davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
TOOK HIS OWN LIFE.
W. J. Arant, Of Columbia, Commit
ted Suicide Friday.

With his uniform Of the Confed-
crate army by his bedside. and a re-
quest that he be buried In his be-
loved gray. w. J. Arant, we'll knoWr
in this State. says The State. was
found dead in Columbia Friday
morning. An empty bottle that a
contained laudanum accounted for
the manner of his death. The news
of the suicide came as a surprise
generally, although Mr.. Ardnt was
known to have suffered much VIII
dependency, dating from the time
his wife died, about a year ago. IN
Charleston.
Only a short while ago Mr.. Arant
was heard 10 say that he could never
recover from his great loss AMI
would rather be dead than aliv=, but
not even his most intimate fri>nds
thought of suicide in connection
with their friend. Requests found
by the bed, to notify F. H. Arant'
a son residing In Camden, and H.
3. Bolger and C. F. Hebrlch OF Char
lesion, we're complied with and +. r.
] Arant arrived Friday morning.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
MURDERED BY sMUGGLERs.
Eighteen Sailors Made Drunk and
Then Killed.

Passengers arriving at New Or
leans on the steamer Parisimina,
from British Honduras told Of the
scuttling Of the Honduras gunboat
Tatumbia and the murder of eigh-
teen of her crew after she had over
hauled a British steamer engaged In
smuggling between Jamaica and Hon
duras.
Six days ago the Tatumbia over
hauled the smuggler fifty miles out
Of Puerto Cortes and twenty Of the
gunboat's crew boarded the smuggler.
The smuggler crew surrendered and
the smuggler captain told Capt.
Zalella that there plenty Of good
rum in her hold.
Zelella ordered a celebration. The
prisoners feigned intoxication, and
when the gunboat's crew succumbed
to the rum they were thrown over
board. The smuggler's crew scut-
tied the gunboat and then escaped
Two of the sailors who were flung
overheard reached one Of the hoat-
ing lifeboats Of the sunken flondu-
ran vessel and reached Puerto C'rtes
with the story Of the wholesale MUIR
der.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
PELLAGRA CAUSED DEATHS.
Was at First Thought to be Ty'
phOid Fever.

That hundreds of deaths which
occurred at the Confederate prison
at Andersonville, Ga, during the
summer of 1864 were not due to ty-
phoid fever, as then supposed, but
were caused by pellagra, was the
opinion expressed before the South
ern medical convention In New Or
leans a few days ago by DR.. J. W..
Kerr of Corslcana, Tex. DR.. Kerr
who was surgeon at the Anderson
willie prison, described the symp-
toms of the disease, which attacked
the inmates so fatally at that time
and in nearly every particular they
were recognized as being character
istic of pellagra. This view was
further strengthened, DR.. Kerr SAID,
by the fact that musty or spollea
corn, generally accredited by the
medical fraternity as being perhaps
the cause of p~ellagra, constituted
the main diet of the prisoners, De-
CAUSE of inability to furnish them
other supplies.
The consensus of opinion among
the physicians who presented papers
on the subject was that pellagra IS
attributable to spoiled corn.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
The Dispatch.

The dispatch complained of ap-
peared Sunday in several papers,
mong them the New York Sun and
the Baltimore American. 1t reads
as follows:
Columbia, S. c., Nov. 6.-Taft Day
in this city Inconvenience Senator
Tillman. The governor Of South
Carolina has the power to suspend
the sale of liquor whenever he deems
it advisable. A large crowd was
gathering in this city yesterday for
Taft Day and the governor ordered
the dispensaries to close for two
days.
Along about this time Benjamin
r. Tillman hit the town. He had
run over from Trenton, his home. to
get two bottles of champagne. He
was going to have company at home
and he wanted the champagne badly,
He tried two or three di~spensaries,
but they we're closed. Then the SEN
ator hustled up to the governors
office and appealed to his private sec
rotary. The secretary allowed there
was nothing he could do.
We'll, couldn't l get two bottles
on a doctors prescription" begged
the senator.
The secretary said the only wa!
would be for the senator TO fine
some friend and perhaps this friend
would give him two bottles. 1t would
be against the law for him to sci
them. For the senator to look fol
a champagne cellar friend in Co
lumbia was a hopeless proposition
Hadn't the senator just had a biz
row with the Columbia Taft Day
reception committee because the!
| wanted to tax him $40 for his sea
at the Taft luncheon?
The senator had told Columbis
to go to blazes with its luncheon
or words to that effect. Finally tn
| governors secretary referred thu
| senator to a friend of his. and from
him Mr.. Tillman got his two quarts
The senator was a Trainer OF tn
South Carolina ~dispensary law. ant
thus was getting a taste of his oWl
medicine.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
AN UNFINISHED VAULT.
Builder Refuses to Take Out Permit
and Police Guard 1t.

