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THE MARCH TERM GENERAL SESSIONS Convenes In Court Room of New Building. HEAVY DOCKET TO BE CLEARED Judge Scuse Makes a Forceful Charge to Grand Jury I'rglng Increased Ed* ueational Facilities, Better Bonds and Justice to all (Masses Coming Before the Court. Though the entire building is not completed, the March term of the Court of General Sessions convened in the new court room Monday morn ing. The contractors made a rush during the latter part of last week and, by great effort, were able to turn the beautiful new court room over to the officials in an almost completed state. Only a few finishing touches re main to be made in that part of the building. The court organized promptly with Judge T. S. Sease, of Spartanbu: g, on the bench, Solicitor Cooper and the county officers at their accustomed places and Stenographer .lohn K. Aull of Newborry, at his desk. Several ad ditional petit jurors were drawn to fill out the places made vacant by those of the regular venire? who were unable to attend. Judge Sease, in his charge* to the grand jury for the Incoming year, took occasion to make some very point ed and forceful remarks. He stated to them that, outside of their duties of acting upon the bills placed be fore them by the solicitor, they had other duties to perform. He stated that the court was organized to ad minister justice by punishing those that are guilty and clearing those that arc innocent. He said that the court was ns much a refuge for the weak and Innocent as It should be a terror to the criminals. He said that the grand jury was not only to act upon ea?es brought to their attention, through the indictments handed them by the solicitor, but that where they were cognizant of law breaking, and no individuals had special cause to *fe take out warrants in order to put a W ?top to the evil, then It was the duty of the grand jury to take action it self and have the proper warrants taken out and the guilty persons pros ecuted. In connection with that part of his charge which dealt with the duties of the grand jury with reference to the county officers and the county money. Judge Sease laid special stress upon the needs of education in this state. Ho said that the grand jury should make a thorough investigation into the hooks of the superintendent of edu cation to see that the money ullovyed him was being properly applied, that they should Investigate the work of the county school trustees to see if they were doing right by the schools and that they were employing teach ers with more regard for worth than for relationship to Influential mem bers-of the community and that they should do all in their power to en courage the education of the youth of the county in every way. He said that the superintendent of education should be a man selected for his fit ness for the place, although, he Bald, that to get a competent man to take such a position it would be necessary for some one to take it at a sacrifice to himself, for the "pitiful" salary paid was not large enough to command a man of the right calibre. Judge Sease stated that ho was in favor of a com pulsory education law, that if the whole people are educated that the law will bo enforced and If they are not educated that It will be trampled upon. If the people were throughly educated, be said, the criminals would have been long suppressed. Continuing upon tho work of the ?fcrand Jury as it applied to other coun ty officers, be stated that their books and works should bo given as close attention as those of the superintend ent of education. The supervisor, through whose hands the largest sums of money pass, should have his books thoroughly examined. In connection with the discussion of the examina tion of tho supervisor, Judge Sease urged that tho county take steps to get bettor roads. Though, he said, the supervisor was In all probability do ing all that^he could with the money allowed him, he did not have enough at Iiis command to make any perma nent Improvements. The work, being as it is only temporary, was almost a total loss. He urged that the county bond Itself for three or four hundred thousand dollars, pay a part of it during the present generation and let tho future generations pay the re mainder. This would entail an out lay of about $10,000 a year