The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1895-02-20
a GAkG oF FlBE6U as,s
a Dast,.tdlys tten,pt to . estroy;


New ORLEANS Is, Potter oaks,
ali'ls iyysno .Sslg $Hgs, ed on the
ievee at Solilhport3ai lis charged With
navmlg, wltil tho y assist tanco of fitWo Oh
more confederates OF sonspirators. lln-
known, cut opoll5 tho elldsy syof two bales
Of cotton ready to be stored on tile stem
merS Floridian, and secretihg tlierein
a quantity Of combustiblc nI.terial foIs
tho purpose Of blowing up tho gycssol
or destroying the samo by fire, was NJ
ranigncd before Commissioners Wright,
yesterday morning and entered a plea
of not guilty TO tho charges ploferred.t
Tho act for which Oaks is held to
answcris i'll violation Of section 1864
Of tho Revised Statutes Of the United
States Tho prisoner was III consc-
quence placed undor appearance bond
in thcsnm of IS, 600. When tho Judge
pronounced the size Of bond that would
be required, the accused stated that IL
was was unnecessary to make the bond so
heavy, asthe was n stranger in town
and bond Of 300 would serve as
we'll. Commissioners Wright replied
that it was not his business to know
what amount Of bond the person,was
able to supply, therefore the bond
would remaill as first fixed. NJ
Oaks has the appearance of q hard
looking customer with q face OH him
that probably will not prove Of great
benefit III his behalf when he is called
to look a jury in the face. He cvident-
ly isa man beyond tho meridian oflifo
and says he has not been i'll the city
moro than two months and came here
from Savannah. Ga. Io claims that
ne IS not member of any of the yari-
GUS labor organizations, but admits that
hc knows something about loading
cotton on board Of ships. Tho sticks
taken from tho two bales Of cotton,
wrapped up iii wet cloth and which
were first generally thought to be
dynamite, proved today to have been
composed Of phosphorus and il was
therefore probably. the intention of
the pcrpetrator not to blow up the ship
or injurc any Of the workmcn employ
cd in loading the ship, but evidently
to destroy the cotton in the vessel by
fire. Tic combustiblc material was
carefully laid up on tho back Of one
OF the large record books in tho mar
shals Office last night with Il glass,
covering it, SO that no one would be.
come endangered by interference with
it. This morning it was found that
tic stuff concealed iii the wraps had
caught fils during the night and there
was nothing left but the charrcd re.
mains.
For some time past steamship burn
ing has been Il frequent occurrence at
Savannah, and the various steamship
companies doing business at that port
have expended large sums in attempt
ing to ferret out tho guilty parties, but
it seems that the conspiracy was SO
thoroughly organized that until now
it has proven impossible to even appre-
hend any Of the burners. Detectives
from Savannah, it is said, have only
recently visited New Orleans on such
an errand, but as usual could not To-
cate or effect a capture. n
1t is Therefore the general supposi-
ton that the man who is now under
arrest hero and who goes by tic name
of Oaks land states that he came from
Savannah, belongs to the conspiracy
which has SO long made that port quite
risky for vessels to receive cargoes
from. However, the proof at present
does not sustain such theory. The
fact that there have becn q number of
fires on ship board here, and that gen
orally vessels after leaving here hayc
been discovered on fire, taken in con-
nection with today's discovery, would
seem to bear out the theory that a shin
burning gang can be at work. si,.i9