Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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C, I * Ire C> VOLUME XXIX. LAURENS, SOUTh CAROLINA, WEDNESDAy, 14, 1914. JANUARY NUMBER 25 CHARR[O R[MAINS Of 1AK[N FROM RU! Terrible Tragedy in Lower Part of the County. EOUL PLAY SUSPECTED MYSTERY UNSOLVED No Definite Clue has eon Found to Point Directly to the Theory of Mur der, but There is Strong Susplion of Foul Play. Skull Fractured. What appears to have been one of the most 'mysterious and at the same time most deplorable events in the re cent history of the county occurred in the early morning hours near Ren no yesterday when Mr. Geo. F. Young met his death either by burning or by foul play. About three o'clock yes terday morning the home of Mr. Young was found completely envelop ed in flames and through it all could be seen his dead body lying across 'the hearth. How the fire started or whether Mr. Young was murdered and the house set afire to hide the crime has not yet been determined. It was midday yesterday before the ruins of the house were suffliciently-cooled for friends to reach the (lead body and extinguish the flames. Mr. Young was an extensive farmer on a large two thousand acre estate several miles from Renno. Ile spent most of his time there, his wife and four children living in Laurens for the social and educational advantages. Conflicting theories have been ad vanced as to how and why the tragedy ocecrred. The only real and tangible evidence of any kind yet available is ihe bare fact as to the situation which existed shortly after and at the time the fire was discovered. One Tom Young, colored, who is being held as a suspect, first discovered the flire supposedly on his way to work. Ile gave the alarm and soon other negroes were on the scene. Nothing effective could be done to extinguish the flames. White people having heard of the tragedy being enacted, hurried to the scene but they could do little to put out the fire. About noon the flames had died down sufficiently for the men to make their way to the dead body. Tholimbs were found almost entirely consumed and the trunk was so badly 'burned that the heart and other organs were exposed to view. On each side of the forehead were two indentions of thd skull and these are the only clues so far found to justify the theory of murder. An axe with the handle burned out was found in the room, but no other evidence was discovered. Whether the fractures in the skull were caused by fallingtim bers or by some instrument In the hands of another is the question not yet solved. Tom Young, the first negro on the scone, has -boon arrested on suspicion, it being stated that lhe and Mr. Young had previously had a disagreement. A large crowd of men gathered very rapidly yesterday morning and excite.. mont ran high for a time. However, no trouble is anticipated and in ease the sheriff sees fit to hold this negro 01' aarrest othe~rs they will most prob ably be given a trial in the courts. Mr. Young is survived by his wife and four children, as follows: 0. Dud ley Young, of Gaffney, Stobo 0. Young, Detroit, Misses flamelie and 10lizabethi Young. The funeral services will :be hold from the house on North Hiarper street Thursday morning at 11 o'clock. )tov Mitchell at Lucas Avenue. Rev. 0. C. Hedgepoth, pastor of daicas5 Avenue Batptisft churcih, this city, states that 'Rev. BI. P. MItchell, Secretary of the Laurenis Association, is conducting an I'nlistment M4eeting in his chum'ch this week. Services be gin prompltly at 7:30 o'clock each ev ening. The public is cordially invited to attend. Lamurens Delegation Off. Senator 0. P. Gloodwin and Repre aentatives WV. C. Irby, Jr., ir. S. Black.. well and Gleo. A. Browning, Jr., left Monday for Columbia to attend the sessions of the legislature. Before leaving they made no announcement of any special legislation affecting .this county. [O. F. YOIMG S OF BURM[D BOM[ COUNTY TEACHERS MET SATURDAY Address by Superintendent of Edu cation J. E. Swearingen. Routine Matters Attended To. The regular monthly meeting of the .county teachers and trustee asso clations was held in the graded school auditorium Saturday. A very inter esting and profitable program was carried out, among the items on the program being an address by Super intendent of Education J. E. Swearin gen. Mr. James H. Sullivan, the new ly appointed 'county duperintendent of education, made a short address to the -teachers and Mr. Geo. L. Pitts spoke ,briefly' in making his farewell appearance as a 'member of the asso ciation. The joint session of thq two associa tions was held, individual sessions were held 'by each association. Mr. Swearingen