The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-31
is STILL AT LARGE
NOT BELIEVED THAT RICHARD
YOUNG WAS BURNED.
70 TRACE OF FIRE.
SEARCH MADE FOR HIS BODY BUT
NOTHING WAS FOUND.

a swamp Near the Plant System
Tracks, but Nothing Could Be
Found of 1t Yesterday-Senrch for
the Fugitive still Being Made.
Some Relieve That Offering of n
Reward Would Mean Negroes Ar
rest, and Think That the Schrenk-
Carter Murder Could Easily Be
Solved In the Same Way.
A search of the. swamp in which it
was reported the negro Richard Young
had been burned, failed yesterday to
reveal the bones of the man who is so
badly wanted for the murder of Dover
Fountain, for an assault upon Mrs.
Lila Fountain and for burglary. The
county officers are quite certain that
the negro is still at large and are max
| ing every effort to locate him.
Since the commission of the crime on
the Ogeechee road. only three miles
from the city, the swamps and woods
in that vicinity have been searched
by relatives and friends of the dead
boy. Had Young been captured and
burned at the stake as reported they
would have abandoned the chase. They
are as active now in the man hunt as
they were on the night of the lads
death. 1t was stated that the negro
had been burned before midnight
Thursday. On that night a small
posse was in search of him in the vi
cinity of his wife's home, near the
scene of the crime.
Report of Lynching Not Credited.
Mr.. j. T. Zitterer, an uncle of the
| dead boy, was among those who were
in the hunt for Young. but he stated
that he had not heard that the negro
had been burned until after his return
to the city. He did not credit the re-
port, and believes that it was started
for some purpose. He is quite certain,
he says, that his nephew's murderer is
still at large, and expressed a willing
ness to pay $25 if it could be shown to
him that Young has been punished as
| reported. Mr.. Zitterer stated that it
was true enough that he had seen,
| along with other members of his par
| ty, fire in some woods over a mile
from the main road, but that neither
he nor his friends made any investiga-
ton.
No Evidence of Burning.
While no one could be found yester-
day who could or would make posi-
tive statement about the reported burn
ing, it was still persistently stated that
a negro had been cremated. One of
those who made up the posse Thursday
| night accompanied a representative of
the Morning News yesterday and made
| an effort to find the spot where the
fire had been burning. On the night
of his hunt for Young he was horse
back and rode without regard for
fences and roads. For this rea-
the exact place where 1t
had been said Young was burned.
Saw Fire In swamp.
No trace of the fire could be found
| in the swamp, and no one could be
| discovered who had even heard of the
burning OF a negro. The swamp In
question, however, has few roads pass
ing through it and they are not trav-
eled often. 1t is located about two miles
! northwest of Southover Junction, and
about a mile south of the Ogeechee
road. The members of the posse saw
the fire from the new bridge on the
Cgeechee road, at a point where the
Plant Systems tracks cross.
James Stewart, the negro under ar
rest, continues to deny his guilt and
claims that he did not see Young on
the day of the homicide. Although he
was positively identified by Mrs Foun-
tain, and her son before his death, the
officers have secured persons who saw
Young and Stewart together all of the
day before the crime was committed.
They were in Mrs. Fountains store
together in the evening. 1t is charged
that Stewart held the lad while Young
administered the blow that caused
death. Young also struck Mrs. Foun-
tain. 1t is not known which negro
struck the boy when he was asleep.
May oTer Reward.
The County Commissioners and the
Governor may be asked to offer re-
ward for the arrest of Young, and
also for proof to convict the slayer of
Michael Schrenk and Jake Carter.
| There are not a few who are absolutely
certain that not only would Young be
| captured, but that the murder and
burning of Schrenk and Carter would
be solved if such action were taken.
Those who favor the offering of a re-
ward have wondered why this has not
already been done.
They say that the criminals can only
be caught in this way. and that the
Offering of reward when such crimes
are committed would mean the appre-
hending of some of the guilty persons.
The county does not pay the expenses
| Dy une Officers WHO GIQtdNOI
to ferret out crime in the county, and
the deputies have to pay out their own
money when they search for a fugi-
tive. Without the aid of spoilers they
are unable to accomplish much, and
with no reward for an informant to
work for they are not very anxious to
put in an appearance.
May Be on Ogeechee Island.
There are some who believe that
the negro Young is hiding on one OF
the numerous islands in the Oseechee
river where he would be perfectly safe
There appears to be no doubt that
these islands are in many cases the
abode of the worst type of thieves
whose chief industry is cattle steal
ing. In the opinion of quite a number
who have been hunting and fishing ii
the crooked river, and have seen the
one-room huts in the wild country. q
visit to some of the islands by a score
] or more men would result probably in
solving some of the many unavengec
crimes of the Ogeechee section. From
all accounts parts of the river are in
tested with thieves of the most des-
perate sort.
Short Sea Route to Eastern Cities
is via Merchants and Miners Trans
portation Company's steamers from
nj