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4 a iljc Countjj Jtccorfc VOL. 36. KINGSTREE, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1921. NO. 23 - ? PRISONERS MAKE FULL CONFESSION 1FOX AND GAPPINS TELL OF KILLING COLUMBIA TAXI DRIVER. Confession to having committed one of the most brutal murders in police annals was wrung from C. 0. Fox and Jessie Gappins, the two prisoners taken from Augusta to the Savannah jail '??* mnmincr nftpr an' ICOiijr iaoi> xuvua^a/ ?? f all-night ride to avert a lynching party that stormed the Richmond county jail at Augusta shortly after Sheriff jPlunkett left with the two men. Their statement of the killing of William Brazell, a young chauffeur of Columbia, whom they had engaged to go for a ride with the intention of robbing him, was practically the same as that made by S. J. Kirby, now in the South CVarolina penitentiary. Fox and Gappins were hurried from the Augusta .jail Thursday morning by Sheriff Plunkett following information that a party of 50 automobiles were coming to take the men. He left instruction with the jailer to let the lynching party in to search the jail. The sheriff with his two prisoners left the jail and started for Savannah. stODDing only at Waynes boro to pick up a Burke county officer who was familiar with the roads leading to Savannah. In the presence of Sheriff Plunkett and Jailer Kidwell the two men confessed their guilt, telling a revolting tale of the murder of Braxell. The confessions of the two men were then signed, Kidwell witnessing the signatures. In their confession the two men stated that they with Kirby engaged the car from Brazell with the inten^ tion of driving to Lexington. They planned to get him out in the country, they said, and take the car from him, but at the time had r.o intention of killing Brazell. Brazell, after driving them about for some time, stopped the machine to buy some gasoline and one of the party stepped from the machine to see how much money he had with him when he paid for the gasoline. It was found that he had $3 in his possession. The automobile started again and, stopping for a few minutes in the road, according to the statement of the men, Fox struck Brazell in the head with a billy. At this point the three men attacked the helpless driver with knives, brutally scabbing him in the body. Brazell put up a hard fight, but was overpowered by his assailants, two of them holding his hands behind his back, while Fox plunged p. knife in the driver's body. The two men admitvcd that Brazell pleaded earnestly with his as sailants that they spare his me, protesting that he would not turn them up. His assailants turned a deaf ear to his pleadings. Fox, in a confession, admitted twisting the knife around in Brazell's body after he stabbed him. The body of tiie dead man was taken in the automobile and carried along the road a short distance before the slayers took it into the woods some yards from the road. There was very little money in the pockets of the dead man, but after relieving him of the few dollars he had, they drove the automobile off. The automobile finally broke down near Waynesboro and the three men deserted the car. Kirby told W. D. Roberts of Waynesboro, that the the other two men had committed a murder. Kirby then showed where the body of Brazell had been taken by the passengers of the murder car. Kirby is at present under arrest in Columbia. Defeated in their attempt to storm the Richmond county jail at Augusta, Ga., and lynch C. 0. Fox and Jesse Gappins, self-confessed murderers of William Brazell, 19 year old taxi oriver, hundreds of Columbians, aiWed members of the mob, returned tc Columbia to wait further developments in Sheriff Plunkett's tour of Georgia in an effort to locate a jail in which to lodge the two prisoners, who ^ were spirited from the Augusta prison nft a few hours before the masked men arrived to demand them. A few auto mobiles loaded with men, said to be v heavily armed, are still patroling s roads leading into Columbia and Lex-, ington and the threats of mob violence, are still to be heard. We'll wait until v.e get them." is apparently the opinibn of the men concerned, f * CITES 6,508 SUICIDES IN SIX MONTHS OF 1921 Save-A-Life League Reports a Big Increase?214 Boy>, 293 Girls, Take Their Own Lives. A "suicide wave" has spread over this country since the first of the year, according to Dr. Harry M.Warren, president of the Save-a-Life League, with headquarters in New York city. "During the first six months," he said, "there were reported to the league 6,509 suicides, of whom 4,527 were males and 1,982 females. In the first half of 1920, 2,771 suicides were reported in the United States? ! 