The weekly soliphone., 1915-08-06
BY H. M. JACKSON.


1t seems to be an inexorable law
of the Supreme Director of human
destinies that we must pay a price
for every good thing we get; that
a toll is exacted of progress just
as a penalty is placed upon stag
nation that the process of purifica-
ton is accompanied by pain; that
in sorrow we are often consecrated
and sanctified and made a fit tenn
pie for the indwelling of the spirit
that has lifted the human family
from the low ideals of the savage
and tribesman to the glorious es-
tate of twentieth century civiliza-
ton.
Throughout all the annals of
Time blood has been the symbol of
sacrifice-the one offering that
appeased the Fates and quenched
the fury of their fires.
Martyrdom is the highest express
sion of human service in any cause.
and for this reason the world takes
off its hat and bows it's head in
silent tribute to the man who Of
fers his life in the discharge of a
public trust or in the propagation
of a worthy pursuit.
The people of Mississippi county
feel that their slain sheriff, Sam
B. Mauldin, was a martyr to law
enforcement; that his tragic death
at the hands of a negro dive keep
er, while shocking and sorrowful,
is nevertheless the penalty eXactcd
by Fate for the publication of con-
ditions in that crime-ridden and
almost bankrupt county. Nothing
less than the offering up of Il
brave and blameless life upon the
altar of Duty would have produced
such a widespread and determined
revolt against a state of affairs that
was becoming intolerable.
A Vicarious
Sacrifice.
Whether Bert Spring, the motor
ious negro who killed Sam Maui
din, or Andy Crum, the crafty and
INSCRIPTIONS white man who in
spired the murder, are adequately
punished for their crime, or wheth-
err by some legal technicality they
escape the wrath of the law, are
issues for the determination of the
criminal courts and it can be safe
Iy assumed those charged with the
responsibilities of administering
Justice to the murderers of Maui
din will exercise vigilance and vigoT
in netting out punishment. But
aside from the consideration OF
imposing punishment upon the de-
generates who perpetrated this foul
crime and who for years have man
ifested a bold and fragrant def
ance toward the law, it may be
said in all truth that the tragic
death of Sam Mauldin-a man who
was respected, loved and honored
by his peoples perhaps the vi
carious sacrifice made to the fates
to bring about better moral con
ditions in Mississippi county.
Had Premonition
Of Death.
A peculiar and almost pathetic
feature of the bloody climax that
ended the earthly career of Maui
din is the fact that he had strong
presentiment that he would meet
death in the raid on Island No
81. He had been in many perilous
situations, had been the target fol
unfriendly bullets, had been forced
to use powder and ball to protect
his life from assaults, had faced
danger without fear or flinching
but on this particular occasion the
unseen powers warned him that he
was marked for slaughter. So con
yincing and overwhelming became
this presentiment, so powerless was
he to change the course of forth
coming events, that he spent some
time on Friday morning before the
raid that night in conference with
w. D. Gravette, his attorney and
bosom friend, advising him of his
business affairs and directing the
disposition of his estate. He told
Gravette he felt he would be killed
that he was about to embark upon
a desperate undertaking and that
something told him he would not
return alive. All day Friday he
was morose, non-communicatlve
absorbed in deep study. His usua
happy smile gave place to a serious