The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-05-28
THE WILSON MURDER.
Facts in the Case Slowly Coming to
Light.

When the sensational killing of T.
Percy Jones, the young Insurance
agent at Wilson, was first reported.
it was said he met his death because
he had refused to leave town when
ordered to do so, the reason of such
order being that he had kept a negro
woman in his room. This was not
generally believed because the men
implicated i'll the murder are not the
kind to care what the morals OF
community are or undertake to reg
ulate the same. The cause is at
tributed to something else. The sit
uatiOn seems to be that Jones Occu-
pied IL room III building that was
used for various purposes, one being
for Il poker room. Jones room was
near the poker room and it appears
that trouble arose between the fre-
qurnters of the place ana Jones
From all the circumstances it would
appear that this, and not the negro
woman charge, was the cause Of the
trouble. The Wilson Times SAYS:
No man with three grains of sense
D'iltN'H tiiftt Nt''i - " liititN anu
Gil Ward care Il flip concerning
Jones morals. ii he had bought
whiskcy at Wards bar on Sunday
and played poker in that old Fryar
trap, lie could have filed the house
with negro women and Ward and
Whitley would have been his room
companions.
But this putting away of Jones is
i'll line with Wards doing things
Blood is already on his hands. Be
cause two men from Fayetteville
came here some time back and buy
ing whiskey from him on Sunday
'peached on him, he whipped them
and they were obliged to seek the
shelter of the mayor. We remember
the occurrence well and there were
some who applauded his action.
A printer who worked for US by the
name OF jim Bob Darden, and left
for fear OF Ward, was kept full of
whiskey up to Saturday night before
the di>pen~ary election on Monday.
Not wanting to vote against the dis
ppnsarE he left town. On Tuesday
he returned and old man Ward met
him at the train and cursino him
with IL horrible oath demanded why
he left, at the same time striking at
him with such force it would have
killed him had not the blow fallen
short. Darden was hurried away.
Why such IL man with such Il rec
ord can secure II license to sell whis-
key in Wilson county we cannot un-
derstand, when it is well known
fact that he fills the mayors court
with subjects every Monday on mean
whiskey dispensed by him on Sunday.
1t is we'll enough to discipline your
police force, but is it not a better
way for the community and the au-
thOrities to place such q moral back
ing and urgent demand behind the
police as to inculcate in them a high
sense of their duty? Then they can
turn their faces and see evil dOers,
rather than turning their backs and
not seeing, until a sense of moral
OblJquy creeps over their entire
being. The truth at the bottom of
the entire matter is this: No stran-
ger will be allowed to come here and
ferret out crime. whether he comes
as the paid detective of the law, u
dispensary say, or some one who is
liable to give away gambling Joints,
blind tigers or other infractiOns of
the law Thereit is III Il nutshell. IF
they won't move when we tell them
we'll send them out in q cOfin.''
Mr.. Herring, you and your Board
of Aldermen have q glorious oppor-
tunity before you. No man in Will
son, Mr.. Mayor, possesses more ca
pacity than you do. Use the capaci-
ty that God has given you to break
up the gambling hells in such places
as the Fryar building that will be
soon used for blind tigers and death
traps, and it will bring upon YOU the
everlasting gratitude Of the epeople Of
Wilson who have overwhelmingly
given you their confidence, and save
the fair name OF our beautiful city
that we all love, that is being trailed
in the mud from one end of this
broad land to the other, as a place
where human life is unsafe and mad
ness and death run riot.