1.810 males tnd 961 females." The average age of the male suicide lis 43 years. Unsettled economic conditions, with loss of imployment and 'business failures are blamed by Dr. Warren for the "wave." "The most dreadful phase of this report," his statement continued, "is the Ditiful fact that while 225 child ren ended their lives in the first half of 1920, the number has more than doubled this year." Of these latter 214 were boys and 293 were girls, a total of 507. The average is, boys, 16; girls, 15. A large percentage of the girls took poison, and most of the boys shot themselves, according to the report according to persons known to have conversed with them since their return. Sheriff Plunkett apparently was successful in eluding all members of the Columbia party, despite the fact that numbers of Columbia men had been in the Georgia city since early Wednesday afternoon, awaiting the arrival of darkness and of .einforcements. The sheriff * leavmg the jail with his prisoners shortly after 10 o'clock was pursued by a car which had been parked a block from the jail all afternoon. This automobile is said to have returned to Columbia its driver reporting that, ignorant of the Georgia roads, he had lost the Augusta officers and the two prisoners shortly after leaving Augusta. Plans had been made, it was said, had the raid on the Augusta jail proved successful to bring the two men back to the spot about three miles from Leesville, where the mutlitated body of the young transfer driver was found, and there kill him. When it was learned that the two men had been placed in the Savannah jail to be later moved elsewhere since the Savannah prison was already crowded beyond capacity, cars are said to have been dispatched to Savannah to await developments there, following the sheriff should he have made a dash for another jail. Sheriff Alex HSise has had a long conference with the mother of Jesse Gappins, one of the two men now nein in Georgia, Mrs. Gappins advancing the theory that S. J. Kirby, whose confession led to the arrest of the three men, was the moving spirit behind the plot to kill young Brazell and take the car. Kirby visited her home to hold a long conference with Jesse Gappins Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Gappins said, the two men talking in secret for nearly two or three hours. Her son, after Kirby left the house, Mrs. Gappins told the sheriff, told her that he was going to leave on a trip that night and that he would write her in about two weeks and advising her in the meanwhile not to be worried. It was at this conference, Mrs. Gappins believes, that the murder-robbery plot was engineered and her son involved in the scheme. , Kirby has a particularly unsavory reputation among neighbors and county officers, and Sheriff Heise stated that it Was his belief that when the entire truth was revealed that it would be found that Kirby was considerably more involved in the crime than was admitted in his confession. Kirby, in making his statement to the Augusta sheriff, told a story of how he had been forced by Fox and Gap pins to secure the car, thinking that it was to be used to take the three men to "get some girls" near Lexington, Kirby engaged Brazell's car, he said, under compulsion and then drove to the Seaboard depot and picked up the other two men. This, officers think, is a weak link in his statement, absolving himself of blame of the killing, it being pointed out that there was nothing to have prevented hi mfrom making his escape from Gappins and Fox at the time. Kirby also had an opportunity, it is thought, to leave the car while the two men carried the body into the woods, as relate*^ in his TOBACCO SALES FOR ! MONTH OF JULY I AMOUNT SOLD AND SUM RECEIVED LOWEST SINCE 1916 FOR THIS MONTH. . i The average rate for tobacco sold 1 in July this year compared with the 1 jprice in July last year is a fraction!; ,'over 8 cents against 22 1-10 cents, ac-' cording to the tobacco report of the < , ofato Aanai^niort nF Affrimilture fftf ! ' amw uv|/t?iMuvnv VA , ' the month of July, and made public , Saturday. The report shows that the ' ; tobacco sold for producers m the 65 1 (warehouses at 25 markets was 7,452,- 1 , 818 pounds which brought an aggre,! gate price of $598,346.10. This is the < smallest amount rcld and the lowest 1 price paid in the aggregate J nee 1916, 1 according to the statistics oi che de- j .jpartment. It is also tSe smallest av-il erage price paid for the staple since < 1916 for the month of July. < The following are the sales by the ] j producers at each of the mrakets dur,'ing the month of July: 1 Pounds Amount < Sold Paid 1 Aynor 176,422 14,393.99 i ! Andrews 153,330 $ 9,971.53 < Bamberg 60,820 2,006.00 1 Conway 512,699 35,946.05 1 Darlington 283,157 14,945.56 ] Dillon 267,375 18,358.17 1 Florence 275,874 19,786.81 ] i Georgetown 41,718 3,667.01 < j Hartsville 44,050 1,457.32 1 " nnn 1 /?n 1 e OAQ tt i Hemingway v iv^uu^u i Johnsonville 359,333 31,859.75 i Kingstree 683,614 45,496.50 i Lake City 962370 105,617.95 i Lake View 239,256 21,053.46 Lamar 122,178 6,905,93 1 Latta 93,556 5,792.42 i Loris 381,579 34,606.87 1 (Lynchburg 83,432 4,242.28 Manning 274,550 13,560.20 ] Marion 296,472 20,297.77 i Mullins 729,599 75,115.03 i Nichols 295,855 30,054.57 j Pamplico 122317 8,812.84 Sumter 140,037 9,024.50 j Timmonsville __ 631,165 49,170.26 i Total 7,452318 $598346.10 > The following is a comparison of the 1 'market for the month of July for eacn year 1912 to 1921 inclusive: Pounds Amount Av'ge Year Sold Paid PricePd > 1912 __ 5,064,085 381,604.95 .0753 i 1913 __ 8,731,789 194,415.34 .1253 3 1914 __ 3,862,346 387,762.31 .1004 ? 