The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-07
HIT HIM WITH A BILLY.
SHORTY" EImOre Unconscious From
Beating by Constable Whitaker.

shorty" EImOre Unconscious From
Beating by Constable Whitaker.
Considerable excitement was caused
last night in the neighborhood of West
| Broad and Minis streets by the ap-
pearance of a negro, his head swath-
ed in bandages, and his shirt wet with
blood. He was reeling and in a weak
voice said: See what they done for
me and then fined me Sc too"
With these words he fell uncon-
scious to the pavement. Colored men
standing by who heard the man lifted
him up and propped him against a
building until the arrival of the am
bulance which had been telephoned for
When it came he was still unconscious
and was taken to the Georgia Infirm-
airy.
The case is a strange one. In the
afternoon the man, known as Shorty"
though his right name is Ed Elmore,
was hit in the head with a billy in the
hands of Constable Ed Whitaker, who
was trying to serve a warrant sworn
out by Elmore's wife who said he had
been ill-using her. The colored people
say that Elmore was numerically
beaten then arrested and fined" but
the story of eye-witnesses do not bear
out this statement, though the man
was hit on the head with such force
that an artery was severed.
About o'clock in the afternoon
some one telephoned to Justice Bour-
gums court, where the warrant had
been sworn out for Elmore, that the
negro was then in Badenhoop's store,
on West Broad street and Constable
Whitaker went to arrest him. When
he arrived, Gilmore made some resist
ance, and the officer hit him with bis
billy" He did not fall, but blood be-
gan to gush from his head several
inches above the right eye, and it was
at once seen that he was badly hurt.
He was taken to DIR. Adams, who
found a severed artery, which he
dressed, and told the man to go home
at once. Instead of doing this Elmore,
according to the statements of City
Patrolman Reizen and Whitta-
ker, wanted his captor to
have drink with him,
and when the officer refused, took
one himself. He was not kept under
arrest, but was allowed to give bond
for his appearance in the Justices
court Monday morning. This was late
in the afternoon. What he did up to
the time he fell on the street is not
known. AT the infirmary, it was said
Ludl there were eNlQSnCeS OF WHISKY
about him, and it was impossible to
say how badly he was hurt He could
not talk, and while there was a hole
in his head the physician and nurses
were inclined to think that loss of
blood and heavy drinking was the most
alarming part of his condition.
Whitaker was arrested and held un-
til the nature of the mans injuries
could be determined. At the barracks
he said that when he went after
Shorty" the latter threw his hand
back as if for a weapon. and as he had
had a gun drawn on him some time
before in a similar case, the officer hit
out with his billy. He regretted that
he had to strike, but Shorty had
rather mean reputation, and he did not
want to take any chances. He said
further that the man had been drunk
for two days.
When asked what Elmore meant by
saying, they fined me Sc, too" Whit
taker said it was not Sc but SO, and
1t was not a fine, but the bond re-
quired by the law for his appearance.
DR.. Adams said he told him that Ell
more was not dangerously hurt.