presided over the meet ing of the trustees and made a very forceful talk outlining some of the duties of the trustees and some of the imperative needs of the schools. Mr. W. Carl Wharton, president of the trustee association, made a stirring address stressing the importance, of co-operation. According to reports made public at the meeting, over $1,200 was real ized from entertainments of the im provement associations during the months of November and December. BIG LANI) SALE. Lots to be Sold at "Hillcrest", Benu tifin Site on Farley Avenue. The Traxler Real Estate company of Greenville are advertising a very attractive land sale to take place in this city Monday morning beginning at 10:30 o'clock. The tract of land to be cut up into building lots and sold is that beautiful piece of property on Farley Avenue which has been owned for some years by Mr. W. L. Gray and which is looked uponi as one of the most attractive undeveloped pieces of real estate in the city. There are fourteen lots 50x150 facing Farley ave nue and 100 lots of the same dimen sion on Chestnut street. There are a number of other attractive lots, making about 200 in all. Penny Broth ers, the twin auctioneers, will cry the sale. The public is especially requested to bear in 'mind that to get the bene fit of the prizes offered in the circular advertisements, it will he necessary to be on hand both when the sale op ens and when it closes. Nearly Eight Thousand Ahead. According to figures furnished The Advertiser by Mr. Charles McCravy, the cotton ginnings for this county tip to January 1 were 42,881 bales. Up to the same period last year the gin nings wer'e 35,046 bales. This shows an increase of 7,S35 bales over last year. The total ginnings foi' the en tii'e season of 1911 were around 55, 000 bales, so it is hardly probable that this season's crop will reach the highwvater level set that year by 'many thouisands of bales. New With 'f'ho Adiertiser. Mr. Geo. B. Grist, until recently of Yorkvillo, has accepted a position in the job and adl-settinig deopartmenits of Trho Advertiser and has already begun hisi duties. Mr. Grist has worked in several modern printing oflices, in ciuuding modern hplants at Char lotte and Yorkville. Hie is a mar ried man and will bring his fam ily here in a .fcfw weeks. Mr. Crist takes the place of Mr. WValter Moore, who so acceptably filled the position up until a few weeks ago when lie went on the farm. Will Build Hlonm. 'Mrs. A. RI. Irby has recently pur chased a' lot on South Harper street from Mr. E. P. Minter and at an early date will begin the erection of a hand some two-story home. The lot is di rectly in front of the hospital on the opposite side. Meetinig of D. A. R. 'rhe IHenry Laurens chapter, D. A. R., meets Friday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock. With Nirs. WV H. Dial. ALBERT F. SIMPSON DIED FRIDAY Only Son' of Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Sinp. son. has Recently Been Living in tCheraw. Friday morning at' four o'clock, Al bert F. Simpson, only son of Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Simpson, died at-the family residence in this city. Mr. Simpson returned home .from Cheraw some weeks before the Christmas holidays suffering from a malarial affection, but this had occasioned no great egncern until a weakening of the heart func tions caused him to suffer a complete collapse. lie was confined to his bed but a few days, the announcement of his death coming as a great shock to his relatives and friends. Saturday afternoon interment took place in the Laurens cometery, Rev. C. F. Rankin. conducting the services. After the grave had been filled, the mound was covered with beautiful flowers, tributes from -his numerous friends who had admired him for his sterling worth and exemplary charac ter. The following were the pall bearers: Honorary, Dr. W. D. Fer guson, Dr. J. H1. Tongue, J. W. Todd, Col. 11. Y. Simpson, .1. Aug. Barksdale, A. Ross Bilakeley, D. A. i)avis, W. E. Clardy, M. I.. Copelan:1, W. It. Mcf~uen; Active, .J. W. Todd, Jr., Boyce Clardy Charles Siumpson, Calhoun McGowan, L. 13. Blackwell. M. 11. I hinter, .S. M. Vilkes, .1. 1). Watts, Frank Spratt, Clyde Fowler. Mr. Simpson had been engaged in the plumbing business for several years, having been up to about a year ago associated with .1. ii. Boyd & Co. A few months ago he went to Cheraw, where he went into business on his own account and was meeting with success. Mr. Simpson was about twenty-five years of age. 