Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. ( pit {Eonntg IkcofD. ______________________? * | VOL. 36. KINGSTREE, SOU?I CAROLINA, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1921. ~ . NO. 6 I CONGRESS STARTS I" OFF ON SCHEDULE,'" I S OPENS WITH LITTLE CHANGE the FROM TIME-HONORED j Thi PRECEDENT L. ] : teni Washington, April 11.?The Sixty- tolc seventh congress convened today, with I the; few departures from time-honored pre- j tvii cedent, and adjourned until tomorrow, i the when, at 1 o'clock, a joint session will witl hear President Harding deliver his Kin opening message. T Appointment of committees to noti- iha' ^ fy the President of the assembling of j fyii the extraordinary session, reelection of I pre: Speaker Gillett :ir.d other Republican ed officers of the house, introduction of Api hundreds of bills and resolutions in less the house and organization affairs tro< were the principal features of today's Hoi session. The Senate, which was or- app ganized by the Republicans at the ex- dea tra session last month, was in session h only twenty minutes, but the house .and organization reqyired several hours, j soli Crowds of spectators thronged both ty, Senate and House galleries or, President Harding's message tcmor- teni row is to be the signal for beginning1 A the session's work. A great crush at ban the House chamber for the first ap- itha1 pearance of the new executive before j E. 1 congress is expected. Admisrion is to! "I < - - - - I u_i. be by card only and tickets were me object of lively effort today. the The senate also will get down to unt business tomorrow, when bills and res- Kin ?lutions are to be introduced and de- new bate begun on the $25,000,000 Colom- has: hian treaty. Senator Lodge, of Mas- poii sachusetts, Republican leader, gave The notice today that he would move for g?a ?pen discussions, and himself made con the initial speech in behalf of ratifl- ian cation. He will be followed by Sen- *as ator Kellogg, Republican, of Minne- the sota, an opponent of the treaty, and by by Senators Pomerene, Democrat of Ohio, are and Knox, Republican, of Pennsylva- N nia, in its support. The final vote will the come April 20, under previous agree- imr ment. : wot The emergency tariff bill, introduc-!w?t 1 i a - r _ xl _ ?* x i ! | ea loaay, is to do me nrsi Dusinew of the House. Debate is to start TW Wednesday and leaders hope for prompt passage. Chairman Penrose On? of the Senate finance committee said ( / tonight the bill also would be rushed B through the senate. Democrats, he! neg added were disposed to withhold dis- cha cussion until the rermanent tariff bid ton, is brought in. He also announced that Dei the finance committee would meet on jail Wednesday to take up internal rev- 9 o ' enue revision. i has In the opening preliminaries today to t the overwhelming Republican majori-; heir ties of 22 in the Senate and about 170 | tall in the House worked with precision, thai Speaker Gillette was reelected, 298 to I He 122, with Representative Kitchin,' ton North Carolina. Democratic floor lead- j T er, his perfunctory opponent. Repre-1 mit aentative London, New York, the only exe Socialist member voted "present", thei The Republicans also bowled over an to 1 attempt by Rerpesentative Flood, not Democrat, Virginia, to investigate the j he election of Representative Richard E.! pris Bird, Republican, Kansas, who it was | tha alleged, spent in excess of $10,000 in i thei his election campaign in violation of j A the federal corrupt practices act j and In the Senate, the Republicans, un-, ers# der the leadership of Senator Lodge, ecj held off attempts to introduce bills to and other business today. Senator tra< Lodge said the precedents were for Qf 1 postponement, until after receipt of mji, the President's message. for All House committees were organ- ano ized today but the Senate committees went over because of a desire of the wh( L Republicans to increase their repre- whj sentation on. the ten principal vones. ()0Sl ||B Republican Senators will confer to- <.ap jgjp! morrow before the session to arrange g^F the committee schedule, with Demo- gVJ p| cratic leaders planning opposition ai d a c] B criticism. told mi Most of the House bills introduced crjr H today were old measures which failed for W cuiing the last congress. A similar y * situation tomorrow in the Senate was I expected. ^ o "* j x First Shipment of Garden Peas jtwo _______ j irtc Mr. J. H. Epps, a successful local j '*ar gardener, shipped Tuesday afternoon in * the first lot of garden peas to be dis- ^ei patched to the northern markets from (jow this place. The peas are of extra ulf( I quality and the pods well and evenly mu ^ filled out. A lack of containers de- tap layed his first shipment several days, as the peas were actually ready for X ^ shipment late last week. It is ex- wri pected that this shipment will net a Hai good return. 