Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-07
RUDY RABENS.
Governors Pardon Of Charleston
"Fence" Recalls Interesting His.


Fence" Recalls Interesting His
tory.
Several matters of late have re-
called the time when South Carolina
was the prey of a band of yeggs, or
safeblOwers. 1t was learned from
Charleston that Gov. Blease recently
pardoned Rudolph Rabens, the fence"
for number Of thugs who operated in
this state during the Charleston expo
sition. In the Saturday Evening Post
Of this week was a clever yegg story.
II. 7. Gregory, the special inspector
of the United States postal depart
ment who put Rabens behind the bars
and has likewise secured sentences for
more than two score of thugs in the
Carolinas and Georgia, was in the city
last week and discussed with some re-
serve the Rabens case. Was Rabens
merely a fence to receive the stolen
goods. or was he implicated with the
gang?" Mr.. Gregory was asked.
Rabens Was Wise.
He smiled reminiscently and de-
clared that Rabens had a joint in
for crooks, and that he actually plan
| ned i'm part the raid which caused
| him to spend term in the peniten-
tiary.
Rabens was convicted largely on the
| testimony Of John T. Mccarthy, who
detailed the robbery of the safe of the
| Newry cotton mill In such a manner
that, when corroborating circumstances
were presented, the jury found no
trouble in arriving at a verdict. The
robbery occurred on the 14th of De-
cember, 1903, and Rabens was convict
ed three years later on February s.,
| 1907. There were three counts in the
| indictment, two alleging felonious
crimes and one alleging a misdemean-
| or.
Two Indictments Outstanding.
A person indicted for a felony must
| be present in person to be arraigned,
and as Rabens was not in court he
| was tried in his absence on the mis-
| demeanor charge only. He was con-
| victed and sentenced to serve three
years. The indictments for felony are
yet outstanding against him.
The whole case was romantic in the
| extreme, and the trial itself was an
| exciting feature. On account of the
| fact that Rabens lived in Charleston
and that some of the witnesses lived
at a distance. Solicitor Boggs ar
ranged for the preliminary hearing to
be held the day before the case was to
go to trial. Rabens was arrested the
oath Of January and gave $4,000 bond
to appear at the preliminary, February
4. Magistrate Crisp on that date or
dered the case to go to trial over the
protest of defendants attorney that no
evidence had been presented. The
magistrate held that the defendant, by
his absence, practically waived pre-
liminary.
Judge Gary Firm.
An effort was made then to get
Judge Gary to grant a continuance on
! the ground that one of Rabens' attor-
neys, coming from Charleston, was in
| disposed. But the trial was ordered
| to proceed. Judge Gary directed a new
| Indictment drawn when the original
disappeared and this disappearance
was pleaded as a ground for continu-
ance. One of the attorneys for Ra-
bens in his brief before the supreme
court showed resentment against the
determination of Judge Gary, saying
i'm part.
| This cause is submitted in full con-
| fidence that an examination OF the
record will convince your honors that
the defendant has been deprived of a
| fair regular and impartial trial. 1t Is
| far more important that the regular
and orderly administration of criminal
Justice should be observed and enforc-
ed by the courts, so that the liberty Of
the citizens might be secured, than
| that any one man should be convicted
and punished"
The Star Witness.
John r. Mccarthy, the former yegg,
who gave the evidence which con-
victed Rabens, was given pardon by
the United States government and by
| the governors of seven states for
| crimes committed in his career as
yegg. His confessions were given the
| most searching scrutiny-and every
| fn nnrrnhnrQ-
| ton. BY his testimony and the at
| tendant circumstances many crooks
have been put i'm limbo and the people
of the state have been informed as to
| the ways of these plunderers of the
| night
AS an instance of McCarthy's being
corrOborated, he told of the raid upon
Walhala. my happy home" is the
translation of the German word. Ra-
| bens had lived there. While he was
| locomotive engineer on the Southern,
| Walhalla had been his happy home.
And it was there that he planned
with Mccarthy to blow the safe of
the local bank.
AS knowing CONDUCTOR oh tiie
| Charleston division Of the Southern
had roiled plans Of the same gang of
yeggs because they attracted atten-
ton by travelling together, Rabens
and Mccarthy did not leave Charles
ton on the same train, but got together
after arriving i'm Columbia, and regis
tered at the Columbia Inn and were
| assigned to the same room. Inspection
of the records at the hotel three years
later corroborated McCarthy's testi-
mony minutely.
Planning the Job.
From Columbia they proceeded to
| Walhala. The bank being the Job
| in view, Rabens took Mccarthy in and
introduced him to the cashier of the
bank as manager of the theatre"
conducted by Rabens in Charleston.
Even the stern judge, Ernest Gary.
had to smile when nOnchalantly Nc
Carthy testified that after a quick in