The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1899-03-01

We are State c~onstables, nam.
We have a search warrant, nam, for
your house and these premises. The
lady said to him: If that is your
business, you needn't come any fur
Their. We were standing at the Sec
ond gate. Mr.. Crawford reasoned
with her and told her that we had
been informed that they had been
selling whisky there and as officers
of the law we wanted to search the
premises.
She remarked to him: You can't do
it, sir. You can't search my house.
He (Crawford) asked: Where is
Mr.. Stuart?
She told him be was at Mimnaugh's
store.
He said: Will you send for him,
nam? and she said that she wouldn't.
He (Ccawford) told her he had rather
she would send for him; that be was
going to search the house and had
rather he'd Stuart be there.
She remarked again that she
wouldn't send for him; that a search
of her house had never been made in
her life. Idisremember the words, but
she said We were low down things or
we wouldn't want to search a private
house. When she made that asser-
ton it rather fired Crawford a little.
Mr.. Crawford said: If you won'tsend
for him and you say We can't search
the house, I will show you that I will
do it.
When he said that be pulled the
gate open, which was temporarily
latched, and walked up to the piazza.
Mrs. Stuart was in it. He (Craw.
ford) went up on the piazza and said:
Nam, I an q gentleman and l am
an officer of the law and I have o
search warrant to search this house; I
have authority by law, and I am 60
ing to do it.
She still protested, and said: You
shan't do it.
He said: I'll have it to do.
She then demanded his authority.
He pulled out the warrant. It was
sometime before he found it; he had
put it in his pants pocket but had
forgotten where he had put it. He
ran his hand in his inside coat pocket
and pulled out a handful Of papers
but didn't find it in them. He (Craw-
ford) said: I know I have a warrant.
Coleman said: Captain, you put the
warrant in your pants pocket.
He felt in his pants pocket and got
the warrant and handed it to Mrs.
Stuart. Mrs. Stuart took the war,
rant, looked at it about a minute,
and handed it, I think, back to him.
He said to her: See, nam, I have
a right to search the house. he then
said to her to send for Mr.. Stuart.
She said: Well, I'll send for him.
Crawford said to her: You accused
me of being low down; you accused
me of being a dog.
She said: No, sir; I didn't tell you
that you were a dog.
He said: You as good as said I
was a dog.
She said: Oh, no, sir. She then
added: I'll send for Mr.. Stuart.
He said: Well, send for him; I am
going to search this house.
crawford and I walked down the
steps. We were on the steps when
the conversation took place. He was
at head Of steps; I was about middle
of them. He walked Oh down and
said: Dorm and me will search the
back yard until Stuart comes. He
and 1 walked into the back yard and
looked into the chicken house and
stable, but saw nothing. He walked
around the stable and when he
started to the back side a plank was
in the way. He jerked it out Of the
way and Mrs. Stuart remarked to
him: Don't jerk down the place
"He made no answer but went on
around the place. I went to the
front of the stable, where they keep
a buggy, or carriage. The door was
not locked, and I went in there. Il
was rather dark, so I walked back to
the piazza and asked Mr.. Coleman
for a match. He gave me a match.
Coleman was on the piazza. I had
a candle and after I got the match
Mrs. Stuart cautioned me to be care