Two years ago the owner OF Q
private residence in the aristocratic
vicinity of the Plaza In New r
city had his house remodeled and .
vault constructed under the sidewalk
The contractor had obtained a permit
for the alteration on the building
but had failed to take out a permit
for the vault, for which a fee OF sew
eral hundred dollars was required
At the behest of the bureau OF high
ways a policeman was stationed al
the building to prevent further WORK
on the vault until the fee was pald
and the permit obtained. The vault
has been under police surveillance
ever since and the vault Is still un'
finished, with a fair prospect OF re-
manning so until the owner OF the
building, who is said to be a mil
,ionaire, chooses to plank down the
REQUIRED tee for a permit.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
RECORD CORN GRO
Report Shows That Farmers Are
Now Diversifying.

That the corn crop Of South Caro-
lima will exceed last seasons record
by at least 100000 bushels Is the
opinion expressed at the office OF
Commissioner Watson In Columbia.
The preliminary reports received
show that already 3%7,000,000 BUSH
els are to be obtained from the crop.
Commissioner Watson thinks the to-
tai yield will be over 100000
bushels.
Last seasons crop was 2s,250,ooO
bushels, this being an increase OF
1000 900 bushels v the previous
two years. 1t is also expected that
the present seasons crop will bring
a high market price. In 1908 the
average price per bushel in this State
was 81 cents. .
This was higher price than in any
State except Arizona where the aver
age was $1.05. The average price
for the whole country was sos cents
per bushel. The prices have gradu-
ally and substantially increased for
the past several years. In 1904,
for the State, the price was 70 cents;
in 1905, the market price was "a
cents; in 1906, 70 cents; 1907, 70
cents, 1908, 81 cents.
Before the McIver Williamson plan
was placed before the planters OF this
State and the United States farm
demonstration work was begun the
Weld of corn was only 17,50O,oOO
bushels. Now the crop is being gen.
orally raised and the exhibits which
have been shown this year are very
gratifying.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
NORTH CAROLINIAN SUICIDES.
Places Gun Against a Stump and
Pulls the Trigger.

A. H. Bragg, a farmer living near
Redweed, n. c., committed suicide
a few days ago about 10 o'clock
by shooting himself dead with a shot
gun.
The old gentleman had been des-
pendent three or four weeks and
lately showed very great signs OF
intellectual decrepitude. He went
to town several weeks ago and said
he felt that responsibility. The
morning of the suicide he started
out and told a colored man that he
wanted to borrow a gun with which
to shoot squirrels. There the smart
ness of the determined suicide show
ed itself. He had prepared a forked
stick with which to work the trig-
ger. and putting the gun against a
stump, pulled the trigger and blew
his head off.
He was SO years old and had two
o n and three daughters.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
BLAMES THE WOMAN
STOLE BIG SUM OF MONEY AND
PUTS UP THE EXCUSE
That He Was Made to Do It by Be-
ing Blackmailed by a Bad Female
Associate.

At Cincinnati, Ohio, Mrs. Jeanette
Stewart, also known as Mrs. Ford,
one of the women accused by Chas.
l.. Warmer, defaulting local treasur-
er Of the Big Four Railroad of hav-
ing shared in his speculations by
blackmailing him, declared she
would tell the whole inside story of
the $643,000 theft, when the case
came to court. Mrs. Stewart denied
she had ever received money from
Warmer.
The sudden breaking Of her 81
lence vas caused. according to her,
by a quarrel which she had with
another woman, who has also been
mentioned by Warmer. This quar-
rel resulted in the attachment of
Mrs. Stewards furniture. The Of
fcers who made the attachment were
quickly followed by reporters, and
in the stress Of excitement, Mrs.
Stewards reserve broke down.
81 never received a cent from
Charles Warriner," she said, land
I never gave any information to the
railroad about his shortage. 1t was
another woman that did it all; a
woman I thought was my friend. I
know the whole story and I will tell
1t in court, too"
At present the question that is
exercising the railroad officials is.
What became Of the $4,000 which
Warmer admits having stolen?
Warmer says he lost 1t In stock
speculation and in satisfying the
demands Of ~blackmailers, but that
explanation lib not satisfactory to
the officials.
Warmer says he is penniless and
his neighbors at his home In Wyom-
ing, Ohio, declare that he Is a sick
man.
It is admitted by railroad officers
that Warmer might have continued
his speculations indefinitely II he had
not been betrayed by q woman, SO
great was his s%uperiors' confidence
in him.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
ANOTHER LYNCHINC
WHITE MAN SWUNG UP FOR
NUMBERING HIS OWN WIFE.
After Lynching tho Negro the Mob
Attacked the Jail and Made Quick
Work of q White Man.

