Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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m? n nn Xmm SDKTSS WATCHMAN, Established April, IS50. 'Be Just and Fear not-Let all the Ends thou Aims't at, bs thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." THE TRUE SO?THKO?, Established Jone. 12<36 SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 1897. Kew,' Series-Vol. XVI. So. ?6 C?e?%taii w? Srat?|rmi Ifafclish?d Svory "ffe?nssday, -BY ^ff'. G-, Osteen, SUMTER, S. C. TERMS : ?1 50 per an:mm-in advance. ADVERTISEMENT: One Square first insertion....-.....$1 00 Ererj subsequent insertion... 50 Contracta?for three months, or longer will be made at red aced rates. AU commnnication3 which subserve private interests will be charged for as advertisements. Obituaries aod tributes of respect will be charged for. CAN'T KEEP LIQUOR Ia Your House Unless Tis Official or Stamped. By reason of an equally divided court the State supreme court has rendered a decision to the effect that a man cannot keep two and a-ha?f gallons of whiskey in his house for his own personal use, without the coramissioners's stamp upon it with? out laying himself liable to criminal prosecution under the dispensary law. The decision was rendered io the case of Andersen Ohastian, and the judgment of the circuit court below stands affirm?e. Chief Justice Mciver and Associate Justice Gary have filed very strong opinions against sustaining the finding of the lower court. Mr. J nstice J ones files the opinion on the other side, in which Associate Justice Pope con? curs. In the Florence case recently decided, in which the court was equally divided, the appellants have submitted a request that a rehearing be granted before all the.judges sit? ting en bane. No doubt a similar request will be made in this case Chief Justice Mciver, in his opin? ion, thus presents the matter in sub? stance : The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of $100. or go on the chain gang for three mouths for having in his possession two and a- half gallons of corn wbis key, which bad no State stamp oo it. On this judgment an appeal was taken to the supreme court of the State. Tiie appeal was, taken on the fol? lowing gronnds in brief : First. Because his honor erred in charging the jory as follows : "The question is did he have liquor there, keeping it there without any stamps on it ? If so, he must show that either be bought it through ?he reg? alar chancels, the dispensary,, or that he obtained it from the State com missioner the proper stamps to be put on it.".and should have charged the jury instead that the keeping of a small quantity of liquor in his dwell ing house for his own use and! not to he bartered does not constitute a crime. Second. That it is only the stor? ing or keeping in possession, of al? coholic liquors for some unlawful use or purpose, which is made an indict? able offense by etat ate, and bis honor erred in not so holding. The chief justice states that from tbe testimony, the State constables found in the dwelling house, while defendant was absent a three gallon jug containing about two gallons of whiskey, which'they seized, because there were no stamps upon it from the State commissioner. There was no testimony to show that the whis? key was for sale or any other nnlaw? ful purpose or that the defendant had ever sold whiskey. On the contrary the defendant stated that he had ob? tained the whiskey about three weeks previous for his own personal use and for no other purpose, because he was. in bad health and needed it; that be bad never sold any whiskey and conld not tell how mnch of it he had used before it was seized. It was admitted that the whiskey bad tiot been bonght from a dispensary, and it had no stamps on it The charge of the circuit judge was as follows : "The indictment is for storing and keeping in possession al? coholic liquors If a man under? takes to keep liquor he must have the stamp of the State commissioner. The question is did he have liquor there, keeping it without any stamp, if so he must show that he bought it from the dispensary or ?hat he ob? tained from the State commissioner the stamps to put on it The law prevents this storing of liquors, shows how it may be kept safely without any trouble, and if a man is not minded to put himself to that trouble, then he will have to look out for the consequences." The chief justice goes on to say that the circuit judge proceeded upon the theory that it is an indictable of? fense for a person to have in his possession alcoholic liquors, even for his own use unless the required stamps are upon it. In the first place the indictment does not charge ! any such offense for it does not charge that liquors were found with I out the requisite stamps On the contrary tho charge is that the de? fendant unlawfully stored certain contraband liquor In the second place an examination of the dis? pensary law-of 1S96 fails to discicse any provision making it an indictable offense for a person to have liquor in his possession without the stamps of the State on it There are several provisions in that act making such liquor liable to seizure