Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-07-16
FRIDAY, JULY I6, 1909.

a great many years, but quit about
four years ago for political reasons.
He was not taking The Enquirer In
August, 1908; but read the references
in the paper to "Windleship combina-
tion." He was very much incensed at
the publication and then and there
made up his mind that Mr.. Grist had
to apologize to him, whip him or be
whipped. The first time he met Mr..
Grist after that was in Mr. Tate's Of
fee and asked Mr.. Grist, What do you
mean by insulting me In your God
damned paperT Mr.. Grist, who was
sitting down writing at the time, got
UP and put his hand to his hip pocket
as IL to draw a pistol, and defendant
began striking with his stick. because
he thought he was in danger OF being
shot. He struck M. Grist once or
twice, not over three times. and at the
third blow his stick was caught In the
electric light wire and he let 1t go, and
began striking Mr.. Grist with his fist,
and choked him down. He did not see
a pistol, but knew Mr.. Grist had one,
because he felt 1t in his pocket, and he
told Mr.. Grist. "If you pull your pistol
I will kill you" He denied that he used
any more force than was necessary to
protect himself He stated that he had
called Mr.. Grist son Of q Bitch" but
was sorry for It. He regretted 1t at
terward and thought Of writing an
fAr fhof M thing
his friends fearing that II would be
misunderstood advised him not to do
so. He was not in the habit Of apply
ing such an epithet to anybody. DE
said that IL Mr.. Grist had shown
disposition to offer a proper apology,
| he would not have attacked him. On
cross examination. he admitted that he
always took an active interest In poll
tics as he had right to do and went
| to various precincts In the interest or
the candidates he desired to elect. He
said that had the article to which he
had taken exception, coming from q
friend he would have taken It as a high
compliment, but coming from an ene-
my, he considered 1t an insult; that he
thought that II Mr.. Grist wanted to
say anything to him he should say 1t
| to his face.
with Mr.. windle's testimony, the
attorneys went to the jury and talked
for about two hours, an hour on each
soon launched an abuse Of the prose-
cutting witness. On objection OF the
solicitor, the court observed that 1t did
not consider personal abuse proper In
any case, and ruled that the counsel
should certainly not be permitted to
abuse Its own witness. Mr.. Wilson
opened with glowing tribute to the
excellence Of The Yorkville En-
quirer, stating that 1t was the leading
paper In the county and went into ev-
cry home; then he dwelt on the power
of the press and claimed that this pow
er had been abused in the case Of Mr..
lWin6le: that Mr.. Windle had been
grossly outraged and that he had talk
en- the only way Of redress that was
open to him. 1t Is true that Mr..
Grist might have allowed him q reply;
but Mr.. Grist, by reason OF his advan-
tageous position as editor and pub
Usher, would have been able to coun-
teract the effect Of that reply In the
as a moral and physical coward.
| In reply, Solicitor Henry spoke
briefly, but with his usual earnestness
and power, asking only for the en-
| forcement Of the law. He requested
the court to instruct the jury not to
consider the extreme count In the In
dictment, assault and battery with In
tent to kill: but to limit Its inquiry to
the three proportions OF assault and
battery Of high and aggravated ma
ture, simple assault and battery ana
friend Of both parties and wanted only
justice. He would not prosecute an
enemy for fear Of doing him wrong
| He stated that It had been his inten-
tion to rely on the testimony OF
Messrs. Tate and Windle principally
| to make out the charge, and to prove
the pistol by Mr.. Grist In reply. He
stated that the defense could have
never proved that Mr.. Grist had q pis-
tol except by Mr.: Grist himself and
that the defense alone was responsible
| for such damage as may have resulted
to It by putting Mr.. Grist on the stand.
He insisted that che testimony Of
Messrs. Tate and Windle, both enc
mics Of Mr.. Grist, was suficient to
make out q clear case OF assault and
battery Of high and aggravated ma
ture, and that II people were to be al
lowed to take the law In their own
hands, there was no need for court
houses. In the course of his remarks,
Mr. Henry said that the record shows
that Mr.. Grist is not the prosecutor In
the case; that he did not institute the
proceedings; that he had shown no in
terest In 1t except on his, the solicit
| tors demand. The responsibility for
the prosecution rested upon him alone,
and while 1t was not pleasant, he had
no desire to shirk 1t.
After q clear and comprehensive
charge by the court as to the law in
the case, the jury took the papers at
few minutes after IL o'clock, and when
The Enquirer went to press at 2
o'clock, had not yet reached verdict.
At 8 o'clock the jury reported q ver-
dict Of assault and battery Of a high
and aggravated nature, with q recon-
lmendation to the mercy Of the court.
His honor imposed sentence Of six
months on the chaingang, or In the
penitentiary, or G fine Of $500.