and he was sure that If once the work was done that the voters would never regret it. Turning to the docket for this term, Judge Sease stated that the unusual ly large number of cases was not a sign of increasing crime In the coun ty. Knowing Laurens county, as be did, he was sure that the larger num ber of them were committed^ by ne groes. The poor criminal record of this state was due, he said, to the crimes committed by the negroes. Hut lie said very forcefully, the negroes should be given a fair trial In every case brought before the bar of judg ment. He said he was glad to state that in some counties the white peo ple are giving the negroes just and fair trials In the courts. The negroes are not allowed to sit on the grand juries or the petit juries and are, in a way. the wards of the white popula tion and it would be a badge of in feriority rather , than superiority if they were denied justice. Referring to the new court house. Judge Sease complemented the coun ty very highly. 11c said he hoped that proper care would be taken of it. He Qtnted very explicitly that spitting upon the floors should not be '.allowed, for the lloor of the court house should be kept as clean as the lloor oj the most beautiful parlor. Judge Sease instructed the jury up on the special cases before them and dismissed them to their room. Tho following cases have been be fore the court: John Hoyd and Sam Pinson: As salt, and Hat. with Int. to kill and carrying concealed weapons; guilty of Assalt. and Hat. of high and ag gravated nature. John Hoyd guilty of carrying concealed weapons. .Marshall Vaughn: Asslt. and Hat. with Int. to kill; guilty of Asslt. and Hat. of high and aggravated nature. T. Otts Garrett: forgery; jury in the room. Haskell McHanlell and Charlie Ful ler: violation of dispensary law; not guilty as to llaskeit Mc Dan lei and guilty as to Charlie Fuller. James K.igene Davenport: murder, trial set for Friday. Sam Wise: Asslt. and Hat. Int. to kill; verdict of guilty ordered by the court. G. S. Robinson: murder; trial set for Friday morning. (!. S. Wham: Asslt. and Hat. with Int. to kill; jury still in room. Geo. Wilson: carrying burglar's tools; plead guilty. Amos Arnold: house breaking and larceny; plead guilty. Wright Fuller and Jim Hill: high way robbery; case now on trial. The regular venire and the extra venire of eight men having been ex hausted. Judge Sease ordered the sheriff to secure 21 more for today's court. The court will last only during this week. PHIZES KOK LITTLK HI HI S. S. SI. & K. II. Wllkes & Company Are Offering Three Prizes for the Little Folks of Laurens. As will be seen elsewhere in The Advertiser, the firm of S. M. & K. II. Wilkes have offered three very attrac tive prizes to the little girls of Lau rens and vicinity under 1-1 years of age. The prizes will bo given to the three girls who color a picture most artistically and most neatly. The pic ture will be furnished by them. The first prize is a Hucks Junior Hange, second prize a mahogany desk, and third prize a Rattan Hocker. To Inspect Premises. Chief Crews has received a letter from Insurance Commissioner McMas ter stating that he has at his disposal a small fund to employ an Inspector In each of the Important towns of the state for the purpose of making In spection of premises so as to decrease the fire waste if possible. Services at Bethany. There will be services at the Beth* any Presbyterian church next Sunday at 11 o'clock. The services will be held In behalf of the Endowment Fund now being raised for the Presbyterian Colleges of South Carolin:-. Rev. .7. F. Jacobs of Clinton will preach the serman. U. S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Secretary Washington, D. C, March 2, 1912. WARNING! Tho Southern Pine Beetle killed an enormous amount of pine throughout the South last summer and measures for its control are being carried on by a large number of' timber owners, in the South. It will, in all probability, kill much more pine this summer in localities where measures are not beiiiK taken for its control. There are no beetles in the dead trees from which the needles have fallen. The beetles are now spending the winter in the bark of the dying trees from which the needles have not yet fallen. This bark must be destroyed by: Burning as cord wood, or Sawing up the trees