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THE PICKENS SENTINEL UBLISHED WEEKLY Entered April 234 1903 at Pickens. S. C. as second class mail matter, under act ofCngres f March 3. 1S7' SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, $1 YR Established 1871-Volume 42 PICKENS, S. C., JULY 25, 1912 NUMBER 13. I DETECTIVES I OF GRAFTEl TION BLOC] MONEY Who Detective Burns Is. William J. Burns is th< shrewdest detective and great est criminal hunter in America. He is recognized as a sleuth from whom there is no escape. It was he who traced down and unravelled the plot of grafting .and corruption among certain of the Ohio legislatois and sev. eral of them were convicted of bribery and went to prison. He unearthed the corruption of Abe Reuf the San Francisco king, had him convicted and sent to the penetentiarv. With his men and dictagraphs, the- -Mc Namara brothers plead guilty to blowing up.the Times build ing at Los Angeles and killing twenty odd men, and are now serving life teris for murder. He is said to be a spiritualist and when he cannot run down the criminal with his men, and by means of the dictogiaph, he cmnmunes with the spirits, He has never failed on any case he has ever under.aken and prom ises the people of South Carolina to unearth and prove one of the most gigantic schemes of graft in( an d corruption which ever existed in anv country. The fo!lowiig excervts from the testiionv given by Detec tive Burns before the investigat ing committee in Aug~ust:a, Ga., July 12th and 13th, is t aken from press dlispatches to the daily pavers: What the Evidence Will Show. Augusta, Ga.. July 13.-Evi dence taken by dictagraph and in personal contact by one of W. J. Burns' detectives was sub mitted to the investigating comn mittee from South Carolina Friday afternoon setting out that Gov. Cole L. Blease had received 92,000 for pardoning Rudolph Rabens, of Charleston; $500 for blocking railroad legis lation; $200 for killing the first Sattempted dispensary investiga tion and that he gets his share of the blind tiger "protection" money from Charleston. WV. J. Burns himself on the stand said he would prefer that the committee hear the records his men would have to submit in the case. He was asked if. the work he had done would showv whether or not "Blease has been grafting as governor and state senator." The direct guestion was applied to him: "Do you mean that the re cords will show whether or not he has been grafting as govern or and senatori'" "Yes," quietly replied Burns. The hearing then adjourned C until 10 o'clock Saturday morn ing when Reed, of dictagraph fame, will go on the stand. A Dictagraph. The dictagraph is a very sim ple instrument and might be in stalled in any room in the State. It is constructed along the same lint s and principles as the tele phone. A wire is necessary to.I carry the sound( of th voiceP from one room to another. The dictagraph proper is a very small instrunent about the shape of a completed horseshoe. It is a very delicate instrument with a sensitive disc and is placed on one end of the wire. This is the "sending" end. At the (other end of the wire, the recemvng end- there are two ear pieces. These are placed over head of the expert stenographer How IT iS Dt)NE. For instance a detective takes up a case. He makes the fol lowing arrangements. Two rooms are scred. The reeiv IOT ON TRAIL LS. LEGISLA KED. GRAFT PLENTY. er of the dictagrah is conc ed in a room, Vr 1r1obab b11 hind a calendar, a pict ure or un der the table. The wires ar, concealed and led to the adjoin ing room. The detective enters with his man. At the otfher end of the wire and in the other room is located the expert sten ographer who sits at a table with a note book and plenty of ink. The stenographer takes down the conversation going on in the other rooimjust as a court stenographer would take do)%wnI the testimony of a witness on the stand. These notes are la ter transcribed. Every wo.nl even, whispering, is heard dis tinctly in the adjoining room. galley 2 A PRACTICAL TEST. The dictagraph was placed in an adjoining room in the Rich mond county court house. The ear pieces were used by three members of the committee in the court room while the other I memilbers repairedt to the Iooln and en1a-,l in a general e l versation. Every word uttered was heard dist-inct-lV. The die toI-raph was also tested bv the half dozen newspaper men pvs ent. The conmmittee wcre