the two
sides shall pay one half of the cost of
paving, and the town the other half.
As soon as the town obtains twothirds
of the names of the property
owners along the section to be paved
a bond issue will be put on for the
town's part.
For those of the abutting property
owners who want time for their payments,
their part will be secured by
certificates guaranteed by the town,
and this certificate will be a lien
against the abutting property for the
assessed proportion against the property.
The exact streets to be paved have
not been decided on as yet, but it is
understood that the main business
block will be paved and probably
more.
o
Last Thursday night, not long before
the occurence at the Snowden
|w\ino f l\a i 1 ?l vr?r? /if VI i- \t I"1
V. Harrison, were frightened by a
negro coining up and waiting1 in the
yard.
laborer.
The tracks found in the yard at the
Snowden home are described as the
same tracks seen in the yard of the
Salmon home some time ago following
an attempt to approach Mrs. Salmon
on her porch.
* jit
J There is nothing certain in *
& this world, no, not even death or *
I taxes. The man who is sure may x
* yet be mistaken, and he who is *
* of one opinion today may T
$ change his mind before the mor- ?
? row. The law of change must be J
JjJ taken into account in all things. J
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