The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-02-26
GON[AFTERSPORTY|THE REfORMATORI
A Man Supposed to
be the Burglar
Gettings.

Governor az the instance OF sheriff
Jackson. Of Washington county. it i
probable that there may resul in
Wake county one OF the most inter
estiEg identification trials in tbs his
tory of the state.
The man wanted j. now concluding
q term for house breaking in tho South
Carolina p~enitentiary at Columbia.
and is supposed to be- q man who was
formerly arrested in Raleigh ana
sentenced to the pcnitcntiary for nft
for burglary. He was qarrestcd ana
convicted here Of having entered the
home Of Mr.. Fred WoollcOtt. under
the name Of Frank Gettings- After
wards he escaped under sensational
circumstances ana, UP to a few wceh $
agO, has not been heard rom " hen
the report was received in Raleigh
that lettings was in the South Caro-
lima p~cnitentfary Mr.. Fed WooilcOjt
WAS sent to Columbia for the purpose
Of Identifying him. but was unable TO
do so positively.
Now Sheriff jackson has gone to
Columbia upon the theory that the
man, convicted in South Carolina
under the name of Frank Short. alias
Missouri Shorty. is the criminal want
ed for having broken into q store and
blown open a safe in Plymouth.
Gettings escaped from the Raleigh
' III 49, 1''Cf SN'Nt 49,
Woollcott. while unwilling positively
to identify Missouri Shorty as the
same man. states thai he resembles
Gettings in almost every particular.
The only marked change is a general
stoutening in person Of the man in
the South Carolina prison over Get
tings, when under confinement here,
this being 4 natural result of oyer
eight years increase in age.
If Missouri Shorty is identified by
Sheriff Jackson and brought back 70
the State he Will probably first b.
tried in Raleigh pOn the question Of
his Identification as Gettings: and, if
that fails, he viii then be tried in
Washington county for the crime Of
safe breaking, committed there nine
or ten ear ago.
The chief interest in the case. how
ever. lies in the circumstance of Get
ting's arrest and conviction and sub
sequent escape from the penitentiary.
He a been seen about Raleigh for
! a mont or more before the crime Of
burglary was committed. He was Of
pleasant address, apparently prosper
Gus and had made a number OF friends
in the city. When Mr.. WOollcott's
house was burglarized, one Of the
greatest surprises was created when
| direct evidence developed of Gettings
! having been involved. He was ar
! rested at the Union depot on the evil
Z u liz y 4 ACA CtAt -
ficles taken from the house and the
case was a clear one from the start
N the question of his guilt. tmfne-
! diately, also. it became apparent that
"GeLtings" had influential and wealthy
! connections Attorneys were en-
| piOyed and HEAVIER and earth were
moved in his behalf in a legal way.
The crime was 50 we'll established,
however, that q verdict of burglary
With a sentence Of life imprisonment
was finally agreed upon to saw him
from execution. Cuttings went to the
the case was closed. In fact. it had
only commenced. Lawyer after law
yer and agent after agent came to
Raleigh in the effort to secure Get
ting's pardon. 1t vas variously rep
resented that he was not q criminal,
but only a wild youth who had com
mittod the crime when drunk. Get
tinss, himself, knew Mr.. Woollcott and
stated that, if he had known that il
was his house he was entering, he
would not have made the attempt. Tho
pardon or Communication efforts were.
however, unavailing and the friends Of
h prisoner tool another course.
For months there lived II work
ed in Raleigh 4 man who expertly and
with constant design laborcd to get
an appointment to the employment OF
the p~cnitentiary. He laid his plans
aStutely, not hesitating to work else
where. and succeeding in keeping his
particular desire for the appointment
from gaining 90 much emphasis
Finally he succeeded and became q
guard.
Two weeks later, Gettings was gone
and 50 was the guard, together with
ono or two friends of his who had
TAX zen up tneirEresidence in Raleigh
and had been active in procuring the
employment of their agent by rhe
State.
Nothing was heard Of the matter
again until very recently. when thu
report that Gettings was in the South
Carolina penitentiary was received.
Nor, in all the history of the case
involving as il did an elaborate cam
palgn. the spending of what must have
been q very large sum of money an(
the presence in Raleigh first and las
of a dozen lawyers. agents and de.
tectives. mas it ever developed or beer
limited who ''Gettings' really is. or thu
source of his influence.
1t has been suggested that he wa.
q relative Of the then Governor o
New Jersey. Who interested himself t.
some slight extent in the case. but tina
was the merest conjecture.
SOFT people occasionally use hare
words.