and forfeiture, but none declaring that the mere fact that a person is found in possession of alcoholic liquors without stamps shall constitute a criminal offense. The sections of the act, which it ia contended sustain this prosecution are the 1st, the 25th, the 26th and 35th, and these sections are consider? ed in the opinion of the chief justice After quoting the first section he says that it is divided into two dis? tinct parts ; the first part makes it a penal offense to do any of the acts therein forbidden, while the second part was intended to render the liquors referred to liable to seizure without a warrant and to foi feit them In other words the first sen tence affects persons only and not property, while the second affects property and not persons. It is clear that the person charged must not only have manufactured, sold, bar? tered, exchanged, received or ac cepted, stored or kept in his posses? sion spirituous liquors, hut must have done so for some unlawful pur pose for that is not only the proper grammatical construction of the lan guage, but also such a construction is necessary to relieve the officers charged with the duty of storing and keeping of spirituous liquors from the penalties prescribed While the evidence shows that the liquor in question was kept in the defendant's dwelling house there is not evidence tending to show that it- was kept for unlawful use On the contrary, the evidence is that he kept it believing that it was necessary for bis bodily health. Unless, therefore, the act contains some provision making it unlawful to drink or otherwise use for his own personal benefit or grati fication any spirituous liquors not obtained from 'he dispensary or not containing the stamps of the State commissioner it is obvious that one essential element of the offense charged is lacking. The act will be searched in vain for any such provi sion, and hence it; cannot be said that keeping and using any spirituous liquors for one's own personal use or gratification constitutes any offense against-.the criminal laws of the State The 25th section is quoted and Mr. Justice Mciver holds that it does not even purport to create any criminal offense hut deals only with the seiz? ure and forfeiture of contraband liquor. Indeed the proviso recog? nizes the legality of the possession of certain liquors which are not bought from the dispensary. The 26th section is next quoted, which it is contended was not to crete anything criminal offense, bot to prevent the courts from entertain? ing any action for the recovery of the price of any liq nor so seized. So much of t'be 35th section which is pertinent is quoted. It is difficult to see what light this section throws on the subject. It certainly creates no criminal offense except in the last paragraph, which has nothing to do with the case, in tba it provides for a punishment for imitation of stamps He concluded by saying : "A very careful consideration of this case in all its aspects leads inevitably to the conclusion that the grounds of appeal must be sustained.*' Finally he says : "Inasmuch as this opinion was originally prepared before the recent decision of the supreme court of the United States in Donald vs Scott, 165 U. S., 68, was announced, I desire to avail myself of the op? portunity now presented of adding that it seems to me absolutely neces? sary to adopt the conclusion which I have reached in order to avoid a con? flict with the decision of the supreme court of the United States, which it must be conceded is & final arbiter of all questions involving a construction of the Constitution of the United States JUSTICE GARY'S VIEW. Mr. Justice Gary, in his opinion, concuring with the opinion of the chief justice, after reviewing the facts of the case and quoting several sections of the dispensary law ap? plicable to the case, says : ' When these sections are con- j struced together they show first that the act does not prohibit, but on the contrary in express language permits a person to keep liquor in his posses j sion for his own use* Second, that j in order to throw the protection of ! the law around the liquor in his pos- j session for his own use, it is neces- j sary to furnish an inventory of the quantity and kinds to the State com? missioner and apply for certificate to affix thereto. "Third, that it the liquor in his possession is seized because it has not N the necessary certificates and A J _ i j labi?s requi-ed by the act, and he j claims the liquor the burden of proof ' is upon bim to show that it is for his ! own use ' The act contemplated that there would necessarily be some time after the liquor came into possession of the person for bis own use before he could apply to the State commisioner for the necessary certificates and labels If it was seizd because it did not have the necessary certificates and labels, he was even then not to be deprived of the liquor, provided he could show it was for his own use ; but in that case, the burden of proof would be upou him to show it was for such purpose Any other con? struction of the act would make a person a violater of the law who simply received as a present