The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1909-12-30
WILL DIR BIGHAM
SERVE SENTENCE?
A MOOTED QUESTION SOON TO BE
SETTLED LOOP ROLES. Of TIE

Columbia, December ~ The
mystery of Where IS DR. Bigham>
NAV soon he solved. 1t is under-
stood that after the holidays the
matter of the appeal that IS now
pending may come before the >n,
preme court for consideration.
"Where is DR. Bigham?' is qnes-
ton No. /. 1t has been sta;ed by
relatives that he is iii GreenvllIe
and is not trying to erade the law.
That he was seen walking the
streets of that city few days ago
is statement that was made in
Florence and published in the local
paper.
"Why is he not arrested: This
question has perhaps caused more
discussion than any matter arising
out Of trial IN MANY Years IN thls
State. Nearly every county paper
Ind the State papers have been ask
ag this question and seeking an all
.Swer thereto for he past several
months.
To reply to this question, 1t Will
be necessary to go back to the events
Immediately following the trial q Z
Bigham and w B Ayant, found
guilty of manslaughter, We're SEN
fenced to three Years and Il half n
the State penltentiary. a new trial
having been refused, Mr. Ragsdale
gave notice of au appeal and asked
Judge Watts to fx bail, which was
done. Fifteen hundred dollars was
the amoant of bail named, and II
was furnished both by Bigham and
Ayant. When Mr. Ragsdale handed
up the order, Judge Watts asked him
if he had given notice Of intention
to appeal, and Mr. Ragsdale replied
that he had. Then Judge Watts
inserted in the order "that notice of
>intentiou to appeal having been Civ
en-, etc, 'and he then signed the or
/ der for bail.
After this was done by Judge
Watts, according to the circuit court
rules, and bond had been given, his
jurisdiction over the case ceased.
The situation now appears to be
/ that the appeal has not been perfect
ed. This is a matter for the supreme
court to settle. If the appeal has
) not been perfected, as is claimed,
then a motion should have been
made before the clerk of the supreme
court to dismiss 1t. Until that or
der IS passed upon by the supreme
court, the appeal is pending and no
,rcircuit Judge has any jurisdiction in
the matter. 1t is now in the power
of the supreme court either to dis
miss the appeal for failure to per-
feet same or to hear the case on its
merits.
8, 1t is understood that Solicitor
Wells has said that no written notice
sof intention to appeal was gwen. If
this is the case, then if Solicitor
Wells should make motion before
the supreme court to dismiss the ap'
peal, and if the court so decided
then the officers would have author
a1lfy to make the arrest.
KS It is not known what agreement
vas made between counsel, if any.
Time has been given the stenogra-
pher to transcribe his notes on the
case until January 20. This is,
however, without prejudice to tie
Solicitor to dismiss the appeal on
any grounds he thinks he has for
this motion.
Those in position to know say
that if Bigham's appeal is dismissed
there is no doubt that he will
be arrested at once, as it IS very
hard to escape the sentence of the
law. Until that is dore, the only
competent authority is the supreme
court. According to interpreters of
the law Bigham cannot now be ar
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