2t GHAM HAS A CLOSE SHAVE litentiary Officials Had No Notice Of Stay of Execution. omewhat of a stir was created in Bigham case in Columbia last irsdav afternoon when Attorney A. King, of Florence, went to the penitiary to see his client and was 1 by authorities there that unless ? received some official order no+ilg them not to electrocute Bigham next day that they would proceed h the execution, according to Mr. g 'he penitentiary officials up until t time had received no order notilg them of the appeal to the sume court which automatically staythe death sentence set for Friday dl 8, and they announced that uni some order was received the elec:ution would come off as scheduled, vever, Mr. King served notice of eal on the penitentiary and the th penalty was not inflicted. Ir. King has played safe all along served notice of appeal on the citor, vhe sheriff of Florence counthe court of Florence, the governthe attorney general and the penitiary. Ir. King talked freely of the Bigi case while in Columbia and saia t he is absolutely convinced that D. Bigham is innocent of the crime. :an only ask that the public with 1 judgement on this case until a!' farts have been brought out and il the case has been settled." Mr. g said. He believes he will get a r trial before the supreme court, ing this belief on several important its of common and statute law. s refusal of Judge Memminger to nt a change of venue when aciing to Mr. King, evidence to wart the judge in granting a change ; produced and the continuing of court beyond the regular sessior the judge, which according to law, two points in the appeal. [r. King may take another step in trial which he thought may give nediate relief to Kis client, but ild not announce what this step dd be. 0 BREAK OUT BAMBERG JAIL > Held on Charge of Murder and Jther on Charge of Carbreaking. amberg, April 9.?Preston Evans, ro, held in the county jail here rged with murder, and W. A. Wa:, white, held for car-breaking at imark some time ago, escaped from here Tuesday Might between 8 and 'clock and up to this time no clue been discovered that would lead heir arrest. Evans is described as lg about 22 years old, about 6 feet , a mulatto, with perculiar eyes t attract attention. His teeth good, weights about 150 pounds. Walis about five feet seven inches tall, uesday night Jailer Dickinson adted the prisoners to the hall for reise, as is the custom. He left m in the hall and went down .stairs lis rooms, but after a short while icing how quite the prisoners were, went back up stairs to lock the toners down, when he discovered t Evans and Walton had made good lr escape. l large possee of citizens formed commenced to hunt the prison'After staying out all night failto find anything that would lead their capture, except they traced :ks that were supposed to be those the prisoners'into Cope, about six es from 3ambe;g. Evans was held the murder of Tobe Williams, ther negro, with whom he came to nberg about three weeks ago and >m he lured to Lemon Swamp, ch he admitted was for the pure of robbery and murder. He was tured in Branchville the same afloon and brought back to Bamberg, ins, sihce being in jail, has made lean confession to the murder and I in detail how he committed the tie. He was being held for trial this crime when he escaped. Walton was being held for alleged breaking at Denmark about two :ks ago. he prisoners escaped by breaking i locks on a cell door which led > the "crazy" cell, where one of the s was partly filed. They succeeded inishing the filing of this bar and n tied blankets together and swung :n to the ground. Mr. Dickinson :overed the jail delivery only a few iutes after the prisoners had esed.?The State. o 'ell your neighbors that Welsh is ting boll weevil insurance in the rtford. They will aj^ireciate it. W. H. Welsh, Manager-AgentI GEORGIA FARMER FOUND GUILT! HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATI OF NEGRO FARM HAND. GETS LIFE TERM John S. Williams, of Jasper coun ty, Ga., accused of the murder of ele ven of his negro farm hands to hal a federal investigation of peonage was found guilty <>f murder by a jur; in Newton county superior court Sat urdav at Covington, Ga. and sentenc ed to life imprisonment. Motion for a new trial was immedi ately filed and hearing on the motioi was set for April 30 at Decatur, Ga The verdict of murder with recom mendation for mercy, which unde Georgia law automatically carries j life sentence, was read exactly II hours after the case went to the jury and was calmly received by Williams A moment later a.; his wife and chil dren began to sob he seemed to b< struggling to restrain his own emo tions. Just after court adjourned Wil liams' two daughters became hysteri cal and were led from fne room b: friends. The defendant appears more affected by his family's suffer ing than he had been by the verdict He was on trial specifically charge* ?