Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-01-02
CASE OF MiLus pARrLow.

The outlook is that while Minus
.Partlow may spend some years on the
public roads Of North Carolina, he will
never be tried for the eAdiabolical at
tempt to wreck the Carolina and
Northwestern railways passenger
the morning of September 10, and all
because the Charlotte police officials
will not give him up except upon the
payment Of a reward to which they
are not entitled. ..
From a statement in the Charlotte
Observer of Saturday, 1t appears that
1t Is the disposition over In Charlotte
to attribute the peculiar situation OF
which Partlow Is getting the benefit to
the alleged dog in the manger policy
Of Constable Horace Johnson, OF
York county; but that version will
not be accepted by reasonable people
when they are unacquanted with the
facts. And because common justice
requires the publication Of the facts,
we give them herewith.
With the circumstances Of the at
tempted wreck Of the c. &. N.-W.'s
No. 10, and the perilous position in
which train load of passengers was
placed for few moments, the read
ers of The Enquirer are familiar. This
1t was The Enquirer also which first
published information Of the fact that
Milus Partlow was suspected Of hav-
ing loosed plate bar, on the trestle,
his object being to collect insurance
on the lives of his two boys and make
cause for a damage suit against the
railroad company.
AS to how The Enquirer got the in
formation that Milus was suspected
and why, does not matter. 1t came
from Mr.. S. n. Johnson and his son,
Constable Horace Johnson; but was
not intended for The Enquirer AS a
matter Of fact they were not ready to
give the information out, and The
Enquirer kept quiet on 1t for more
than a week before publishing any
thing. 1t would have held the infor-
nation back longer; but 1t appeared
that others were about to get hold OF
1T. and The Enquirer did not care to
be beaten. Constable Johnson was
not ready for the publication when 1t
did come, and although he was un-
able to find any fault with the accu-
racy of the story as published, he
came to express regret, because Mi
lus Partlow himself who had not yet
been arrested was a subscriber to The
Enquirer and Mr.. Johnson was, not
ready to have Milus know how much
was known about him. Another thing
was that the Messrs. Johnson were
still working up testimony from vari-
Gus sources that would be closed by
premature publication.
Largely as the result Of the previ-
Gus Investigations Of Messrs. Johnson,
the G.. &. NV. railroad authorities
were induced to offer a reward Of
$3.50 for the ARREST and conviction OF
Milus Partlow" Mr.. Horace Johnson
this reward, and on his own account
he offered $50 simply for the negro's
arrest. Feeling sure of his ground on
the strength Of the evidence he had
previously collected, he made no hesi-
tation in offering the $50 to get pos
session Of the negro.
In addition to offering the reward
Mr.. S. y. Johnson and Constable
Johnson were hot on the trail Of MI
lus all the while. They had gotten sew
eral correct clues as to his probable
whereabouts; but had been unable to
nab him. They were hot upon the
trail Of the negro even at the time OF
his arrest, and they felt sure then that
his capture was only matter of a
week or two. In that, of course, they
may have been mistaken.
How Partlow was followed to Char
lotte as the thief who stole Mr.. Hopes
team, and how he was subsequently
identified as his own self has already
been told If Magistrate T. B. Glenn
who followed the negro to Charlotte,
paid the arrest charges and got pos
session of him had only brought him
on back to Yorkville maybe a good
deal of trouble would have been saw
ed But under the circumstances Mr..
Glenn Is not to be criticised. So far
as practical results are concerned 1t
was eminently more important that
the negro be tried on the charge of
to wreck the train than
upon a simple charge Of breaking and
entering and that Magistrate Glenn
should have Informed the North Car
olina authorities seems quite natural.
He is not to be blamed.
In pursuance of their promises the
Messrs. Johnson went over to Char
lotte last week and offered the police
there $50 for the possession Of Milus.
This was the reward that Constable
Johnson had offered. But the Char
lotte police turned up their noses at
the little $50 as payment In full; they
wanted a guarantee also that they
should have a good divide of the re-