The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-07-15
Reported for the TINES.
The Commissioners Side of the Story.

Mr. EDIroE Conrt has just closed,
aud the pre,idiuz Judge. Hon. James Al
drich, by his prompt courteous and h,.'.@;;
III. -.ys Gu.iug ,no ,it,Ing OF the court mas
made himself very popular.
During this term Of curt our eficisnt
Grand Jury made prssentmcni, part OF
which created much surprise and comment.
At tho last term il coDplimentei tho county
commissioners very highly, but At tee
present term they presented quite numosr
og doubtful transaciions aud omissions by
the commiss' onsrs, running back some years,
Of which the Grand Jury greatly disapPrsVsd.
Among the charges made against the
county commissioners are that they have
sold the mot valuable portion Of the poor
house land under its proper value.
They also charge bal management OF the
poor house affairs generally, and say that
the suporintrn lont Of tho poor house has
been gaiucr by tho Management. In
word, they charge that the whole affair has
been run in tho interest OF the chairman OF
the Beard Of County Comm 'ssioners an l his
brother, who is Superintendent OF the Toor
house.
| WAS in tGs courtroom when the pre-
sentiment wus icad, and being curious to
know what the commissioners would say
about il, | called at their office 10 inter-
view them, rs the newspaper mon say.
found them working away quietly, with
their efficient clerk Mr. Chas. Boil, al his
post.
In an.wCr 10 q question propoanisd to
them as TO what they had to say about the
preseutnent of the grad jury, Messrs. }. A.
Chambers ard NJ. Mobley answered first,
saying in substance that they had become
member, "f tho Bosri only recently, the for
mer at the beginning Of this term, and the
latter some ilme latsr, and consequently
neither one kncv anything Of the matter
charged against tho board, except from
hearsay.
The poor house land transaction, they sad.
took place before they came ino office, but
they understood that the whole matter had
been settled under proceedings in Curt
before Judge WaIlac,.
asked them concerning tie AL treatment
| OF one Of the inmates Of the poor-houss,
| charged against thsm in the presentment.
| They replied that according to their inf rms-
tion, he had not been mistrcated at all, but
| on one occasion since tliey came into office
he became unmsnageabls aud assaulted the
Superintendent, and the superin tendent was
compelled to uso him pretty roughly 10 save
his own life. They said further that this
sane person, q Mr.. Giles, was, according to
| their information, u very unruly and dan
| gsraus person. and had on several occasions
assaulted tho Other inmates of the Poor
| house, befjre lie could be restrained; that he
| had been there from boyhood, and although
| an idiot, they fel, bound &c Leep him and
do the bost they could with him, and had
| always recommended that he ue trcaea just
| ~ leuiently rs possible
To the charge about a COW purchased for
$40. and Afterwards sold for $40, they replied
that the transaction was before their time
and that they know nothing Of it, except
hat the money thu cow was sold for was
accounted for on their books, which are
| open 10 public inspection.
They denied tnat there Nas scheme on
fooi' to sell tho paor house property. They
nad the Land surveyed. tut it was for the
purpose ofsct,ling long disputed line, and
not with any intcntion Of disposing of ths
ploparty
Mr.. VIM. NJ. GallnSn, who IS chairman OF
| the present board, ond also was . member
Of the preceding board WAS present aud
confirmed what was said by Messrs. Nohlsy
anl Ih,-r.bsr, about matters which took
| plsce before ther time. He denied en-
phn,cally that The terms OF tho sale OF the
lani mentioned in the prssentment had not
been complied with. and said the whole
matter wss on tie books, ana open to public
Mr.. Callahan said when the COW WAS sole
t1 The POOR nousl sne wus very fine COW
bu- aitec STElts weak iTE. md after ever,
effort 10 make her fu,ths uSsf,.i fa;'ed. oh,
was sold FOR beef, and tho meney turnec
over 10 the c,un'v.
reference TO the mules, Mr.. Gallma,
ssid lhEt he hni borrowed them two or thre,
times, but n.i amply repaid tn. count,
with the use o! hs own mules
Mr.. Gailmhn also soutly denied tn,
charge IN reference 10 tho death Of the tw,
ranrEs lie says he personally attends,
to their burial tho day after they died
Ito said IN reference 4 tho i'll trsatms.t {
Giles. no mora violence was used than wa
nscssssry for hs management.
Finding that Iay notes were becom'n,
rather lengthy closed the interview with
out giving them c chance to answer al tn,
GG":ion& involved These gentlemen spok.
calmly ard firmly and seemed satisfied that
Al the proper time they wou'd be abe ia
answer AMI fnlly vindicats NIL their past
ot.'!' acts n regard to the matters in con
| tFo'cr'1 lrTRRyIEHER
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