The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1922-09-28
.etechue Works
on WHhan1sCase

Irving w. Williams, son or j. II. VIII
liams, 610 Moore avenue, Augusta,
Ca, suspected of and charged with
being the driver of the red wheeled
automobile which took the alleged
assassins of Reedy Booth and P. NJ.
Feaster, youthful guards, murdered
near the Hamburg shops of the Sou
thern in Aiken county, on the morn
ing of August 80, 1922, to and from
the scene of the killing, was the re-
suit of an unearthing of clues by a
detective connected with the law and
order staff of Governor Wilson G..
Harvey-a detective who las been
connected with some of the biggest
operatives in the country in ferret
ing out great crimes.
AS sequence to this officers in
vestigations there was unearthed the
whipping, on the identical spot, flf-
teen days previous to the killing, OF
an officer of the Southern railway, e"
w. Thomas, general foreman of the
shops at Hamburg, by a masked Dand
of six men. In this connection, ).
Martin, Vergil Thomas, Fred Thom-
as and Budd Englett were arrested
for the assault and were placed under
1000 bands each. All are residents
of Augusta, Ca, according to the
statement of the detective.
At the solicitation of Solicitor r..
L. Gunter and many citizens of Aiken,
including many mill operatives, Gov
rernor Harvey sent his detectives to the
scene of the murder of Booth and
Feaster, and this officer worked with
such success and secrecy that addi-
tional arrests in connection with the
killing are expected within the next
few days.
Irving Williams was arrested and
brought to the penitentiary at IL
O'Clock on the night of September o.
three days after the detective had
been OF, the case, and Williams, who
is II years of age, was admitted to
s1,500 bail by Judge Hayne 4. Rice
Yesterday at Aiken, on habeas cor
pus proceedings.
Shot Down August 80.
Reedy Booth and P. NJ. Feasaer
both were shot down in the public
road about 200 yards from the Ham
burg shops at 5 o'clock on the morn
ing of August 80, Feaster being in>
stantly killed and Booth. being NOR
tally wounded, and dying in about
nhree hours. They were shot with re-
yolyer and rifle bullets and buckshot.
AT the spot where the bodies were
found were strewn around exploded
rifle and revolver shells, the maya
zine of an automatic pistol, three
dirty handkerchiefs, two of them with
the initials of the owners on them,
supposed by the state to have been
used as masks, and pieces OF one
ouarter-inch and one-inch thick hemp
rope.
The supposition of the state is that
Booth and Feaster were decoyed into
the road for the purpose of being
whipped with the thick rope, and
when they resisted they were shot
down. It is believed that Feaster fir
ed two shots before the assailants OF
the murdered men opened fire.
Governor Harvey's detective, spurr-
ed on by the chief executives law
enforcement programme, has worked
up a network of evidence on which
young Williams is being charged with
participation in the crime.
when I was ordered on the case,
said the detective this morning in
the governors Office, discussing the
case on authority of Governor Harvey,
'I did not have a thing to go on.
When I went to Hamburg the first
thing 1 considered was the motive.
found that both Booth and Feaster
were morally clean and aught could
be said against them. 1, therefore
at once dismissed the element OF
jealousy. After some work I got a
line on Williams and incidentally ran
into the whipping Of Mr.. Thomas,
which had been smothered.
The detective said that the propos-
ed statement of Williams, as given
at the coroner's investigation of the
double murder, did not tally with ohe
facts as established by him. The
father of young Williams, J. H. Will
liams, was striker, while the son
worked at the Southern shops as
fue blower and was, therefore, not
ordered out on strike. On the night
on