Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i t t Qe t tr il UWUEIISHE 3N.I F A e ESABISED -~5 NEBRY .C,FIDA Y, F EBR UAR Y 6, 1908 TWICE A WEEK, $1i.50) A YEAR HUMAN LIFE IS CHEAP IN SOUTII CAROLINA, FATHER AND SON SHOT TO DEATH IN FLORENCE. In Presence of Wife and Mother.-Ther William King Snaps Pistol at Woman's Head. -And It Was All About a Dog. [Special to the State.] Florence, Feb. 4.-William K'ng shot and killed Samuel Rogers and mortally wounded James Rogers; father of Samuel Rogers, about seven miles from here on the planta. tion of Alonzo Hewitt late Saturday evening. From the evidence at the coroner's inquest the following story of the killing is obtained: Mrs. Hewitt, who was an eye witness and in whose yard the shooting occurred, said: "I was at home when Mr. Roger. came up in front of the house in the road. Mrs. Rogers was with him. Samuel Rogers, his son, bad just come from Florence and about to turn his mule loose in the lot. About this time Mr. King came up and spoke to Mr. Rogers. Mr. King asked Mr. Rogers about a dog. Mr. Rogers told him that the dog was down at the house and that he could get hii if he would go with him. ' Mr. Rogers told Mr. King that as he was a poor man he would ap preciate it if he would give him a little something for the care of thA dog, as he had kept him for some time, not knowing whose dog it was. Mr. King replied: 'Yes, I will pay you for keeping my dog and will pay in lead and I will give it to you now. He then drew a pistol and fired at Mr. Rogers: Just as he fired young Rogers said to King: 'If you shoot papa you will have to shoot me.' King quickly turned and pointing his pistol at young Rogers, fired. Young Rogers fell on his knees and then to the ground. King then turned to wards old man Rogers and opened fire again on him, shooting him three more times. I saw Mr. Rogers fall to the ground. Mrs. Rogers then ran up and said to Mr. King: 'You have killed my baby.' Mrs. Hewitt then said to her. 'Yes, and he haH killed your old man.' King then turned with his pistol still smoking, and said to Mrs. Rogers: 'Yes, and by God, I will kill the wholQ a-d family." As he said so he shoved the pistol in Mrs. Rogers' face, and, pointingit at her head, snapped it once or twice. Had there been more cartridges in the gun he would have wiped out the entire family, as he had stated, for there were only three -father, wife and son."~ The Rogers family lived several hundred yards from Alonzo Hewitt in a log cabin with one room. They were poor people but hard working and honest. The story as told by Mrs. Rogers is practically the same ~.as told by Mrs. Hewitt. "Mr. Rogers also made a statement which corr'oborates that of Mrs. Hew itt and Mrs. Rogers in every partiocu: lar except that Mr. Rogers stated that the dog in question had taken >up at his (Rogers') house. He did T iot know whose dog it was until in ~lorenceu yesterday when a man sked him it he had a stetter bitch at ihouse. He told him that he hatd ~ne there that took up there b)ut he inot know whose dlog it was. The ~&an, who, as he afterwards found out, was William King, who shlot hmand his son. Mr. Rogers said further: "King told me in Florence he woul give me a little something for carmng for ~"the dog. That wvas all that was said. Have never had any trouble or wvords with King, and never knew him until yesterday. Never had any wordr with King before or during th' shooting. There was no one present but my son, Mrs. Hewitt and my >wife, but I believe that Mr. Thoman Hewitt camne tup with thle man King and after the first shot he begged >King not to shoot'' Young Rogers was shot only on time and1 died within teni minutem after he was shot. The~ bullet toola efetin the stomach and ranged' ' downward. Old muan Rogers wau crease their taxes, will pay them in return ten fold, yea, a hundred fold, not only in the comfort and conve nience, but in the actual saving of money. I do not know what the conditions may be elsewhere, but. I know in my own county the public highways are in a more deplorable condition than they have been in my recollection. It will no doubt be objected that this bill will increase taxes and some gentleman has said, that he did not want to leave a debt to his children. It will increase taxes, but it will in crease them where the people are willing to bear the burden and where they can see and enjoy and reap the benefits of the money they pay. The biggest tax the people of this country are paying today is the mud tax. All I ask is to give tbi people of each county the privilege of saying for themselves whether or not they desire to continue to pay this heavy mud tax or whether they desire to take a forward step and get out of the mud and by improving the public roads increase the value of rural property, make the country, as it is by nature, the ideal place to live, and stop the rapid depopulation of the rural districts. That is. all. Why should we halt or hesitate when everybody wants to see the roads im proved? There is nothing more im portant for this General Assembly to do than to provide the way for the people to do something for the im provement of the public highways. After they are