Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-04-26

tiation along with his treatment in
with the goat riding and
how he acted at the time and immedi-
ately afterward. They both told Of
the goat riding, described Mr.. Mitchell
as being good natured at first, and af-
terward angry, and stating that he
would not be hurt for all the Wood
men in the world. Neither was posi-
tive that Mr.. Mitchell had said at the
time the he was hurt. Both stated
that he remained in the room during
the balance Of the exercises, lasting
from a nalf to three-quarters Of an
hour, after the goat riding experience.
They did not notice that Mr.. Mitchell
was in any special pain. They were
quite positive, however, that Mr..
Mitchell was in a high humor while
the riding was In progress, and that
he had urged the goat to get up and
go on"
Mr.. s. w. Mitchell, the plaintiff,
was the next witness. He stated that
he was induced to make application to
join the order on the invitation of Mr..
w. T. Slaughter, and presented him
self for initiation on the night Of
March %, 1901, about 7.30 or o'clock.
The lodge room was on the upper floor
Of what is known as the "Wilkerson
Building" After he had waited in an
ante-room for awhile, Sam Leech
brought a handkerchief and told him
that he must be blindfolded. He SUBJ
mitted, after the declaration that he
was willing for whatever was right.
He was led into the room with a man
hold Of each arm, and was brought to
a suden halt by another man pushing
him in the breast. After being pushed
about the room for an interval, to the
very great amusement Of the members,
DR.. Ward said: "I have examined you
as to your physical condition and gen.
eral health, now I want to test your
strength" With that the witness was
placed at some kind Of a contrivance
and told to pull. He pulled with all
his might, with the result that there
was an explosion and a sharp blow be-
hind from paddle. After that he was
told that he must ride the goat, and, as
before, he said he was willing for what
ever was right. Then the witness told
Of his experience on the goat. Still
blindfolded he was placed on the ami
NAL with his feet in the stirrups, and
his hands on the reins. Then the ami
NAL began to rear and buck. He
bounced up and down and fell back
ward and forwards, while the Wood
men laughed and hollered. "They told
me to sit up said the devil; I
can't set up Laughter In the court
room.l The animal kept bucking and
pitching, and I said You hurt, me-
They kept on, and told them I didn't
come here to join mo fools; came to
Join the Woodmen Of the World. II
this is what It takes to join the WoDd-
men Of the World, have as much of 1t
as want. would not be hurt this way
for all the Woodmen Of the World are
WORTH" Witness did not know wheth-
er he got off the goat himself, fell of
or was taken off; said he was In too
much pain. After the goat experience,
lot of stuff was read to him; but he
said he did not know what 1T was, be
cause he could not give attention. He
went on 10 say that after the lodge
meeting was over, he went to his home.
applied pouItlces and went to bed. He
stated that he was confined to his
room for three weeks before he was
able to go out again or. do any work.
He described the pain as constantly
growing more severe until a surgical
operation became necessary.
The goat used in comforting the de-
gree referred to was introduced In evil
dence. It was a wooden dummy, with
thick covering Of black: wool, made
in pretty good imitation Of the real an
imal, with genuine horns. The dummy
was mounted on wheels and raised
some four feet off the floor. There
was bride and stfrrups, and extend
ing from the rear was an iron bar ter
minating in cross handles for manipu-
lation Of the contrivance. The goat
was identified as the same one that
was ridden by Mr.. Mitchell; but the
witnesses all testified that there was q
man on either side Of Mr.. Mitchell to
hold him on. This, Mr.. Mitchell denied.
Major Hart bantered Mr.. John w. Lin
| ley to ride the goat with the major as
manipulation; but Mr.. Linley declined
the banter with an offer to ride under
the manipulation Of other gentlemen
whom he named. His testimony show
ed that the goat was purchased by pri-
vate subscriptions and figured only In
side degree not authorized In the rit-
ual Of the order.
DR.. ]. D. Mcdowell was put up, by
the plaintiff to testify as to the opera
ton that had been performed. He
SAID that he had been called in to see
Mr.. Mitchell after the initiation, and
that he found the condition Of the pa
tient was such as to require an opera
ton, which was performed with the
assistance Of Drs. M. J. Walker and c.
C. Leech. He stated that the operation
confirmed previous diagnosis Of the
case; but on cross examination, said
that there were no visible bruises. He
stated that the injuries were of ma
ture that may have been caused
from the goat riding incident; but did
not state that such was necessarily the
case for the reason that the inception
of the trouble may have ante-dated
that event. DR.. Leech testified to hav-
ing made a superficial examination Of