a bottle or liquor coming from another State, although it might be his intention forthwith to apply to the State commissioner for the necessary certificates and labels to affix to it. "A construction contrary to that which we place upon the act would even make a person a violater of the law who took a drink of whiskey un? less it came from the dispensary. "We cannot think this was the intention of the legislature. "For these reasons we, concur in the conclusion announced by Mr. Chief Justice Mciver** JUSTICE JONES* POSITION. Justice Jones, in his decision sus? taining the lower court, contends that the sole question for determina? tion is whether the dispensary act of 1896 prohibits under penalty the storing or keeping of intoxicating liquors without having on the ves? sel the stamp of the State commis? sioner. "The construction contended for by the learned chief justice,'* he holds, "would practically nullify the dispensary law, for it is not possible to hold that the keeping of intoxicat? ing liquors ic possessien without the precession of the stamp is ?not pun? ishable unless it was kept for unlaw ful ose, and not be compelled to hold the same thing in reference to the manufacture and sale of such liquor. Moreover, if a ?ale of intoxicating, liquors is not unlawful, unless made for an unlawfal ase, then a keeping in possession of contraband liquor for sale for a lawful use is not unlaw? ful. This would make a paradise for blind tigers ; I should say, rather, there would be no blind tigers since everybody could sell and keep for sale intoxicating liquors openly and with impunity. "The construction we contend for is not only the natural and gram matical construction of the language used, but is consistent with the scheme of the dispensary act, where? as, the other construction is the un natural, ungrammatical and destruc? tive of the design and oper?tion of the dispensary law. The question is one of constrnction merely. It is simply our duty to declare the law. We have nothing to do witn its wis? dom or its severity. The harshness should of its operation, real or sup? posed, not in the least swerve us from our plain duty. There was no error in the charge of the judge complained of, and the judgment of the circo it court should be affirmed. BRYAN INJURED BY AN ACCIDENT. St Augustine. Fla , April 8.-W. J. Bryan arrived here at 4 50 p. m , and was greeted at the station by several hundred people. At 8 30 he addressed fully 3,000 people from the piazza of the San Marco Hotel. Ills theme was good government and the money question, the free coinage of silver being advocated as strongly as ever At the close of his speech hun? dreds of people flocked about him and so great was the strain that one section of the piazza, forty feet square fell through, precipitating four uundred people to the ground below, a distance of twenty feet. No one was seriously hurt, but a score of ladies and gentlemen re? ceived bruises and sprains. Mr. Bryan was picked up unconscious and taken to Dr. Worley's office, where he received medical atteution. He is not seriously hurt. A reception was planned to take place in the Casino after the speech, but it was abandoned. Ker.shaw, April 7.-L?wis Steves, a j rather impudent negro, was shot in the ? back of the shoulder this morning by j Mrs. Almetto Key. Nothing of flic j circumstances are known a9 Mrs. Kev j in vorv reticent Dr. Beckham *vas ! called to soc t;;o nc?rro. but. has cot j bee? ab:e to locate the bali. City of Mosico, April 8.-A num? ber of tobacco plantations at Mcsait lanta. State of Vera Cruz, have been invaded by a destructive insect which j has devoured the crop. The heat is re- { markably inteose on the coast below j Vera Cruz and the mercury registers ' already summer temperature. Democrats Victorious. j Carter Harrison Elected Mayor of Chicago by a i Vote of Nearly Two to One Chicago, April 6.-With the magic of bis famous father's name, aided by the independent split in the regular Republican ranks and the flocking of the discontented laboring class to the standard of silver Democracy, Carter Henry Harrison was elected mayor of Chicago to day and a great Democratic triumph was recorded. The 55,000 plurality of McKinley over Bryan was turned into a Demo eratic plurality' about 85,000 ever Judge Nathaniel C. Sears, the ma? chine Republican candidate for mayor. The almost complete may? oralty reiurns show that Harrison polled a plurality of about 75,000 over the next best man, Alderman John M Harlan, a Republican who ran on the citizens ticket by himself. The figures also indicate that the next mayor polled a small majority over the three other principal can? didates, Sears, Harlan and Hesing, the ex postmaster and German edi? tor, whose ticket was called business administration of municipal affairs. He is a gold Democrat, but his boast? ed strength among the independent men of both parties dwindled to about 16,000 total vote Harrison's total vote is about 140,000, which is less than.5,090 under the vote polled by Wm. J. Bryan. The total Republican vote is about 57,000 while McKinley polled 200. 