~fV*o ronrrno wiin tne muiucx ui uuc v> nv^tw. found drownded in Newton conuty Clyde Manning negro farm boss fo: Williams and jointly indicted witl him, testified that on Williams' ordej he and another negro, killed later had done the killing. Williams main tained a cheerful atitude during th< trial and had stoutly maintained hi; innocence, although admitting he ma} have been technically guilty of peon age, as he said he had paid fines foi negroes and let them work out th< debt. Sentence was formally passed with in a few moments after the verdici was read. Judge Huteheson restatec the verdict was read by T. R. Starr a farmer and foreman of the jurj and added: "And the verdict is th< I sentence of the court." Verdict Legal. The verdict was not in e^act fornr but in open court both sides agreec that is was legal by supreme couri decisions and that no exception wouk be taken. The motion for a new trial wa: made on the grounds that the verdid was "contrary to the evidence; con trary to the law arid without evidenct to support it." The jurors were composed of sever farmers, the remainder comprising merchants, clerks and a barber. Mori of them were young men, six of then serving on a pury for the first time The case went to trial April 5th one day being taken up with argu ments for postponement and selectioi of a jury. The state took little morr than a day to present its evidenc< while the defense relied solely on th< unsworn statement of Williams. The fact that the defendant wa: not sworn prevented his being cross examined and by introducing no evi dence the^defense won the pnvileg* of opening and closing the arguments The jury went out at 3:51 p. m Saturday and was said to have taker more than six ballots, much of th< time beihg devoted to discssion of th< case. The first ballot stood six foi a verdict of murder, with no recom mendation, thus currying a death sen tence, and the other six voted to ac quit Williams, according to jurors. Save for a brief recess for suppei the jurors considered the case unti shortly before midnight when the> touted the judge and oppossing cou" sel out of bed and had the entin -* PVivomnn Starr saif cnarge i cptonu. * v>vu... ^? the jury was not certain as to thi exact point of law in doubt. Solicitor Brand has announced tha' Manning will be tried on the murdei indictment against him but no dat* has yet been set. Pure Water Has Kings tree A report of an analysis of Kings tree's Water Supply submitted by DF. L. Parker of the State Board oi Health of South Carolina, states tha1 the water is of good quality and fre< from ?bacterial or other eontamina UOIU Analysis: Chlorine, (result in part: per milliom) 7.00; ffree amonia, 0.01 nitrogen in nitrates 0.10, total solids 206.00. O? We insure your crops against dam age by insects and wet weather. Lei us protect you in the Hartford. 21 W. H. Welsh, Manag?r-Agenl I. U. VADGHAN ! COMMITS SUICIDE I ALMOST SEVERS HEAD BY CUTTING THROAT WITH RAZOR FRIDAY NIGHT Thurston U. Vaughn, arrested at ^ Tampa, Fla. where>he was employed as assistant principal of the Port Tampa school, under the name of T. A. Earl ^ and held for South Carolina authori ties for death sentence for assaulting four girls at the Odd Fellows home at Greenville, slashed his throat with a razor in his cell in "Murderers' 1 Row" in the county jail Friday night. " He died almost instantly, having almost severed his head from his body r with the stroke. It was his fourth at* tempt at suicide and he had once tried " to open a previous wound in his ' throat. Vaughn had been kept in a straight " jacket in the hospital ward after his attempts to kill himself the night of his arrest, but on Friday he was moved to "Murderers' Row" and placed in a cell with three men charged with J murder. Sheriff Spencer states he has no knowledge who authorized the removal of the straight jacket or of '' the man from the hospital ward and is investigating. Meanwhile the pres3 ence of the razor is being explained by ' the jailor. v 1 Jailor Hubbard states that Friday 1 is shaving day at the jail and the 1 razor goes the rounds of the cells. ' When it reached "Murderers' Row" Vaughn apparently bid his time. AfJ ter the other prisoners in his cell hail 5 finished, Vaughn, it is said, was given ' the razor by one of hie mates. Walk " | ing down the corridor of the cage. [ apparently to the lavoratory and without a show of bravado, the man suddenly halted, according to one of the ^ prisoners; like a flash he raised his right hand; the blade flashed in dim stream of light from a nearby ' corridor and, with a vigor that told 1 of an intent purpose, the man brooght ' its keen edge blade against his neck over the leader just bhck of the right ear. His arm came on around with the initial swing all the way around to beneath the left ear. Nothing but a| -teadfast nerve and a determination of purpose <?eldom seen made possible ' such a powerful stroke, self inflicted.' physicians say. The head swung over to one side as the body fell to the steel floor, prisoners shouted and there was a scurry throughout the 1 corridors of the jail. ' A trusty carried the word to Jailor L Hubbard and a hurry call was sent 1 for County Physician H. 0. Snow, who ' hastened to the jail. Meanwhile the ' jailor and attendants at the hospital ward reached the cell and attempted! 