satis fied with the fact that the appa ratins carried every word from r*om to room and ruled that the test imony was permlissible. The dem~onstrationl of the dictagrapth was given b~y D)eteetive heed. Tphis same inst rumien t wa used in the Los Angeles dvn> - mite case and it was in part the means of bringing about a con fession from the McNamara brothers who are now serving sentences in the California pen itentiary. The dictagraph had been used in many cases throughout the country and the testimony secured is recognized in court proceedings. Detective Reed testifving be fore the committee. stated1 that it was impossible to "fake the testimony of the dlictagraph. He gave a technical (descriptionl of the workings of the instru nment and stated that any- ir regularity on the stenographers notes would be uimmediatelyv de t 'cted. C..arges Startling Conditions. Piece by piece in his testimony Felder chairged alarming and startling conditions of ofl iciatl corruption in South Carolina. F'or five hours or more he was on the witness stand and in a connected story miade' t h e charge of unlimited graft, legis legislative " syndicates" -ont ro! - ed by Blease as senator, of mn;I ey demanded b3 the syndicate to block legislati:n, of tardonms alleged to have beeni pu1rc h ased from the governor, one in (Char leston having cost S2.000: oif cor ruption money collected fromi railroads for engineering out of the legislature bills the rail roads didn't want, of a frarmet up made in Atlanta by Blease and Hub H. Evans with Bln thenthal and Bickcrt, a whole sale whiskey house, for adding reates to the cost of whiskey sod the~ state dispensary so the rebates could be turned over' to the board o f .controd by the wholesalers: if s .i )n in one lump sum paid im Ih hands of Cole L. Bleast andI lk 11 I. Evans by Monroe Bicka w{ btlen the deal was first fraito d on l he ocasion of a visit to the l' house in Atlanta; of thle sha le of protection tax\ h:it 1..n the (Charlestonf blind ti *r by Blease, and of his share with Chief Constable Stot hart in that monthly tax. Mr. Alder said that severalI The World I ective Furnisl of Graft & C months ago he and W.,J. Burns had a conference at Augusta with two leading South Caro linians, at which time they s;pent over a (lay in conference. oing thoroughly over many re cords, and that at its close Mr. Burns said that in his :30 years! of experience he had never be- ] for, seen as niuch graft as there was in the South Carolina situa tion. The San Francisco graft. he declared. was infinitestimal f in coiparison with the boldness and character of the grafters in t South Carolina. 11 r. Felder stated that Burns said lie usually did not take a charge of such cases, but on ac count of the condition of affairs s he would personally take charge y of the situation. t galI :) sl Put Men To Work. s Mr. Felder said that following the' Augusta conference Burns put two men to work in South t Carolina; that one of them oper- C ate~d in and around Charleston t for several months, posing as a P big gambler and blind tiher niamed W\ilson, and seeking a C location there. He said that " Wilson's real name was Bailey t] and he was received with open L 8ams by the Charleston tigers. si le said that Wilson represent- is ed that he wanted to get a lo cation in Charleston and that is James S. Farnum and others " were very attentive to him, and cl the result was that he learned st al! aiout the Charleston situa- f( ion; that Gov. Blease's second h primary campaign was financed " by the tigers. all about the ti graft situation, "the protection m1one"V COllected by the conl st :bles. etc. le presented doc unwnts gathered by Wilson while in Charleston. He said Il that Wilson was not present ml today, be'in away on another t( ('use, but he wvas at the disposal b). of t he commnit tee whenever they le w ant ed hiiin. In this Mr. Burns PI aissented(.B The bulk of the documentary w evidence submitted by Mr. ha Felder up to the time of even- er ing adjournment was that of gathered in personal conversa- ce tion and by use of the dicta- er graph by "Mr. Wilson of Char- ti leston," who in reality is De- er tective Bailey of the Burns ai force. Tihose dlocumients which ti got in through bemng read lby pt Mr. Felder before turning over to the ('onnnfittee', as swornf cc e'vidence, are as follows: e ______lo First Document. ''Ben Stothart, chief constable to* ap pointed by Blease, stated