The gold leaf., 1906-03-15
The Verdict at GaffneY.
Raleigh Evening Times,

Even if he does escape the gallows
there is solid comfort in the verdict
OF the Jury in he Hasty murder trial
at Gaffney, S. e., ii the higher courts
shall not set aside the Judgment
which OF itself is too merciful. 1t was
not an ordinary case. We do not
agree with the opinion that the pro-
ceedings have attracted undue at ten
ton, for the murder and the causes
leading up to it were unusual and
the verdict opens the way for a va
riety OF comment.
In the first place young Hasty, the
murderer, was proprietor and man
ager OF q hotel i'll which members of
Il theatrical company had paid for
lodging and protection. Ii the wO
men were insulted they naturally had
to appeal to the manager. vet the
evidence shows that that individual
attempted to enter the room during
the night and when Dawson and
Bennett protested they were shot for
their pains. Hasty undoubtedly eX-
pected trouble, for hotel keepers in
the South seldom go about the prem
ises i'll daylight with six-shooters in
their pockets. Moreover, there is nc
justification for the assumption that
allwomen are dcpraved and dcgrad-
ed because they happen to be forced
by circumstances to earn q living on
the stage. Unfortunately. too many
persons believe that a show woman
is no betrer than Il vile creature of
the street, and the most praise-wOr-
thy feature in the trial was the refu-
sal Of the presiding Judge to have
the character of the actresses as
sailed. If that had prevailed, if it
had demonstrated that Hasty had a
right to invade their room when 9th
er guests were asleep it did not give
him right to shoot those who had
resented it. 1t was merely Il brutal
and deliberate murder not unlike
others that have occurred III South
Carolina and it would have been the
right sort of Justice ii Hasty had
been sentenced to death. If ever IL
dog deserved to die it WAS the hotel
man of Gaffney
That the action of the jury is APP
proved speaks well for the people of
the community in which the crime
was committed and who were mex
pressibly shocked. not only bv reason
OF the killing but at the sharp prac-
tice OF lawyers who prayed on preju-
dice, sectional feeling and the bitter
ness which some hold in their breast
against men and women OF the stage
Gaffney is the heart and centre OF
Cherokee county, but recently crea-
ted. Within the past year or tive
there have been thirty homicdes il
the county without Il legal execu
tiOn. 1t Is that way i'll other see
tions OF the State and often where
the jury does its duty its verdict is
upset by attorneys who will resort
to any measure however reprehensi
BILE to save u thug for price.
While many OF us would have
much preferred to have seen thai
recommendation of mercy eliminated
taken as n whole the result is to bC
commended. The South has a rec
ord which is ugly enough to be sure
Our friends and our enemies at tht
North do not believe that life is Sc
cure and we cannot blame them TO
that view. There are not man,
hotel managers in this part of TIN
world like young Hasty with his ear
nal appetite and his thirst for bloc,
and it would have been refreshin!
indeed il he had been choked to dealt
by law. Still. it is to be earnestl,
hoped by all good people that h
will not be able by legal and unprO
fessional jugglery to cheat the sen
tence which is light for one of his sin
and crimes.
The Lady of the House-'Wh
don't YOU go to work? Don't yo
know that a rolling stone gathers II
moss?"
Tramp from Observation-Disclosures
not to evade your question at al
but to obtain information, may
ask of what practical utility moss
to n man in my cOndition?'