The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1911-12-06
NO BILL RETURNED
g., IN, FIELDER CASE

4. 4 =. s. II
Judge Gage Fefers to Dispensary as
"That Terrible Experiment, to
Make Respectable Nefarious
Business"
Newberry, Nov. 29.-The grand jury
at n:15 this morning returned the
Fielder indictment to the court mark
ed No Bill" which means that they
do not think there is enough in the
charge to make 1t proper to send It to
a petit jury for trial.
me grand jury's finding on the in
diotment had been awaited with much
interest, and every time since Mon
day morning that body made it's an
pearance in the courtroom with a
batch of indictments the Fielder indict-
meht was listened for with intense in
forest by the large crowd in the court
house, but nothing was heard of II
uhtil Just before the adjournment of
court for dinner this morning. when
IL was handed in marked mo Bill
H. u Counts, forema'." 1t was the
last bill handed in by the grand Jury
though among the first batch handed
to the jury by the solicitor when
court opened Monday morning.
1t is reported, though, of course
IL can not be youched for that the
grand jury stood nine to nine at the
beginning, and that after two more
went over to the number in favor of
true bill' thus making the body
stand II to Z, II being necessary TO
find true bill"
Charged Bribery Attempt.
1he indictment against Fielder was
taken out upon an affidavit sworn ont
some months ago by b. Frank Kelley
OF Bisbopville, then member and sec
rotary to the new winding-up commits
sion appointed by Governor Blease
TO take the place of the former com
mission which he had removed. The
indictment, drawn by Solicitor Cooper
some tlme last spring, shortly after
the affidavit was made, charged Thorn
as b. Fielder of Atlanta, Ga, who had
assisted the attorney general in re-
covering for the State a large amount
OF overcharges of liquor houses that
h"d oealt with the former dispensary
board, with having attempted at New
perry III October, 1905, to bribe II. Fl
evans, then chairman of the board Of
control, one count says, with an offer
of $4,000 worth of stock in some hi,
hquor organization that Fielder was
aHeged to be getting up at some un-
Known place; that second count
makes similar charge but fixing
the offer at $25O,OOO worth of stock.
the third count fixes the offer at
"$S5O,000 in lawful money Of the
uRited States
After the Indictment was drawn
Governor Blease issued a reuuisition
On the governor of Georgia for Fell
der, and it was put in the hands OIL
Sheriff Buford for service. He went
to- Atlanta to arrest Fielder and bring
him back, but he refused to come on
tho requisition, and Governor Brown
reeased to honor the requisition.
Without Regard to Expense.
when the grand jury came into
caHrt this morning at 1880 for the
last time before preparing their final
Wesentment the foreman asked
Jddge Gage whether the grand Jurors
in considering this bill of indictment
could take into consideration the prob
able expense to the county and the
society. The judge replied that II the
grand jurors believed the testimony of
tho witnesses who had gone before
them and that the prosecution was i'm
Seod faith, it was their duty to find
a true bill without regard to the ex-
pense to the county. Proceeding the
judge said that the grand jurors could
consider the public facts on record.
that there had been several prosecu-
thons in these dispcnsary cases; that
John Black had been tried and con
yieted in Chester; that James Far
mum had been tried and acquitted i'm
Columbia and that two of the wit
nesses who went before the grand
jury in the case of Fielder now under
consideration had been tried i'm Co
lumbia, the jury failing to agree and
that the other witness had been in
dicted i'm Newberry, the indictment
having been mol pressed
"That Terrible Experiment.,
This case" said his honor came
out of that terrible experiment which