at th: he time of his appointment to [in the position, it was understood fa between him and the governor hat protection should be givenj to to the blind tigers operating in at the city- of Charleston, provided th~ they would pay a stipulated cc sum per month to him, that wv this sumi amounted in the ag- Tl gregate to between $3,500 and su ~5,000 per month; that as soon um as the collections were made he so -'ducted his c'onunission for th making the same and wvould d( per'sonnally take the balan )e to th ('ohnni~bia, S. C., and pay it th ove*r to the governor.w "H e stated further that pro- fri tests had been made to the th e:nvernor against these collec- $1 tions by interested parties: but es that the~ governor would pay no th at I enti in to them: that demand IH h ad beeni node upon the govern- 'in or for h is dlismi1issal, but that he t felt perfectly se'ure in his job, th for' the governor was a manI of in independence anid had the power m to) do( as he pleased with it. b '\lso that the governor had w issuedl a pardon to Rudolp wv Rabens. a blind tiger man of to the Cityv of Chiarlesto'n (I believem this is the name), receiving to th'refor a sunm of S2,000) in cash. co The~ said Stothart stated that to bie had conducted the negota- gc iien PSw~ihi r'esultedI in the par denl of this man. sa "This (conversation occured pe in the Argyle hotel in the city Iat amous Det ies Evidence Drruption. Is Stothart and party had ha< ;everal drinks together in th blind tigers of the city of Char leston.'' Second Document. "During the time that Cole L. 3lease represented Newberry -ounty in the State senate, a entleman by the name of F. harlton Wright, who came rom Savannah, Ga., whose rother was division superin endant of one of the railroads, >erhaps the Seaboard Air line, vith headquarters in Columbia, nd who came to Columbia as rivate secretary to P. I. Welles, uperintendent of the Southern, as transfered from that posi ion to the position as private ecretary of the general coun el of the Southern railroad. "Mr, W. Charlton Wright as interviewed at length in e city of Columbia, and dis ssed conditions obtaining ere during his incumbency as rivate secretary of the general al 4 unsel of the Southern rail )ad. He discussed at length 1e dishonesty of Senator Cole . Blease. The most pertinent atement made by him, which quoted literally, is as follows: "Why, of course, I *know he a crook. When I was work ig for Abney, I linmd him a eck in the notc-ronii' of the mate chambecr oni (ne occasion )1 $500 as a coimi e;stion for is erVices inl difal in;.C a enL d g bill affecting Ihl in,6 ci-e-,t:e tif It railroad." Third Document. "Henry H asselmieyer. u hw ace of busiiiss is near the arket in the city of Charles n, upon being asked how ther id tigers in the city of Char-I ston were getting on. his re y was: 'We elected Cole lease governor and we now ive full protection.'. "Asked as to the method by hich protection was obtained, stated that shortly the goy nor's inauguration the chief the constabulary force was died to Columbia for confer ice with the governor. In tis conference with the gov' 'nor it was agreed as to the nount that each blind tiger in ie city of Charleston should L monthly for protection. "On the return of the chief >nstable to Charleston he call lupon the president of the cal brewery and told him that wished to see him in confer ice, that he had a proposition miake to him which wvas au orizd by the governor, ask g him when it would be satis tory to see him. "The president of the brewery l him t hat he could see him any time and in m y place at suited. Thlle chief of the nstabulary force said that he ould come to his home at once. e president of the brewery ggested that this would be an iwise move fromt the fact that me one might see him. To is the rep~ly n ais nuole: 'We n't care who waes us.' He en proceeded to the home of e president of the brewery, bere he delivered the message m the governor to the effect at on the consideration of 0 each per month, they would tend protection from arrest to e blind tigers of Charleston. e also stated that there were the neighborhood of 350o blind zers in Charleston and that ese were to pay $10) enea g~r g the first week .ch ont~h. The presiden, .a the ewery asked what disposition ould be made of this collection, bereupon the chief constable Id him that under his agree ent with the governor he was! be allowed a commission for lecting