Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-08-17
Sheriff j. T. Plunkett and the
Excited Carolinians.

A
Excited Carolinians.
Sheriff Plunkett is being well COM
mended for his soundness of judg-
ment and his well-directed activity
during the trying times of the past
few days. Jailer, Whittle and the 9TH
er officers stood by their chief splen-
didly. during the turmoil. We refer,
of, course, to the attempt to lynch
two men held in the county Jail.
Richmond county jail, if defended,
is practically impregnable to bodies
of men, having only side arms. No
number of men, using automobiles,
could come into Augusta from South
Carolina oyer the bridges across the
river, if barricades and deputies in
force were placed there to halt them.
But Sheriff Plunkett wanted no
conflict. In transporting the prisoners
out of reach of the avenging Caro-
linians who sought them in the jail
for the purpose of killing them, ne
took the proper course-the wise
course. Every step he has taken in
this matter, beginning with the ar
rest of the murderers even before the
Carolina authorities knew of the
murder, has shown him to be a cour-
ageous and competent discreet of
ficer. Entrusting with the grave duty
Of enforcing the law, and asserting
the law, he has gone about that duty
in splendid way, and has proved that,
in the emergencies which so often
come into the official life of a sher-
if, he is a man to be trusted; and an
officer upon whom to depend.
The Chronicle is pleased,to find the
following reference to Sheriff Plum
kett in the Atlanta Constitution of
Friday under the captain of ga Mod
-el Sheriff"
The case with which Sheriff Plum
kett of Richmond county outwitted
a mob of vengeful South Carolinians
yesterday morning, and thereby. saved
the lives of two prisoners who were
in his keeping, only goes to show
what a faithful officer can do under
such circumstances if he has back
bone and uses, his head.
According to the new version of
the case, two men were arrested and
lodged in Jail in Augusta, charged
with a murder committed in. South
Carolina.
"Rumors reached Sheriff Plunkett
during the early part of Wednesday
night that a mob had been formed in
South Carolina and was headed to-
ward Augusta bent upon lynching the
prisoners.
GIN the course of a few hours those
rumors were verified by the appear
ance of more than 100 masked and
heavily armed men in automobiles,
who made a careful search of the
county stockade and of the
jail; but the sheriff had quietly whisk-
ed their intended victims away to the
safety of a Jail in a distant county.
"The chances are that with the
cooling of it's anger the mob lost
much of it's original lust for blood,
and the law in this case will now be
allowed to take its course without
further molestation.
"But had it not been for the fact
that Sheriff Plunkett, of Richmond,
proved himself to be a fearless man
of nerve and resourcefulness, Geor-
gia's already shameful record of
lynchings might have been increased
by two-and by the act of a band of
citizens from a neighboring
Georgia needs more sheriffs like
Plunkett-sheriffs with a high con-
ception Of their duty, and nerve and
ingenuity and wit enough to meet
the emergencies that are likely at
any moment to confront any officer
of the law."-Augusta Chronicle.