Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-03-24
Wednesday, March "a, 1897.
SOUTH CAROLINA NEWS.

The wheelmen of Columbia have
been greatly annoyed of late by the
operations of bicycle thieves in the
city. 1t is thought that the stealing is
being done by an organized gang OF
Negroes.
To Be Argued Today.
The farmers Agricultural Hall case,
involving the validity of the Blue
Ridge scrip, is to be heard by the Uni,
ted States supreme court today. This
case originated in 1892 when the state
sold the Agricultural Hall property at
auction. The property was bid off by
Edward B. Wesley, who rendered
Blue Ridge scrip in payment. The
state refused the scrip on the ground
that the supreme court had already
decided the stuff to be worthless, and
the matter has been in the courts ever
since.
Young Harmon Pardoned.
Governor Ellerbe has granted full
pardon to A. M. Harmon, of Lexing-
ton county, the young man who shot
Cal Caughman, Jr., to death last sum-
mer for betrayal of his sister. Har-
mon was tried for murder, and al
though represented by eminent coun-
sci, was convicted. recommended to
mercy, and sentenced by Judge Watts
to life imprisonment in the peniten-
tiary. An appeal was taken to the
supreme court, and the appeal is still
pending; but the pardon of the gov
ernor, of course, puts an end to the
case.
VIII Test the Law.
At the last session of the general
assembly, the dispensary law was so
amended as to provide for rigid in
spection of liquors shipped into the
state for personal use. The object of
the inspection is to throw obstacles in
the way of too free a purchase OF
liquors from outside sources. There
is still q question, however, as to
whether the new provision Of the law
is not in violation of the interstate
commerce law, and to the end of set
tling the matter, Governor Ellerbe
has arranged for a test case to be
brought before Judge Simonton on
next Friday, the day upon which the
amendment referred to will 60 into
effect.
b. r. Riordan Dead.
Mr.. B. R. Riordan, former South
Carolina newspaper man, died in New
York last Wednesday aged SO years.
Mr.. Riordan was Virginian by birth,
and was engaged in the newspaper
business in Charleston previous to the
war. After the war, in copartnership
with Hon. Ben Wood, and the late F.
w. Dawson, he established the Char
lesion News. Subsequently in 1873,
these gentlemen purchased the old
Charleston Courier, and changed the
name of their journal to The News
and Courier. Mr.. Riordan continued
with the enterprise until 1885, when
he went to New York city, where, up
to the time of his death, he was en-
gagged in the cotton business. Though
a good writer and an able journalist,
he was essentially business man. 1t
was to his business ability that the
financial success of The News and
Courier was largely due.
Dispensary Law In Greenville.
Here is what the Greenville grand
jury has to say about the dispensary
cases in that county: SIN this con-
nection we beg to call the attention of
the court to the fact that, in some of
the cases brought before US for viola
ton of the dispensary law, the trend
and character Of the proposed evil
dence was of the most indefinite and
unreliable character. Much of it might
have been better used to the advan-
tage of the accused, rather than in be-
half of the state. The sending up
of cases by magistrates with a string
of witnesses involves heavy expense to
the county, and we would earnestly
urge that in future rigid and extra
precautions should be exercised as to
the weight and character of the pro-
posed evidence before the cases are
sent up to court. In other words, the
magistrate should be satisfied of the
reasonable suticiency of the testimony
which was to 60 before the grand jury.
In one of the cases brought before us,
in which liquor was seized from L. B.
Rains, it appeared that the officers
also seized and converted to the states
use barrel of coffee in which the
liquor was secreted. The state may
have the technical right to do this but
if this is true it appears to be harsh
and unreasonable enforcement of the
law, and we recommend that the cof-
fee so seized, or its value, be restored
70 Tho ouporv ~