Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-05-08

this Bickart matter would unravel the
mystery, and so determined to try and
uncover it.
Just at that time I was trying to get
Mr.. I. o. J. Wood, of this city, and
who had always been one of my
warmest friends, a position. He had
lost his place in. the dispensary in
Spartanburg, and I knew he needed
work and had family to support. 1t
occur ed to me that could secure Mr..
Wood a position with Blumenthal &
Bickart, and, also, unravel that report
about the Ouzts matter.
Mr.. Wood had written to Blumen-
thai & Bickart, and they had promised
him a place, thought, if they could
get reinstated with the board. knew
that Hon. Clark Howell was an init
mate friend of Mr.. Bickart, and could
not only help out Mr.. Wood; but
might also get that evidence about Mr..
QUITS, and which had been suppress.
ed. So wrote the Howell letter. 1
knew that in order to get Mr.. Bickart
to tell all that he knew, it would be
necessary to show him that he ran no
risk in having his business hurt by
letting facts be known. My reference
to Messrs. Jones and Miles was simply
the truth. They were my friends; l
had worked for the political success Of
both gentlemen, and believed that
they would help my friends whenever
they could do 80 honorably and with
out prejudice to the states interest. 1
would not ask them to do otherwise,
and they would not were 1 to 80 re-
quest.
In writing to Mr.. Howell I had moth
ing to gain personally, and no axe to
grind save to help my friends, and, as
1 so stated therein, l have never made
any secret of standing by and working
for my friends and fighting my enemies:
1 have never received, and never tried
to get, and neither would receive,
under any circumstances, one cent's
rebate. But I brought the dispensary
law to this state, and determined to
weed out rascality if discovered, and
it was in my power to do 30. My
reference to the explanation to be
made by Mr.. Wood in the letter was
that he might explain to Mr.. Howell
the position he wanted was as agent in
our state for Blumenthal & Bickart.
Mr.. Wood went to Atlanta and re-
turned TO Spartanburg in day or so.
He came into my Office and in reply to
an inquiry stated that he did not see
Mr.. Howell, but had left the letter
with Mr.. Bickart, and who said that
there was no necessity for delivering
| it, as he had nothing to say in the
QUITS matter, and that gentleman had
refused his offer to receive pay for
shipping out his liquors first.
1t thought no more of the letter, as
there was nothing in it that cared for
the public to seeing. But during the
last meeting of the state board friend
from Columbia wrote me that certain
letter, purporting to have been written
by myself to Mr.. Clark Howell, was
being privately circulated and shown
around, and asking me what were its
contents. I replied as stated above. l
then wrote to Hon. Clark Howell, stat
ing the circumstances, and in reply re-
ceived o. letter from Mr.. Bickart say
ing that Mr.. Wood had never shown
him the Howell letter, and be would
not have been guilty of such an out
rage as to break the seal of private
letter directed to other than himself.
Mr.. Wood afterwards said that he
might have been mistaken about CIV
i ing the letter to Mr.. Bickart, that he
could not remember just what be
did with it, but that be had never
turned it over to any one in Columbia.
A few days after Mr.. Woods return
from Atlanta l was in Columbia, and
went into Mr.. QUITS Office and told
him just what / had heard and what
l had done toward investigation, and
the report was found to be unfounded.
1 then told him that I was hands off
in his race, and was hands off. 1 have
nothing to conceal about that letter,
and what I did, I did openly and not
through any bushwhacking methods.
l have always helped my friends, and
intend to continue to do so until they
prove treacherous and unworthy OF
trust. No one has ever accused me,
of handling a dirty shilling, for my
hands are clean. If it be a crime to
use every honorable end to ferret out
reported public venality, and to work
for your friends, then am guilty, and
will remain guilty.
But, Mr.. Editor, let me ask you, as
likewise every honest and honorable
man, what do you think of any man,
or set of men who would thus secure
possession OF a private letter written
to stranger whom they did not know
and marked "personal" and then de-
liberately break the seal and use the
contents? Why, I wouldn't trust
them with either public or private
money as far as I could throw a loco
motive by the cowcatcher. They will
bear watching, and close watching too.
Were I so inclined, / could have de-
MED the authorship of that letter, for
my name was not signed to it with pen
and ink; but printed with a type
writer. But I wrote every word