The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-11-23
STATE LINE

Below we publish a communication
to the Columbia State from its Ben
~nettsville correspondent, which shows
a disgraceful state OF affairs existing
along the state line between Marlboro
and Richmond counties. There the
laws of the two states against the sale
Of whiskey have been openly and noto-
riously defied for years. 1t is a humil-
Eating fact to North Carolinians that
these la~w-breakers seemed to nave less
fear of breaking the laws of this state
against the sale of whiskey than those
of South Carolina
That bloodshed should be the result
Of such lawlessness was to be expected.
The man Combs paid a heavy penalty
for his violation of the law and it is
hoped that his violent death, the result
of his defiance of law and public senti-
ment, will have the effect Of putting
a stop to this unlawful ira fic through
mems fear of continuing it, if not
through greater vigilance on the part
of the officers of the law.
For years the border sections Of some
Of the counties on the South Carolina
line have been infested with a class OF
/ men who were a disgrace t civiiiza-
ton and a terror to the law abiding
people Of their neighborhood, because
of the crowds of ruffians who assem-
i bled at their places to drink and create
disturbances there and in the country
around-about. Labor a also demOr-
! allied for some distance on both sides
| Of the state line.
We thought until we saw this letter
in The State that these disgraceful con-
ditions had passed away with the
enactment of the Watts and the Ward
laws.
The States correspondent says
julie Combs, proprietor of the noto-
rious line bars, was shot and killed in
his barrocm Sunday night.
Combs clerk and two wit
nesses say that Edible Quick, Carey
Quick, Loudon Quick and Love Knight
( " III " II Odl loSClliCI ooliooS Ii0AAS
They were drinking. Combs told
Knight that he owed him for a half
pint Of gin. knight said he did not.
Combs then struck knight in the face,
and the witnesses ran out. After they
got out, they heard pistol shots inside.
It is not known which of the four men
inside fired the fatal shot.
The barrOom is only a few feet from
the line, on the North Carolina side.
Combs was taken to his home, on the
South Carolina side, and died there two
or three hours later. Coroner cCa
and Sheriff Green went up and held the
inquest Tuesday.
There is some question as to Wheth-
er the trial hould be in North Car
Dina or this state, but it is the general
opinion that it should be in the county
in which the crime was committed.
For generations there has been a
string of barrOOms extending along the
state line, from the northeast corner
of the state, westward across the bar
rem sand hills for three or four miles.
For several years E. A Lackey kept
the most p~retentious of these bars, and
also operated a distillery on the line
When the Watts law was passed in
North Carolina, Lackey abandoned his
plant on the line and moved to Ham
let. From there he was driven a veal
later by the prohibition law. All OF
the other b~ar-keepers also closed VI
and left except two, Will CHM n julie
Combs. They continued to sell liquor
on the line between two prohibition
counties.
AS the state line through that bar.
rem county was not marked, it was
difficult to prove which state the bars
were in. This was the more reason
why the two states, through their leg
islatures, provided for a joint survey
to establish and permanently mark The
line betWeen Marlboro and Richmond
counties. h survey was made las
fall, and all of the barrooms were
found to be in South Carolina, al.
though it vas previously believed thai
they were in North Carolina.
VIII CHM pretended to his
liquor shop, although he threatened tC
nov in across the line or to have thu
court annul the survey. South Carroll.
ma cOnstables made several efforts tC
capture his liquor, but they found i
stored in his barn., which was in NORTH
Carolina.
julie Combs Immediately built a new
barroom, on the North Carolina sid
and continued his business there il
F open violation of the law. 1t was il
this building that he was killed by on,
Of his customers Sunday night.
Several years ago, on Christmas day
: Combs shot and killed a man by tn
name Of Quick in his old barroom, {
few yards from where he lost his owl
life. He claimed accident or self de
!, fence, and was acquitted at Rocking
ham.
The death of Combs probably end!
the career of the open bars which hav.
f1Ourished on the state line for a cen
fury.
-&--|
NV -NDr- IN ~~H