The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-02-17

free, or this promise to destroy the
house, which was done
Tae Fishers and :nose arrested with
them were cs.rrrieG to Charleston, and
lodged in j.ll. There they were visited
by young Peoples, who identified
Fisher aod bis wife to the satisfaction
Of aL. save, of course. the criminals
themselves. Indeed. the woman es-
peci2Ily was considerably upset on
This occasion.
"HE FISHERS BROUGHT TO BAY.
Tie Fishers and others were brought
to trial en- March 2S, 1919, before
Judge Bay. Two were admitted on
bail, Hayward and Roberts. The
Fishers, with the remaining ones,
were sent back to jail The evidence
against them, particularly against the
Fishers, was very damaging. A few
days later Roberts was re-arreste6 on
new ch3rge, and once more imprison-
ed He worked his way out of the jail
and endeavored to escape on horse
back, but broke the neck Of his horse
while attempting to make the animal
leap across an excavatlonlnt the street,
and was thus recaptured.
Shortly after the Fishers were sent
back to jail, intense excitement was
aroused By the discovery in the vicini-
ty Of the Six-mile House ef suspicl-
Gus looking grave. Search had been
going Oh from time to time in the
neigh borhood for something OF the
kind, but ursuccessfully until this
grave was stumbled upon by a mere
accident it seemed The sheriff was
notified. He sent Mr.. Henry Stevens,
the coroner, TO investigate. Mr.. Stew
ems opened the grave and found two
bodies side by side. Physicians pro-
nounced them the bodies of a man and
woman. One body was in a box made
of rough slabs, the other was uncohined
and covered with brush. The same
physician stated that they had
been dead about two years. There
was 10 clue whatever to their identity.
They were doubtless private travellers,
from long distance probably, who
had met the tragic fate of other unfor-
tunates in that House of Horror. In
digaation against the Fishers now ran
high, aud violence would doubtless
have been attempted but for the eau
ton OF older and cooler heads.
CELLAR FULL OF HUMAN BONES.
At tie June term of the Court Fish
er and his wife were found guilty, but
petitioned for a new trial. While the
petition was pending, horrible discov-
cries were made at the Six-mile House.
After the house was burned, the ruins
were not disturbed, doubtless owing
to the feeling that there was nothing
there for which to disturb them. But
one day, some months afterward, an
individual with turn OF mind rather
more investigating than that Of the
others. while poking about among the
charred pieces of beams and the minia-
ture hillocks OF ashes, almost lost his
life by coming within fraction OF
falling down into that gaping mouth
of an excavation. He raised the alarm,
crowd gathered, the charred beams
were cleared away, and the entire op.
enirg of a cellar exposed to view.
They brought ladder, one OF the
number made the descent, and discov'
ered-hones, plenty of them, and hui
man bones at thai! This was surely
enough to ruin the Fishers, but they
denied all knowledge OF it, declaring
vehemently that if the bones were
there, they had been there before they
took the house. But there were
those who connected this ghastly find
with the story young Peoples had
told. The cellar was about where the
dining room had stood. How con-
venient to have it beneath the table,
with trap door hiding it from view!
Behold the preparation and then the
deed: a solitary traveller sitting at
table, valuables on his person, and
doubtless more valuables in the bag
gage in his room. He eats his break
fast, drinks without suspicion the
tempting cup of coffee offered him,
doubtless chatting gayly with his hos
tess as he does so. Chen asick, next q
drowsy feeling seizes him. his head
whirls, sinks upon his breast; he
clatehes spasmodically once or twice
at the air. gives gasp Or two, and IS
gone! Pockets are quickly rifed, the
spring is touched, the trap is sprung,
and with a sickening thud there falls
into the horrible depths the body Of
one never heard of more. There IS
one wife somewhere in the world who
will never seeher husbands face again
little children who are fatherless; or
perhaps an aged mother, a gentle, Low.
ing sister, waiting for the son and
brother who never comes.
THE FISHERS BREAK JAIL.
On Monday, September Is, pending
the hearing of the petition for a new
trial, John Fisher and Joseph Roberts
escaped from the jail. This they did
by forcing hole through the wall
under one of the windows, descending
therefrom by means OF a rope made
from strips of their blankets. Mrs.
Fisher also intended to escape, but de-
cided to be the last one to make the
attempt. Roberts went down first,
then Fisher. When Fisher was about
twenty feet from the ground the rope
broke and he fell, bruising himself
considerably. This, of course, deter
red Mrs. Fisher from attempting the
descent, and she decided to wait until
she could make the rope longer. Fish
er and Roberts escaped, but not be-
fore they had conveyed to Mrs. Fish
er their intention to return and assist
her in getting from the Jail.
There was considerable excitement
ard great indignation over the escape
OF Fisher and Roberts. They had
been allowed too much freedom about
the jail, many declared. Instead of
being confined in their cells they had
been permitted to walk about the cor
ridorS and visit the other prisoners in
their apartments. These charges the
jailer and his assistants bitterly de-
MED, declaring It movement to in
jure them politically. The Governor,
John Geddes, at once issued procla