The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-10-14
rhE RinEy rnAGEpY.
CuriosIties OF tho Inqdest-.-A Mystery That
Has not Besn Revealed.

CuEtOsitiSb Ok Nhe luQucbt---A "ystcfy tuht
Has not Besn Revealed,
The correspondent of the Augusta
Chronicle writes that Stcphncy Riley's
funeral took place in Charleston on
the 4th inst amid great excitemcnts
Four thousand negroes collected in
front of the Centenary Church II little
church of Charleston. Tho negroes
behaved boi slerouslv. On Wentworth
street, i'm front ofthe church, q mulatto
militiamau saw Policeman Curley COM
ing up, walking leisurely on his beat.
He said "Thcrc is the son of ~
who killed Prince Bowen" and cooked
his Winchester rifle, in front of the
church. Many knew if the rifle was
fired it would be the signal of n slaugh-
ter. The CORES pondcnt OF the above
named papers and IA Mr.. Trayers, of
Cincinnati, came down the steps to-
gcthcr, accompanied by Geu. Lee, col
oacd, and tho Rev. T.. w. jefferson.
They said "Stop!" and he did, Two
negro women tainted just then. There
was a fearful excitement. Four thous-
and people were running to and fro in
The stro; IS, crying "kill him! kill
himv"
1t is reported that the negroes at
tempted to m Oh two reporters in the
cemetery, John A. Moroso and Henry
d. lIowrcu. This is not true as Mr..
| Moroso was mt home and Mr.. lIowren
was ut the Hotel Windsor, where he
boards, when the report originated.
They both lau ghed at the idea and said
thcy'dlike to see it going on for the pure
fun of it. Republican negroes started
this. They say there will be trouble,
but there will not.
There were many witnesses eXamin-
cd in the Bcllinger-Rilcy killing on
Monday. Thousands assembled in
front of the "Grc-proof building" as
they generally do OH such occasions.
The verdict was that "Bcllinger killed
Riley" No reason assigned. The
correspondent is n personal friend of
DR.. Bcllingcr, who il perhaps as
prominent a physician as there is in
Charleston, There was great ex-
citcment at the Inquest. In fact the
crowd was worse mystificd after than
they were at llle inquest. Nearly all
the witnesses swore that DR., Bcllinger
shot Riley for calling him a ''son ofa
-" on the night before the killing,
except one, Mr.. Roland Aston, who
a a witness, was intoxicated while
tcstitying, and insultcd both the coro-
ncr and Edwin II. White, Chairman of
the County Com m~issioncrs. They both
laughed him to Scorn. lie testified in
favor of Riley, as if prcjudiccd or paid.
The gist OF the whole inquest was
this, except one witness. About a
| dozen witnesses testified that DR.. Bel,
lingcr unbranded Biley for cheating" q
horse, and Riley said: 81 am not
beating but whipping the horse
This occurred Friday night. The next
morning Dr.. Bcllingcr came in and
said oaths and vi tupcration had passed
between them. 1t is not known, but
the only witness whom tho jury trusted
much was Mrs Holmes. She said
81 saw Riley leaning on his stable
fence. DIR. Bcllingcr came up. DR.
Bellingcr said, W hen [ first heard him
Damn you, You were there, and you
know all about IT, Riley said: dock
no l don't; / was not there Tho
Doctor said: Damn you, you were,
l am going to shoot YOU drawing q
pisto). Riley 70 ldcd his hands sup
p~licatingly in fro MT of him and said
Doctor, don't kill me, [ wasn't there.
Then the Doctor tired six times, hi
victim falling after the fifth shot-ai
the other witnesses making him fall a
the first shot" The general opinion
is that Dr.. Bellingcr shot Riley fol
some other causebcsides the fuss abOu'
the horse. The correspondent la'
interviewed twenty.thrce of the bcs
citizens of Charleston. They all be
Iicve it was not the fuss about the
horse.
a later special from Charleston t
the same paper says: "The excite
mcnt here is undated, but the opinion
has crystalizcd that Dr.. Bcllingcr die
not kill Riley because Of tho fusl
about the horse. If the killing ha(
been in sclf-defcnce the last five ahot!
would not have been fired, since thu
first placed the deceased hOrS de com
Dat. Ii is rumorcd about the city tina
n certain member Of DR.. Bcllingcr'i
family has entered the Dominion o
Canada since the K Hing, and he say
he would rather die than disclose tn,
reasOn of the killing. The universe
opinion in this city is that tho trial will
disclose a social condition of affair
that nobody dreamed existed here
Much OF the cvidc nee has been sup
pressed ON local accounts. Mrs
Holiness account was only partly pub
lishcd. There was o reason for tn,
suppression, which will come GU
soon."