secured no one will regret the cost or be willing to give the reads in exchange for the money -spent. Proper and equal assessments of property and good schools are all to be desired, but first of all, and in order to secure the best results from these other things, we want to see our roads improved and put in such condition that the penle may reach their local markets and railways and perform their public duties with some degree of comfort and satisfac tion, not to speak of the saving in time and in the wear and tear of horses and vehicles. I do not know how it may be else where, but in my own county the largest taxpayers are the ones most ready and willing to be taxed for road improvement. Not only that, but under the present system the in corporated towns, the railroads and the corporations contribute not one cent to the building or maintenance of the public highways. They would be as much benefited as the people who, under the present law, are re quired to keep them up, and, I sub mit, are willing to contribute their share if you will permit them to do it, not because they are so philan thropic in their interest in the wel fare and comfort and convenience of the people who live in the rural dis tricts, but because it will pay themr to do it. S'ome of the great railroad systems of this country have already spent large sums of money in making experiments in road building, so as to encourage the people, because they knowv that good highways tribu tary to their lines will increase their busi ness. Thlis is also a national question, and( the General Government has addedC( to the department of agricul ture a department of good1 roads in quiry, and MIr. Brownles now has a bill in CJongress providinig for national aidl und(er certasin conrditions. But we must at last depend upon our selves for t.lhis great work. It is true, howvever, that something must be done if we are to get t he best re suIts from the free rural mail service which in the past few years has grown so rap)idly and is such a con veniience to our farmers and of so great practical beniefit to this couni try. TLhe conditions of our public high ways i.s an e'ssenltiail factor in the ex tension and eflicienicy of this service. Thei Postmaster General in a recent report, in speaking of this subject, said: "Good ro,ads become indis peisahlO, and their insprovement is the essential condition of the service." In the State of New .Jersey, one of the leading States in this move nment, and wvhere they have a corn missioner of n)ublic roads, and a shot four times, the first two shots ditabled both arms and "he last two entered the body, and his life blood is slowly ebbing away. He was re ported to be dying late this after noon. It seems, too, that there is another part of the story of the shooting. King did leave a message for the sheriff with his wife saying that he did not mean to be taken and did not want to lie in jail, so that he had left the State. He said further that if he was sure that the witness would tell the truth that he would not mind coming to Firence and giving him self up, but he would not risk it. It it is also said that all parties had been drinking and that when Tom Hewitt drove up the Rogers, were raising a row and it is said that King claims that they both came on him with knives and that he shot in self defense. There is also a pitchfork spoken of, and there are witneses for the defense, as well as for the prose. oution. Both sides, as nearly as can be gathered, are presented to the reader. THE GOOD ROADS BILL Killed in the House On Tuesday Morning. Strongly Defended by Mr. Aull. The Bill introduced in the House by Mr. Aull, of Newberry, providing for special elections in each county in the State to decide whether or not such county should issue bonds for nanapamizing and permanently im proving the public highways, was killed on Tuesday. The following account is taken from the News and Courier of Wednesday: "Mr. Aull took up his road bill and made one of the best speeches of the session in favor of good roads. He said: A PLEA FOR GOOD ROADS. I have listened with a great deal of interest for the past three weeks to the discussions in the House, espe cially those bearing upon the sub ject of roads and road improvement. Judging from expressions of mem bers on this floor, I should conclude that the sentiment that something should be done for the improvement of our high ways, is strong through out the State. Two bills have passed this House on this subject which are in the right direction, and which will help to improve the condition of our public roads. The one to permit the increase of the commutation tax and the other to permit convicts up to ten years to be sentenced to the county chain gangs. If I had my way I would place all the convicts now in tbe penitentiary, except the women and children and those too feeble to perform hard labor, on the public roads, and sell the State farms, except a sufficiency to maintain the convicts whom we would be obliged to keep within the penitentiary for the reasons stated. While the in crease in the commutation tax will help, yet I believe the only wvay and the right way to secure good roads is by a