The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-01-03
FUGITIvES SAY THEY
WERE HELD AS SLAVES
Northerners Bring Peonage
Charge Against Carolina Rail-
road Camp Bosses.
WORKED AT GUMS POINT
Thrown Into Guardhouse When They
First Tried to Run Away
Could Not Pick
Jobs.

New York. Jan. with a tale OF
slavery. heartless cruelty and iilegai'
peonage that rivals the stories OF the,
sufrerings OF refugees from Russian
penal camps In Siberia, seven young
northerners have returned from rail-
road camps In North Carolina, where
they had been cnticed BY false promises
last October.
When they attempted to escape they
were pursued by armed guards. cap
iured and taken To local court.
charged with obtaining money under,
false pretenses In that they refused To
work out charge OF si3 for transporta-,
lion from New York. They were self
fenced to twenty days on local
chain gang and forced TO don the
stripes OF criminals.
Thousands Of Cases.
More than 5000 northern white men
are said to have had similar narrowing
experiences In connection with the con-
struction Of the South and Western,
railroad. branch OF the Seaboard Air
Line from Marion. y. c.. To Johnson
city. Tenn.
The men who arrived here had the,
satisfaction OF going before 4 T.itsdl
States grand jury ut Charlotte. ~. -.
anu kiNHlk lcstlftlouy winch Ee8ulkCuA
In the Indictment OF the Carolina Con- /,
struction company, Mayor Radcliffe, or
Marion. ~. G., Deputy Sheriff +. q. :
Baker. who has been active In guarding
the construction camps, and three OF
the company's employees. Superintend- /,
ent j. &. Porter. Foreman Charles I
Crawford and Foreman Drinkard, wto
were charged with conspiracy TO CONF
nit peonage. The company paid n fine !
of 81 zoo. with the understanding that !
charges against Mayor Radcliffe and ,
Deputy sheriff Baker be dropped.
Al Revoiver's Point. {,
Burke acted az spokesman for the,
party and thus told the graphic story /,
OF their suffering:
with n party OF twenty / went!
south. arriving at Atapas. y. c.. on De-
tober n. The next day we wero
marched six miles through the noun {
tains To- Spruce Pine. ~. &.
We were told To report to Charles
Crawford. the walking boss. He was
mounted on a mule and carried big
revolver.
"'You Fellows take a pick and shovel
and 60 into that tunnel he ordered !,
gruffiy. I.
~ am not n laborer.' I protested. 7.
came down here To- act as n clerk
You can't pick your jobs down
here said Crawford. Get down and
dig in that tunnel or I'll send for the
iloggers.'
Crawford pulled his gun. and point
ing IL ut US. ordered: You just march
ahead Of my mule into that tunnel and
no more monkey business
Into the Guard House.
II worked until noon. when In COM
pany with Peter Rollins escaped from
the camp. We were not n mile away
when we were halted by a man with
"A gun. lie proved In be T. @. Baker, a
county deputy sheriff. Al
though he had no warrant he arrested
us and drove us back To camp where
we were thrown into a shack known
as the guard house There we were
held for twenty-four hours with two
armed guards at the door.
Soon young Pappello was thrown
into the shack with us. He had been
logged by foreman and his body was
a mass of cuts and bruises They
finally marched us twenty-five miles
mud from eighteen inches to
two feet To- Marion. the county seat.
We were held In the county Jail for
seventy seven hours without "A trial.
Then We We're taken before Mayor
Twenty days on tho chain gang
Was his sentence without waiting To.
hear our story. and so We were put Co
rocks, with ball and chain
attachment to keep us from running