The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1878-09-13
RIpDLED WITH BULLETS IN HIS CELL

RIDDLED WITH BULLETS IN HIS GELI
A vigilance committee, composed offromyi
sixty to 100 men, each armed to the teeth,
took possession of Versailles, Iud.s on Mon
day night, and compelled all the inbabi- 4
tabts to keep OFF tho streets whi,e, fith
crowbay, they forced an entrance Ttpto othe
jail in which Tom Boyd who assaulted Miss
Stevens last spring, was c~nhned. s@st
The jnil room occupied by him and by |
two other prisoners committed tor lsrceoy |
is about sixteen feet square. 1t is low and
dngy, and is enclosed by stone wall eigh.
teen inches or two feet thick. As Boyd
was aroused, he sprang to the middle OF the
| room, entirely naked. Wien the first blow
| was struck on the door, he exclaimed,
| "What do you want?"
| Eve want Tom Boyd" was the response.
Then said Boyd, pretending to recognizes
a mans voice from Moore's Hill: :ss,ss
"Stone King, what do you want Of mc!'
Thereply was: Eve will show you in a
minute" =.
Boyd then tried tostop their entrance with
q piece of timber braced against the door,
but, frightened away or thinking himself
unequal to the task, he again went to the
middle of tho room, and there he squared
himself for u 6Ght~ With his fstsoug IL ~udffRt
not go Tor naught even in an unequal con-
test with powder and ball.
While this scene was in PROCESS some
one from the outside was heard to SAY,
"Shoot." The answer from the man at the
door was. II can't yet" Then in an in
slant latter they were inside. "Put down your
hands" muttcred one of the blackentd Wig
ilants. Boyd complied with the order, and
then the fusilade was begun. The first shot
took effect under his right arm and whirled
his form slightly, offering his left breast as
a better target. A revolver was put SO near
to this mark that in the discharge the skin of
the victim was badly powder marked. Two
shots followed the first in quick succession,
and two more balls entered Boyd, one i'm
mcdiately above and one Immediately be-
low the left nipple. lie still continued to
whirl, finally bringing up against the stone
wall, his blood squirting from every would.
F Here he gradually sank upon his hands and
knees, and here his maddend assailants fol-
F lowed, continuing to fire. On his hands
and knees, with two balls through his heart
and unable to gasp cry for mercy, he was
still target for tho avengers. Two more
balls lodged in his head, and still another
F and another entered his body, until fifteen
bullet holes told of the uncrring aim of the
marksmen, who stood only an arms length
away.
Five minutes were, perhaps, consumed
in gaining an entrance to the Jail in five
minutes more the object of the vigilants'
mission was accomplished. Boyd was
dead. In thirty minutes after entering
Versailles all the vigilants were gone
They rode away as quietly as they had
""'',' N;Aa:..a.s..:- Es . s2,i:..,.=--
a New Way To PAY OLD DEBrs.- A
proposition has recently been made that the
national debt can row be paid off by the
imposition ofan annual tax $50 on generals, /"
$40 on ''colonels," and So on. "majors.' >
There is no doubt of this. Tho enormous
revenue that would accrue from such O
source would in a very short time wipe out
the entire debt. After this it could be APT
piled to tho settlement of the labor problem,
MS the fund would be sufficient to mako a
handsome distribution per capita for the
whole country. 1t is wonder that General
Butler and Mr.. Kearney have not thought
of this before. 1t would be no use to i'm.
pose a tax on any title below the rank of
MAJOR, Tor Captain Vance, the appoint
ment clerk of the Treasury Department.,
says that so far as he can discover he is tho
only "captain" left, either of the Union or
Confederate armies This is sad, but In lieu
OF captains" tax might be paid on
Judges" Even in the present dull times
there arc not less than 1000 siudpes" in
washington alone, and the "gcncrals" and
'colonels are simply countless. Manx of
tho