1 to give some aid, but it was hopeless.; for life had flown with the rush of' blood from the jugular vein and other severed blooc vessels feeding the | I brain . 5 When Dr. Snow arrived he pro-1 nounced the man dead and said noj relief under the sun could have i brought back the life, which, he said, must have teen snuffed out almost as the body struck the floor. 1 Meanwhile Chief of Detectives E. i W. Blossom, mindful of the wife's : "Good-bye, dear, I'll meet you in r Heaven," of two days prior when she ". tossed him a kiss as she left the county jail after a visit, turned his mind to the woman, as soon as he had started the machinery for an investir cation of the releasing of the prison1 ei from the straight jacket. ' Fearful of a possible suicide pact, police scouts scoured both Tampa and - Port Tampa, a suburb nine miles away * where the couple ht d lived, seeking the i woman. She was finally located and placed in the detention ward of the t ,*aii ritv hall for safe keep-1 I j?.. ... r ii'g. ! Jailor Hubbard refused to discuss reasons, if ar.y, fur the change of th? prisoner, bu: stated that he was unusually rational Thursday night and this morning. At dinner he ate the - heartiest meal since he was arrested . and shortly afterwards he was moved f to what proved hi- death chamber of t iron. ; The body was removed after the - couaty physician's examination had been made to a local undertaker's es3 tablishment, where it was being held ; pending the receipt of word from the , Scuth Carolina authorities or the arrival of officers from Columbia for | the man. 11 Body Reached Columbia Monday t Thurston U. Vaughn's body now t rests in a quiet place in the State ( DELMA W. KEELS SUICIDES Former Williamsburg Man Found Dead in Bank at Ridgeville Ridgeville,' April 9.?Delma W. Keels, assistant cashier of the Bank of Ridgeville way found dead, from a pistol shot wound in the head apparently self-inflicted, when the banking institution was opened for business this morning. According to relatives of the young man, ill health is believed to have been the motive for the- suicide, Mr. Keels having been in bad health for some j time. According to those who discovered the body, the young man evidently shot himself late yesterday afternoon or last night, a 32 caliber revolver found near the body, being the weapon with which the deed was done Mr. Keels had been married only a short while, being survived by his widow, a daughter of W. D. Browning of Ridgeville. The cashier of the Bank of Ridgeville, W. J. Dukes, stated that a careful check of accounts showed that the motive could not have^been a result of any shortage in Mr. Keels' accounts and as the young man was not indebted to the bank or any one else, so far as known, the only motive remaining being that of worry over the state of his health. Mr. Keels was a native of Williamsburg county and was 26 years cid. He came to -Ridgeville from Harleysville in 1918 ar.d has been connected with the bank of Bidgeville for the past three years. r * * hospital cemetery and when the remains were lowered into the earth Tuesday morning the curtain was rtlng down on ^ne of the most sensational, cases ever before the public in South Carolina. Vaughn's remains were laid to rest in a simple coffin and in a simple way. Hi8 fattier instructed the State hospital authorities to inter the remains in the cemetery of the institution. Sheriff T. Alex Heise arrived with the body of the former superintendent of the Odd Fellows orphanage at 5.55 o'clock Monday morning, having left Tampa, Fla., at 1.00 o'clock Sunday afternoon. A short time after the arrival of the remains, Dr. C. Fred Williams and other hospital officials viewed the body and positively identified the dead fiian as Thurston U. Vaughn. 'Hie identification was immediate and certain. "That's Vaughn," Dr. Williams and others said when the coffin was opened. Capt. J. K. P. Neatherry, past grand master of the Odd Fellows; A. B. Langley, past grand master; Dr. S. F. Killingsworth, grand secretary; Dr. Williams, Dr. Boone, C. L. Blease, former governor; Dr. Rv T. Jennings, penitentiary physician, and numerous other persons identified the body as that of Vaughn and a certificate that the body was Vaughn's was made out by Dr. Killingsworth, Mr. Langley and Captain Neatherry. Many Wish To See Body. All during the day hundreds of people attempted to see the body which was at McCormick's undertaking establishment, but only those securing Dermission from Dr. Williams and Sheriff Heise were permitted to view the remains. Many curiosity seekers were turned awrc. Pictures of the man were taken during the day as a safeguard in case any question arises in the future as to his identity. Sheriff