The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-07-10
1.-The Light
of LOVc...

The county courtroom of st. Anne's
was crowded to the door. 1t was an
assemblage unprecedented oven in that
country where a trial for murder al
wavs exercised an irresistible fascina.
t;on. and where the allurements of old
fine tlorid oratory conferred upon the
courthouse something OF the status OF
Lhcater.
Never before within the memory of
those present had Il white woman cow
cred undcr ,he menace OF possible
coutal sentence. Indeed. there lurkcd
some trining doubt 40 to the propncty
of the CirCUMstanCc now. 1t was not
that her guilt was questioned" III lhe
nopular Judgment she Was condemned
beyond all pcradvcnture--but with lis
innate fantastic chlvalry ST. Annc's
was disposed to be compassionate, ana
to meet alien logic with the sentiment
al reminder that she is ca woman"
The crime itself was ~ old as his
tory the tragedy familiar TO every
stage of life. In tins instance lts dra-
mats personae were OF the lowest type
gross, ignorant and dcbascd. Jenny
Haskell was the wayward wifc~~hCr
husband Jim was the victim; and the
third figure was a handsome oyster
man known along the tide water dis
tricts as BilN' Thome. 1t had been
q murder startling III its primitive bru-
tality and had acquired full-page
prominence in sensational Sunday pa
ners. The husbands brains had been
shot out one night while he lay asleep
by his wite's side.
There had been no doubt as the i'd
entity of the murderer. The circum-
stantial evidence was crushing and IN
addition the widow herself had fran
tcally denounced Thome as her hus-
bands slayer. His lmal had been re-
moved to the State metropolis and af-
ter his sentence he had been taken to
it's jail to await the day set for his
execution. The reason for this was
purely prudential. 81. Anne's was
pitifully poor and there was grow.
ing disposition to regard the expenses
OF the court as excessive. The neigh
boring county of Marlborough had
averted the cost of similar trial by a
quietly ordered lynching, and had
been some warrant in the fear that the
example might prove contagious.
This had been three months before,
and the excitement had begun to sub
SIDE, when new sensation was created
by the arrest Of Haskell's rellct as an
accessory to the murder, at The in
stance of Willis Howard, the States
attorney. Mr.. Howard was a man OF
pr rlseworthy political ambition and
mad achieved no little notOriety by
reason of the conviction of Thome
he labored under the dual misfortune
however, of not having been born il
the comfy, and having inspired tho
hatlVcs with ungenerous disposition tt
associate his Jealous activity with thu
approaching nomination tor Congress
Ii was the third day of the Haskell
trlai and the interest was intense. Al
indefinite rumOr was abroad that th,
states attorney had trump card t,
play and & thrill Of excitement swep
through the crowd as he arose to ad
dress the court.
lie proposed, he declared, TO produc
witness who would testify to the un
questioned guilt of the prisoner,
her identification with the " "foules
deed recorded in the criminal nnna
of st. Anne's.' Thon, as he turne
to where the woman---whlte, pani
stricken and abjcct-- crouchcd besit
her counsel, the whistle of an n,
preaching locomotive sounded shril
from across the river. The only tra
scheduled for the day would not ARR,
until night, and the coming of spec
al was an event unparalleled. 1t WI
like an effect" IN the mclodrama an
the throDg waited breathlessly.
In tho intense stiffness every soun
without was audiblc.--the rumbling G
the train; the stoppagc at the station
and the ring of the footsteps on th
flags that led from the road to th
courthouse. An instant later ther,
was an agitation about the entrance
and Thome, the convicted murderer
guarded by the officials of the city iail
crossed the threshold. The woman
uttered half-suppressed shrek, and
the States attorney smiled bandly
This is my witness, your honor" hr
explained. and then sonorously, "Call
William Thome."
The tension was acute as the man
TOOK the stand. 1t was evident in tbc
agitation of the kindly, patriarcha]
Judge; in the fevcrish alertness of the
reporters; in the hungry interest of the
country folk, and even in the un
blinking gaze of the negroes who hung
over the rail at the rear in stolid beati.
tude. The prisoner was hvid and
stared appealingly at the witness.
judge" began the latter SLOWLY
I've been dong heap of thinking
over this business since pve been SEN
fenced. It's laid heavy on nv mind
and when found it could be fixed m
30 could come and tell was glad
mere was one reason in particular
: why was 90 glad" His ewes rested
upon the prisoner an instant "a hn
spoke. His look was steady and h;s
voice, while low, was perfectly dis lis
unct. She's told what she knew and
she's brought me where am - he con-.
hnued. She's done her duty and Pm
ready to do mine. A mans got a dntr
even If he stands within the shadov
OF the gallows." The woman's counsel
planced nm uu,cklv haro tLo 49,