The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1911-09-29

IL.
of the waving of the bloody shirt by
Morton. The idea was taken up Dy
those who had charge of Democracy
in Aiken. The ladies Of the town
headed by Miss Ada Chafee, made
! long homespun shirts and assisted the
men to stain them with venetian red
and pokeberries, and thus clothed. this
company; the afternoon before the ball
! proceedings, rode up and down
through the streets of Aiken to the
horror of the negro population. IT.
may be so, that afterwards at. Ander"
son and Goldville and elsewhere IN the
State. red flannel shirts we're Worn,
but the idea originated right here and
il is provable by men who took part,
who are living now, and b.: the col
umns Of the local papers.
The August Convention.
The Democratic State convention
met at Columbia On the 18th day of
! August. Previous thereto, Oh the 18th
! day of August, at Edgefeld, there was
tremendous meeting in which Butler
and Gary and Sheppard attacked
! Chamberlain and defeated him, which,
in connection with the Hamburg af-
fair, stirred the State to the bottom.
The night before the sitting of the
convention those Of US who favored
the straightout movement, gathered In
! the parlor of the Wheeler house, late
ly known as Wright's hotel, at the
corner of Plain and Main streets and
it was notable gathering; young and
old men were there; not only from
! the up-country, but from the low
country and middle-country alike.
Gen. W. ". Harllee, of Marion, was
chosen as our candidate for chairman
of the convention. Venerable, deter
mined and able, he was the right man
for the place. As was said of him by
the prints of the day, 'His nose, like
the movement, was redhot and
straightout.'
When the convention convened in
I the hall of the house of representa-
tives the next day, We got to work
without ceremony and pickering. The
first test was made on the election o.
the president. Gen. Harllee was non-
mated by the straightouts; Col. c. H.
Simonton, of Charleston, that high and
respected citizen, by the conserVa-
ti7es. Harllee was elected by II OF
IA majority. His speech was a claT-
ion call to duty to redeem the State.
Promptly We went into secret session,
the doors being closed. A resolution
was put forward to go into nomina-
tions for State officers and to recon-
mend to the counties 70 do likewise
all along the line. No compromise;
straightout names of Democrats. The
debate was on; calm, dignihed and
farreaching. Many speeches Wers
made on both sides. To my recollec-
ton. the best for the straightouts was
made by Maj. William L. DePass, OF
Camden; and the best on the other
side by Gen. James Conner, Of Char
lesion. In the heat Of debate, Gen.
Butler said, referring to the election OF
Whipper to the Charleston judgesh1p,
that if he came to Edgefeld court, he
would be flung out of the windows OF
the court house. Gen. Conner replied
that while that would be rightful
treatment, it would be violation of law
and would bring federal Intervention.
Gen. Butler spirtedly retorted, "If we
stand together now, instead Of Car
penter judge in the Fifth circuit, we
|. would have Kershaw or Youmans;
and instead of Whipper in Charleston,
we would have Presley or Porter" a
prediction which really came true. The
heat of the day and the stuffy close
hall was terrible. The debate was
closed and the roll called and the
straigntout resolution was adopted by
practically the same vote that elected
the president. The doors were opened
and the crowds rushed in. They were
peeping through the closed doors dur
ing the debate, and were mostly Radi-
Gals.
Butler Nominates Hampton.
Well up to the front, on the right
hand side where tn Edgefeld and Ak
en- delegations we're sitting could be
seen NJ. C. Butler and NJ. ". Gary
standing, earnestly talking together.
The writer heard Gary say to Butler,