1915 __ 3,378,716 145,499.23 .0431 i 1916 ? .657316 51333.74 .0788 < 11917 18,954,777 4,151,674.84 .2165 1 " ~ r\ 4 OOO/? c j 1918 ?23,876,78b 8,lZ0,ZD?.u<i .oooo >i 1919 24,959,252 5,256,115.05 .2105 1 1920 ?10,351,945 2,319,563.83 .2240 i 1921 __ 7,452,818 598,346.10 .0803 1 confession. His having only one arm, * ic is contenaed, will also explain the alleged fact that he took no active ] part in the actual killing of the boy i and the dragging of the body into the * woods. 1 Kirby is known to have been parol- 1 ! ed while serving .i two year sentence 1 for robbery and burglary in the peniI tentiary and at the time of the murder < j ol Brazell was being watched by Sher- 1 ! iff Heise for alleged implication in i li??He is said to * 1 UUI glCfcX AV>0 AAA 'have been educated for the ministry, later turning infidel. This last statement is denied at Kirby's residence, friends claiming that "he never let a day pass without reading his Bible." "I don't care what they do with the three men" M. E. Brazell father of the murdeied boy, said recently "Lynching would be to good for them and nothing that can be done will restore my boy to me. Nothing can make me satisfied; nothing can make me forget how he was killed." Mr. | Brazell also gave it as his opinion that Kirby was as deeply involved as the other two mne. Mr. Brazell thanked the various transfer drivers for the evidence of their friendship for his son. "I did not know Bill was so popular," he said. Practically every taxi j driver and owner in the city attended - - ' the boy's funemi weonesaay ^ noon, many also sending floral trib- ^ utes. t | Fox and Gappins in Charleston Jail. ^ Fox and Gappins are in jail at y Charleston where there has been no v indication whatever of mob play since c ithey were lodged there Sunday night f and while the local authorities are con- j ftdent that no effort will be made to s get the prisoners out of jail, they are ? unwilling to take any chance over the t whole affair. y Fox who is a large and powerful j man, and Gappins are confined in sep- n erate cells. They are under close sur- a velilance, the authorities risking no c DOUBLE KILLING i NEAR MOUNT HOLLY; DEAD MEN. IT IS CLAIMED, WENT TO SETTLE DIFFICULTY , A farmer named Baker, a tenant on, the Tom Hill plantation of the Mount! Holly Development Company, near Mount Holly, was lodged in jail Fri-j, .ay night at Monck's Corner, charged , with shooting and killing Messrs. | Potter and Hutson, farmers, at his | b.ome Friday morning. All three of ^ the men involved in the tragedy are ^ white. I, The inquest was held and the ver-! ( .act of the coroner's jury was that the two men came to their death fromj' ' -i J- 1 D.I... i' junsnoi wounas jruiicteu uy our.ci.| Mr. Hutson was Willed instantly, while; Mr. Potter did not die until the inquest was being held over the body , )f Mr. Hutson. Magistrate Mullinax presided at the inquest. It is reported that the three men aad had previous trouble, although it , :culd not be ascertained what that trouble was. It is reported that Mes- j >rs. Potter and Hutson went to Bak- ( 'r's residence and made the statement | that they had come to settle the dif- . iculty. Words were exchanged when Mrs. Baker it is alleged, came out and 1 tuld her husband to go into the house. ( ll is stated that the two men began :ursing Mrs. Baker, that Baker told , hem he could not stand for it, and, t is alleged, he said he was going into ( :he house for his gun and if they had , not gone when he came out he was gong to shoot # , When he came out they turned to cave, it is alleged, and he shot It was reported that both men were shot in J ;he back. Dr. Simmons, of Summerville, took Mr. Potter's ante-mortem statement, j n which he said, it is reported, that he vent to Baker's to borrow a plowstock ?nd not to look for trouble. Several cartridges, it is said, were ( found in the pockets of the two dead j nen and a large knife. It is not known whether any weapons were found on j :heir persons or not , o ] Information Concerning Insurance. ( The time limit for reinstating or re- ( nstating and converting war insurmce has been extended to January 1, < L922. If vour insurance has lapsed ] stop a minute and consider reasons \ vhy you should reinstate it. Every >ne who has given the matter an> ; ;hought knows that