The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-05-08

| GlelF warrants DclnS IOr Cn9 ScafCn Ol
public places, whore contraband liquors
report was spread and had its duo eff
feet, when the execution OF the war
rants began. Large numbers of armed
men gathered on the streets for the
protection OF liberty" which was
not in danger. The five or six con.
stables in Darlington were followed by
this armed mob which guycd, cursed,
and abused thom. thereupon ordered
the chief constable by telegraph to
proceed to the scene with reinforce
mentS. The six constables on the
| ground being in danger, sent mill
tary company from Sumter 20 Darling
ton for their protection while in dis
charge OF their duties as officers Of the
State carrying out one of its laws. The
| mob quieted down at once, and the
military company returned home the
morning following it's arrival in Dar-
lington. In the afternoon of the day
of the departure of the company, four
of the constablcs, their work being
| done, went to one depot and the other
nineteen to the othcr, to depart Two
light at the depot where the main
body of constab,es was. One of them,
| who was whipped, ran up town and re-
turned, followed by an armed mob.
a wrangle started fight between this
mob and tho constables. One con-
stable and two of the mob were killed,
and several constablcs and citizens
were wounded. When the mob were
put to flight, the constables themsel-
yes took to the woods near by, for they
knew that the flying mob would return
reinforced by hundreds of armed fell
low cODsDiratOrs. Such was the out
come. The town bell was rung as u
tocsin to the conspirators, and they
turned out in the twinkling of an eye,
all heavily armed. The constabes
wore pursued and the conspirators in
Florence and Sumter, being called out
by telegraph, joined in the pursuit.
Fortunately night soon came on and
none OF the chasing parties came up
with the escaping constabulary, or
else more blood would have been shed.
The disposition OF the conspirators to
CXterminatC the ConStabulary is shown
by the fact that tho train containing
the four constablcs who had gone to
the other depot Of the town and had
taken no part in the fight, was riddlcd
with bullets fired in u desperate at
tempt to kill them as it came by on its
way to Charleston.
The mob took possession of the three
towns, committing many acts of vio-
lcnce. In Sumter, where the first
mobbing of Dispensary constablcs took
place, there is one of the best managed
DispcnSarics in the State, and the
police authorities have assisted in the
enforcement of the Dispensary law.
The part this town took in the rebel
lion was confined to the going out of
its most lawlcSs and turbulent citi-
zens to aid in the chase of the consta-
bles.
Under the Dispensary law, part of
the profits of the Dispensaries goes to
the towns in which they are located,
provided the authorities Of those towns
assist in the enforcement Of the law.
In cases where municipal authorities
fail to help enforce the law, the State
Board of Control is vested with au-
thority to withhold from such towns
the share of the profits that would
otherwise come to them. On the
morning when tho constablcs were
first maltreated in Darlington the mu-
nicipal authorities of that town were
notified that they would receive no
share of the profits from the Dispen-
saries located in that town.. because
they had failed to do their duty to-
wards the enforcement of the law. A
similar notice had been given to the
council at Florence. This added to the
anger OF the mob, and had much to do
with melting the mob in Florence to
looting the Dispensary there.
was informed by the Sheriff that
the civil authorities wore pOwcrless in
Darlington, and was asked to order out
the militia. did so, ordering out at
! first five companies nearest the scene
three at Columbia, one at Manning,
and one at Sumter. The old political
Bourbons, aided by the whiskey ele-
mont, brought such pressure to bear
upon the companies in Columbia that
they refused to obey the orders of their
Commanderin-Chi The Columbia
companies set the example, and it was
followed by the other two companies
ordered out. Thirteen of the town
companies, and the entire Fourth
Brigade, composed of the troops OF
Charleston, refused to turn out when
ordered to do so. The armories OF two
companies in Columbia, one in Flor
ence, and one in Chester were broken
into and their guns stolen, possibly
with the connivance of members of the
companies. The idea was that | would
be left powerless, and that similar dis
order could be created in other cities
making it necessary for the United
States government to take charge O
the State, thus accomplishing their de
termination to overthrow my admins
tration and restore themselves to power
by my downfall. But many military
companies, without regard to politics
remained true to their allegiance. ant
the ycomanry Of the State volunteered
for duty in such numbers as showed
the cOnspirators that they were power
less. Had | deemed it necessary,
could in forty-eight hours after is
suance Of the cal have had an armed
force OF 10000 faemers at my command
But this was not necessary my deter
mination to uphold Jhe laws OF th
State and to protect it's officers, ant
the fact that | would be supported b.
the best citizens OF the State, overawet
the conspirators and they subsidized.
The trouble at Darlington culminat
ed on Friday, March 30, at 4p. m. Val
liable time was lost that evening am
night while waiting to mobilize th
militia,which failed me at the last. Or
ders did not go to tho companies whicl
responded until Saturday morning
the first company that could be depend
cd on arrived in Columbia on Saturda
! evening at 5 o'clock. AS q more dan
; gerous mob had assembled in COlumbi
on Friday night than was pursuing tn
constables at the scene OF the distui
banco, deemed it wise to concentrat
troops there to overawe it and not
leave the Capitol unprotected or NOV
on Darlington until / had force to d
both. Saturday night and Sunda
militia and volunteer companies {
farmers continued to arrive, so that .
Sunday evening folt warranted in O,