The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-10-19
POOR SOUTH CAROLINA.

New York Herald Co 'respOndent's
Picture OF the Condition OF Affairs
In the Palmetto State-Terrible
Outrages by the Misguided Negroes
Their SuperstittOns Nature Tri-
fed with what 'the Son Of God"
Proposes to do for Them-Incen-
diary Characters Among the Ne
grOes.
The South Carolina correspondence Of
the New York Herald describes some Of
the outrages that have been com mitted
by the negroes in that State during the
present campaign. The negroes, with
their shot-guns, muskets and pistols, rSI-
! lv around dozen or so colCred compa-
MES of State militia that are aimed with
sixteen-shooting Winchester riHes-a
weapon that turns the head of every ne
gro that gets his hands on it. The cap.
tains of these companies always colored
mem command not only their own coin
panies, but also the mob Of half-armed
ds. kies that gather around them when
the "long roll" is sounded. They are or
gsnized under State laws, commanded by
the appointees ofthe Governor, and arm
ed at State expense.
MISGUIDED PEOPLE.
The negroes sro in exceedingly bad
temper-are wantOD, defiant and disOr-
Derby. Ia Aiken county they are under
the leadership of q very shrewd, smart
sdventurer, named Palmer, who claims
that he is '.the son of Christ This tel
low discovered some time ago that tie
surest cord to pull when you want IL"
negro to follow blindly and without ie"
is his superstitous belief. Acting upo"
this suggestion, he speedily fed them witt
the widest sort of theories, mixing Splr-
itualism, free love and communism into
hotchpotch that the negroes swallowed
greedily. He promised the whole By
claiming that he was the real son OF
! Christ" and had been sent by his Father
TO raise the blacks out OF poverty and
! bondage and lead them to freedom and
| riches. The deluded blacks received his
in famous doctrines, and now look up to
him with reverence that turns their
eyeballs inward whenever they pass bin.
lie has impregnated them with cheap
| religious fervor that almost amounts TO
q frenzy, and certainly makes them, with
their rich, superstitious natures, very
dangerous fanatics. In Republican
County Convention recently one OF the
delegates actually nominated Palmer "tor
a seat in heaven" and he was unanl-
mously elected, but it is apprehended
that the votes of that precinct will be
thrown out when they reach headquar-
tiers. He is very bright knave, unscru-
pulous and smart He, has aroused the
negroes to y pitch of fury and fanaticism
that will breed trouble.
ATTITUDE OF THE NEGROES.
The negroes in this section of Carolina
are turbulent, offensive and determined.
Their great superiority over the whites
| in point of numbers and arms, their fond
ness for military display, their confidence
in their Winchester rifles, their blind de-
yotion to Palmer all these things lead
| them to do and say many things that the
whites ilv brook. In the late fights
along the swamps it can be proved by
| concurring affidavits ofwhiteS and blacks
that, barring the shooting OF Peter VIII
liams, who confessed to asssulting Mrs.
Harley. the negroes fired the first guns OF
the contest; that after the first treaty OF
peace they attacked at different points,
different sausds being concerned, two
parties of white men from ambuscade,
| killing one white man and wounding five,
and fred two houses; and that they plum
dered three stores and destroyed large
amounts of property. The white de.
stroyed no property, and the correspond
ent saw colt returned 10 negro from
white man who, having had his own
horse shot under HIN in the fight, Dor
rowing the colt from the field, the negro
master then being absent in the swamps
fighting the whites.
ATTITUDE OF THE WHITES.
The whites are cool, determined and
desperate. They fight on the defensive
but they fight like men who know that
their ali depends on checking and dis
persIng the enemy, The correspondent
saw dozens of negroes who were known
to be in the fight quietly working IN the
fields of white men, and Mr.. j. Bush,
pointing out boy who was saddling a
mule IN his yard, said: That rascal shot
at me twenty PAGES of in the Double
Bridge fight last week 1t is slhpy
when the deludsd blacks are fired by
their bad leaders or the imprudent whites
are mlsled by their passion that trouble
occurs.
oUTRAGEs BY NEGRO MILITIA.
The whites are continually alarmed al
the petty outrages committed almost con-
stantly BY the negro militia. \ few
nights ago party ofsixteen colored mil
itismen advanced upon the house OF
Msckav and commenced plundering.
Mrs. Mscksy and her child fed through
the back door and escaped. Mr.. Mscksy
hid under a table, and As the negro broke
into his room shot the first one dead. The
others fed, after having destroyed great
deal of property. At Ellenton the
Masonic Hall was burned down by the
negro company simply because the
Mssons had allowed the Democratic Cluo
to meet in the hall. In Aiken four stores
have been torcibiy broken into and plum
dered within q week.
THE NEGRO FEELING.
The great mass OF negroes are peaceful
ly and pleasantly disposed. They recog-
nize the fact that in every rencontre they
must suffer severely, and they vastl ' pre-
fer working quietly in the field to engag-
ing in guerilla warfare IN defense OF a
principle that they do not understand or
appreciate. The negro leaders, who have
all to gain and nothing to lose in the per-