and the balance was be paid over monthly to the vernor. "In said conversation the id Hasselmeyer stated that he rsonally visited the governor Columbia and entered his otest against this arrange I ment, stating to the governoi that this graft should not bx - collected; but the governor waved him aside with the state ment that he was running that end of the matter." Fourth Document. "John H. Morris and R. L. Toland.of Spartanburg, S. C., have stated, and will undoubt edly swear if called before your committee that Cole L. Blease, then a senator from Newberry who was acting upon the in vestigating. committee to in vestigate the affairs of the late dispensary, was employed by Jeff Dunwoody of Atlanta, agent for the Atlanta Brewing and Ice company, to obstruct the proceedings of the said cor mittee. "They will also swear that the said Blease sought a private interview with them and did everything in his power to pre vent -them from testifying be fore said committee. "Jeff Dunwoqdy, being a citizen of Georgia, can not be compelled to corroborate this evidence; but the fact will be sufrfciently established by those two witnesses. "In this connection I desire to state that when Cole L. Blease was senator from Newberry and a bill was introduced to appro priate $15,000 to be used by -the attorney general of the State In conducting the prosecutions against the grafters. that the liquor dealers employed the said Blease, then a senator, to ))pose the passage of said nwasure; and as a matter of Sict t.h.. said Blease did oppose b-v speech, vote and influence ihe passage of said resolution, andi t hat he received for his .wries the sum of $250 in cash, which was paid to him at Wrht's .hotel in the city of Colubia, State of South Car9 lina.' "W. B. Roy of the city of Louisville. Morten A. Goodman of the city of Cincinnati and Jaries S. Farnuw of the city of Charleston are said to have knowledge of this transaction, Sale of Pardons. Augusta, Ga., July 13.-Five thousand for Cole L. Blease, governor of South Carolina. Five thousand dollars for Sam J. Michols attorney of Spartan burg and friend of governor Blease. Five thousand for C. P. Sims, attorney of Spartan burg. E. S. Reed, chief lieuten ant of William J. Burns, the famous detective, swore that these amounts were to be paid to the three persons named for the pardon of Gus DeFord, one of the most notorious prisoners in the South Caroliha peniten tiary, who was convicted In Spartanburg county in 1902 on the charge of blowing the safe of the Enoree Manufacturing company, ia hen over $8,000 was secured, and sentenced to serve a termi of ten years. Detective Reed was on the stand before1 the legislative committe for sev eral hours this afternoon and he gave his testimony, supporting it with thousands of words of dictagraph records. The final act of the alleged gigantic par-' don deal was to have been reached today with the "0. K." telegram frem Sam J. Nichols to the effect that the pardon had been granted. The tele gram was not received. Do,. Taent in Evidence. T. B. Felder placed in evi dence his draft for $2,500 lgawn on the Fourth N'ational bank,1 Atlanta, to be deposited In the $ank of Commerce of Spartan-] burg for financing the deal whereby evidence was to be!a secured that Gov. Blease had f been guilty of selling pardons. 3' E. S. Reed, one of the bestj detectives in the United States f and head of the Burns forces, ] was selected to carry out the1a work under the name of "Hen ry N. Purter' attorney, ofi Chicago, fl1.' ' .4i The Grafters. sold? Tom Feld his charg Direct testimony was given that Sam J. Nichols had been given a check for $500 as a re tainer fee to secure the pardon for DeFord and that the check I was on deposit in the Bank of < Commerce i n Spartanburg. 1 Direct testimony was given by i Reed and Felder that an addi- i tional check for $500 had been I placed at the disposal of Nichols t for work in buying a pardon for I DeFord. Direct testimony was a given that there is $15,000 on t deposit in a Chicago bank to be t paid to Sam J. Nichols upon the I word that DeFord had been re- h leased from the State peniten- t tiary. t These checks, Felder said, i will be placed In evidence before v the committee. S t( Dictagraph Records. Over 25,000 words in testi- P mony from the dictagraph was h placed in evidence with refer- s( ence to the pardon deal, with h the conversations between Sam ft J. Nichols and "Henry N. Por- w