as lumber and burning the slabs with the bark on, or Stripping the bark from the main trunks of the trees and burning it. Tops and laywood may be disregarded. The work should be completed before May 1st, unless other wise recommended. DO IT NOW AND SAVE TBK PINE. MR. T. F. SIMPSON PASSES TO BEYOND Longtime Resident of This City and a Faithful Employee of the C. &? W.'C. Hy. Alter a lingering illness of several month:, following several years' de cline In health, Mr. T. Foster Simp son, one of the city's best known citi zens died at his home here Thursday night at nine o'clock. His death had been expected for some time, so al though it was a source of great be reavement to his family and friends, they were all prepared for the end. Since early in life, with the excep tion of a very short period. Mr. Simp son had been in the employ of the railroads entering the city, having acted as agent at the foright depot for about twenty years. A few months before Iiis death, when it was seen that his health was falling him, the railroad retired him at full salary in recognition of his faithful services. The funeral services were held Sat urday morning at the Laurens ceme tery% Rev. ('. F. Rankin conducting ?hem. The honorary pallbearers were: II. Y. Simpson, .1. W. Todd. J. W. Ferguson, W. L. Hoyd. Jno. N. Wright. The active ball bearers were: | P. A. Simpson, li. K. Alken, E. H. Wilkes. R. Fleming Jones, B. P. Win ter. I, ' Blackwell and \V. C. Irby, Jr. Mr. Simpson is survived by his wife, who Is a sister of Gen. Mgr. Anderson of the C. &? W. ('. Ry.. and the follow ing Children: Messrs. William Wells, Charles and Richard and Misses Elizabeth and Virginia. Hesides these he has a large circle of More distant rolal Ives. MEETING OF FA It ME Its. Hon. E. W. Dnbbs, President of the State Farmers Union, will Address Mass Meeting Thursday. Mr. 0. P. Goodwin has announced that a public mass .meeting of farmers and others interested will be held at the court house Thursday in the Inter est of the movement for cotton reduc tion. Hon. E. W. Dabbs, of Sumter, will be present and will make an ad dress. The public generally is Invited and requested to be present. Mr. Caldwell Ue-Elected. Mr. J. T. Crews spent Monday In Co lumbia where he went to attend a meeting of the board of directors of the Old Soldiers Home. It will lie pleasing news to the friends of Mr. J. P. Caldwell to know that he was re-elected commandant of tho home. Dr. Frank Butler wan elected physi cian and also to take a place on On board. For State Trcusurer. D, W. Mcl.aurln, for many years state land agent, has announced that he would be In the race for the office of state treasurer, to succeed ('apt. R. H. Jennings, who has stated that lie would not run. Mr. McHaurin is an uncle of Mr. I). ('. Mcl.aurln, of this city, and is a Confederate veteran. For six years ho. was a member of the general assembly, representing Marion county. NEt.HO HOY KILLED. <'<111LT11f in Shafting n( Hu Lnurcus il Mill ami Receives Wounds from + hiHi He Later Died. John Watson, a negro boy employed at the I.aureus Oil Mill, met dentil yes terday by getting entangled in some Of the shafting. His le^s were cut off and ills body was otherwise man gled. He only lived a short time af ter the accident. An inquiry was made at the office of the company yesterday, but they were unable to give ffhy circumstances Surrounding the accident. It is gen erally supposed that in the general rounds of his work, he became en tailed in some of the belting and was unable to extricate himself. <;cttinir Along Fine. Hate yesterday afternoon young Frank Armstrong, an account of whose accident is found in the school column of this paper, was getting along fine according to reports from the bedside. Although at first it was thought that the wounds would prove serious, the doctors succeeded in sav ing the wounded arm and in extlad ing the shots from the body, placing the young fellow in a fair way to re covery. Estimable Woman Dead. Mrs. l.ou Fowler, step-mother of the late M. I!. Fowler, died at the home Of Mrs. M. II. Fowler Monday after noon. Mrs. Fowler was 71 years of ago, having made her homo here for many years. She wns a devout Chris tian woman and greatly liked by all who knew her. The funeral servic es were held yesterday morning, Rev. W. B. Thayer, her