Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-05
COURT WEEK IN IRWINTON
THE SMITH MURDER CASE UP
FOR TRIAL.
Review of the WOman's Terrible
Crime and Her Efforts at Concea1ment
Prohibitions Good Effects in the
Nillage-Visit to Bee Farm-CoI.
BlOunt and His Constituents

A Review of the WOman's Terrible
Crime and Her Efforts at ConceaIment
Prohibitions Good Effects in the
Nillage-Visit to a Bee Farm-COI.
BlOunt and His Constituents.
Correspondence Of the Morniag Neaos.
| IRwINTON, Oct. 2.-The fall session OF
the Superior Court of Wilkinson county
! opened on the lst instant, with Judge
Lawson presiding. The attendance
| was not up to the usual figure, but
gOodly crowd was present. Judge Law
son presides with ease and dignity, and
| organized the court, charging the grand
jury, and selecting petit jury, and dis
posed of four or five cases before adjourning
for dinner. A number of visiting lawyers
were in attendance-amOng them Coils.
BlOunt, Billups, and Lotion, from Macon,
and Col. Stubbs, from Dublin.
The court was occupied yesterday and
| to-day with the civil docket, and the pro-
gress was 50 great that it was thought the
| docket would soon be cleared.
The criminal docket comes up
tomorrow. There is only one
case that will awaken much interest. \
negro woman is charged with the murder
of her husband, Ambrose Smith. She
killed him with an axe while he was
asleep, and dug hole in the yard and
buried him, piling lot of old rails over
the spot. She reported his absence and
suspicious OF foul play, and search was
made in every direction, and almost in
variably when a party would return
after their search they would sit down on
the rails, which hid the dead man from
view. They never found him. The old
darkey got tired of looking at the rail pile,
which was a constant reminder of her
guilt, and she. sought help to remove his re-
mains to a more secluded spot, from one
whom she thought she could trust. He
promptly agreed to assist her, but at the
same time betrayed her secret. For
Just as these two were engaged
in the resurrection of the body,
the Coroner and his jury made their APP
pearance and held an inquest over the
remains and found her guilty Of murder,
and she was lodged i'll Jail.
AMBROSE WAS A TURBULENT FELLOW,
and was dreaded in the community. His
loss was not much regretted. The Stran-
gest part of the story is that this is not
the first husband that this woman has put
under ground. and some suggested that
the court should turn her loose, that she
might further deplete the number Of bad
husbands. The trial comes off tomorrow.
One of the most striking features of
court week was the good order. But
when / was reminded that this was an
anti-liquor county, the explanation was
sufficient. How anybody with ordi-
dinary intelligence can look up
on the wonderful changes brought
about by abOlishing whisky from a com
munity and then turn around and
claim that such legislation is farce, is
beyond comprehension. The suppression
of this miserable traffic in this county has
reduced litigation wonderfully, and there
bv saved the county thousands of dollars.
In several counties where this traffic has
been abolished, the sessions of court,
which would last from one to two weeks,
are now cut down to two or three days for
want of business. The lawyers may suf-
ter, but it is clearly demonstrated that it
is Il great blessing to the people. In
Crawford county the jail doors stand open,
swinging on its hinges, not a prisoner
there.
Irwinton is an old but pleasant village.
Two stOrerOOms have been standing for
over fifty years, and are doing service
still. Among the merchants are MesSrs.
Beall, Baum, Branan and Chambers. 1t
has a good country to support it. How
ever, being three miles off the railroad,
much of the former business has gone to
Gordon, Mcintyre and ToomsborO.
STRONG EFFORT
is being made to recover some of this di-
verted trade, and the merchants are pay
ing more for cotton than is paid at the
railroad stations. They have a splendid
academy here, presided over by Prof. John
Kinman and Professor Carswell, who
have lust taken charge of the institution.
Professor Kinman, who was formerly of
Barlow, Jefferson county, has just been
the subject of a sad bereavement His
excellent wife died on Sunday night, a
stranger among strangers. The good peo-
pie of the village We'd with each other i'll
acts of kindness to the afflicted and the
bereaved. The town turned out almost
en- aaSSe to the funeral, and some of the
stores were closed during the funeral
ceremonies. Such an exhibition of SYM
pathy and kindly feeling has never been
eXcelled in my observation.
have spent nearly week in this cOun-
ty. The crops are reported very short
and yet occasionally [ see some good corn
and cotton. One of the most remarkable
features of the drought is the good corn
crops to be seen in the country. The peO-
pie complain of the shortage, as most OF
the cotton made is already prepared for
market. But little will be found III the
fields by the last of October. j spent a
day with Capt. A. j. Miller, miles from
lrWintOn. on the river road. This is one
of the oldest settled sections Of the coun-
ty, and the timber on the uplands Is get
ting scarce. The ''nO fence" law is al
most a necessity for this part of the
county. and it is to be hoped it
will prevail, thus making Wilkinson one
of the most desirable counties in the
State, having abolished both fence and
whisky.
ON SATURDAY LAST
| went out to the ''bee farm" of Mr.. Eli
Harrall, eight miles from TOOmsbOrO. He
has about seventv-fve gums, all, save
four or FIVE, are Italian bees, and are |
doing Well He has up TO the present |
taken on an average of fifty pounds OF /
honey to the hive. 1t is of most excellent |
quality and finds a ready sale in Milledge- |
Vile. The farm is located near the river |
swamp, and the bees feed upon the tlow- |
ers that bloom in abundance there, Mr.. !
Harrall is one of the best citizens of the /
and is enthusiastic in his chosen /
profession of bee culture. lie has all the |
modern appliances for hivlng the bees
and extracting the honey. The only OBJ
lection / see to his place is that it is too far
from market.
Col. Jas. II. Blount, our present member
of Congress, is down among his old friends,
shaking hands, and receiving their con-
If there are any anti
Blount men, and doubtless there are in
the county, did not meet any Of them.
| talked personally with over one hundred
people. and heard many others talking,
and did not hear single word of dis
with his record as a politician
or Congressman. He is stronger to-day
in Wilkinson county than he has ever
been before, and this no doubt is true all
over the district:
The lSOutkegRGy ana appeal has been
greatly improved and enlarged under the
of E. c. Branan and edi-
torial control of Colonel Huff. Its circu-
lation has been more than tripled in the
last two years, and it circulates largely in
Jones and Twiggs counties, as well as in
They have laborea for sue
cess, and they richly deserved it.
JACK PLANE.
Electric Lighting of Steamers.
London Times.
The largest contract for electric ,igHt-
ing up to the present tiIae has been con-
cluded in Glasgow between the owners