government in- ; wrance is second to none. Why not | lold on to good thing v hile you have ? t? The conditions under whicn tins jn>jranee may be reinstated or reinstated and converted are as follows: The payment of at least two months premium. If not more than three i nonths have passed since the insur- ^ ince has lapsed the applicant has only j jo state that he is in as stood health as j le was at the date his last premium ^ vas due. If more than six month:) have pass- i id since the insurance lapsed the ap- ( alicant must send in a report of a full j medical examination given him by | tome reputable physician. Application blanks and further in- ( 'ormation on this subject may be had , it the office of the Red Cross secreary for Williamsburg county. :hance of their harming themselves n any way. A death watch is no mora itricter. Both men are reported to be vorried over their plight and they ire said to be very nervous, realizing hat their condition is desperate. It is reported lhat both men talk reely and leadily of the crime with vhich they are charged. It is said hat they say that Kirby persuaded t hem to join him in the theft of a c ar and that it was in the carrying out ( >f this pact that Brazell was killed i lear Leesville. ^ Gappins and Fox, it is reported, r harge that Kirby, on the lonely coun- i ry road found an excuse for stopping ' ? J?' U.. on/l tVlof ne car driven uj uia^u v.._. Jrazell was forcibly dragged to the >Touiid. Kirby is said to have choked Y he chauffeur and Fox to have struck t lim repeatedly with a black jack t vhile Gappins held him. They are e luoted as saying that Brazell begged v or his life and said that if they re- d eased him he would not tell. Fox is I aid to admit that he told Brazell t tot to worry, as lie would make sure } hat Brazell never told. After the h lack jack was worn out, it is said, ^ox stabbed Brazell in a brutal manler. Brazell's body was thrown into h i clump of bushes and Gappins be- J ame chauffeur to the party. d SAFE CONTAINING $60,000 IS STOLEN S. W. Young, Farmer, Living About Eight Miles From Lake City, Victim. Lake City, Aug. 17.?Some-time between Sunday and Monday night, during the absence of S. W. Young, a prosperous farmer, whose home is about eight miles west of here, his house was entered and the iron safe in which he kept Liberty bonds valued at obout thirty thousand dollars and almost an equal amount in mortgages and other securities was removed and tracks in the yard indicate that it was hauled away in a wagon. Mr. Young was apprised of the fact upon his return to his home Tuesday afternoon and is making every effort to apprelend the robbers. o NEWS FROM SALTERS Topics of Interest Gathered by the Record's Correspondent. Salters Depot, August 15.?We are still having warm, showery weather ivhich has been very favorable for the boll weevil, which has certainly, played havoc with the cctton. There will be the shortest crop In this section in 35 years and the outolok is very gloomy from this standpoint, but on Lhe other hand, the corn crop with few exceptions is good, in fact, the best in years; potatoes and peas look well and bid fair to make fine crops. There are a good many hogs to kill, so let us cheer up; there is always sunshine aner rain. We were glad to have with us last week Dr. L. B. Salters and family of Florence, who visited relatives here. Dr. Salters gave us a fine talk at the Christian Endeavor meeting Sunday night which was enjoyed by all. Miss May B. Heyward, of Columbia is visiting Mrs. M3ttie Ferrel. Mr. Robbie Donelly and Miss Blanch McDaniel sprung a surprise on their friends here Sunday. They were quietly married at the home of the bride at 8:00 a. m., by the Rev. H. W. Shealy and after the ceremony motored to Lane where they boarded train No. 83 for Charleston and other points. Only the immediate families if the contracting partita were pres nt to witness tno ceremony. Mr. T. ti. Richardsons new residence on Academv street is going Uf tapidly and will add much to the icwn. The stork visited the honu: of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Evans Monday night and left a bouncing soy. Motner and jabe are doing well. 3hrd shrd shrd shrd shrd hrd hrdrrr o Hie Boss Rattler. John Pressley, a colored farm hand >n Mr. John Burgess' place in the Bethel section last Friday came upon and killed what is believed to be the x>ss rattler of this section. The repdie war. apparently making its way " A- AL. 1 * V .rom me swamp w uie o?