ter," the detective, were given. C This testimony was taken by t) expert stenogrAphers, T h e ti principal statenent taken in a in Washington hotel was taken by w the private secretary of Post- th master General, Hitchcock. w Should the case ever be brought tu to court these stenographers se will be put up as 'witnesses. P< The testimony was sworn in by th Detective, "Henry N. Porter." g The dictagraph testimony fur- w ther touched how Sam J. Nich- ta Als secured a charter for the h< Piedmont and Northern rail way A According to the testimony, he TI had a row with Gov. Blease and N threatened to desert him unless 23 he signed the bill. The testi- ri mony was that Nichols said t bhat the signing of the hill th mreant $10,000 a year to him. to According to the testimony, ai Nchols told Bl-ase that his hat- ps red for Lewis Parker or Symth se i the money paid by the Sou- w thern railway was keeping him it from signing the bill. ov Gov. 8lease signed the bill w and the diotagraph relates a A stormiy scene. This conversation T] ietting out those statements su was between Sam J. Nichols P( m.d "Henry J. Porter," the letective. st< ne Picked Worst Criminal- gr "We selectel said Porter, " wi ;he worst cri.ninal in the South PC Jarolina penitentiary for our in- sa restigation. This man was F< cnown as Gus DeFord, alias dc lames Johnson, alias Edward tri afurphy, alias .Edward Hollo- co w'ay. alias G. W. Deford, alias w' 1. M. Deford and other aliases. r'his man was a yegeman and sa a safe blower. He' had just " erved a sentence of five years ro n the federal prison in Atlanta ph~ irhen he was convicted in South sa Jarolina. pr "DeFord was convicted in G< spartanburg county several ST rears ago on the charge of blow- be ng the safe of the Enoree Man- ta ifactoring company. Over $8,. mn 0)0 was secured by the work de mnd the Spartanburg county a :ourt, after a long and serious Ti rial sent Deford tad the State re enitentlary for 10 years. an Porter said that Sam J. Rilchols gave him a letter of in-t roduction to Capt. Sondley of" he State penitentiary. Felder' th aid that this letter would be to ater introduced in evidence. ?orter said that he went to the "~ >enitentiary and presented the etter of introduction to Capt. N. 3ondley and was well received. pa "I asked to see several of the )risoners," said Porter, and was Ni riven admission to the prison. w< Icalled for Deford. I talked fto &ith him and told him that I be &a~s interested in his case. I w] ave him to understand that I g vould act as his attorndy." tit Porter said that after the con- p erence at the penitentiary with mn )eFord he went to Spartanburg q1 mid met Sam S. Nichols. -He re aid that he gave Nichols to b mnderstand that he was looking e Pardons :r makes unable to locate him. He si that he told Nichols that it w very neccessary to find th onvict as the settlement of big estate depended on his free >m. The convict was one( ;he beneficiaries and his resto ition of citizenship was nece ary. Porter told Nichols ( )eFord anjd said that he wa he man. Porter said tha ichols questioned him as t mount involved, and that h old him it was very necessar: o secure this pardon for DeFord "orter said that Nichols tol im that it would't be difficul 3 get DeFord out of the Deni mntiary. Porter told of deposit ig a letter of credit for $2,50( rith the Bank of Commerce o partanburg. He read severa: .legrams that he exchange -ith Nichols. These telegrams -ere introduced in evidence, orter declared that after he ad talked over the matter of ,curing a Dardon for DeFord a paid Sam J. Nichols a check r $500. This check, he said, as deposited in the Bank of 6mmerce of Spartanburg to te credit of Nichols, and that ie check would be later placed evidencC. Another check as drawn for, $500, subject to e order of Nichols. said the itness. This money was rned loose to aid Nichols, in curing the pardon. Here >rter told of the injection of e dictagraph in the investi Ltion. The dictagraph was ;ed in the Finch hotel in Spar nburg, in the New Willard )tel in Washington, an in the Itamont hotel in Baltimore. ne first meeting between ichols and Porter occured June . Porte- said that &fter ar ving in Spartanburg and in alling himself in room 48 of e Finch hotel he sent a note Nichols asking that he call d talk over the securing of a rdon for DeFord. Nichols nt back a note saying that he as going out of town and that would be impossible to talk er the matter. A second note ais -sent to Nichols by Porter. second reply was received. 