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FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1»41 THE NEWBERRY SUN PAGE FIYR STORY OF UNEXPLAINED 'NOISE AT LAURENS COUNTY HANGING RECOUNTED BY FORMERS SLAVE SUNDAY: A Holy Day or A Holiday Negroes Believed ‘Debbil’ Whirled on Scene at Donble Execution Laurens, Jan. 25.—On the planta tion owned by the late Washington Glenn, in the Young’s store section of Laurens county, not far from the Spartanburg line, is a spot avoided by negroes for many years, for this was the scene of the hang ing of “Randal and Fan.” “FoTces used to go to a hangin’ same as a circus,” said Uncle Sam Smith, century old ex-slave, who pic tured vividly the supernatural in cident of that “hangin’.” Down thru generations of descendants of slaves who were present on that Jay, has come the story, as told by Uncle Sam. And the white folk, no lesx, re counted the story of that weird after- math and its effect upon all present. Woman Found Slain Nearly a hundred years ago, the body of Mrs. Harmon , Garret of that section, was found lying before the fireplace in her home. Appar ently her clothing had ignited, and unable to extinguish the flames, she had burned to death. But some old- time counterpart of “Hercules Poiret,” or other fiction, master detective, discoveied a small frag ment of rope with charred ends ly ing in the ashes of the fireplace. These few inches of rope were enough to hang the murderers with, for it was soon found that the wom an had been strangled to death. Her murderers had strangled her with a rope, placed her body on the hearth, set fire to her clothing, and.—they thought—burned the rope, destroying all evidence of the crime, and giving the appearance of accidental burn ing. Two Semtenced to Hang The slaves were called in and ques tioned. Two of these, Randal and hi” wife, Fan, betrayed evidences of guilt They were arrested, tried and senten ced to death by hanging. The crime rocked the community. It was an al most unheard of thing for a sla»e to murder his mistress, since a strong bond of affection existed between mistress and slave. As the old say ing explained: “She knowed mo’ dan de doctor, kase God tol’ her whut to give. She knowed mo’ dan de preacher, kase God tol’ her how to live.” A hanging for such a heinous crime, and a double hanging at that, was an event not to be missed by the negroes. AIL farm work was jus- pended for 50 miles around, as every slave begged to be allowed to “go to de bangin’.” The spot selected was near the scene of the crime, as the law then required a criminal to be executed, not in the prison, but near where the crime had been committed, in order that this might have a sob ering effect upon would-be criminals. Long before daylight wagons load ed with negroes were creaking along the road, while on horseback, in bug gies or on foot, both white and negro men, women and children were bound for the scene of “de bangin’.” Crowd Gathers at Scaffold In the center of a clearing sur rounded by woods, the scaffold had been erected and nearby were fresh mounds of earth, denoting two open graves. The morbid crowd milled around the clearing, and the limbs of the trees even were “alive wid ne groes wantin’ to see eberything dat would happen,” said Uncle Sam, Unbelieving as it seems, the ap proach of the prisoners was heralded by martial music. The solemn note of the fife and deep-toned throb of beating drums announced the appear ance of a troop of militia. Then came the prisoners in a wagon guarded by troop*. ■ The soldiers pressed back the throng of spectators to form a cvcle, leaving an open space around the scaffold, and in the midst of a deathly silence, the prisoners ascended the platform. Here Fan blamed her husband for the slaying. According to her story, Randal “wuz mad at de marster,” and in order to revenge himself, had planned the killing of his mistress forcing his wife to aid in carrying out his plot. Their mistress alone in the home had admitted the slaves, thinking they had come to ask about some task, and when she saw murder in Randal’s face, she had begged them to let her live, promising to keep the atttempted crime a secret. Fan want ed to desist, even then, but her hus band threatened to kill her if she fair ed him, and she had been afraid. Randal refused to speak on the scaffold. Loud Noise Heard As the trap was sprung and the two bodies swung outward, a sound was heard in the distance—then get ting louder. It was described as hav ing been like the “whir of a flock of blackbirds descending from the air.” In a moment pandemonium reign ed. “De debbil has cum fo’ Ran and Fan,” one negro yelled, and the crowd went wild, scattering in every direction. “Dem soldiers was skeered and wanted to run, too,” Uncle Sam declared. “But Captain Moore seized a gun and threatened to shoot any who failed to stand his ground. This quieted the troops, but the negroes and white spectators as well rushed blindly away, running against trees, crashine