The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-10-05
Letter of Chief Hendricks.

Church street, on FRIDAY nlSnt last, III "niCH
you are represented as having taken part,
deem it nv duty to state that three OF the par
ties concerned applied to Trial Justice John c.
Minott for warrants OF arrest against the Of
| tending party: that Mr.. Minott being sick,
took the afidayits and heard the testimony OF
| the principal witnesses, not one OF Wnom
| made any charge or complaint againss you,
and, moreover, that two Of them distinctly
| stated that YOU endeavored to put stop 10
the affair, and failing to do so alone, called the
police to your aid by firing your pistol IN Inc
air three times, and also by the usual manner
of rapping with your stick.
Yours, respectfully,
o. r. LEVY, Trial Justice.
Chief Hendricks may be we'll satisfied with
this exculpatory staten ent OF the trial Justice,
but the public are not likely to regard 1t as
anything more than an ingenious attempt 10
explain away a dam aging accusation. Mr..
Levy does not deny that officers Hendricks
and Hernandez were in the locality on Church
street on Friday night as charged; nor does he
deny that there was disturbance; nor does
he deny that the cause of the disturbance was
an effort to obtain supper for the officers and
their companions without paying cash for 1t.
Mr.. Levy admits that there was ian affair 80
grave as to call for the interference of the po-
lice; but he does not say who caused that al
fair, or what led to 1t. But he does tell us that
sthree OF the parties concerned" applied for
warrants of arrest against 'the Oh bng par
ty.n Now 1t seems to US that had Mr.. Levy
really wished to enlighten the public in re-
gard to this "affair," without wronging any
body or whitewashlpg anybody, he might have
done 80 much more effectually by simple
statement of the facts. These tacts, which
we took the trouble yesterday to verify, have
already been given, in substance, In The
NEWS, and are al follows: On Friday night
Oficers Hendricks and Hernandez, who were
visiting two colored girls, BY name Jenny
Deas, a colored caterer near By, for supper.
The supper was refused unless the cash for the
same was given with the order, whereupon the
two officers went to the premises OF the caterer,
assaulted her and another inmate OF her house
with their sticks and pistols, and beat Deas
herself 80 brutally that she has ever since been
unable to rise from her bed, and requires the
constant attention of physician. The girls
Turner and Baker having ventured to remon.
strate against this cruel outrage, were them
selves attacked and very roughly handled, and
finally taken to the Guardhouse, where they
were incarcerated for the night, to be dis
charged the next morning, with the mere mock
ery of a trial. 1t ls true that the main
actor in these disgraceful doings Is said to have
been Hernandez; but we are told that Chief
Hendricks himself took an active part in the
assault at the house of the woman Deas, who
declares that since the ''affair," she has recev-
ed repeated messages from the chief, propos-
ing to compromise, and insisting upon the ne
cessity OF screening his name from blame In
connection with the disturbance.
Now, the whole brutal and cowardly trans
action, of which the above Is but faint out
line, is susceptible of easy investigation and
proof. The victims were poor, helpless crea-
lures of the race who have made Mayor Pills
bury and his officers what they are, and we
again insist, in the name of public justice and
private right, that the Mayor should take
Immediate measures to satisfy himself and the
community OF the guilt or innocence of the
chief OF police. The following is the
Gard from Detective Hernandez.
CHARLESTON, 8. c., October S.
TO THE EDITOR OF TIE NEWS.
In reference to your card for a correction Of
the charge made against myself and others by
the colored girls we arrested for disorderly
conduct on Friday night last, I, say, most
emph atically, that the statement which ap-
peared In The NEWS. emanating from them,
was false representation OF the affair." Their
insolence to us, as officers of the law, and
l,,Af fOrr- arlo On hto rnfnr
to. made 1t absolutely necessary for US to use
rigorous measures with them. The character
OF these girls scarcely makes denial of the
false accusation necessary; but, as you ask 1t,
give 1t. am, very respectfully,
BENZ. HERNANDEZ.
Officer Hernandez, it will be perceived,
takes the ground that the "lnsolence" of the
women to Chief Hendricks and himself, as
''oflcers OF the law" made it necessary to use
rigorous measures towards them. We would
ask Officer Hernandez, why the women were
discharged without sentence from the Mayor
if their offence was so grave? They were gull
ty or innocent. If guilty, they should have
been tried and punished; but If innocent,
Officers Hendricks and Hernandez made them
selves liable to prosecution in arres.ing them.
lO dIlcoI tucus oo SuilIyi az hiShet ohu uio-
charge them, as innocent, in the morning, is a
style OF procedure which savors more of des-
potic tyranny than that of due re-
gard for the rights of the humblest
citizen. We tear, indeed, that Mr.. Her
nandez, in the concluding sentence of his
letter naively admits why Radical police ofa-
GERS might arrogate 10 themselves the right to
treat pair of wretched ''soiled doves" with
grossness which knew no bounds. He twits
the poor women with their character" and
coolly says that this makes 8 denial of their
statement unnecessary. Was 1t, then, to im-
prove ''the character" Of these women that
the officers visited them? We say to Officers
Hendricks and Hernandez that the women
who are good enough, or bad enough, to be
their chosen companions, are quite good enough
to give evidence against them. None are SO
humble or 80 erring that they may not de-
mand the protection of the law. Whatever
the crimes of these Church street women,
they have the same right to justice which Cap
tain Hendricks and his fellows have. That
they are weak and depraved, is only another
reason why they should, when in the right, be
the more carefully shielded by the protection