property tax. Why should the State require or expect the non-prop erty holder, the negro and the poor white man, to keep up the p)ublic roads and (eempt the property in incorporatedl cities and towns and the rail roads and other corporate wealth from bearing its proportionate share of the~ public burden and contribut ing its part in this public benefac. tioni I' The b)enefits to this class of property wvoeld be as great as to the propeorty in the rural dist ricts. Every body uses the public road. It is the source of all commerce and the small artery which leads up 'to the centre of trade anld the feeder for the big railroads wh ich traverse our country. The public road is a much the pub lie property as the Court House or the jail, anid the burden of its build ing aind its n.ainteniance eht uld rest upon all the people andl all the prop erty alike. For t hat reason t he bill has been introduced and it does not propos t;> fasten the bnrdon uiponi the people excep)t by their consent, but I want the people of each county t.o have an opportunity to any for themselves wvhet her or not they want to take this gre'at advance step and make an imvestment which. while it will in property tax for macadamizing and permanently improving the public highways, the commissioner said in one of his reports: "The people seem to be so wonderfully impressed with the idea that by good roads the value of land will be increased, trans portation cheapened, travel and busi near attracted, school houses and churches filled, and civilization ad vanced, that they are praying as earnestly for them as for great riches." The trouble is to keep them from over burdening themselves. I want to say to the gentleman who said the other day that he did not think it good business judgment or right to leave a debt to be paid by his chil dren, that if he will leave an inherit ance of bonds, the proceeds of which have been invested in good and per mauent roads, his children will owe him a debt of gratitude which they can only pay by further improve. ment of the public roads for the benefit of their children even if they have to transmit to a succeeding generation this inheritance of bonds. It is a saying amongst the Arabs that "he who drinks of the Nile must ever after thirst.; no other water can ever again quench or satisfy." So, Mr. Speaker, if we give the people of South Carolina a taste of good roads they will never again he willing to plod their way through mud and sand, unless the two be mixed so as to make a Macadam road. Mr. Speaker, if we are to have good schools, if we are to expect our people to remain in the country and the sturdy yeomanry of the rural districts have ever been the bulwark and defence of our country in times of peril-we must do something for our roads. We are two thousand years behind the times. We are told in history that the strongest ties that held the Roman EnMpire together for so many generations were the old Roman roads, and in liter years they were of great benefit to the com mercial interests of Rome. We lead all the nations of the world in many things, but. the condition of our pub lic roads today, after more than a century and a quarter o" national existence, is a blot upon our civilira tion. This bill simply gives the people of any county the opportunity to de termine for themgelves wheiher or not they desire to take a forward step and got out of the mud. It lays no burden upon them except as they may have the wisdom to lay it upon themselves. If any county does not desire to do it there is no complul sion. I am fully persuaded that tax ation is the only plan by which we can accomplish any results. I fur* ther believe that it is the right and the equitable mode. I believe that the farmers want it. 1 know that it is right that they should have a p)rop erty tax for road building. "The farms of the United States coinpose less than one fourth of the total property of the country, yet that small fraction pays the whole cost of building roadls. Thel injustice of the uystem is not fully appreciated by the farmers." I hope the bill will pass. Mr Williams and Mr Mauldm op posed the bill because of the dangers of bond issues. Mr Pearmnan, of Anudersoni, wanted the H-ouse to pause before placing more dlebt on t lhe p)eople. The couni ties are improvinig their road1s as they can afford. It is anm easy t hiing to get in debt, b)ut hard to get out. Mr Wingo said it was frightful the wvay people were willing to go ito deblt. l1e vigorously opposOed the bill. Mr Ly les opposied the bill because the counties were already bond1( bur dened, and he fearedl it. would get the negro h>ack into p)olitics. Mr Cooper- had no fear of thle noe gro vote. The simuple tquest ion was whether the various count ies should thems4elves be allowed to vote upon~ a bond issue for good roads. Those who (10 not want such a bond issue need( not vote thIiat way. Mr D)eBruhal regardned this as a most (dangerous prop)ositioni. The bijil was killed. JBags of gold rmake steady ballast for thnoret ic philant hropy. STATE GOOD ROADS CONVENTION MEETS. GOV. HBYWARD ADDRBSSES DBLE GATES AT THB OUTSET, Memorial to the General Assembly Adopted -Officers Reelected-Other