At Cairo, Illinois, Henry Salzner,
white. a photographer, who killed
his wife last July with an axe, was
taken from Jail at 11:40 o'clock
Thursday night by a mob and hang
ed to a telegraph pole, and his body
riddled with bullets. The lynchins
followed closely on the lynching of
Will James, a negro, who earlier in
the evening had been hanged for
the murder of Miss Annie Pelley.
The mob gave Salzner a chance
to confess after the rope was around
his neck, but he was so frightened
that he could only humble that his
sisters had killed his wife.
The mob became furious at this,
and it was hard work to keep them
off Salzner long enough to give him
a chance to pray. The mob finally
subsidized and a short religious service
was held, after which he was strung
up, the rope being placed over a'tele-
graph pole at 21st and Washington
streets.
The mob found some difficulty In
breaking the cage, as it was an en-
tirely steel structure, but after a half
hour of telling blows upon the door
it gave way and Salzner was secur-
ed. The mob rushed him out Of the
back door Of the jail, which Is IN
the basement Of the court house,
around the building through the yard
and out into Washington avenue,
and up TO 21st street, which Is a
prominent corner and has a public
square.
He cried and begged piteously for
his life and was met by cries and
blows from the mob. When Salzner
was asked for his last statement a
man, a stranger in the crowd, step
ped forward and said he believed
Salzner was innocent, w~hereupon the
mob fell. upon him. kicked him and
finally knocked him down, and 1t
was only the pleas of cooler per-
O that saved his life.
He was compelled to beg for mer-
cy from the mob, and announced in
a loud voice that Salzner should be
lynched, after which he was driven
from the mob and all attention was
given to Salzner. After Salzner
was hanged, and while the body was
being riddled with bullets, the rope
broke and the body fell to the
ground, where it now lies, the mob
going away and leaving it.
Salzner was born and reared at
Cairo. He had been married about
two years last July, when his wife
was found at her home with her
skull fractured. A bloody x was
found under the bed. Two babies
were playing in the mothers blood.
Salzner was found at the home OF
his mother, where he often slept at
night. Before Mrs. Salzner died she
recovered enough to accuse her hus-
band of attacking her.
Feeling against him had been bit
ter, and Thursday night, after the
lynching Of James, when some one
suggested Salzner, the mob rushed
FOR the county Jail, got Salzner and
,,oobad hin,
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Mrs. Marie Estey Suicides.

Mrs. Marie L. Estey, widow of a
widely known piano manufacturer,
committed suicide in a boarding
house in New York a few night ago
by inhaling Illuminating gas. The
loss of her fortune some years ago
brought on a disorder and
her Ill health is believed to have led
TO her act.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Negro Woman Kills Herself.

In Savannah. Ga, Tuesday AFTER
noon, Evelina johnson, colored, aged
thirty-one years, drank the contents
of a two-ounce bottle Of carbollc
acid, from the effects of which she
died in agony a short time after
wards. The negro woman was a
laundress.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Dr.. G. {. Bighan, Convicted Of Helping
to Murder His Young Wife.
HAS BROKtr HIS BOND
Avant, who, With Bigham, Was
Convicted of Manslaughter at
Georgetown Recently for Killing
Mrs. Bigham, Gives Himself Up,
But the Husband is Missing.