pastor, conducting the services. The following gentlemen acted as pall bearers: Messrs. .1. ('. Owings, .1. A. ('lardy, N'ye Owens. P. A. Simpson, IV H. founts and ('. B. Hobo. Moved into New Quarters. Messrs. OwlngB OWlngS and Hun ter & Hunter have moved their stocks of goods back into the building they occupied before the big fire. The building has been rebuilt, cleaned and painted up and now makes a much bet 1 ter appearance than before the fire. ! These two firms have been very much cramped in small stores since the fire and it lias been a very hard matter to take care of their large trade, but they are now prepared to take care of all their customers. J| LAUKENS RESPONDS TO CALL J| .? Yesterday afternoon, after <? ') two days of canvassing In the ',', ; ; Interest of the $200,000 endow- J J ? > ment fund for the Presbyterian ?> ) \ Institutions in South Carolina, ') ] ? Hie members of that denomina- J J < > tlon In this city had subscribed ? ? ',', $.V>L">. Their apportionment is ',', j1 $-V>00 so it is confidently ex- J J ? * pected that the total amount will ? ? !be secured. .. ]J The first day's canvas in the [| entire Presbytery brought pro- ?? IS mines of $IM,BU of a total up- !S \portion ment of $55.000? !', t RESOLUTIONS PASSED ON "LOW POLITICS" From Reports Received at the Meet* in- of Equalization Hoard, Rep. Willis *?Put One Over" the Other Motu hers* A meeting of the newly appointed county board of equalization was hold in the office of the county nuditor last week for the purpose of reorganiza tion. Mr. lt. 1?. Adah; was re-elected chairman of the board. Mr. J. Waddy Thompson Is ex-offlclo chairman. An other meeting will be hold tho fourth Tuesday in March, at which time re ports will be made on the township assessments. It deveolped at the meeting or some time before the meeting, that one of last year's members of the hoard and one of the most highly respected cit izens of the county had been appar ently spitefully left off the member ship through activities of some mem ber of the county legislative delega tion, it appears from resolutions passed at the mooting, and which are published below, that Col. .1. II. Whar ton has stated that he recommended tho appointment of some other mem ber from Mr. Curry's township at the instance of Representative Archie Wil lis, Col. Wharton stating that Mr. Wil lis having deceived him by saying thai Mr. Curry no longer desired to he a member of the board. It will be seen by the resolution that Col. Wharton is requested to use bis good otllccs with tho governor in the effort to have Mr. Curry reinstated. The resolutions are as follows: Whereas, information has reach ed this Hoard that one of our mem bers, Mr. W. Collier Curry, was dis placed from tho Hoard of Equalization for Dial Township through misrepre sentation and malice on the part of one .1. Archie Willis, member of the House of Representatives from I.au rens county, formerly of Spartanburg county, Greenville county, Anderson county, and now of the state of Florida ?nnd Whereas, Senator .1. II. Wharton was deceived by these misrepresentations of said Willis into recommending to the State Senate another person in the place of Mr. Curry. Therefore Resolved ist: That we repudiate and resent such unfair and low poli tics against one of our most competent members, and we respectfully ask our worthy Senator to explain the situa tion to the governor and lo further ask that Mr. Curry he re-commission - etl by Gov. Hlonse. Resolved 2nd: Thai our County Hoard respectfully ask the Govcnor to Ignore the rocommendiif'on of the j Semite, under such circumstances as we have mentioned, and that he re commlssiou Mr. Curry as a member of the Hoard of Equalization lor said township, who by virtue of Iiis posi tion on that Hoard is also a monibc of the County Hoard, it is requested that these rosolu lions he published in the county pa pers. R. IV Adnir, Chairman, .1. D. W. Watts. Laurcns. w. II. Drummond, Votings, Virgil A. White. Dial. Jas. T. Machen, Sullivan, c. Marlon Moore, Waterloo. Geo. M. Ilannn, Cross Hill. K. H. Copcland, .lacks. A. V. Thompson. Scullletown. Grand Opening, The big Piercing Arrow Sale now on at .1. E. Minter K- Hro.. is consid ered by Mr. Minter as, so far. tIn most successful sale that tiny have ever held. The store has been crowd ed every day of