The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-11-04

Bolton Sumter. Hays Davis. Jesse
sumter and Harry Goodwin, all ne
srocs living In the Congaree neighbor-
Htiood. are held In the Richland county
~ii on variety of charges. all OF
which may prove serious. Highway
robbery. assault and battery with In
tent TO kin and possibly attempted
marder are the charges these negroes
may have TO face after pre-
liminary hearing which will be given
them before Magistrate Fowles to-
morrow.
Sam Goldsteln. Jewish peddler
who can speak but little English. Is
the chief witness and he tells a most
startling tale OF the experiences that
ne encountered last Friday while In
DxAe conxaree neighborhood.
ccldstein Is peddler for J. B. My
ers local pawnbroker. and makes
pilsrimages into the surrounding
country with his wares and was on
such business near Congaree last Fri
day with large pack of goods. He
lad sold nearly all his stun and had
S75.55 on his person when he met
four negroes. who stopped him and
engaged him In conversation.
ooidstein Is but lately from Poland
and speaks very little English; in
fact Magistrate Fowles had to call
Nm an interpreter to assist him In un-
d~rstanding Goidstein's recital OF the
affair. This tale Is one that reads like
- page from the very middle OF some
blood and thunder dime novel
He says that these four negroes
seemed anxious to help him sell his
ngoods and told him that u he would
so through thick patch OF woods
that they were opposite. he could sell
the goods ne had left on the other
aide. These woods. near Mr.. ]. II.
weston's Ilace and very dense. made
an Idea location for such crime as
&the one Goidstein claims was per-
petrateA Friday with himself as the
victim.
He ~ an unsuspecting kind OF man
and says ne thought the negroes were
really anxious to do him good turn.
90 ne sathcred his pack together and
oct on through the woods. As soon
ss he had time to get into the very
thickness OF the forest the negroes
caught up with him and set upon him
from the tear. They beat him up
quite severely and finally bent down a
sappling and tied him to II by the
|~peck. Some clothes were used to tie
Vhim with. which are supposed to have
been secured either from Goldstein's
person ,r mis- package. He was too
much frightened to tell exactly
where they did secure the clothes.
re dces know. however. that he was
! tied 70 the sapplins and II was released
after he had been relieved of his
watch and chain and the s75.s5 real
ised fr,m his peddler's pack. The
pack itself was not taken. possibly
becauns OF the incrimlnasing evidence
II would furnish. The negroes. after
Z securing the watch and money. made
: themselves very scarce In this neigh
borhooti. possibly thinking that Gold
stein was dead. He was not easily
dispoied of. however. and although
severity srrangled by being bound to
the s,pling. hc finally recovered con-
sciouiress. released himself and gave
the a arm.
Magistrate w. T. Lucius made an
investigation and mas succeeded In
worklrg up n strong case against the
four negroes now In Jail. Because OF
the active part ne had taken I'm Sc
curing evidence In the case. Magls-
trate Lucius did not feel able to take
charEt OF the case In his magistrates
court. so Magistrate Fowles will sit
IN the preliminary hearing To be held
tomorrow. This case has many sensa-
tionai features and comes almost like
a chapter from Arabian Nights.
For hanging OF this kind to be
almost effected right In the heart Of u
civilized country and only 2S miles
from as peaceable n community as
that surrounding Columbia will come
ns shock to many people who would
not credit such story except as
straight as this one seems to have
come The state