'lie is survived by his parents and two sisters, Misses Mar guerite and Ilattle Simpson, students at '(hicora college. lie was a young man of upright and honest character and firm convictions. Ile was a Ma r:en, a mrenher of the Presbyterian church and for some time was secre tary of the Sunday school. iiEL ,PED LIBERATi'E PRISON ER . -Jesse Williams Arrested on the Charge of Aiding in the Liberation of Six Prisoners fromt the County Jail. Jesse Williams, colored, was arrest ed in Greenville last week and brought here charged with aiding pri nuers to escap~e from the county jail. it Is al leged that Williams assisted Sam Price and flve other negroes in making their escape a few weeks ago by secretly passing tools to the confined prison ers. The arrest was made by Deputy Sheriff Reid, who had been on the trail of the negro for some time. Williams has made sme very incriminating statements about the escape of the six prisoners. It will be remembered that Sam Price, convicted of murder and sen tenced to life imprisonment, madhe his escaipe with five other negroes charged wvith lesser offenses several weeks ago. Sam Price has never been caught, but two of the escaped prisoners, John French and Loomis Ellison have since been apprehended, A001DIENTAL lHiLLiINO. Two Negroes Start linnting and. in Struggle over a Onin One is Ellied. What is said to have been an acci dental killing occuirred a few miles wvest of the city Fridlay when two young negro boys, Futrman Bullock and Will Iriby, started out lhunting. Ac cording to the testimony given at the inquest, the two negroes wvere play fully handling a gun when it was (dis charged, the load entering the body of WVillie Irby. The negro d11ed a few hours Inter. The jury rendered a ver dict of accidental homicide. Engineering Offiees Now sOpen. Mr. Edward McCrady, of the firm of McCrady Bros. & Choves, arrived in the city a few clays ago to take up his residence here and to carry out con tracts of his firm. Mr. MeCrady will be found in the Bank of Laurens building, where lie will be glad to con fer with those desiring any kind of engineering wvork done. Moves to Another Farm. Mm'. Marvin C'oy, who has been living on Laurens Route 6, has moved to another farm a few miles from Simipsonville, whlere lie wvill be locat ed t his vyear. ANOTHER BANK TO BE ORGANIZED Meeting of Prominent Citizens, Wed nesday Resulted in Definite Decslon to Orgaiinlze $50,000 Institution. At a -meeting of prominent citizens held WVedne9day in the new offices of the Laurens Trust Company it was definitely decided ' to launch a new bank in this city. It will probably be a national bank with a capital stock of $50,000. Officers and directors of The Laurens Trust Company are the prime promoters of the new institution. The bank will be located on the first floor of the remodeltd building recently bought by the trust company from the Bank of Laurens. A committee of two, Messrs R. A. Cooper and R1. Flem ing Jones,, was appointed at the meet ing to canvas the city and county for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions to the capital stock. Sufficient assur ances of subscriptions were given at the meeting, however, to make certain the organization of the bank. Since the question has arisen on the streets several tiimes as to what rela tion the new institution would bear to The Laurens Trust Company, one of the oflcers of the trust company stat ed yesterday that the two institutions will be entirely separate from each other and that no part of the stock of the trust company is to be merged into that of the hank. In other words, the only relat on existing will be that of occupying the same building. The oflicers of the new hank have of course not yet been named and will not be named until after complete or ganization has been effected. This will make the fifth regularly chartered hank in the city. The other banks are The Peoples Loan and Ex change Bank, with a capital of $100, 000, The Enterprise Bank, with a cap ital of $100,000, the Bank of Laurens, with a capital of $50,000 and the Pal metto Bank, withi a capital of $50,000. In addition to these, there are two trust companies, The Laurens Trust Company and The 1Ilome Trust Com pany, each with an authorized capital ization of $50,000. The Lucas Bank, situated at the Watts Mills, just. out side the incorporate limits, has a cap ital of $5,000. Owings & Bobo also do a private banking business though it is not a chartered institution. MR~. 