But the Husband is Missing.
A dispatch from Georgetown to
The News and Courier says from de-
velopments within the past few days
1t seems likely that DR.. G.. c. Big
ham, who with W. B Avant was con-
victed at the last term of court Of
manslaughter for the killing Of Mrs.
Bigham on Murrel's Island, will yet
escape the penalty Of three and q
half years hard labor in the peni-
Tertiary, imposed by Judge Watts.
The notice of appeal made by the
defendants attorney, ]. W.. Ragsdale,
not having been filed within the ten
days allowed by law, Solicitor Wells
wired Sheriff Scurry to %apprehend
the convicted parties at once, they
being out on a $1,000 bond.
On Saturday Avant, learning OF
his being wanted by the sheriff, went
to Georgetown from his home at
Harpers and surrendered himself.
He Is now In the county jail.
Sheriff scurry wired Sheriff Burch,
Of Florence county, to arrest DR..
Bigham Immediately, but from infor-
nation so far received 1t seems that
he cannot be found. The surmise is
that he has fed the State.
There seems to have been some
inconsistencies in the bonds requir-
ed by Bigham and Avant. When
the men were first arrested on the
warrants issued by the coroner, the
bonds were fixed at $500 each, be-
ing later raised, at the instance OF
the solicitor, to $4,000, under which
amount they appeared for trial.
After conviction and sentence the
men were turned loose under a bond
Of only $500 each, pending the re-
suit of an appeal to the supreme
court. 1t is said that as DR.. Big
hams family are well-to-do, the
forfeiture Of the bond Is OF small
consequence.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
A THRILLING RASCAL
Being Sought by the Wife He Base
Nv Deserted.

A dispatch from Atlanta to the
Augusta Chronicle says coming from
Augusta without a cent in search OF
her husband, whom she says is with
Barnum and Balley's circus there,
Mrs. Bessie Brooks reached there
on a Georgia railroad train without
the formality Of a ticket Wednes-
day. In her arms she carried a ba-
by of a few months. She Is only
twenty years old and claims to have
married at Whitmire, S. c., about
a year ago.. A short time after the
baby was born he left her and she
was told that he had Joined the cir
Gus. She Immediately went to Au-
gusta In search of him, but not find
ing him there. she followed the cir
Gus on to Atlanta.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Double Tragedy.

AS a tragic elimination OF martial
troubles of long standing Louis w.
Lewis, white, shot and instantly Kill
cd his wife at his home in Jackson
WILLIE, Fla, Wednesday afternoon,
then turned the revolver on himself,
sending a bullet through his head
causing instant death.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
A FOOLS Money.

Franklin Taylor, a Brooklyn law
yer, who ran for municipal Judge
at the recent election and lost, has
filed his expense account, which to-
tailed sS32.23 with the county clerk.
"All of which serves to demon
strate," Mr.. Taylor relectively COM
ments in his paper, that a fool ana
his money are soon parted
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
AGED Negro Suicides.

Calvin Hinton, a veteran negro
employe at the farm of Charles H.
Hinton, near Raleigh, \. c., COM
mitted cuicide a few days ago, using
a shotgun with which he blew out
his brains. Children hearing b
shot ran to the house and found
him dying on the floor OF his abb
in.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
MURDERS CASHIER
AND WOUNDS PRESIDENT OF
BANK HE TRIED TO ROB.
The Young Bandit is Run Down
and Captured After He Shoots One
Moro Man.

Moro Man.
In an attempt TO rob a bank at
New Albany. Ind, a young man en-
tered the Merchants Bank at noon
Thursday and killed J. Hangery
Fawcett, cashier of the bank, serious
ly wounded John X. Woodward, pres
ident of the bank, and wounded Jas.
R. Tucker, a negro chauffeur, prob
ably fatally.
When Hall entered the bank he
carried a pistol in each hand. After
commanding every n to throw up
his hands and 'get into the vault
Hall began shooting.
Cashier Fawcett was shot through
the chest and neck and died almost
instantly. President Woodward was
shot through the liver and his fntes-
tines were perforated. Tucker, the
chauffeur, was shot through the body.
Following the shooting the muir
derer rushed from the bank and
tried to escape in an automobile,
which he had taken from the curb
in front of the residence Of its own
err, Mrs. Walter Escott, in Louis
Vile, KY. He had forced the negro
chauffeur at the point of a pistol
to drive him to New Albany.
After the shooting at the bank the
chauffeur, paralyzed with terror and
apparently incapable Of action, sat
still when the robber jumped into
the car and ordered him to speed
up the machine. The robber then
jumped out Of the automo a.le, shot
the negro in the back and ran two
blocks to the Ohio river.
He seized a skiff and was on his
way to the Louisville side Of the riv-
er before the frightened citizens OF
New Albany knew what had happen
ed. An alarm was given through a
megaphone on a dredge boat ami in
a short time several policemen had
started in pursuit in a fast motor
boat.
After being captured the bandit
refused to give his name, and had
little to say. He said that no had
been around Louisville for several
days. He did not know Tucker, the
chauffeur, and declared Tucker was
not implicated in the attempt on the
bank.
A dispatch from Louisville, KY,
says the bandit was identified as
Thomas Jefferson Hall, and according
to William J. Hall, his father, the
desperate is but II years old. The
older Hall, who has a furniture store
at No. 802 South Preston street, In
that city, said that young Hall was
a household tyrant, and not insane
at all.
HE is simply mean said the faith
err. The family is formerly of Knox
Vile, Tenn.
w. ]. Hall detailed his sons ac-
lions for the last few years, say
ing that dime novels had been the
youths constant reading.
Among young Halls effects was
found a powerfully made cabinet,
lined and QUILTED like a room. 1t
is believed that the boy expected to
escape with his loot, crawling into
the box, which was consigned to r..
J.. Smith, Knoxville, Tenn" and es-
cane as freight.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Cause of Death.