* nugc wucm Pressley's dog came upon him. Pressley was reluctant in tackling the snake >n account of its enormous size, but inally took courage and says he "first capped him lightly to hear him make i fuss with his rattles." When he had completed the undertaking, he carried ;he dead reptile to show some of his leighbors. It is said to have measur?d five and a half feet in length, 12 % nches in circumference, and was quipped with a set of eighteen rat;les and the usual button which is said x> indicate that the snake, or at least ;he dangerous end of him, was more t J nan eignun;ii years uiu. O Gilmer's Meeting The Williamsburg Gymer's Associaion is called to meet here at the office >f the Williamsburg Liberty Milling :o. on Wednesday, August 24th at ioon. All ginners in the county, vhether members of the association or lot, are invited to attend this meetng. Heavy Sales This Week. The heaviest sales of the season 1 lave been the feature of the Kings- ! lee tobacco market this week. Good ] obacco has brought good prices at ach of the three warehouses. There ] /as so much of the weed in town Mon- i [ay that there was no sale at the i kelson Warehouse and on Tuesday 1 here was no sale at the Farmer's ] Warehouse. Yesterday each of the ' louses were filled to the doors. o < There will be a baseball game played ; iere next Wednesday between the , fouzon and Black River teams. La- ! ies will be admitted free. i fir ^ THIEF ENTERS TRIO STORESAND BANK PILFERS BUSINESS PLACES AND LEAVES TOWN ON CITIZEN'S MULE. During the early hours of Monday morning a cheap thief made it his business to pilfer the little town of Trio in a pretty thorough manner, and while the thief made his escape, his identity is said to be known and his apprehension, it is believed, is only a matter of short time. The thief entered the town sometime about mid-night; went to Mr. Moore'3 stable, where he secured a mule which he tethered in a convenient place so that if he became hard pressed he could jump on the mule and get away. After arranging with the mule, he started his depredations. He entered the depot, Rowell's two stores, Moore's store, Trio Supply Co.'s store and the bank of Trio. It is known that he secured five dollarr in savings stamps, one dollar and twenty cents in money a few packages of soda crackers and other items of minor value?none worth the effort he exerted to break the locks and chains and bars that he was obliged to overcome before he gained access to real treasure, of which he apparently took very little. While entering the Trio Bank the people who live in the building were aroused and became so excited that no effort was made to capture the burglar. After "inspecting" the bank, the man left and pried his way into a nearby store. While in this store the man living in the bank building i. i. 3 j m "? 11 went out ana arousea uir. i om no wen. but when the latter got out he found that the thief had mounted Mr. Moore's mule and made his escape. By this time it was nearly day-light, a search was begun and it was learned that the man, a negro, had ridden to Suttons, where he turned the mule lcose and took to the bushes afoot It is believed that he later boarded a train at Taft The mule returned to its owner. Deputy Sheriff Frierson was on the scene early Monday with the blood hounds. o MINISTER HELD FOR MURDER To Face Charge of Killing Catholic Priest in Alabama. ? A verdict of unlawful homicide was returned by Coroner J. D. Russum following investigation into the death of Father James E. Coyle, pastor of St. Paul's Catholic Church at Birmingham, Ala., who was shot to death on the porch of the rectory last Thursday night. stepnenson nas oeon in jau since ue surrendered to the police shortly after the killing. Accoroing to the police, the minister confessed that he shot the priest after the latter had struck him during an altercation which arose, Stephenson said, -;ver the marriage of his daughter, Ruth. 'I remonstrated with him for marrying my daughter to a man against whom we had lodged objections," the prisoner is quoted as saying. "I called him a 'dirty dog,' and he struck me. Then I shot him." o R. T. Flowers Buried Here Yesterday. The remains of Roland T. Flowers, ace 30. son of the late Mrs. Ollie Flowers, was brought here from Pittsburg, Pa., for interment, which took place at the Williamsburg cemetery at 11 o'clock yesterday. Young Flowers was raised in this community and made his home here with his mother until they moved away some six or seven years ago. He was a structual steel worker and for some years had been employed around Pittsburg, where he met his death on the 10th of this month by coming in contact with a live electric wire while attempting to repair a broken gas pipe running across the Alleghany river at Pittsburg. When be came in contact with the electric wire he was thrown in the river and his body sank immediately, but was soon recovered. His body was buried at Pittsburg and later exhumed and brought to this place, where it was placed beside that of his mother, who wa3 buried here about two mnoths ago. The young man is survived by his wife and one child, also three brothers and finp sister, namelv: R. H. and B. J. Flowers. Cheraw; G. R. Flowers, Pittsburg, and Mrs. M. D. Tindal of Columbia. :: ..... ,-JM