31eGOWAN ENDORSED. Local Attorneys Are Anxious to See H1im Associate Justlce. At a special meeting of the Laurens Bar Association held last week, Mr. F. P. McGowan the well-known at torney, was endorsed for associate justice of the supreme court. Mr. McGowan is among the most promi nent of the lawyers of this state and was at one time senator from this county. ills name will'be presented a' the joint sessions of the general assembly when they meetsoon to fill tho vacancies on the supreme court bench. Neygro Cuts Another. Two Laurens negroes, Frank Rich ardlson and Walter Barksdale, got in to a difficulty while returning on the train from Augusta Sunday and~ before time couldl be called Frank RIchard son hlad cut Wvalter Darksdale with a puocket knife, doing considerable in jury. Besides ,making seveiral deep1 gashes in other parts of tihe body, Richardson made a deep incision into thle throat of his o-pponent, punctulrinlg one of thb smaller veins of the nec0k. On their arrival at Laurens Frank Rlichardlson was placed in jail andl Walter Barksdale wvas giveni medical attentIon. Trhe fight took place just beyond Waterloo. Officers Elected. At a sp~eciai convocatIon Adaniro Council No. 2, Thursday evening, the followilng officers were elected: R. A. Cooper, TP. 1. M.; Brooks Swygert, ID. I. 'M.; 0. iU. Siimmons, P. C. V.; T. C. Switzer, Trreas.; WV. II. Was'hington, Recorder; C. M. Miller, C. G.;' R . A. Babb, C. C.; J. F. Tolbert, Stewart; H., Terry, Sentinel. More Lamnd Sales. In the list of sales made on thme reg uilar JIanuary saleRsday, The Advertiser faIled 1o mention the sale of the Kay propeirty, in Sullivan townlship). Two of the tracts were bought by J1. 5. 1K11 gore and three by J1. 0. Sullivan. The total amount realized wvas $3,125. The Lee liendiersoni place, necar Mt. Pleas atnt, was also sold1, JIona Smith buyingl it for 4800. N.B. DIAL WITHDRAWS FROI 8tENAT[ RAC[ Dislikes Being Drawn Into Factional Fight. PERSONAL AFFAIRS DEMAND ATTENTION In Interview Given out 'Several Days Ago Mr. I)iil Withdraws from Sena. tonal Iace. has been Urged to ltun for Governor but. has Refused. Several days ago Mr. N. B. Dial gave out an interview relative to his candi lacy for United States Senate. It will le remembered that several ionths o Mr. Dial authorized a statement the c'd:ily pa;ers to the effect that wm'!d i in the race again this summer to succeed Senator E. D. Smith. Yesterday he stated that af ter mature consideration he had come to the conclusion, for business and other reasons, not to run this year. itMr. Dial intimated that a compelling reason for his withdrawal from the field at this time was because of' a dis like of being drawn into a fac tional fight as would likely char acterize the cainmpaign, a fight which would becloud the issues which lie de sired to discuss and on which he would base his claims for the oflice. With the people at present in a state of mind where they prefer listening to other than conservative discussions of constructive imeasures, Mr. Dial feels that he is unwilling to sacrifice h!mself in a campaign where those issues in which lie has no interest would be uppermost. Speaking of the campaign two years ago when Senator Tillman was re elected after releasing for publication the famous Ferguson letter, Mr. Dial stated that he felt that his defeat at that time was brought about by a combination of circumstances over which he had no control and which lie did not seek to control because of the questionable tactics it would have involved. Mr. Dial having had requests from several sonrees that lie "throw his hat into the ring for governor", lie was asked about this also. In reply, he stated that lie had considered the' matter very seriously, but that the srme reasons which had prompted him in staying out of the senatorial race also influenced him in his present in tention of remaining out of this race also. However, he has a number of things concerning the public welfare which lie would like to see enacted in to law and it is probable that lie will offer for governor or senate at some -future time. In a lengthy interview, too long to give in this correspondence, Mr. Bial reviewed the circumstances of his own life leading up to his candidacy for the United States Senate two sum mers ago, a life which all of his acquaintences recognize as one of considerable achievement, a life which lie says it is his am bitIon to crown by services for hIs state, both to aid and assist its pea ple in the further dlevelopmenit of the dorment desources and to attain the honoy w hiich maturo age covets. Mr. Dial deprecated the strife atnd unrest In the state at present, charging that the state is suffering great material losses because of the feeling of dis trust andl uncertainty felt towvards it In the financlal centers. HeI said the tirme has long been past (lute anud is now becoming imperative for the citi zens to wake up to the real needs of the hour and to (quit .bIckering over matters of minor