The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-12-22
SHOT AT DEPOT
Mr.. W. l. Fielder, Of St. Matthews, Shot
by Express Messenger
WITHOUT PROPAGATION

nile waiting kOE Ira" W Ao's'
From the Union Depot ut Char
lotte-Harry Jones, Who Did the
Shooting, Arrested and Put In
Jail to Await Felder's Injury.
A special dispatch from Charlotte
to the Columbia Record says Mr..
w. L. Fielder, a we'll known bust
ness mar Of St. Matthews, 8. c.,
was shot in the left arm and side
at the Southern passenger station
there Tuesday morning by Harry
Jones, an express messenger.
Mystery surrounds the affair. no
provocation or excuse for the shoot
ing being given by either Jones or
Fielder. The shooting took place
at $3.50 o'clo Ok Tuesday morning.
shortly after the arrival there of
train 80, and vas witnessed by two
other express messengers, who de-
MED any knowledge Of the affair
at frst, but afterwards told about
it after they were arrested. Fielder,
who is not, 1t is hoped, dangerously
wounded, Is in the Presbyterian hos
pital. Jones is in Jail. where he will
be held for the preliminary trial.
The Record gives the following
particulars Of the shooting:
The first person to reach Mr.. Eel
der was Capt. F. B. Fishburn OF
| Columbia, while DR.. A. B. Knowlton
If Columbia was also near and gave
the wounded man prompt medical
attention. The shooting occurred at
the Charlotte union station about
2:45 a. M. Mr.. Fielder, as we'll as
Capt. Fishburne and DR.. Knowlton,
was at the station expecting to come
to Columbia on Southern railway
train No. %, due to leave Charlotte
1T $3.50 a. m. While in the lunch
room Capt. Fishburne had been talk
ng with Mr.. Fielder, but left and
vent into the combination baggage
car to lie down.
Mr.. Fielder. 1t seems, walked up
to the door Of the express car,
where the express messenger was
checking up his express with the
negro porter, and 1t is said that Mr..
Fel'er asked II he could get aboard
the car, as the passenger coachs had
not been opened and 1t was cold out
side. What else passed between
them is not known, except that Mr..
Fielder stated afterwards that he was
shot, without warning, from the ex-
press car.
Capt. Fishburne was first to reach
the wounded man, and having seen
)r. Knowlton at the station, sum-
noned him. Mr.. Fielder was carried
TO the Stonewall hotel, at the sta
ton, until he could be taken to the
hospital, and after some delay the
ambulance arrived and he was car
ried to the Presbyterian hospital.
At Mr.. Folders request, DR.. Knowl
ton remained with him. returning to
| Columbia on No. 35 instead OF No.
20, and reaching Columbia at 1890
4. m. Wednesday.
Mr.. Fielder had been to High Point,
N. c., to place an order for furni-
ture, and was on his way home. He
is a member Of q prominent family
in the Orangeburg section.
DR.. A. B. Knowlton, who was with
Mr.. Fielder just after he vas shot
at Charlotte early In the morning,
bitterly criticised the Charlotte po-
lice department when he arrived In
Columbia. He says three officers
were notified and given all the facts
one after the other Immediately
after the shooting, and after they
were finally gotten to the scene act
Ell like q lot Of dummies. He could
get them to do nothing, he says; and
the most important witnesses we're
about to disappear, when he ap-
"ealed to Attorney Shannonhouse,
who began to get results az soon
20 he arrived.
DR.. Knowlton says the shooting
was most wanton and i~nexcusable.
Fielder vas thirty feet away from the
coach when fred upon, had
been in the coach and was walking
away when fred upon. Mr.. Fielder,
Dr.. Knowlton says, had been walk
ing up and down the cement floor
under the shed between the fruit
stand and the first track, waiting
for train 20. He approached a
couple Of express coaches which
were coming to Columbia when No.
% arrived and asked a colored man
in n If 1t would be allowable to
come into the coath and keep warm
till the train arrived.
Mr.. Fielder says the colored mar
told him that this would be against
the rules and he went away. Just
before being shot he had turned
about to watch some antics the ne
groes were doing In the coach he
had approached, when the messeng-
or came to the door and ordered
him away. He says he started away
when he was fred upon.
The bullet entered the right side
just under the arm, probably pune
tured the right lung and made It's
exit at what is commonly known as
the breast bone. DIR. KnoHlton could