747 votes in November. The rest of the city ticket, attorney, treasurer and clerk, all the town tickets and a large majority of the common coun? cil have gone Democratic on the tidal wave with the possible exception of the Hyde town ticket Harrison or Harlan earned every ward in the city and the Republican machine was re? pudiated everywhere. There is real? ly nothing left for the Republican party to console itself with, except ? few aldermen whose records were good and who happened to live in wards that are usually Republican. The argument of the Republicans that if Hesing and Harlan, the two Independents, had withdrawn. Judge Sears would have won, does not hold good when it is shown that Harrison bas a clear majority over all three. The other city tickets in the field cut no figure at all. There was a joyful demonstration of Democrats on the streets when the result became assured and thousands gathered in front of newspaper of? fices to cheer as the news was dis? played. There were impromptu par? ades, fireworks and much cannonad? ing of the atmosphere. Carter Harrison said of the result : "It has been a victory of a united and not a divided Democracy. Gold as well as silver men cast their bal? lots for me and registered protest against Republican misrule. The workingmen were with me 71 The late returns indicate that the D?mocrates will have.39 aldermen out of 68 in the council. Twenty eight of the Democratic candidates are probably elected out of 34 and with ll Democratic hold over alder? men will give that party a majority in the legislative body. DEMOCRATIC OHIO. Enormous Gains in That State. Chicago, April 6.- A special to The Record from Ciocinnati, says: The result of the municipal elections io Ohio yesterday shows Democratic gains The large cities which gave McKinley such cDorm-JS pluralities last Novem? ber have gone Democratic. McKinley had ooly 50,000 io the State aod all of this plurality came from the cities which to-day went Democratic Out? side of these cities, the State was car? ried by Bryan last November on the silver issue and the friends of John R McLean, who is the Democratic candi? date for senator, have made much com? ment OD this fact. They claim that McLean will carry the legislature and possibly the State ticket next Novem? ber OD the free silver issue. To Cincinnati, the home of Senator Forakcr, a Republican plurality la>t year of -0,000 U displaced by a Demo eratic plurality of over 7.000 lu Cleveland, tho horne of Senior Uanna, ;be Demecrars UK?.?*.' lar^y ?laius, ami even the home of President McKinley j at daT'too, went Democratic. Thc j home of Governor Bushnell ar. Spring? field is strongly Republican, arni that city elected a Democratic mayor by over 400. While the result in Ohio is duo largely to the opposition to Geo. B. Cox who had become offensive as a boss the result in the State generally is ac? credited to dissatisfactions. Writing paper 15 cents a pound at H. G. Osteen St Co's. THE RAGING SALUDA ? _ j THRILLING DESCRIPTION OP THE DROWNING OP j THREE MEN SIX MKJES PROM GREENVILLE. Greenville, April 6 -The Saluda River is within its banks again, after being on a boom Monday night and this morning, during which three men were drowned and one mule and two horses perished. Three more men miraculously escaped death after being considerably bruised, and thousands of dollars' worth of bridges were swept away. The dead are John Freeman, white, of Fickens County ; Jackson Byrd, colored? of Fickens County ; Babe Gillespie, colored, of Greenville County. The wounded are : Claude Hood, William Green aod Mr. McDade, all white, of Pelzer. This river has a decided reputation for turbulence and violence, and many drownings and hairbreadth escapes are related of its former sprees. It was fifteen feet above normal at mid? night before tbe last and was out of its banks hundreds of yards on both sides, surging and sweeping by at a terrific speed and frowning and threatening with eddies everywhere. Rising as it does in the mountains, the Saluda, above all otber streams hereabouts, is particularly violent aftehr eavy rains. The great incline of its bed and the hilly character of its banks give it remarakable speed and volume.' It came within three inches yesterday of smashing all previous records. The drowning scene was at the Cox JBridge. within six miles of this city. One of the victims was John Freeman, a well to-do Pickens farmer aad a man of family. He perished in the presence of about fifty persons gathered on the Pickens and Green? ville banks. The bridge is a large covered wooden structure and its floor is thirteen feet above the normal height of the river The two abut? ments are substantially constructed of granite, filled io to the banks with earth. The men who perished were drfvfng from Greenville The water was rushing over both earthen abut? ments, about two feet on the Picke'ns side. The water was about a foot and a half above the floor and six inches more would have sent the whole structure whirling down the river. The party Grossed the bridge in safety. Jeff Davis, colored, in the two-horse wagon with Mr. Freeman, and Bryan was in a cart in front. Bryan crossed the overflowed abut? ment