The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1912-08-07
GRACE REPEATS CHARGES.
He Says He Is now in the State and
not Afraid of any Of Biease's "Thugs
or Assassins.o

Grace last night at Glenn Springs, ho-
tel, after reading the reply of Blease
dictated to a reporter for the Journal
another statement, which appears to-
day here.
The statement consists largely of
further arguments to show that Grace
is the man who is telling the truth
and he assails Blease in terms even
stronger than those in his first state
ment.
He takes up each special phase of
the controversy and throws much new
light in the situation
Grace said that he had proven
things about Blease worse than
those which Fielder accuses Blease of
doing. But he says, Blease does not
want to get him, as he does Fielder. He
says he is always in South Carolina
and is not afraid of the governor or
his thugs and assassins, who are his
boon companions" But here is the
complete statements
The Statement of Grace.
am somewhat in doubt as to
whether or not / should take any
verbal notice of Bleases reply to my
charges and am strongly inclined not
to do so. | only do so because, on
the whole, | think it better to keep
the record straight
With his usual stiffness, he seizes
upon some comparatively irrelevant
part of my statement. misinterDretes
q
that | have said something which is
not true, just as in his long statement
IN reply to the Investigating commit
tees work he gave out an afidavit
| from j. S. Farnum and others upon
secondary matters and resorted to
what lawyers term special pleading ,
For instance, he got Farnum to make
an affidavit that he had not contri-
Duted any money to Blease's cam
Daign, as | recollect the exact Ian
guage, for the purpose of buying
votes in Charleston County or else
where"
II don't suppose Farnum did give
to his campaign coupled with the
provision that it was to buy votes,
but | happen o know of my own
personal knowledge that Farnum
gave Il substantial contribution to his
CharleSiHn committee and at the time
stared that he would give more but
that he had already contributed huge
amounts to his state campaign.
do not believe that he can get anv
afidavit from Farnum DENYING this
statement; but, if he should, | would
be In position to prove at least the
rrst part Of it-that Farnum did give
substantial amount to his Charles
ton campaign
And so it is now. Anybody who
VIII read my interview will at once
see that | in no place accused Blease
OF being present and taking part i'm
what | termed the carouse at Wright's
Hotel the night before the inaugura-
tion, so that it was not necessary for
MIN to go to the trouble of getting
atlidavits from Mr.. Wright and Dr.
Houseal. They are both telling the
truth, If their afIidavits are both
confined to statements that Blease was
not in the gang that night.
What He Did Say.
But what | did say was this:
AS read this letter | recalled a
scene at Wright's Hotel the night be-
fore his inauguration. I'll was the first
real insight had ever had into
Blease and the atmosphere i'm which
he moved And | think | can say
that without exception, 1t is about
the nastiest recollection of my life.
1t was grand carouse, and / re-
member that Hub Evans said to me:
John, | am going to call on you
some day, because, he said, You're
Just the man | want He then went
at length into his approval of the
way In which / had won the Morde~
| cai-ONeill VIII case, which was at
that time stirring through the news
papers
The account which | have seen
or Bleases denial does not contain
these affidavits and I therefore do not
know what DR.. Houseal and Mr..
Wright have said. hope they have
not said, however, that there was not
a scaturnalian scene at the hotel that
night. Indeed, 1t was worse than a
carouse, 1t was an orgie, and was
SO utterly disgusted with 1t that when
i got back home told my intimate
friends how loathsome 1t was to me.
Examined His Stomach.
"Blease was said to have beon too
sick that night and | have no reason
to doubt that he was, because the
next day-"his inaugural day-he sent
for me to come to his room and /
found him in bed. apparently suffering
very much, with his doctor examining
him every few moments, particularly
In the region OF his stomach men
tion this only as a little incident to