the. stile and they ex pect :i continuation of the line trade. An Easier Cantata. The Eaurens Choral Society has do Clded to give another cantata. "King of Israel" haft been selected to be given this time and several practiced have already been held. The princi pal parts will be taken by several of I those who took prominent parts In "Saul" a few weeks ago. The cantata will be sung some time just before or after Easter. Lnnrens Boys Trimmed. The first "slaughter" of the season, baseballlcally speaking, took place on the Trlnlty-Rldge premises Saturday afternoon, when the horsehldo pro ducers from the Laurcns city school went out nnd down to the tune of 2.". to 3. The town boys played pretty fail ball, it Is said, but some how or other they couldn't make any runs or keep the other side from making them Another game will be played ns soon as the weather permits. INTERESTING ITEMS EROM THE COUNTY News Letters From Many Sections. CORRESPONDENTS GIVE LOCAL NEWS Happen in:", of Interest to Many Poo ple all over the County ami to Those Who Have Left the Family Hearth stone and gone to Other States. Cross Hill. March IL- A notice in an Atlanta paper says that "The twentieth annlvorsnry of the Psl Omega Dental fraternity was celebrat ed by the Tan and Gamma iota chap ter with a banquet at the Georgian Terrace last Friday night. Dr. \V. L. Nance of Cross Hill was one of the speakers. Ills subject was Fraternal ism? its Meaning ami Influence. Dr. Nance is a son of Mr. It. I). Nance of Cross Hill. He will graduate at the Southern Dental College in May. Karl .lausen-llumnrlst ami Knlor tniner will i>" the noxi lyceuin attrac tion here on March 28th. Patrons of the school here gave an oyster supper last Wednesday evening at the home of Mr. II. It. Austin. Pro ceeds to help put in a system of mod ern lIghts sei,.. -I building. Mrs. Dr. K. \V. Plnsoii came over from Chester Saturday. She says the doctor is getting ahum fairly well, ban had a cold this week. Mr. W ill Collins of Coronaca was a Cross Hill visitor Saturday. Mrs. Dock Hill of Clinton, visited relatives here last Friday and Satur day. Mr. W. M. Miller went to the hospital in Cluster last Monday and a sus picious tumor on his neck removed. He Came home Wednesday and Is getting along alright. Rev. Mr. Ilanoy of llnrtsvillo, s. C. conducted service at the Presby terian church Sunday afternoon and evening. Mr. Ilanoy presented the cause of education at the afternoon service and preac hed a line sermon at. the evening service. Rev. Ml'. LnilgSton i' expected t(i carry on a meeting here at the Hap list ChUI'Cll this wee);. Mr. John Plnson, who live: a few mile- from town has been qluto -ich for several days. Mr. Plnson is 87 years old and has been quite strong and enjoyed good health until re cently. Mrs. Alma Penney is visiting her mother Mrs. W, It. Fuller. Mrs. N. K. Iloyeo went to Clinton Saturday to visit lor daughter Mrs. Sam Tpdd w ho is quite ill. Miss Kate Austin spent Saturday and Sunday with her parent Mr. ami Mrs. R. A. Austin. Miss Mary Martin, teacher at Mount ville. spent Sunday with her sister, Mrs. I.. F. McSwain. Miss Helen VnUghn m visiting her aunt Mis. S. W. Lowe, Mr. G, W. Taylor of Greenville wa'si I the guest Saturday and Sunday (if Mr. and Mis. It A. Austin Princeton, S ('.. March II. Mr. and ' Mrs. Allen Sullivan are visiting Mrs. [Sullivan's parents, ('apt. and Mrs. J. II, Humbert. Prof. G. Ki WelbOrn mad'' a pb am visit to friends near Green villa Sunday. Mr. Jas. T. Machen spciii la i week very pleasantly in Lauren; with friends and relative: Mr. Sloan Bagwell wont to Greon ville Sunday to attend the oratorical contest Monday night. Miss Lucy Payden has. returned t<> her home at Gray Court, after a sue cessful term taught at Ferndalo, Mr. Jas. T. Mnhon and son. Chnrl ton, spent several days last week with relatives In Grecnvlilo, The first ball game of the season was played Friday afternoon between the Mgh school boys and the regular Princeton team. The score stood 16 to 10 in favor of the town boys. Rabun, March II. -It has cleared off, now If It will stay awhile and I'm sure the people arc- glad especially the farmers as they are anxious to begin work on their farms. Miss Kdna Owens spent several days last week with her sister, Mrs. Claude Wasson of Friendship com-. (Continued on Page Four.)