Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-09-12
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER IL, 1911.

purging the club rolls The revoking
order was signed on his own motion.
He did it because the original order
was a mistake. To the Greenville cor
respondent Of the News and Courier,
he explained that when the Charleston
hurricane occurred he and his family
were in Oconee county. He returned
to Charleston to look after his prop
erty and was very busy during Friday
and Saturday. The papers were pre-
sented to him by an attorney with a
general explanation of their contents
and the order was signed with
out the previous careful reading
which the Judge is accustomed to give
such matters. Although the order was
dated September l, as a matter Of fact
it was not signed until September 2.
and Judge Memminger says he did not
appreciate the far reaching effect Of 1t
until he saw it discussed in the
Charleston papers. AS soon as he saw
his mistake he revoked the order. In
the meantime the work Of purging the
club rolls had been stopped two days
before the final limit and the rolls had
been turned over to the county audi
tor in the condition they were in when
the work of revision was stopped.
Judge Memminger said that had he
would not have signed 1t. The mem
bers Of the Democratic committee on
club rolls consider that Mr.. Grace'
affidavit upon which the order was Is
sued reflects upon their integrity and
they say that they will go on wit
their answer and have the mattS
threshed out in court, although the on
practical end to be served Is the vii
dication Of their characters.
- orangeburg special Of Septemb(
20 to the Columbia State: Convict
of manslaughter, Robert ChestnJ
who killed Will r. Sabin on April 2
stood in the prisoners dock at IL.
o'clock today and heard Judge D
Wore pass the sentence of the court
fifteen years at hard labor In th|
state penitentiary or like period OF
the public works of Orangeburg coun
ty. The jury which retired at 4.05
O'Clock yesterday afternoon remained
out all night and at 7.15 o'clock thisv
morning returned verdict Of man
slaughter. Shortly after twelve o'clock
today Judge DeVore directed that
Chestnut be brought into the court
room to receive his sentence. Upon
his arrival Judge DeVore asked IL he
had anything to say. Adam H. Moss
was the first of the defendants attor-
neys to speak for him. He made a
strong plea that the court be light on
the defendant He said the jury was
as light as they could be on Chestnut
under the judges charge. He asked
for mercy for Chestnut for the sake
Of his two little children. The attor-
ney said that Chestnut did what any
other man would have done under the
circumstances. He said there Is no
unwritten law, but jury can find a
verdict and intimate what they think.
William c. Wolfe then spoke, thank
ing the judge for his fairness during
the trial. He stated that Chestnut
was a man that has passed the merid-
ian Of life and that long sentence
would mean life imprisonment. Mr..
Wolfe asked that only such punish
ment be inflicted as would vindicate
the majesty Of the law. Thomas M.
Raysor also added plea for mercy.
Before passing sentence Judge De-
Wore said that the amount Of punish
ment he should inflict upon Chestnut
had given him unusual concern, espe-
cially on account Of the character he
had shown by able men who had tes-
titled. A very intelligent jury, he
said, considered the case very care
fully and had not seen fit to recon-
mend mercy. The Judge said that he
deliberately instructed the jury to
recommend mercy II they desired to
do so, even II they decided upon man
slaughter. He said that according to
his view Of the case IL every bit OF
the testimony had been taken out ex-
cept that Of Chestnut himself the jury
either murder or manslaughter. Judge
DeVore then said: 1T now becomes
my painful duty to pass such q sem
tence upon you as will be In keeping
with all the facts and circumstances
in the case and in view Of the fact
that the jury did not see fit to recon-
mend you to mercy. A human life
is the most precious thing In exis-
tence. The Creator alone can give 1t.
l do not know what might do In the
future, but cannot give as light pun
ishment as counsel ask. The sentence
of the court Is that you be confined In
the state penitentiary at hard labor
for a period of fifteen years or q like
period on the public works of this
county. After you have served that
sentence for some length Of time,
may join in petition to the governor
for your pardon. That Is all can do
for you under my conscientious con-
victions." Chestnut stood trembling as
he heard his fate pronounced, but
otherwise was unmoved. The Chest
nut case mas DecoHie idHipuS III th|S
county. The crime was committed
just before the conyening Of the May
term of the criminal court. The case
was forced to trial. Determined not
to enter into trial at that time the
brilliant array of counsel employed to
defend Chestnut challenged the entire
venire Of jurymen. AS a result Of the
examination of the jury commission
ers as to how they drew the jury,
Judge Prince declared that II was i'm
properly drawn and was illegal. Court
was broken up. The fight has been 9
hard and tedious one, and probably II
is not done with yet.