The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1895-02-20
GANG, [, OF + REB y as.s
a Dast 2 'att'y erd,s ,,tl to Destroy

itSrI
NEW 7, QRLEAE ri Feb. ter Oaks,
allas N,'es, 9 rrestG I'd on the
iovee az poutilpoIg and is Charged With
naYlhg YIN INC U assisb nee Of, two or
more coliiederatcs ORC onspirat tors ull-
Of cotton ready to be stored 81. s 'l'a ataS
mer Floridipn, and secretin tTa%a;,
n quantity Df combustible mat teFial 1 M fhr;
the purpose Of blowing up the EWessal
or destroying the samo by fire, WAS al.
ranigncd before Commissioner w riohk
yesterday morning and entered Il plea
OF not guilty to tho charges prefelrefl
Tho act for which Oaks is held TO
answeris III violation of section 1894
Of tho Revised Statutes of The United
States. Tho prisoner was III consc-
quonce placed undor appearance bond
III thcslm Of IS, 600. When the Judge
pronounced the size of bond that would
be required, the accused stated that it
was was unnecessary to make the bond SO
heaYy, as, he was Il stranger in town
and a bond of 800 would serve as,
we'll. Commissioners w right replied
that it was not his business to know
what amount Of bond the personswas
able to supply, therefore the bond,
would roman as first fixed.
Oaks has the appearance Of q hard
looking customer with n face OH him
that probably will not prove Of great
benefit III his behalf when he is called
to look q jury in the face. He evident
ly is q man beyond the meridian Of life
and says he has not becnin III the city
moro than two months and came here
from Savannah, Ga Ho claims that
hc is not member of any Of the yari-
GUS labor organizations, but admits that
he knows something about loading
cotton on board of ships. Tie sticks
taken from the two bales of cotton;
wrapped up i'll 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 perpctrator not to blow up tho ship
or injurc any Of the worlSmen employ
cd in loading the ship, but evidently
to destroy the cotton in the vessel by
fire. The combustiblc material was
carefully laid up on the back Of ono
Of the large record books in the mar
shal's oilicc last night with Il glass
covering it, SO that no one would be-
come endangered by interference with
1T. This lnorning it was found that
the stllff concealed III the wraps had
| caught FINE during the night and there
was nothing left but the cllarlpd re-
mains. H'l
| For some time past steamship burn.
ing has been frequent occurrence at
Savannah, and the various steamship
companies doing business at that port
have expended large sums in attempt,
ing to ferret out the 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 tho 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. S
1t is Therefore tho general supposi-
ton that the man who is now llndcr
arrest hero and who goes by the name
of Oaks and 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 a theory. The
fact that there have bccn a number of
fires on ship board here, and that gen
orally vessels after leaving here have
been discovered on fire, taken in con.
nection with today's discovery, would
seem to bear out the theory that q ship
burning gang can be at work. fy.