into brush, fallinb over stones, knocking each other down as they ran. Some dashed into the river, others piled into the open graves in their mad scramble and the yelling of these increased the general terror. “De negroes didn’t wait fo’ de wagons. Dey beat the wagons home.” No satisfactory explanation or the phenomena was ever given. The sound, likened to a modern airplane in a day when airplane was but a dream was firmly believed by the negroes to be the “wings of de debbil.” As no white person offered any reas onable explanation, that belief re mains a part of negro folk lore to this day. JENNINGS WRITING HISTORY OF LIFE One-Time Outlaw Contented #ith Work as Author in San Fernando Valley Jl.,A what customers tall us— our «v laWdbU hu •Va»>lrW U.k"— •«. rU«« TlrffcU mu. i a ^ rM«rW M Dennis Shoe Shop UCE5 POLISHES Tarzana, Cal., Jan. 25.—Today he looks like a retired minister or at least a former bank clerk, but a few decades back the name A1 Jennings spelled terror in the southwest. Jennings, cowman, lawyer antr ex train robber, today is a mili-manner- ed seventy-seven-year-old author who lives with his wife, fourteen Persian cats and two wired-haired terriers in the quiet San Fernando valley. As a young man, he went to law school, became a lawyer and then a county attorney in Oklahoma. His life scene suddenly shifted when, as he relates he was forced into an’ al most unequalled career in western crime by a “framed” accusation Men who we~e boys in 1903-’0b may remember sneaking up to the attic to read the thrilling adventures of A1 Jennings, train robber and “Robin Hood” of the Southwest. The man who made those boys thrill to his daring adventures to day adlmits he liked life as a des perado and says with a boyish grin, “Some of the finest men I ever met were horse thieves. There are a lot of horse thieves still operating in these parts, only they don’t call ’em that any more.” Jennings’ career as train rwober and hunted desperado came to a sudden end in 1904, when he was cap tured by an old style posse and sen tenced to federal prison for a long term. President Theodore Roosevelt pardoned the young man after a few months in prison and he returned to the practice of law. In a short time, Jennings became prominent in Oklahoma politics and ran for governor of that state, fn his own words he made a “rip- snorting campaign of it . . . but lost all the same.” Jennings became weary of poli tics “because it’s a lot more crook ed than train robbing,” so he jour neyed to California in 1915. He’s been an actor in the movies, a lec turer and recently served as techni cal director in the “Bad Man of Brim stone”, and other western screen thrillers. He’s writing a new book on his own colorful career. It won’t be any dime novel, but it will contain the stuff that made those “master pieces of the pulp world”. In this age of dive-bombers and incendiary bombs, no one would take Jennings for the onetime “Rob in Hood of the Southwest.” He does- not drink or smoke . . . although he admits he was once “pretty good at both.” “He’s just an ordinary citizen now . but he’s one citizen who knows when he says there’s something to the adage “Crime Doesn’t Pay”. By REV. C. A. CALCOTE The fourth commandment is the only commandment in the decalog that begins with the word “remem ber”. The Lord of the Sabbath knew man would forget to remember this commandment. It is the longest com mandment in the decalog. All that God said about murder was, “Thou shalt not kill”, but He wasn’t through when He said, “Remember the Sab bath Day to keep it holy”. Why ? Even though God places such divine impor tance upon the necessity of remem bering this commandment, it is one of the most, if not the most, forgot ten one. Thousands of people, too thoughtful to murder his fellowman, will utterly, willfully, openly and fla grantly trample under their fee’t the sanctity of the Sabbath without bat ting an eye over it. The desecra tion of the Sabbath would even seem too daring in the face of God, if only the non-Christian world were involv ed, but to see so great a number of professing Christians, and Church- members, ignoring, violating and flouting the divine wisdom of God, re presented by this commandment, seems to be sufficient ground for God to remove our candlesticks from their places. Certainly man cannot pre sume on God’s grace. France, a few years ago, presumed to wipe out the law of the Sabbath in her nation; now, she’s under the heel of a ty rant. Any surprise? God is not mock, ed. France forgot to remember. Our country, our churches, our individuals church members, cannot afford to for get to remember. Sunday Is God’s Day—Not Man’s. The manse in which I live belongs to the church. It is not mine to abuse or misuse. It is for my body’s com fort, safety and well-being. I must use it in accordance with the desires of its ownership, or forfeit my right to its blessings. So it is with man’s soul, God’s Sabbath, and God, the owner and judge of them