The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1910-12-14
PITIABLE STORY
Tae Murder ol Lauslord Has Das 10 Essl
Extraordinary Causes.
PATHOS WITH TRAGEDY

PATH0S WITH TRAGEDY
Conditions Surrounding the Harris
Girl is Most HeartrendinS and the
Corones's jury Verdict has the
Approval Of All Familiar With the
Evidence !Adduced at Hearing.
A correspondent Of The State.
writing from B7u2son. says distaate-
tui as Is the task II Is best that the
Story o. the killing .: J. r. Ian sforj
be told and necessarily IN the telling
Of It there mus. be related the too
tragic story OF Mary Harris. the
vo@as white girl who is in the pen.-
,.-.e-y st Columbia. an eyewitness
OF the killing sad the occasion OF It.
There Is 20 char?e against her.
1t is possible there may be one
b.ought-for By her own admission
she was accessory after the fact 70
The murder OF NJ. Laastord.
After hearing OF the lie and en-
v.ronmea, c: this poor child. one can
su.: recall what was traced In the
erst b: the fingers of Him who came
70 save sinners: He that is with
out sin among sc. let him cast the
first stcce."
With ha.ely al exception the peo-
PIE CT this place ana. indeed. ali
who have heard the details OF the
csse. :hi2k the coroner's Jury which
lxed the killing OF NJ. Laa2ford upon
Richard Williams. the negro now IN
the peaitentiary. were right In their
finding. Two other negroes have
beer arrested and released under
bond TO appear as Witnesses when
the trial IS held. They are Ed Rouse
and Jake Brown.
The evidence a5dcced ct the IN
quest II brief is: On Tuesday morn
irg Mr. Ian ford. who ran hotel at
Erunson and also operated a sawmill.
left his hcme II a buggy, about
! o'clock. He drove By the telegraph
nnsce and sent message which was
fled az $40. THIS fixes the time
essentially. From there he drove to-
ward his sawmi,l at Bopeep. bat
stopped short way f7or the cor
pcrate limits and the hoSse OF Boz
Harris. where he talked 70 Mary Har-
RS. who was cutting wcoi i the
yard He drove og q short distance,
trrne6 OFT CT the road. tied his home
and got out OF the buggy. The girl
having made Are. crossed the aeld
and Mr. NE. Langford in the woods.
On her way she saw a buggy coming
up the road and recognized the oc-
cup'nts IS Ed. Rouse and Richard
Williams. heroes. both OF whom she
trew. She did not know she was
followed by Williams. and did not
see him again until he was standing
o:er Mr. Laagso.d with q stick or
club urreised. The blow fell ard
Laae.orf's head dropped He ,groaned
bu tdid not spsas. though she called
20 him. The negro uporaided her
With bo!ny unfaish;ul. she was
frightened ard ran hcne. The me-
g-o did not follow. She wanted to
rel OF the crime but was afraid.
Tho girl talked freely when she
die tell. Her story was strcIshtfor-
ward AMI despite traps thai were la.a
he7 evidence was never shaaen IN the
lest
The story o: the search for Ar.
ransfo-d and the finding OF his body
~ b-g!y road n the woods has
been told.
srsricioa fell ca Williams before
%ary Harris told Of the part she had
rlaved In the tragedy. While the
eesrch w7s being made for Mr.. Lang
ford. Wiliians volunteered the tn
'n-Cat;on that he had seen him on
tre new Fairfax road at an hour
wher !. vas shown By the evidence
os the o.ber negro. corroborat!ng
that OF Mary Harris. that he could
1T aave been in sight Of the read.
He did cross the road later II the
dav.
E1. Rouse testified that he was
1r'vin- 70 Brnnsoa and overlook
W;'l:ars tatirs him IN his buggy
With him. Wien they got within
sigh, OF the Harris home. Williams.
rho IS q t:roent!ne scrsfer. got out.
saying he h?d left some Of his tools
n the wco's and had to "a: them.
Rouse did not see Mr. Laagto1d's
1orse and buggy nor did te see the
g!r!. I: IS supposed that Williams
saw both. He described accurately
VI: Laneford's dress.
On this evidence the negro was
-harsed By tie coroaer's jury with
the crime.
There is pa:hos .mmeasura5le in
he story OF Vary Harris and thou.h
he mind rerolts from degradation
.uch as she has confessed 10 yet IT.
r:.rst be said taat she Is not all bad
'nd IS the result OF an environment
n hich IS deplorable. and poverty OF
.'e d!res;.
he shor;d "Impu:e the taGlt
TO soul / the tud. SO starved By
ieDor-nee.
Stinted OF warmth. It will aot blow
this year
Nor recognize the orb which spring