tiportanice and to unite. With the recent passage of tho currency bill by congress, guaranteeing a more elastic cur rency, lie says the time was nev er more propitious for the south eirn states and~ especially this state to leave strife behind andl to put shoul (letrs together to dlet alop) the stat an'md build up Its credit abroad. Although not o::uosing the state wvarehouse bill as fathered by State Senator Mcau in, Mr. Dial thinks thpt one of the greatest things to be sought after at, present is a national ware house bill, patterned somewhat after the bonded whiskey warehouses, where the ccir tificates of the national government, gtuar'anteeing thie storage and grade of r')tion, cnn lbe usedl as collateral In t' c money muarket s of the wvorld. Oth er things, lie saidl, like rural credits, [[GIS[ATIY[S[SSIONS B[GANY[8T[RDAY Many Important Matters to Come Up. PRIMARY REFORM OF CHIEF CONCERN Mauny PI'rogressive leasures to be Pro sented though it is Expected that a Dl ision A long Factional Lines ii ill 11 inder 'rogressii e Legislation. Columbia, January 11.--The General Assembly meets Tuesday. Many mem bers are already in the city. The ap.. proach of the session finds the Stato in exceptional condition and there is no especial occasion to anticipate any thing unusual, as a result of the gath ering of the lawmakers. In previous years the linor ques tion largely overshadowed other mat ters, 'but for some reason this issuo is in abeyance and will hardly be one of the absorbing questions. That peo ple are not satisfied with existing con ditions is patent, but what to (10 in the circuistances is the problem. Pro liibition w::S tried l out in certain sec tions and proved unsatisfactory on tho groundl that public sent101inet would not enforce prohibition laws; then many counties went, back to the coun ty option system and th s is not al together satisfactory, but is apparent ly more satisfactory than would be State-wide prohibition or the State dispensary system. The chances are that nothing will be done with regard to' the liquor question. The most like ly measure is the Rittenberg bill, which has special reference to the con ditions iln Charleston. Education and Rloads The educntional situation in tho State prominen to he the overwhelm ing qlestionl that, will be to ken upl by ihel General Assembly. It Is becoming more d11(1 more appreciated every day that the best. money the State spen(s is in edceationl-education of any kind. The quoition now is how to host spedi it. The common schools need more money and the General Ass:n bly Is likely to pass ai Ac! that will raise the revienue d11(1 provide for its (listri btiion. Good roads will he an vehsorling is Sile. 'Tlie people want better roads and are going to have them. .Just now it appears that the question will he whether or not it would not be a good idea to use a portion of the state eol viets in the building of main arteries from end to end of the Fitate. The suggestion is that at first, with con vict labor the State build a main ar tery from the upper part to the lower part of the State and then one east and west. These would be used as types and in time other lines would be run to and from these main ar teries. The suggestion is to tax the people who use such road1s. An Act w~ould~ have -been plassed taxinlg auto mobiles10 so much per hor1se plower and using the money 011 such roads, but the hlitch came over tihe use0 of the fund. Somie wVantedl the revenue raisedl fromn a nutomobileo tax ulsed in the countles where the tax was derived 01nd otheors wished it used iln the con strulct Ion of thle proposedl 'main ar terios and1( the result was that no0th ing has been done upi to thle plresent time11, but somelting is likely to he done at this session if thlese two points en1 lhe agreed upon1--how the revenue1 ( Is to lie distributed and( how the work is to lie handled, that is, whether by nn1 ind(epenldenit comissionl, by tie 00om-mlissionerl of agricultur 1and1( oml merc~e 01r by thle State edu~entionlal Inl stituitions with engineering dleparut ments. Left-Over from 1913. When the Assembly meets on Tuues day it will find( a considerable caleon (dar of work that was left over from the last session. Of course, it is rec'og nized thlat, ulnder the rules that this 1ma0s of previ'ously plrop~osedl legIsla t ion is u~p for consideration. Conidi tions5 have (lhan~ged and( a nlew sched( ule of work may be arranged. It is gernlly' fldm;ittd t-hat one of ((Continuod on1 Pnato Ten.) OneO (1nt posta~ge, na0t101a0 conlserVa tn' 010., are0 iOmportanlt things to 3iln time, but11 thle n-a tiod ware hase idea lie feels is of piressing Im nlortanfce.