The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1903-03-11
MANNING, C, WEDNESDAY. MARCH H. 1908.

ter came back to school. The short
recess was from , - p. m, u nearly
, D. N. During that recess, deponent
! had one OF the smaller boys OF the
school in the room, iecturing him for
! running away from school. 4 num-
Der Of the other boys We're looking in
1t the window at deponcuJ and The
boy. Depuneut shook his head at
+, them and they al left except The four
bic bovS-EG. Fred. Jesse and Ray
mond and a few Others. Daponent
then went to the door and told them
to 90 away: they all left except those
four and they refused and remained
there with their faces at the window,
and another window, till Gepunent dis
, missed the young boy. School was re-
convened minute or two later: and
remained in session till the regular
closing time. o'clock. Just before
diSmiSSing the school. depancnt read
out the list Of those who were to stay
in after school, and amongst them
those four boys, Ed. Fred, Jesse and
Raymond; these four being kept in on
discipline and the others on lessons.
While hearing the lessons OF those
thus kept in. the four left the room
without perliSSion ana against the
rules, leaving their hats. Deponent.
after diSmiSSing those who had been
kept in Il proper time on lessons, took
up the cases Of these four. who had
returned to the room He sent Fred,
Jesse and Raymond into the little
room, and told Ed to remain with him.
Deponent therenpon called to his at
tention his flat refusal to stay in the
afternoon before. Ed conteadel that
he should not have been told to stay
in. Without going into details OF that
contention here. deponent said to him,
in substance: That this thing Of dis
obedience and infractions Of the rules
and discipline of the school by him
had been going on so long that he: de-
ponent. could not permit it any lon
ger. Deponent had been charged and
accused by the other boys OF the
school that he had been excessively
lenient to him. and had let him Oft for
doing what he punished them for.
Deponent told him to stand up and
take his whipping; deponent having
gone to the corner or the room to get
two switches. He got two, because
he sometimes found that the switches
had been or notched. Deponent
hit him two ordinary licks with one of
the switches across the coat back.
Immediately Edward threw his right
arm violently around deponent's neck,
with a very strong and tight elbow
grasp, and pressed and pulled depon-
ent's head down to his, Edwards
chest: bearing him down. At the
same moment, the other three boys,
Fred, Jesse and Raymond, rushed in
from the little room, the door Of
which was about six steps distant.
That deponent had felt all the af-
ternoon that trouble was brewing for
him at the hadS of those four boys;
their conduct and demeanor so strong
ly indicated it that he expressed to
his assistant his belief that they were
going to combine against him: but
that be would have to do his duty,
even if they should Gas he had a notion
they might jump upon him. That
when deponent found himself in the
yice-like grasp Of Edward and heard
the Others rushing upon him, he felt
sure they were about to do him great
personal injury. In order to forestall
them or over-awe them, and prevent
their joint assault: he instinctiyely
reached for his pistol for purpose Of
discbarging it in the air or On the
floor. He lid not have the fainteSt
idea of shooting any Of them. He
would have suffered them to injure
him rather than do that. His only
idea was to. if possible, frighten them
with the pistol and thereby protect
himself. But, most unfortunately,
Edward Immediately grasped the pis-
tol, and in the scuffle it accidentally
went off and struck him-a result, or
consequence, that deponent haG not
the faintest expectation Of: and which
overwhelmed him with grief, for de-
ponent had a real fondneSS for the
young man. That al he could do
was to get a physician as soon as pos
sible; and deponent sent for one, and
then went himself. Later on in the
afternoon he surrendered himself to
the town marshal.
The foregoing are the principal
facts bearing upon the present applica-
tion, and il anything of Importance
has been omitted, it is because it does
not now occur to deponent.
Reuben P. Pitts.
Sworn to before me Feb. IS, 1903,
Stanyarne Wilson,