Business Of Importance. [The State, 4th.] The annual convention of the South Carolina Good Roads association is uow being held in this city. All of yesterday morning and a part of last svening was consumed in addresses, rganization and the formulation of muitablo resolutions to submit to the eneral assembly. Remarks on the wvork being done in many of the ounties were made at the evening session by the supervisors present. The convention was opened with in impressive prayer by Rev. J. F. Beasley. An address of welcome was made 3y Hon. Francis H. Weston and 3overnor Heyward then spoke for a ew minutes in an enthusiastic man ner upon the purpose of the conven on and the subject with which it was dealing. Governor Hey ward be ieves that the success of the move nent can be accomplished through !axation and by the bond system. Ile assurnd the members that he would heartily render them any aid in his power. Mr. F. H. Hyatt, the president of the association, then addressed the neeting chiefly upon the Brownlow bill recently introduced in congress providing for a national appropria tion for the good roads movement. The roll was called by State Geolo gist Earle Sloan, the secretary, and about 40 members responded. The minutes of the meeting held at Greenville on December 19 last were read and the former officers were then reelected ly acclamation. They are F. H. Hyatt, presiuent; Earle Sloan, of Charleston, secretary, and B F. Talley, of Anderson. treas urer. A committee of five was appointed for the purpose of drawing up suita ble resolutions and memorials to be 3ubmitted to the legislature. The members of the committee were J. M. Major, Greenwood; C. D. Smith, (Ireenville; E. McI. Williamson, Dar. lington; S. H. Owens, Richland; W. P. Cautwell, Charleston, and the president, ex oicio, chairman. The convention then took a recess antil 7.30 o'clock last evening when thme resolutions prepared by the com nittee were submitted and discussed. The resolutions as adopted read as rollows: Whereas the development of the resources and industries and the ad vancemnent of the highest civilization af this State largely depend upon the highways and the condition of these highways at preseut renders them extremely difficult of travel, the improvement of these highways becomes an imperative necessity for which the present statutory provi sions are lamentably inadequate, therefore be it Resolved, T1hat the honorable leg islature now in session be earnestly mnorialized to enact~ such legislation as will relieve the oppressive burdens of almost impossible travel to the imart of trade, to t he schod lzhouses andl to the churches. That thi~ lhon. orale body be petitioned accordingly to grant the following p)rayers, to wit: 1.That the respective counties be authorized to issue county bolid(a for the betterment of their publlic high. ways arid bridges, p)rovided the ma jority of snch qualllified electors ti are freeholders may so decide in an election to be called b)y the county cornmmissioners. 2. T1hat the respective boards ol county commissioners of this State be authorized to inst it ute a tax levy fom the improvemnent of thei r respectivi roads arnd bridges. 3. That the honorable legislature will enjoin upon01 our representative in congress the importance of accord1 ing their earnest support to th4 measure now pendinig before thta bodly which provides for national co operaitiom in) the inmI)onmnt of nnb lic highways, the same being essen tial to the ready transmission of the United States mails. 4. That the honorable senate be urged to enact the measure approved I by the honloreble house which pro. vidos that all convicts under sentence to penal servitude for a period of 10 years or less shall serve on the chain. gangs of the respective counties in which they have boon convicted. 5. Resolved, That the chairman shall appoint a committoo, of which s he shall he ox officio chairman, to tender a copy of those resolutions to the appropriate committees of the senate and house and to urge that 14 they grant. the relief herein prayed. The second section at first indi- c cated that each township might be taxed at the discretion of a majority of its free holders but this was c thought inadvisable and that section f was so altered as to force the richer townships to help the poorer ones in e case of a tax levy. The following resolution was unan imously adopted :i Rosolved, That the miost earnest expression of grateful appreciation be extended to his excellency, Gov b ernor D. C. Hleyward, for his wari h sympathies and very active coopera tion with the Good lRoads Associa tion of South Carolina, and that we thank hun for his aiblo acddres i on the subject of "(oud Roads." The president annutouinced that the county supervisors would then be heard from in alphabet ical ordor, ats to the progress of the good roads imovoment iii their reslective coun ties. 1'ach gentlemitan's talk was brief but of great interest to the members of the convention. The subjects chielly dealt. with wore road material, food for convicts, their shol er, the cost of keeping thenm, the ad vantage of State prisoners its com pared with chaingang prisoners, long term men as compared with short term ien, free labor, hired labor, road machines, etc. County Supervisors O. H. Nickels, t of Abbeville, ). C. Bruce, of Ban berg, J. O. Carby, of Chester, Owens e of Clarendon, J. 13. MclBride, of Flor ence, J. 1-. Read, of (eurget.own, c J. E. Speigel of Oreenivillo, and J. M. Major of (Ireenville spoke. c The convention then took a recess 0 until this morning at 10 o'clock, when the remainder of the business will be disposed of. Among those in attendance upon the convention are as follows: Abbeville---. H1. Nickels. Bamborg-D. C. Bruce. Barnwell--A. W. Baruker. Berkley-J. HL. Hlairly. Charleston-WV. P. CantwellI. Cherokee-J. V. WVhelel. Chester-J. 0. DJarby. Clarendon-O)wens. Colleton-J. V. Moore. D)orchester-J. H1. Knight.