Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-08-04
A "REMINISCENCES OF rs.
Mr.. Jasper Rush Tells How He stampeded
the Negroes.

| the Negroes.
Greenwood Index.
Those who know anything abou
the history of this state will recall
that there was an election in 1875 al
which considerable voting was done
A goodly number of the votes were
cast at Edgefeld courthouse in fact
it is conceded that Edgeield saved the
day for the Democracy and the white
mans government.
The election, two years later, in
1878, was also fercely contested. Il
was, indeed, the crucial test, as the
Negroes made a last desperate effort
to get back in power, and it was only
by another superhuman effort of the
whites that they were prevented from
doing so. In this election, as in the
one two years before, Edgefeld did
her whole duty.
Many stories have been told about
the scenes and incidents at the election
at Edgefeld; but The Index reporter
the other day, heard new one, or al
least one that has never appeared in
print. 1t is an interesting story, and
best of all, it is a true one.
Mr.. Jasper Rush, who now lives in
Greenwood, was the hero of the in
cident. Mr.. Rush is now about Ct
years old, grizzled and gray, and in
every respect comes up to all that CAR
be meant by the term "a case" He
was living in Edgeield in 1878, and
was probably a little more of lease
then than he is now.
On the morning of the election the
Negroes congregated early and masseo
themselves around the ballot boxes
There were about 1900 of them ano
they were packed so closely around
the polls that the whites were com
pletely shut out-in fact that was the
scheme of the Negroes, to hold the
polls as long as possible and thus pre-
vent the whites from voting.
The whites soon saw that something
had to be done or they would lose the
election, and some of the leaders were
preparing for an armed attack, when
Mr.. Rush stated that he believed he
could run every Negro away from the
polls without firing single shot. He
was laughed at at first, but after he
bad unfolded his plan, it was agreed to
let him try.
Mr.. Rush selected a few discreet
men and told them his plan in detail
and instructed them as to what. he
wanted them to do. He then went to
drug store and purchased stick Of
shaving soap, being particular to speci.
fy "a kind that would lather freely"
Cutting the piece of soap in two, be
put half of it in his mouth and com,
menced chewing vigorously. He soon
had copious froth, or lather around
his lips, and then added pinch of red
dye stuff to give it the color of blood.
| In the meantime those who had been
posted, had been circulating among
the whites and telling them what was
coming, so they were in a measure
prepared for what followed.
In a few minutes Mr.. Rush came
running wildly down the street, froth-
ing ct the mouth and apparently hav-
i ing a convulsion at every jump. Some
commenced yelling: "Madman Mad
man i! Hydrophobia Get out out of
his way !" while others closed in on
him and a seemingly terrific struggle
followed; but Mr.. Rush overpowered
them all and kept on his wild career,
still foaming at the mouth and snap
ping at everyone he passed. He head
ed straight for the Negroes.
The lamented DR.. Bill Jennings was
in the plot, and was dancing about
the crowd brandishing colossal horse.
pistol and shouting at the top of his
voice: "That man has been bitten by
a mad dog and has hydrophobia. Get
out of the way and let me shoot him
before be bites somebody. It's the
best thing to do. Get out of the way
and let me kill him before he bites
somebody"
The remainder of the story is best
] told in Mr.. Rush's own words: "When
I got to the Negroes I put my hands
on ones shoulders and gave a jump
and landed on top of the pile. They
were packed so thick that I couldn't
get to the ground, and 1 just crawled
around on the heads and shoulders of
the Negroes and chewed on my soap
and spit lather and suds all over the
whole business, all the time bowling
and screaming worse than wildcat.