Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-07-21
Friday, July 2l, 1905.

laluTe last year ueleBhtcu W tuo toh-
road commission the auth rity to en-
force equable rates for telephone SER
vice, but this Is the first time that an
effort has been made to do SO.
Anderson Daily Mail: An in
cident that occurred at the Brog-
don mills. late Friday afternoon
was being talked of on the streets to-
day, and was told and re-told with
great deal Of relish and approval. It Is
said that Friday afternoon one Of the
women working In the weave room
went TO a male employee and told him
she wished to speak to him outside the
mill building. The man followed her
very readily, and when they got outside
the woman turned and said, Il UNDER
stand that you have been circulating
some false reports concerning me-"
The man denied the accusation, but the
woman wouldn't accept the denial. The
woman had picker stick concealed
beneath her apron, and she drew II
and wore the man completely out with
II before he could get away. A picker
stick Is a part Of the loom machinery,
and Is about two feet long and made
of seasoned hickory. II Is Formidable
weapon when rightly used, and the
woman used II most effectively. the
woman's action was very generally en-
dorsed by those familiar with the cir
lrumstances. The man is not working
| for the mill any more.
Columbia special of July Is to
News and Courier: The supreme
court today decided an interesting
que ton relative to mans being
drunk. II Is only another tendency
of the times against the drinking man.
l. B. c. Sharpton was hurt by trolley
car near Nilom's crossing, In Aiken
county. Sharpton claimed that he
was waiting on a street car. and was
walking up and down the track
waiting on the car, when he was hit
by the car he expected to board as
passenger. At the trial OF the case
he was asked: Were you under the
influence of liquor at the time you
were hit by the carr" Another ques-
ton asked was: Did you not say to
DR.. Shaw at the time In that conver-
sation that you were drunk? 2" Both
of these questions were held to be In
competent by the circuit court and
were not answered, and 1t was upon
this very largely that the appeal was
taken. The court also refused to al
| low witnesses to be examined as TO
whether plaintiff was drunk at the
time of the accident or not. 1t was
not demonstrated whether the plain
L
court, in a unanimous opinion, holds
that the questions were entirely COM
petent "in support Of the plea that
the accident was due entirely to his
own negligence, and also as tending
to prove lack Of accuracy In the state
ment of the plaintiff as to the circum-
stances under which he was injured.
ISharpton obtained verdict for $500
| in the lower court and the state SUI
preme court directs that there be q
new trial OF the cause. and that the
lower court be reversed. About the
only important reason for the reversal
appears to be that the two questions
| cited were ruled to be incompetent by
the lower court, and because no testi-
mony was allowed as to the condition
of Sharpton at the time Of the acci-
cident. The opinion Of the court was
written by Associate Justice Gary,
with a brief concurring opinion Dy
Associate Justice Woods.
Says q Charleston special OF July
lis to the Augusta Chronicle: A
story is In circulation here, and II
comes from up the state. to the ef-
feet that former President Robert
Keith Dargan, of the Independent
Cotton Mill company Of Darlington,
did not commit suicide, and In fact -
not dead. The rumor states that the
body has never been viewed by the
jury, and the only time that II was
seen by the coroner was when the
county official was called to the law
office and found the former officer
seated In chair at a desk, with the
whisky and 'carbolicr acid on the desk.
According. to the story, Mr.. Dargan
was carried to his home In a closed
carriage. II Is said that the stricken
home was closed to callers, and no.
body saw Mr.. Dargan in the casket.
(which was later Inferred, after SER
vices performed by two ministers OF
Darlington. The story questions
whether the casket contained Mr.
Dargan's body, and II Is said that the
insurance company, the state agent
of which is located at Columbia, Is
Investigating the matter, with view
of ascertaining whether Mr.. Dargan
really died and was buried. 1t Is
largued that whisky Is an antidote for
carbolic acid poison, with which Mr..
Dargan is said to have killed himself.
and that as long as whisky Is drunk
the acid can be safely taken into the
system. The presence of the whisky
on the desk, near the suicide, Is cited
to show a possible knowledge OF this
fact, and to sustain the theory that
the man never killed himself. Addi-
tional color Is given to the theory
from the part that Pegram Dargan had
lin the affair. 1t struck many people
as most astounding proposition that
a man could idly and calmly sit In
the room and allow his brother to
take poison, and after his death then
give the alarm. The theory that no
suicide was committed offers an ex-
PLANTATION Of this feature of the case.
and the failure Of Mr.. Pegram Dar-
gan to make any statement at the In
quest when put on the stand, simply
saying that the statement OF his broth
er spoke for itself, Is construed to mean
that he did not wish to involve him.
self by asserting that his brother was
dead, when he had not killed himself,
according to the story. The story Is
a most remarkable one and Is thought
to be fake, but 1t is being very per-
sistently circulated here and Is pub
lished for what II Is worth.
At a big meeting of farmers at
Dillon last Tuesday ex-senator Nc
Laurin delivered a warm speech
against the dispensary system. He
opposed the system because 1t Is a
monopoly; because Of the demoraliz-
ing effect of the whisky business;
because of the inherent corruption;
because of the dangerous political
machine the system follows. On the
corruption question he said: Fourth.
am opposed to the system because
of the corruption In It. Corruption Is
inherent in any system like the dis
pensary, 1t Is necessarily an incident
to its administration. The only way
that 1t can be prevented Is to destroy
the system. 1t can never be elimi-
mated by any legislature, or the most
honest and rigid investigators. II
man associates with whisky every day,
and lives in the atmosphere of II,
he will naturally and inevitably be
corrupted. This has been the ex-
perience Of the ages. heard of an
instance a few years ago Of a Presby-
terian elder who was appointed a dis
penser in one Of the towns of the
state. In about nine months after
the appointment the assistant attor-
ney general was sent down to investi-
gate him. He found him short in
his accounts about $1,000 and drunk.
The party confessed to the officer
that he was a Christian when he was
appointed a dispenser, but by drink
ing, selling at night. and to minors
and other small violations Of the law,
he had gradually fallen to the lowest
depths, never to rise. or course, this
Is an extreme case, but the corruption
In every case will surely work its
way, and in the end destroy. Think
of the opportunities to make money In
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