( F'airfield--A. F. Hood. F'lorence - J. B. McBr~Iide(. OGreenvil le---,J. E. Speigle. G.reeniwood-J. M. Major. Lancaster -L. J1. Boyd. Marlboro -M. E. Coward. Orangeburg--O. M. D)ant.zler. Pickens- -L. D). Stephens. Rtichlaind-S. HI. Owens. Saluda --B. Matthews. Sumter-W~. H. Seal. lno- -J. 0. D)el{ant. Fl oreonce- D). HI. Trexler. Greenvi lie -E. L. Walker, C. D). S3muith. Ocornee--G. F'. Stal vey. Richilandi--D. (J. Sontsburg and B M~r. Douglas. Reflections of a Blachelor. A p)retty face for a swoet heart, a pure one for a wife. When a mn is pouior he has a large sense of his resp)onsibility to his fol. low men: when riot, of the responsi bility of his fellow mn to him. There is such a curious twist to a womn's mind1 t hat she can make her. self believe one of her fibs is the truth when she can't make anybody - else heliov it ...- vm:,Yu Pr.. 'HARLESTON MAY BE SAVED FROM CRUM. HE SENATE COMMITTEE NOT LIKELY TO VOTE ON HIS CASE. hances of Rejection Greater Than ihose Of Confirmation-The Committee to Consider the Case. [News and Courier.] Washington, February 3.-There sews one very good chance by hich the citizens of Charleston may scape having Dr. Crum made col ictor of the port. This would be rough having the committee on mnerce fail to take a vote. In iat event the Crum nomination 1ould die so far as this Congress is nncorned, and the President will ave to face the alte-native of mak ag a new appointment. He could ther appoint Dr. Crum over again r select some white man who would o acceptable to the business com lnuity. In this way the Senate 'ould avoid the appearance of an gonizing the Prtisident and the resident, would not have the umiliation of seeing his selection >r the place rejected. Should us com to pass it is believed > be doubtful whether the Pros lent would reappoint Dr. Crum. Io would have an opportunity of atming someono else, and yet not be i the position of having been forced > do so by a Senate cornposed large of his own party. It was definite r announced today that the Presi ent would under no circumstances ithd raw the nomination of Dr. rum under pressure. This state eot was m- de by Senator Depew, f New York, a member of the com ierce committee. The President would be gratified to ave )r. Crum confirmed. At the Aune time he is conscious of the riticism the appointment has pro eked, but insists that he has not eon at all radical in showing favors > the negroes of South Carolina. )r. Crum is the only South Carolina olorod man whom he has appointed, nd this is a more conservative re ord than any previous Republican resident has made. The commerce )mnmitteo at the present stands ight to eight. The committee is amnposed of ten Republicans and ix Democrats. The Republicans re Frye of Maine, Elkmns of West 'irginis, Nelson of Minnesota, Gal nger of Now Hampshire, Penrose f Pennsylvania, Hanna of Ohio, lason of Illinois, Depew of New 'ork, Jones of Nevada and Perkins f California. The Democrats are Test of Missori, Berry of Arkansas, 'urner of Washington, Martin of 'irginia, Clay of Georgia and Mallo y of F'lor:da. Senators Jones and perkins are siding with the D)emo rats and are in favor of rejecting he nomination. This makes the tie. oelson and Elkins would be in favor f the co)mmitteo taking no action intil the death of the p)resent Con ~ress, in the hope that the President vould then make the selection of a vh ite Republican. Senators P.en 050 and Glallinger believe that the appoinitmnnt is an injudicious one, mit will riot make any move to break vith the President. Thus it is seen ht unloss the p)osition in thle corn nittee changes it not likely to re >ort oin the Crum case this session. f there is change it is quite as likely ~o be in favor of the rejetion of Dr, Jrum as it is to be in favor of his ~onti rmat ion. SIdoN OF HOMETHdINoI To' n1 DONE.. 'There i mist be "'something doing,"' r ab)out to ho (1011, as Capt .John Diapers anid Postmaster Harris, of Diharleston, are hern mingling with Sonator Mc Laurin. The trio occu pied a private box at the National l'heat re tonight to witness the per ormance of Ethel 13arrymore. In ~ho box immnediately under the South Dae.i triumvirate were Miss Alice Roosevelt, Secretary and Mrs Roo', Clol and Mrs Clarence Edwards. It is said that Capt Cupers and Post. master HIarris arc here in connec! tion with the Crum case which comes up for consideration before the Son ate commerce committee on iThurs day next.