The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-15
vALDOsTA NEWS BUDGET.
Wrong Man Arrested-The Johns
Melton Tragedy.

Melton Tragedy.
Valdosta, Ga, May l4.-Willie Melton, a
young white man, has been lodged in jail
at Jasper, Fla, charged with the assassi-
nation of Barlow Johns last Sunday night
Johns was a highly respected young man
living a few miles from Jasper, while the
young man who is charged with his tragic
death was employed by and lived with the
family of Harris Tomlinson. who is a
neighbor to the father of Barlow Johns.
The young men both sought the affections
of Miss Tomlinson, a young daughter of
the man for whom Melton worked. On
last Sunday night young Johns made a
visit to the house of Harris Tomlinson in
a social call upon the young .ady. He re-
manned until about o'clock and then
started for his own home, not very far
away. When less than a half mile from
the house he was waylaid and shot to
death, then his throat was cut. The pistol
shots were heard al the TOmhnson home
Parties coming along the road some time
later found the body of the young man
cold and stiff e
Circumstances pointed to Melton as the
murderer. Tracks found at the place
where the tragedy occurred were the same
size as the shoes worn by Melton and the
imprint of a broken instep spring was
found in them Me.tOns shoes had the
spring broken and this fact was one of
the strongest circumstances that connect
ed him with the killing. Besides these
things, it is said that Melton was jealous
of Johns and that he was seen caves
dropping about the parlor during Johns
visit that night. He went off presumably
to go to his room, but he was not in his
room when the shots were heard When
all of these things became known in the
neighborhood sentiment crystailized
f1c 81 n nd oil
of measuring summary punishment to
him, he was arrested and hurried off to
Jail before any trouble ensued.
The case is exciting widespread attention
in the section between Jasper and White
Spring and the trial Of the case will be
watched with considerable interest.
The man who was arrested for "Bub-
Der" HERS, charged with killing Sam Lof-
ton at Lake Park two years ago, was
brought here last night He gives his
name as VIII HERS, and it is conceded
here that he is relative of D. w HERS
the man wanted. but parties who know the
latter have visited the Jail and they de-
clare that he is not the right man. The
officers here were very much surprised at
the result of their efforts, as they had fol-
lowed what they thought was an unmis-
taxable clew in capturing the man. The
fact that he demanded a requisition from
the governor increased the confidence of
the authorities here as to his identity 1t
is believed now that Rubber HERS is his
cousin, and that they have been living in
the same section. The officers think that
the man arrested demanded a requisition
in order to give the other HERS time to
get out of the way and make his escape.
Hers was released this evening under in
struction from the solicitor general 1t
is understood that he will prosecute the
arresting officers unless they pay his ex-
penses home and an allowance for the
time that he has been confined in Jail
The ending of the capture of the Lake
Park murderer has been very disappoint-
ing to the people, and especially to the
officers here
party of prominent citizens, who en-
joy an outing on the lakes occasionally,
have formed a club and bought the famous
Boyds pool and the land adjoining it,
The lake covers an area of about 300 acres
and is located six miles below Valdosta.
The members of the club expect to fence
1t in and stock it with all kinds of
game fish which are not in it
now. It is regarded as one of the fin
est fishing places in Southern Georgia
The members of the club are NIessrs.
Mitchell Jones, or II. Jones, c. ,. Pee
pies w. II. Griffin, w. S. West and c. II.
Paine. The land about the pool will be
posted and the waters will be reserved for
the fishing privilege of members of the
club and their friends.
h4S oSdSOlA mas DtCU one OF the pest
that fishermen have ever had. The fish are
biting more freely and they are being
caught in greater quantities than ever be-
fore. Messrs. Paine and Ousley went to
Lake Alcyope yesterday and caught
buggy load of trout, Dream and perch in
two hours. One Of them caught two fine
| trout at once on a bob-line, a very unu-
sual occurrence, even in this section. At
| the end of their two hours fishing, they
| had sixty fine trout, a dozen Dream and
several nice perch. Other parties are hav-
ing similar luck every day.
The watermelon crop through this sec
| ton promises to be the lightest in years.
| In all of the section west of here, where
great quantities of watermelons are usual
| ly raised, the crop has been very largely
reduced. II is estimated that the crop will
| hardly be a tenth of what il was two years
| ago, and not near as large as it was last
year. The great reduction in acreage will
| probably bring good prices TO those who
| have planted melons.
splendid rain fell here last night, and
| it did great deal of good for the farm
| ers. The rain was a good, soaking show
| er, and the ground was wet thoroughly by
| it, The indications are that it will rain
again soon.
OCALA TOPICS.