with ease, but as the wagon reached the Pickens end of the bridge, the mule, the left-hand ani? mal of the team, doubted the pro? priety of going over the abutment and backed. The lash was applied and then the horse, which was on the left, stepped into a hole about eight inches deep. The mule shied and carried the horse with him a few feet down the embankment of the abntment on his side which was down stream The negro jumped oat and fled to the bank. Mr. Free? man got out into water about waist deep and went to his team and at? tempted to lead them back on the embankment. But the animals were excited and, rearing up, struck Mr Freeman in the face and sent him under the water and down the stream into water about ten feet deep. The team was swept after him. About fifty feet from the scene of the first trouble Mr. Freeman seized a tree and grabbed his horse's bridle again, and in the struggle went under the second time. The horse got away, and Mr. Freeman went under for the last time In a few minutes Jackson Byrd aud Babe Gillespie were drowned in the same way as Freeman, their teams going off the bridge. Heroic efforts to save them were futile. The men wounded were hurt by the falling of the Pelzer bridge. The new ?12,000 iron bridge over the Saluda River at Pelzer was swept from its piers on Monday night. The bridge was to have been accepted by the county supervisor on Saturday. The loss falls upon Contractor J. H. Whitner, of Tennessee. The three white men named above, who were trying to save the bridge, were swept overboard by the flood of water as the bridge went down and narrowly escaped being crushed in i the wreckage The fall of the bridge j was due to the undermining of the masonry pier on the Anderson side, within a few hundred feet of the ! main building of the Pelzer Cotton ! Mills, and about fifty feet below their : dam This bridge lias been the sub j ject of much controversy as to wheth- j er Greenville should pay one half the j cost of its construction. It was ! claimed that Greenville was helping to divert trade from her own ma? chines toward those in Pelzer. A new 6pan and pier will have to be built. Wm Berry was nearly drowned in Saluda River last night, at Easly j Bridge, below Coxe's Bridge. His j team ran off the abutment and he j fell in the water. He managed to j get to a tree and sat on a limb all night. A white man named Robert Petty made a heroic effort to save him this morning, and the Knights of Pythias, at a meeting to-night, voted him a medal Berry was not hurt, but very cold -News and Courier. Greenville, S. C.. April 7.-The damage by high water in this County is more serious than at first reported. In? formation received to-day is that the lowest estimates of losses will exceed $6,000, not including the Peizer bridge. Nearly every bridge on the Middle, North and South Saluda Rivera was swept away and hundreds of acres of the richest and most valuable bottom lands in the upper part of the County have been washed barren. The mill dam of Captain Jennings at River View is practically ruined. This was one of the most substantial dams io tbe State. The water rose twenty feet over the dam, backing ten feet deep over a 100-acre field. ... A Sensation in Darlington. - . Darlington, April 8.-Chief Dargan and bis assistants bave jost completed another floe piece of work. Several robberies and some burglaries have re? cently occurred here, and this morning foun men aod two women- were lodged in jail with indisputable evidence against them. All are colored, and quite a lively scene transpired at the depot to-day when one of the men was captured, fie was wearing some stolen clothes and fled when be was ap? proached. Constable Clan ten pursued bim, though the negro bad a long start. As be fled be fired seven shots at Mr. danton and the constable returned the fire. No one was bit at first, but the negro got in a ditch and fired bis last' shot iofiictiog a painful but not danger? ous wound io Mr. Claoton's thigh. Another shot from Claoton struck the negro on the right side of the frontal . booe and glanced off, wbi;h saved his. life. ' The negro was captured with the others aod all are io jail. The rob? beries were committed in Florence and Darlington, principally on tbe trains. Among the articles recovered is avalise marked the Rev. A. S. Willeford, Charleston,^S C Richmond, Ya., April 7.-Consul General Fitzhugh Lee has written a friend here that he will be unable to leave i Cuba April 15, as he expected, and tbat be will be detained in Havana until the latter part of May or early in June. General Lee was forced to decline an invitation to deliver an address on Cuba before the United Confederate Memorial Society on April 28. Washington, April 7. - Secretary Sherman stated to-night that be had assurances tbat General Rivera, the . insurgent leader, would not be exe? cuted aa a prisoner of war. General Rivera was captured after being wounded in a recent battle, and it was feared for a time that he would be exe? cuted by the Spanish authorities for bis participation io the rebellion. There ig Nothing So Good. 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