both. Sunday, A Holy Day—Or Holiday? It must move the heart of God that so many of His intelligent creatures would misappropriate His day. It is entirely too strange to relate that on Sunday there is more picnicking, pro fane visiting, God-less week-ending, gas sold and burned, family reunions, postponed funerals, all-day profane celebrations, car wrecks, highway murders, cooking and eating, than on any other day in the week. Those, “Whose god is their belly,” find Sun day most convenient for worshipping that sort of god. Too strange that more people are “sick” on Sunday than any other day. (VMorbus Sabba- ticus”). Beloved, these things ought not so to be in Israel. God didn’t make the Sabbath for such. The Sabbath is for holy rest, meditation in quiert, Bible study, prayer, worship, good works, etc. It is the one high-day for church business, else Christ would not have died for the Church, and God would not have provided and instituted a Sabbath. For if the church doesn’t get certain things on Sunday, then, when will it be done? “The Only Day I Have For . . “Yes, but God said that FIRST! God has a divine right to say that first about the day He institute^ and provided for His people’s good and well-being. It fairly breathes of un pardonable blasphemy against the wisdom of almighty God, for man to come along with some pet profan* de sire and steal that expression from the very lips of the wise God of the universe, and use it as an unholy sub terfuge and excuse for licensing him self in Sabbath-desecration. Sunday is “The Only Day” God has for His special business, and it will not be well for man to forget to remember this. “If thm turn . . . from doing THY pleasure on MY holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor Him, not doing THINE OWN ways, nor finding THINE OWN pleasure, nor speaking THINE OWN words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah. 58:£3ff. (NOTE:—This is not quoted from a minister. We ministers feel we best quote it from God.) “Sabbath obser vance” is the xermon topic for our pulpits next Lunday. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the churches have to say” on this sub ject. You’re cordially invited to at tend the house of worship. SOLONS TO HEED DRY PObL, LANEY BELIEVES COVERS TO BE OF COTTON Two Million Will Be Made For Bales Under 1941 Program Washington, Jan. 27.—The agricul ture department announced today 2,- 000,000 cotton bale covers for cotton would be manufactured under the 1941 program to encourage the use of this covering instead of jute bagging. Under the program, similar to one in effect in 1930 and 1940, a sub sidy of fifteen cents a cover will be made to manufacturers holding ap proved’ applications. Senator George K. Laney of Ch**- terfield, one of the leaders of the dry forces in the senate, said Saturday he was confident that the general assembly would “abide by the wishes of the majority of the voters” and adopt a prohibition measure. A bill which would return South Carolina to pre-1935 bone dry status already has been introduced in the house. Laney said a companion measure was in the process of being drafted in the senate in the .^ear future. The dry forces of the state, Laney said, take the position that inas much as the people of the state voted dry by a majority of about 60,000 in the November liquor referendum, it was incumbent upon members of the legislature to pass a state-wide prohbition measure. “In favoring prohibition,” he said, “the voters expressed their willing ness to shoulder extra taxes if nec essary” to replace the revenue lost through repeal of the present liquor law. Should the state prohibit the sale of all alcoholic liquor, beer And wine about $2,295,000 in revenue would be lost. • * OF “ALL 3”LCW-PRICED CARS, PLYMOUTH IS MOST LIKE THE HIGH-PRICED CARS! TOOK AT^ALL 3” new low-priced cars on the 1941 I i Quality Chart... see in how very many wofs Plymouth gives you more for your money? You’ll see that 1941 high-priced cars rrmieihls each other in 22 importantreatures. And, of “All 3” new low-priced cars, only Plymouth gives you a majority of these features! Ride in LOOK AT 1941 PRICES OF "ALL THREE-The big, new Plymouth is actually lower-priced than Um “other two” low-priced cars on many models. And it’s very cosy to buy! Plymouth Division of Chrysler Corporation. PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CJiANfiE WITHOUT NOTICE feature* mean to yon in meeaesed driving j use. You enjoy new High-Torque Performance... delightful new driving eeae...the room and riding oomfort of a 117-inch wheelbase. Ride this brai- liant new 1941 Plymouth, and you’ll buy it! vm. m MAM* MJWU. C.B.S. NETWOU, THUKS., t TO IS ML. MX HP aft an uw-raoD mm Kmoure coubicui. cam Visit your Plymouth Daalar’s January Used Car Clearance your big opportu- *dty to get a good buy in a late model Plymouth. A late model Plymouth used * ^ TflSlllH any 1M1 model i “RIDE ■ SMITH MOTOR CO. Main Street DODGE and PLYMOUTH DEALER Newberry, S. C.