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

move a muscle, he recovered the use of
his tongue, Sam NJ. Neely was unhurt.
He appeared to be very angry; but upon
realizing the helpless condition of his an
tagonist, Immediately calmed down, and
shortly afterward left the store.
All of this had occurred in less than
two minutes. A crowd had already be-
gun to collect, however, and there was
considerable excitement about the store.
DR.. r. A. Crawford, whose Office is near
by, was on hand almost Immediately, and
upon his orders the wounded man was
put on stretcher and at once taken to
his home.
After leaving the store, Mr.. Sam Nicely
went to the office of w. B. Wilson, Esq,
and next submitted himself to arrest.
He had but little to say, only John Harry
Neely had attached him with stick,
struck him several severe blows, which
he had warded off as best he could with
his arms, and that all chat he had done
besides that was in self defense. AS to
whether he had struck John Harvey
Neely or with what. he had nothing to
say, and so far as information was con-
cerned, everything was lett to inference
as to whether the wounded man had been
stabbed with knife, or the injury had
been sustained by piece of broken glass
as he fell against the showcase.
An hour or two later, Drs. Crawford
and Strait gave it as their opinion that the
injuries of the wounded man would in all
probability prove fatal, and Mr.. Sam M.
Neely was taken before Magistrate Wa
ters. He had nothing to say except that
he desired the law to take its course, and
after writing letter to his people at
Smiths Turnout, was ready to 60 to jail.
He was brought to Yorkville Saturday
night by Major T. c. Beckham.
After the case of Mr.. Sam NJ. Nicely
was disposed of, Magistrate Waters and
others, influenced by the opinions Of the
attending physicians. deemed it advisable
to take the ante-mortem statement of MIR.
John Harvey Nicely. The wounded man,
though still paralyzed, was clear In
mind and able to talk as we'll as If unin"
jured. He made complete statement OF
the whole difficulty from his standpoint,
and the story he told was about as fol-
lows:
"There was q difference between us
about store account. owed Sam some
money, and he had been after ME several
times to pay it. Not long ago, he wrote
me a very insulting letter. When saw
him coming this morning, feared that l
was going to have trouble with him and
sought to avoid him. He told me that he
wanted to see me. told him that was
busy with some of my Negroes from the
place, and would he busy from an hour to
all hour-and-a-half I told him that 1
would see him after that time. I did
not intend to keep my promise though,
for it was my intention to keep away
from him. I went across the street
to Johnson's drugstore and bought two
pounds of saltpetre, giving three quar-
ters of a pound to one Negro, and
pound and a-quarter to another. About
this time, Sam came into the store and
said he wanted to see me then. I insisted
that did not have time to talk to him. He
spoke of the account, and asked me TO
pay it. said that had paid him $40 on
it (; also that some of the goods had been
bought without my instruction. How
ever, intended to pay the account as
soon as 1 could. I had been away for
sometime, and, upon my return, had been
advised that my account at the bank had
been overdrawn nearly $500, and, there
fore, could not give him a check today.
He would not accept this explana-
ion but said he was going to have
his money, and he was going to have
it today. I told him that he need
not talk that way about it, because he
could not get it when did not have it.
Then he called me a - scoundrel and
a - thief.' I had stick in my hand,
and my first impulse was to resent the in
suit but thought better of it and did not.
I said, however, that's a - lie Sam, and
you know it, We looked in each others
eyes for perhaps 25 seconds, and then 1
turned to 20 away. Just as turned, l
fell, and did not know anything more for
how long do not exactly know. When
came to, Sam had in his left hand a
horn handled knife with a blade about
three inches long. I had not seen this
knife before. consider that am going
to die. T will not live to see the setting of
tomorrow's sun, and do not consider
that I am making this statement before
man; but in the presence of my God.
But want you all to take it as my wish
now, that I do not want Sam hung for
this. We were boys together. Sam has
always been hot-headed and has done
great many things he ought not to
have done, and have been hot-headed
and done great many things ought not
have done. have been trying to control
my temper of late, and did so today, or
otherwise it might have been different,
and I want you to remember it is my
wish that Sam shall not be hung"
Mr.. John Harvey Neely has been resi-
dent of Rock Hill for several years past,
and for sometime has been the travelling
representative of the Rock Hill Buggy
company. He has wife and eight chill
dren. One of his sons-Mr. James
Neely-has been in Rhode Island for
sometime past, and another-Mr. George
Neely-has been in Texas. A postal card
from Rock Hill, Monday evening, stated
that Mr.. James had returned home in an
swer to a telegram, and that Mr.. George
was expected during the night. A tele-
gram of yesterday, Tuesday, at o'clock,
was to the effect that there was no i'm
provement in the con dition of the wound
ed man, and that according to the doctors
the case was hopeless.
Mr.. Sam NJ. Neely is well-known
citizen of Smiths Turnout, and brother
in-law to Mr.. H. A. u. Neely. He is
farmer and merchant, and an inventor OF
unqu estioned ingenuity. He has no fam
lily; but bears a good reputation as
man.