1e reply of Nichols will be bnmitted to the committee by >rter. The witness said that an ex mnographer named Stetiel umn was located in the room xt to No. 48. The dicta aph was placed in the room Lth Porter. Later in the day. >rter said, Nichols called and id they held a conference. >r fi ve hours the DeFord par n was freely discussed. A. mnscript of the testimonj vering mnore than 10,000 words is introduced in evidence. The next conference, Porter id, was held in the New illard hotel in Washington in 3m 541. The official stenogra er in Washington, Porter id, was George W. Reik, ivate secretary to Postmaster meral Hitchcock. As in artanburg, the conversation tween Nichols and Portr was ken. This transcribed testi >nyV was introduced in evi nce this afternoon and made part of the official record. ic discussion continued with ~erence to the Deford pardon, *d the manner in which it is to be secured. Porter said at Nichols came to his room Washington with a man by e name of Pasley who he asked leave the room as important had some business to talk over th Porter. It was stated by Porter that chols pt omised to close up the ,rdon deal within two weeks. According to the witness, chols left Washington and mnt to Baltimore. He was llowed by Porter. and thej" th went to Altamont hotel, biere the South Carolina dele .tion to the national conven mn was registered. At this mit in the testimony the embers of the committee testioned Porter as to the cor etness of the testimony taken the dictagraph. A technical planation of the working of - instrument was given and id the witness declared that from Ls experience it has been sh is that it was impossible'to "fake".' a testimony from the dicta I- He said that the stenogapher )f notes would show 'whether it r- was genuine or not. State. Campaign Dat The following is the itinerary for the State campaign: Edgefield, Thursday, July 25 Aiken, Friday, July 26. ONE WEEK OFF Camden, Monday. August Lancaster, Tuesday, Aug. Yorkville, Wednesday, Aug Gaffney, Thursday, August 8 Spartanburg. Friday, Aug. 9. Union, Satm lay, August 10. Newberry, Tuesday, Aug. 13., Laurens, Wednesday, Aug 14 Greenwood, Thursday, Aug15 Abbeville, Friday, August16: Anderson, Saturday, Walhalla, Tuesday, Aug. 20. Pickens, Wednesday, Aug. 21 Greenville, Thursday, Aug 22 Senatorial Campaign The following is the itinerary for the senatorial campaign: Hampton, Thursday, July 25 Barnwell, Friday, July Newberry, Mondaiy, ily 29. Laurens, Tuesday, July 30. Greenwood Wednsday July 31 Abbeville, Thursday, Aug. 1. Anderson, Friday, August 2. Walhalla, Saturday, Aug. 3. Pickens, Monday, August 5 Greenville, Tuesday. Aug. 6. Spartanburg, Wed., Aug. 7 Union, Thursday, Aug: 8. Gaffney, Friday, Aug. 9. Yorkville. Tuesday, Aug. 13. Lancaster, Wed., August 14. Camden, Thursday, Aug. 15. Chester, Friday, Aug. 16. Winnsboro, Saturday!, Aug 17 Lexington, Tuesday, Aug. 20 Saluda, Wednesday, Aug. 21. Edgefield, Thursday. Aug. 22 Aiken, Friday, Aug. 23. The dates of the county cam paign meetings as adopted at the meeting of the county execu tive committee, are as follows: Easley, Saturday, July 27. Liberty, Saturday, August 3. Central, Saturday, August 10. Ant-och, Thursday, A Mile Creek. Friday, Aug. Cateechee, Saturday, Aug.l' Dacusville, Thursday, Aug 22 Punmpkintown, Friday,Aug 2S Pickens, Saturday, Aug. .24. Notice to Confederate Veteram Desiring Crosses of Honor. Notice of the extension of .the. time for the conferring of CYross es ofiHonor has been received by Pickens Chapter. Those vet erans and their descendants who desire Crosses are urged to make their applications at once, and certainly not later than by August 1st,1912, as this is the last opportunity that will be given for procuring Crosses, and. this is due to a special effort to induce this extension of time, as so many expressed a desire at the last annual reunion for a Cross. Application blanks may be had by callin~g at the office of Probate Judge, J. B. Newberry, or by seeing the undersigned.4 Eeyveteran is urged to take advantage of this last opp)Or tunity to secure this covete badge of honor, as well as the eligible descendant of every veteran. Respectfully. - Mrs. T. J. Mauldin -' Pres. Pickens Chapter, U. D. C. 3t14 SOUR TICKET SWH30ON AND MARSHAL SThe People's Candidates, a Winning Ticket, the Next4 President and VicePresident