The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-07-09
The Laurens Advertiser
$I,oo per Year in Advance.
THE Light
of Love-.

Sodhtt1 WhhOto - thh W. - 80
ways exercised an irresistible f~ascina.
ton, and where the allurements of old
time ford oratory conferred upon the
courthouse something of the status of
o theater.
Never before within the memory of
those present had a white cow.
cred under the enc of a possible
capital sentence. Indeed, there lurked
some trifing doubt as to the propriety
of the circumstance now. 1t wa not
that her guilt was questioned-in the
popular judgment she was condemned
beyond all peradventure-but with ITS
innate fantastic chivalry st. Anne's
was disposed to be compassionate, and
to meet alien logic with the sentiment
al reminder that she is " woman"
The crime itself was as old as his
tory-the tragedy familiar to every
stage of life. In this instance its dra-
mats personae were of the lowest type
gross, ignorant and debased. Jenny
Haskell was the hayward wife-her
husband Jim was the victim; and the
third figure was u handsome oyster
man known along the tide water dis
trlcts as Z" Bill" Thome. 1t had been
a murder startling In its primitive bru-
tality and had acquired full-page
prominence in sensational Sunday pa
pers. The husbands brains had been
shot out one night while he lay asleep
by his wife's side.
There had been no doubt as the i'd
entity of the murderer. The circum-
stautial evidence was crushing and In
addition the widow herself had fran
tically denounced Thome as her hue
bands slayer. His trial had been re-
moved to the State metropolis n 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. st. Anne's was
pitifully poor and there was q grow.
ing disposition to regard the expenses
of the court as excessive. The neigh
boring county of Marlborough had
averted the cost of a similar trial by a
quietly ordered lynching, and had
boosted of its thrift, and there 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 a 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
praiseworthy political ambition and
had achieved no little notoriety by
reason of the conviction of Thome.
He labored under the dual misfortune,
however, of not having been born in
h county, and having inspired the
natives with ungenerous disposition to
associate his jealous activity with the
approaching nomination for Congress,
1t was the third day of the Haskell
trial and the interest was intense. Ar
indefinite umo was abroad that the
States attorney had a trump card tc
play and a thrill of excitement swept
through the crowd as he arose to ad'
dress the court.
He proposed, he declared, to produce
a witness who would testify to the un'
questioned guilt of the prisoner-tc
her Identification with the foulest
deed recorded in the criminal annals
of st. Anne's." Then, as he turned
to where the woman-whlte, panic
stricken and abject-crouched beside
her counsel, the whistle of an APP
preaching locomotive sounded shrilly
from across the river. The only trair
scheduled for the day would not arrive
until night, and the coming of a speci
al was an event unparalleled. 1t was
like ar " effect'' IN the melodrama anC
the throng waited breathlessly.
In the intense stiffness every SOUND
without was audible-the rumbling OF
the train; the stoppage at the station:
and the ring of the footsteps on the
flags that led from the road to the
courthouse. An instant later there
was an agitation about the entrance
and Thome, the convicted murderer,
guarded by the officials of the city Jail,
crossed the threshold. The woman
{ uttered a half-suppressed shrek, and
the States attorney smiled blandly,
This is my witness, your HONOR" he
explained, and hen generously, "Call
William Thome."
The tension was acute as the man
took the stand. 1t was evident in the
agitation of the kindly, patriarchal
judge; in the feverish 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 livid and
stared appealingly at the witness.
"Judge,'' began the latter slowly,
"I've been dong a heap of thinking
over this business since I've been SEN
fenced. It's laid heavy on my mind
and when / found it could be fixed up
30 I could come and tell L was glad.
There was one reason in particular
why / was so glad" His eyes rested
upon the prisoner an instant as he
spoke. His look wa steady and his
voice, while low, was perfectly dis
tinct. she's told what she knew and
she's brought me where L am" he con.
tinued. "She's done her duty and Pm
ready to do NINE. A mans got a duty
even If he stands within the shadow
OF the gallows." The woman's counsel
glanced up quickly here-the phrase
was distinctly suggestive of Howardps
rumbling periods.
"And Pm going to tell all I know
went on Thome, &c and it's this" He
paused an instant and there was a
slight smile upon his face as he met
the gaze of the prosecutor. "Nobody
ia guilty for the murder of Jim Has
kell but me-and she's as innocent as
Mr.. Howard himself"
The crowd was fairly stunned by