The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-08-12

And her eyes are dim and heavy
With their weight of unwept tears;
Like bird that vainly wishes
To be free from prison bars,
So her trembling spirit longeth
For home among the stars.
THE SOUTHERN kU.KLUX.
THEIR STATUS IN YORKyILLE, S. C.-THE
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE VISIT -
FULL DETAILS OF THE ASSAULT ON con-
GRESHAM wALLACE-THE ATTACK ON
THE NEGRO BAND-LAwLEssNEss IN FULL
| sWAY-TERRIBLE OUTRAGEs ON UNION
MEN.
A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Press, writing from Yorkville, July 24th,
furnishes the following picture Of South
Carolina civilization
am willing to forego all that have said
derogatory to Unionville, the town of which
l gave SO bad report. Compared with
1orkville it is a paradise. doubt if there
is in the world any town mile square
which contains people so vicious, so de-
based, and so ignorant as those of York
vile. Beautifully situated in the midst of
hilly, fertile country, with pure air and
lovely scenery, it is crime against the
great God who made this beautiful sky,
lovely atmosphere, and classic hills, that
they should be cursed with murderous saw
ages whom all the beauties of nature can
not soften or refine. The typical South
erner is reflected on every man and boy on
its streets. No white Yankee or black
native is free from their insults. They are
the most noxious of all the weeds that
spring up in the soil of Southern society.
AN ASSAULT ON A CONGRESSMAN.
On Saturday afternoon last the committee
Of Congressman on a visit to this State,
arrived at Yorkville and as | had learned
from sad experience that it was unsafe to
travel alone in the northern part of South
Carolina, threw myself under the protect
ing agis of the committee and accompanied
it. From the depot to the hotel, along the
main street, the committee were subjected
to the scrutiny Of every loafer-" gentle
man in the town. Scowling looks and
scurrilous epithets were showered upon
them by the dozen. The town was on
frolic, all the young men were on spree
mad, murderous spree-which, if not
restrained, might terminate before the
night was over in riot.
At the hotel everything was quiet. The
landlord was attentive and polite, and the
piazza comparatively free from the class of
persons who had adorned it in most of the
towns had previously visited. Everything
was serene until supper was announced
Colonel A. S. Wallace, Representative in
Congress from this District, and Hon. Job
E. Stevenson, member of the committee,
had just taken seats at the table when a
Major Berry, "prominent citizen and
a "gentleman "-one of the chivalry-
entered and took a seat opposite the two
Congressman. In moment he rose to his
feet, and snatching large pitcher of milk,
dashed its contents over the persons of
Messrs. Wallace and Stevenson. Both gen.
tlemen arose to their feet in a moment, but
"Major'' Berry was instantly surrounded
by a host of congratulating friends, who
escorted him from the room in triumph
Mr.. Wallace instituted an action against
him at once, but had great trouble in so
doing, the magistrate being averse to pros
ecuting SO eminent man as Major James
Berry. Berry walked the streets and
paraded the piazza afterwards during the
evening, the lion of the occasion and the
pet of the people.
A sERENADE AND MURDER.
At O'Clock, the cowed negroes of the
town, emboldened by the presence of the
committee, who they thought were their
friends, organized serenade and visited
the hotel. There they discoursed some
excellent music in the presence of the COM
mittee and an unruly crowd Of whites, who
insulted them every moment or two. They
acted, however, in quiet and gentlemanly
manner, molesting no one, and meekly &C
| quiescing in the insults heaped upon them.
AS they left the hotel front they were fol-
lowed by party of the slow down"
chivalry, who continued to follow and
insult them. When about one hundred and
| fifty yards from the hotel an attack was
made on them, ostensibly for the purpose
of clearing them from the sidewalk After
several negroes had been struck with sticks
and clubs, pistol firing was opened on them,
and one was dangerously wounded in two
places. OF course the negroes fled like
sheep, leaving the whites in possession of
the field. No arrests were made, and what
few negroes remained were ordered home
with threats and curses. A hundred and
fifty or more white men stood in the streets
all night. They were not ordered off, and
acted, I am told, as deputy constables-
They were, for the most part, the young
rufians who had been insulting and NAL
treating the negroes.
A KU-KLUX PLOT.
The ku-Klux are stronger in Yorkville
than in Union, because here they embrace
not only all the young unmarried men, but
all the old married ones in addition They
choose the stores here instead of the hotel
for their summing grounds, because the
former all sell liquor and the one hotel does
not. The white population is, as l have
said above, degraded and wretched, and
more nearly resembles that of Alaska
street clothed in better garments, than any
other that can now recall. Corn whisky
is the favorite beverage, and water is relg
iously eschewed. The effect of the liquor
is shown in rnbcund countenances and
shambling gaits. The Ku-Klux, who drink
the corn whisky, sit in front of stores, and
murder and whip the negroes, devised plot
few days ago to rob the committee of its
records and destroy the testimony taken
during the investigation. The box con-
tanning the records was removed to safer
quarters than those furnished by the hotel