An autopsy Wednesday at Som
merville, n. j., disclosed the fact
that the death of Robert Simpson
who died in a trance, was due to
rupture of the aorta. Prof. Everton'
the hypnotist, will probably De
charged with manslaughter.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
A Fake Story About Senator Tillman Made
Up in Columbia and
SENT TO new YORK SUN
MFR. A. J. Bethca, Governor Ansel's
Private Secretary, Wrath With
the Writer Of the Dispatch, Which
He Brands as q. Yarn Out Of the
Whole Cloth.

Whole Cloth.
Mr.. A. J. Bethea, Governor Ansel's
private secretary, writes the follow
ing letter, which explains itself:
The governors secretary has writ
ten the following letter:
Senator B. r. Tillman, Trenton, S. c.
My Dear Sir: I have Just read the
story in The, News and Courier emit
tied "No Drink for Tillman," copied
from the New York Sun, and to say
that I am disguised and outraged
hardly expresses my feelings.
There is not a semblance Of truth
in this article, which, Of course, you
know as we'll as I do, but in JUS
tice to you and to myself, I hasten
TO write to assure you that 1t did
not come from me nor any n con-
nected with the governors Office.
There is only one way in which
it could possibly have originated, and
the truth has been so distorted that
it strains the Imagination to- account
for 1t.
On Friday Of last week a gentle
man came over from Winnsboro, and
was in great distress because he
found the dispensaries closed, maxi
ing it impossible for him to purchase
champagne, which he wished to use
at a reception at his home the next
day. The governor was absent, and
as he had ordered the dispensaries
closed for that day and the next, /
told the gentleman I could do moth
ing for him, although he brought
with him a physicians certificate.
At the luncheon on Saturday sat
by Mr.. Robert n. Hazard, a repre-
sentative of the United Press, and
during the course of conversation /
related to him the above story, tell
ing him of the distress of the gentle
man, but without mention Of his
name, and certainly without any
thought of yours in connection with
1t.
T do not say that Mr.. Hazard
wrote this article. but l cannot &C
count for it in any other way. 1t
is certainly far from the truth. and
I hope you will understand that
resent IT and that l object to being
made a party to a newspaper story,
which is utterly without warrant and
without foundation.
Trusting this explanation will
serve the purpose for which 1t Is
intended, and assuring you of my
unwillingness to do you an injus-
tice, I am,
Yours very truly,
A. j. Bethea.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Seyen Victims Recovered.

Seven victims have been ecover-
ed and it is believed the list OF dead
will reach twelve, as the result of
a fire in the Auchincloss shaft OF
the Delaware, Lackawanna & Wes-
tern Coal Company. at Naticocka
Pa. An explosion of gas set IRE to
the timbers of the mine.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Endorses Printers Label

The Farmers Educational and Co.
Union of Tennessee, IN an
nual convention at Jackson recently
unanimously passed a resolution IN
structing officers of the State union
TO use the union label on all printed
matter.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Halley's Comet Sighted.

Halley's Comet was observed
from Providence, R. l.. at Ladd OBJ
s~ervatory, Brown University, by Prof.
Winslow Upton. The comet. accord
ing TO Prof. Upton, should be visi-
bic by telescope from now on and
with the naked eye In January.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-17
Confederate Veteran Passes.

Major Thomas Hayes, former In
spector general of the Confederate
army, at one time second vice presi-
dent Of the Pullman Palace Car Com
pany, died at his home In Louisville,
KY, a few days ago, aged 70.