The age-herald., 1898-11-12
.TOLBERT DESIRES
 AN INVESTIGATION Gives His Side of the Trouble at Phoenix,
 South Carolina. fssH= TRUE FACTS OF THE Rl0TING iEthridSe Has Killed by Democrats and Not by the Republicans. vfa Hse sa
WHILE IN A DYING CONDITION
T.. P. Tolbert Was Assaulted by the
 Mob The Negroes Did No Shooting -a..aW Whatever, But Ran When the
 First Gun Was Fired.


 whose father and brother were shot in the recent race war at Phoenix, s. C., was at the department of justice today to secure an investigation of tine riot by the federal authorities. He was accompanied by some lof the republican politicians of the state. The elder Tolbert is now in the state peni- tentiary for safety from popular violence. 2 Mir. Tolbert says that the true facts of the riot have not been given The facts are, he said, as follows:
 ''I was nomina ted for congress by the re- publlcans of my district. For the purpose , of making a contest before the house my brother, T. P. Tolbert, agreed to be pres ent at the polling place at Phoenix for the purpose of witnessing the affldayits of col ored men who were rejected as voters be- cause of their inability to comply with the requirements of the constitution.
 My brother took no part in the manage ment of the polling place, which was in the hands of the democrats. He simply sat on the piazza of MT. Lukes house and witnessed the affdavits given him, deposit ing these affidavits in a box prepared for the purpose.
 MT. Ethridge, the white man who was killed was an election manager at pre- clnct two miles away. He left his own precinct and with party of men went to Phoenix. He walked up with his party to where my brother was sitting at a table and deliberately kicked the table and box in which the certificates were. Then he assaulted my brother.
 Killed by His Friends
 "In a short while the democratic voters who were in the same house rushed out and commenced shooting into the crowd The negroes fled. My brother who is probably dead by now, told me that Ethridge was killed by shots from his own friends.
 My brother did not have a weapon on his person."
 MT. Tolbert said he was at Abbeville, twenty-five miles away from the shooting. His father, J. R. Tolbert, was at Verde, another precinct. When the older Tolbert learned of the riot he started for the scene in his buggy, accompanied by a 10-year-old nephew. Before he reached the scene he was met by mob. which riddled the buggy with bullets and wounded him and the little boy a humber of times.
 It is said that the boy was killed
 T. P. Tolbert, who was first shot by the mob was aided to his home some distance away and was pursued by the mob. While lying in dying condition the mob attempt ed to make him give the name of the per 
 not, because Ethridge had been killed by the democrats themselves. On finding his father so badly wounded, R. R. Tolbert procured doctor, who attended to the wounds of the senior Tolbert. After placing his family in safe place MT. Tolbert same to this city.
 Mr Tolbert states that his brother said that so far as he could see no shots were fired by the negroes at Phoenix. They fled as soon as the shooting commenced, leaving T. P Tolbert as the target for the mob to shoot at
 Call on Mckinley
 At a late hour this afternoon MT. Tol- bert, accompanied by Solicitor General Richards of the department of justice called at the white house and had an ex- tended interview with President Mckinley He related to the president the story of his experiences in South Carolina sub stantially as given above. entering into minute details of the trouble on election day. The president listened attentively to the recital but gave no indication of what action, if any, might be taken. How ever. he requested MT. Tobert to see the attorney general and make to him full statement of the situation as he viewed It. Returning to the department of justice MT. Tolbert had an interview with Attorney General Griggs. At the conclusion of the interview the attorney general said he
 
 upon the matter as soon possible and it would then be determined what if anything would be done.
 Tonight Attorney General Griggs spent some time with the president, but so far as could be ascertained no decision of the question presented by MT. Tolbert was reached.
 The department of justice has taken steps to obtain official information bearing upon l the trouble in South Carolina and it is said l to be entirely unlikely that in the absence l of such information the president would take any action in the matter. In addi- tfon, however, to the effort of the depart l ment to secure definite and official informa- | tion concerning the rioting, steps have been | taken to afford ample protection to the 1 elder Tolbert who is collector of customs at l the port of Charleston. It Is said that as government officer in the exercise of his in- 1 dividual rights and in the performance of l his-- official duties the federal government | will not permit him to be interfered with. | A prominent official of the administrator L,said tonight "Colector Tolberts rights will be maintained even though an effort | be made under the guise of law to trench | upon them."