Heise talks interestingly of his trip and his talk with Vaughn's wife, formerly Miss Sandal Beamguard of Clover, whom he saw Sunday morning. She told Mr. Heise that Vaughn escaped from the state hospital by means of a key, but did not explain exactly how the patient obtained the key. After escaping on Monday night Vaughn walked through the streets of Columbia and to the Seaboard Air Line station she said where he purchased a ticket for Tampa and boarded the midnight train for Florida. , Mrs. Vaughn remained in Tampa and as far as is known at the present time there will be no effort to have her return to South Carolinia in connection with the case. Sheriff Heise brought back with him the razor with which. Vaughn ended his life and also'the pocketknife with which he had attempted to commit suicide last Monday when first arrested at his home in Port Tarn*, a. Pasted on the razor are the following words: "Kangaroo court property: not 16 be sold or traded (Continued On Page Eight.) ..... GETS FIVE YEARS IN PENITENTIARY FORGER TRIED AND FOUND GUILTY AT GEORGETOWN. LAST WEEK. In the sessions court at Georgetown week before last, B. Moss Jones, Alias H. L. Spangler, indicted for forgery, took" up the most of two days. This was one of the most interesting cases tried in Georgetown since the trial ,of Dr. Bigham here about 12 years ago for the killing of his wife at Murrdlls Inlet, says the Georgetown Tinges-Index- although this was not a murder case. Jones was arrested in Georgetown in November last, charged with forging drafts and defratding every bank in the city, he having received several hundred dollars as a result of his work. The testimony brought out showed that he had been carrying on nriMoat rniVomu ia XTnr+Vi Harnlint TT1IUV4?V OVllWUtWO A1VA W* VW* y Virginia and Maryland, selling bogus stock and working draft game, as a result he had defended the people ojut of over $100,(XML H. L. Spangler of Norfolk, Va., wis here to establish his identity. Counpei for the defense made a plea of insanity and expert testimony was given by Dr. J. W. Babcock, of Columbia, Dr. R. S. Foster, of Norfolk and Dr. H. M. Smith, of Columbia. H. L. Jones of Norfolk, brother of the accused, and D. B. Denny, of Norfolk also testified * in his behalf, but The expert testimony washout weighed by the testimony for tfie state as to his unusual shrewdness and ability to distinguish right from, wrong. i - Hie attorneys, Mr. Walter Hazard, , of this city and Mr. Humphries, of Norfolk, Va., made a good fight for their Tdient as well as did Solicitor Gasque for the state. The jury returned ^ verdict of guilty. A motion for a new trial was made but overuled by Judge Memminger, who sentenced the prisoner to the state penitentiary fcr jive years. This same young man tried to work his game in Kingstree but was unsucessful in pulling the wool over the eyes of the local bankers. We are informed, however, that he succeeded in "hooking" Mr. Plowden, proprietor of the Baggett Hotel at Lanes, for something like $200.00. Jones was stopping at the Baggett Hotel and secured Mr. Plowden's endorsement on one of the bogus drafts which was paid by the Bank of Lane. It is said he claimed here to be representing the Fisheries Products Co. of Wilmington, N. C. MANY ARE CONVICTED Thirty-six Men Are Declared Guilty At Macon. After deliberating for 28 hours a jury in federal court at Macon, Ga., Saturday returned verdicts of guilty on all five counts of the indictment againsts 36 persons accused of conspiracy to rob the American Railway Epress company of property valued at $1,000,000. Four of the 64 persons indicted were never arrested; nine were found not guilty by the jury; nine verdicts of not guilty were directed by Judge Evans; five pleaded guilty and one case was nol prossed. The case has been on trial for four weeks, witnesses from all parts cf the United States being on the witness stand "o complete the chain of evidence in the various transactions. During the government's presentation of evidence it was shown that there was a system of signals useu in the conspiracy. "Will he ride?" was a query to determine whether a person alluded to was "all right," the "all right" being ar. answering signai. Judge Evans announced that he would sentence the convicted persons on Saturday, April 30. "In sentencing you I will take into consideration that though you were found guilty on five counts, it was really all .?ne transaction," Judge Evans said. "I will sentence you as if it were all one crnnt." The maximum sentence is two years in the penitentiary or a fine of $10,000 or both. The water in Black river is falling: rapidly and fish are colliding with each other in their efforts to reach the the angler's bait. We saw one of our local sportsmen come out of the river swamp yesterday with 57 beautiful Red Breast. A party returning yesterday afternoon from a day's outing at Williams' lake report having caught a large number of fine trout. ...It ...