The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-03-24

constitution, and | know when the
pro s:on prohibiting the holding of
two Offices was incol porated in 1t
no thought was given the trusteesh1F
OF State Colleges as being offices"
You are simp.y obsessed on this mat
ter and you have convinced yourself
tat am breaking the law and, there
fore Governor Manning must be break
ing the law, too. You hIte both Of US
so much that you simply cannot be
just to either, If could talk with
you a while, l could convince you, l
believe,-t though you are very hard
headed and having said "the horse is
sixteen feet high" you will stick to
it or die. You allow your personal
prejudices to becloud your reason al
together and make you blind to every
thing except your own belief and feel
ings.
The main purpose l have in writ
ing you though, is to correct one state
ment you make in particular You
say:
81 have heard him (Blease) speak
of the Helena meeting when your life
was in imminent danger when he car
ried you into his fatherin-law's 5
home''
did not know Blease was in the
crowd. l suspect he was. remember
he was a member of the legislature at
the time and was on the stand. These
are the facts, however:
When Dickert ran up the steps and
slapped Youmans' on the back. shout
ing, Stand up to him, Youmans; am
here" a great commotion arose. My
riends who we're on the stand jumped
to their feet and closed in around me.
Everybody in the crowd seemed to
rush for the stand, expecting a fight.
| will always believe there had been
a conspiracy to kill me that day The
Sheppard men were on the upper side
of the hill and could get on the stand
easily, but the Tillmanites, who were
on the ground on the other three sides,
had to Chamber up by jumping and
catching the top of the banister with
their hands; and it was this climb
ing that broke the stand down. When
the stand fell the men around me
seized hold and elevated me above
their heads in full view of any enemy
who wanted to assassinate me by
shooting. 1 protested and begged to
be put down but they did not heed me.
They went whooping and shouting
around through the tSheppardites. Gus
White led brandishing big walking
stick. He made for the Sheppard ban
ner, crowning rooster which lowered
high above the heads of everybody, and
smashed it to pieces.
AS only two men could carry me,
they grew tired in a little while, and
the shrieking Tillmanites who sur
rounded these two had me carried into:
some mans yard, do not know whose
and put me on the piazza. / told them
l would not make anv speech unles>
Sheppard did and insisted on Delng
carried back to the wrecked stand
where the meeting was held Shep.
pard agreed he would not make any
speech. if L did not. So the meeting
was adjourned.
Blease may have helped them; do
not know. But 1 do know this: He
did notsave my life. The reason was
not shot was. because no man dared
pull pistol or shoot, knowing his
own lie would be Immediately for
feited. If Blease we're an honest man,
he would not claim to have saved my
life" because he knows it is not true.
There were. at least Is or 20 who
surrounded me on the platform when
Dickert ran up the steps, because he
was known to be a very dangerous
man and they thought he intended to
shoot me. If the stand had not fallen
down, do not know what would have
happened. The rumor had gotten
abroad that they expected to kill me
that day, and that is the reason SO
many men from Edgefeld (now Sa
luda), We're at the meeting. Gus
White was my lifelong friend, we
having gone to school together at
Bethany Academy in go and 81.
You speak about my having treated
L;., ro+of,1l,,, A,,- oooI -boodoG