The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-30
|EXC|T|NC PAST OF NEW HOUSE CLERK Jerry South an Interesting ! Character ONE OF HIS EXPLOITS Received $11, 1000 Reward From State
 of Missouri For Effecting Capture of the T%' Tor Boys
By JONATHAN WINFIELD

r. By JONATHAN WINFIELD 1 washington, Aphil 9.-(Special.) )-Jerry | South of Arkansas, who has been ap- pointed chief clerk of the House of Rep resentatives, succeeds William J. Brown ing of Camden, N. J., who held the posi- tion with distinction for the past Is years, in control of that branch of Congress.
 in control of that branch of Congress.
 Of the 400 or more new employees under the democratic regime of the House and the more than 4ooO others who sought ap 'pointment but failed, there is none whose life story affords more of human interest, more of thrills, or of sensation or of TO- nance than does the life story of Jerry South. Some of the experiences of his career find no parallel outside of old Mick Carter's library, or the dime novel literature so eagerly sought and de- voured by adventuresome youth. They outclass the perious hazards and bold exploits of Dare Devil Dick, when that worthy was at his best, and make such stories as "The Thumbless Hand' seem as tame and harmless by comparison as one of Louise M. Alcott's books. More over, they are true, and not draft upon imagination or a tax upon creduity. They are. however, mere incidents in the ex- citing career of a modest and unassumins gentleman of the great southwest. where adventure is life itself. One of these ex- periences will suffice here and serve to show the stuff of which the new chief clerk of the House is made.
 Some sixteen or seventeen years ago, William Taylor was a banker in the little town of Browning, Mo. He was worth. according to local report, at least quar- ter of a million dollars. Besides owning q bank, he was a leading citizen of the community, owned many acres of land, was engaged in stock and mule raising, was a member of the state senate, and was generally person of influence and standing In his community. His brother was George Taylor. farmer living near Browning and rated as having in the neighborhood of s5o,0OO in property. Cattle stealing prevailed to an annoy ing extent in that part of Missouri at that time and many of the cattle men suffered big losses. There arose case where suspicion seemed to rest upon the Taylor brothers. Gus Meeks, sse ne'er-do- well, was charged with being < Implicated, and Gus not standing par A ticularly well in the community, was tried, convicted and sent up for a term of years Now Gus did not like his q abode at the pen" nor the character of the table board there and he inti- he ! give him his freedom he would go back g h ome and tell some things which would place other and more prominent cit R 1zens behind the bars. In considera- tion of the promise to turn states evil dence against the Taylors he was set at liberty, and returned to his home adjoining the farm of George Tay- lcr
 A few nights after Gus had been wei comed back to the community of Browning and to the bosom of his fam ily tragedy occurred. His home was entered and he and his wife and three children were killed. The fourth child. a girl of years, was struck upon the head with heavy club, sustained a fracture of the skull and was regard ed as dead by the assassins. All six of the bodies were then taken to haystack and buried. Then a torch was applied to the hay, but shower came up and extinguished the flames. In the meantime the 6-year-old child had re- gained consciousness and succeeded in crawling to a nearby farm house, where she told the story of the murder of the family.
 Suspicion rested upon the Taylors, and on the following day George Tay- Tor rode into town, conferred with his ] brother and that night the men dis appeared, and so did $10,000 from the flf... tlaatC 1af ! word that they would never be taken alive.
 Some two weeks after the tragedy Jerry South left his home in the north western part of Arkansas to pose a s a delegate to the Arkansas democratic state convention in Little Rock, to which he was a delegate from his county. He was obliged to travel 50 miles to the nearest railroad. On the way he stopped at a country store in a crossroads town and engaged in a political discussion with the farmers s who were gathered about. In the group of loiterers Jerry observed two men who appeared to be strangers. They were well dressed and seemed to have plenty of money. Jerry had read of the murder of the Meeks family in Missouri and his suspicious were aroused.
 He veered the discussion around to question on the issuance or SlBHt urdlio upon city banks. The country merchant took side of the controversy and Jerry the other-thc one which he knew to be wrong--and then finally appealed to one of the strangers for his opinion. The stranger entered into an elaborate statement, showing an intimate linowl- edge of banking practices and financial matters. which convinced the delegate from the backwoods that the well in- formed person was none other than Bank CT Taylor, the suspected murderer of tho Aeeks family. Jerry went out and bor- ' yowed double Nbarrelled shotgun. Then i eD laid in wait for the two strangers When they came along the road he got the drop on them and demanded that they . throw up their hands. They attempted to draw their weapons, but a click of i the trigger of Jerry'a gun convinced them that that was no opportune moment to reach for hip pockets Jerry held them at bay for half hour or more until there appeared countryman whom iie