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ciume^ The FulTT ** i «hir Mkw- WETHER ARSON. INTERVIEWS WEJUl TU£ PRINCIPALS IN THE DIFfoULTY—HOW THE PLOT WA8 FORMED AND CARRIED OUT— THE ItfPLfCA'ftrm OF THE tWClHAM imoTHERS—A CLEAR CASE AGAINST 4.. ‘ i ’ FERGUSES* Special to the Constitution. Greenville, Ga», November 29.— The readers of the Constitution have been made acquainted with the recent robbery of Alexander Blandenburg, an old citizen living in the northern part of Meriwether county, The following arc the facts in the case, as gathered from the Ups of the perpe¬ trators of the crime. Never has anything created such an intense sensation in Meriwether, and the cauldron of public opinion boiled furiously, when it was known that Messrs. John and James Ingram, two of the most prosperous and intelli¬ gent young men in the county, had been arrested as accessories to the crime. These two young men, now under a bond of $750 for their appear¬ ance at the next term of court, Taave lived in Meriwether county for a number of years and have always borne the unquestionable reputation of being quiet, law-abiding citizens. Being the possessors of a large plan¬ tation, together with valuable real estate in the city of Griffin, they have always had the control of plenty of money. For this reason, together with their hitherto ‘good character/ the people are loath to believe that they are connected with the affair in any way. Last Thursday evening, accompan¬ ied by Sheriff Moffet, your corres¬ pondent took up a line of inarch for county jail where John 7\ Furgeson and Henry Ingram, colored, better known as ‘Cub,’ are confined. As seen through the bars, John T, Furgcson, tiie alleged robber, is a man of pleasant face and fine proportions^ of a dark complexion, with slight mustache, keen devilish black eyes and eas}' manner. On asking him to tell about the Dlandonbnrg rob¬ bery, be replied, ‘I have told ajj 1 know/ ‘But we would like to have it again/ ‘Wai, I haye.no objections if y ou will put down exactly what 1 say and nothing else.’ After assuring him, he propped himself against the wall, took a chew of tobacco and began c ‘I am twenty three years old, have lived in Meriwether county three or four years, living with John Ingram two years. I also lived with old Blandenburg six months. I got along peaceably with John Ing!am and always thought a heap of him. I didn’t like old Blandenburg much, but he had a heap of confidence in urn. He went off to Alabama once and left the keys and everything iu piy hands/ ‘Were you living with Mr. Blanden¬ burg at the lime of the robbery?’ ‘NojI was living with John Ingram/ ‘What first induced you to rob Mr. Blandenburg’s house?' .‘Wal, I knew the old cod had a heap of gold laid away and I thought I might as well have some of it as anybody else/ ‘Did you know where he kept his gold?’ ‘Not exactly. But he had an old trunk in the house and I thought lie bad it in that. I had seen him get money out of it a good many times/ ‘You had been thinking of this thing for some time, had you?’ ‘Yes, I and John and Jim and Cub Ingram had beeu laughing and talking about it all the time. But we uever arranged things till about two weeks before we robbed him/ ‘What was your object in burning the out house? Why didn't you burn the dwelling?’ ‘Well, you see, all we wanted to do was to scare the old folks and make them run out of the house so we could go in and get the money without being bothered. A11 we wanted was money.’ HOW IT WAS ARRANGED. .‘How did you arrange the robbery? Fou say you had it all fixed up two wecjks before hand?’ i B'ell, I vas to leave the neighbor- hood like 7 was going to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to live. You see, this was to make them think that I was not in the neighborhood, but. was in Tenues- see. 1 told Cub (Henry Ingram) to liave all ready when I come TOCCOA NEWS Bj Edw SCHAEFER- I- VOL. X. which would be soon. John Ingram carried me to the railroad, and I told him, going along, that I was going, down to West Point and stay a uay or so and then come back and rob old man Blandenburg. John told me all right, 7 then got on the train and went down to West Point. I stayed there three or four days frolicking around and then took the train for Hogans- villc and got there in the evening- That was Thursday. I left Hogans- ville walking towards Rocky Mount. I got there about half hour by sun, and walked on slowly as I had plenty time to get to Ingrams, for it twant more than twel ve miles. I walked on slowly and finally got in the neighborhood about night. I met Cub in the road and asked him how things were, He said, ‘All was ready.’ •What night did you say that was?’ ‘Thursday night, November 9th.’ ‘How did you enter the house, and what happened that night?’ •About eight or nine o’clock me and Cub went over to old man Blandenburg’s house, both of us was good clrunk/ The first thing we done was to try to set the gin house on fire. I struck the match and Cub poured the whisky on to make it burn but it went out and didn’t catch. We then went to an old fodder house and I struck a match and put under it and Cub he piled fqiltjer around it. When it got to b#fijing good old man Blandenburg and bis wife ran out to see what was the matter. As soon as they come out we ran round the other side of the house and went in the door. When we ran in to get the trunk we met Miss King, old Blandenburg’s niece Cub told me to shoot her, d - m her. I told him I had no pistol. Theu CuJ? said I’ll fix her and shot. Miss King ran out too, ithl®*: he shot just to run her out of the house/ and not to hit her. After that Cub ran in the room and got the trunk and come out with it. We ran on out of the boiue to an old field about two miles off where we stopped and opened it with a piece of wire I had in my pocket. We got all the mouey in it and left it. We went on a little farther and stopped to divide the money. 1 don’t know how much wag in the trunk exactly. I got about $350. Don’t know bow much Cub got, but I think he got about four or five hundred dollars. THE DIVVY. ‘What did you do, then?’ We separated. I laid in the woods all night, and till next evening about an hour by sun I got in the big road and went to Haralson to get me some tobacco. Then I came on back to John Ingram’s place, I met John and talked to him about it, and asked him what was the best to do—stay there, or‘skip/ First he asked me if we got much money. 7 told him yes. He then asked me how much. I told him about a thousand dollars, jj e said, look here! you promised to give uie part of it. I told him I would, but it was buried down in the woods, but would go and get it and leave his part under the ‘gate post/ I west to look for it that night, but forgot exactly where I buried it. I went back next morning and Jim Ingram went with me and found the money. J give Jim fifty dollars of it and told him lo give it to John. The next time I saw John, he told me things were getting ‘too hot,’ and that I had better skip off about one hundred miles and write to him under a fictitious name, and he would send me all the dots/ ‘How were you disguised that uight?’ ‘I tied a handkerchief over my face aud put on a dress. Cub done the same thing.’ ‘Where did you go when you left the community?’ .‘I went to Gwinnett count* and there is where 7 was arrested by Sheriff Patterson/ •What about that letter you wrote Devoted to New*> Politics. Agriculture and General progress- TOCCOA, GA. r ;iI)ECEMBKR 1882. from Lawrenceville to Mr. Ingrad)? ‘ That’s the d—n thing that betrayed me. 7 was to write to John Ingram over the name of Gardener and see things were moving on around home. Well, I wrote ithe letter and gave it to a man and tusked him to please mail it. He said he would. But when he got eUt out of my sight be broke it open and read it. Then he carried it to the eberiff and next morning they came back and arrested me, brought me back to Meriwether, tried me, and sentenced me to jail where you now see me.’ ABOUT FERGUSON’S PEOPLE. ‘Are your parents living?’ ** ‘Yes, sir; my father is a Baptist preacher, living near the Rock id Upson county.’ ‘Are you a man of family?* ‘I am not?’ ‘Were you ever arrested before?* ‘I don’t know as that’s got anything to with this case—or any of j,our business either. Yes, thank you/ •Will you plead guiity?’ ‘I will. I want to go to work as soon as possible.’ ‘Then you don’t thjpk thore is any hope for you in the law?’ ‘None whatever.’ .*** • Passing on to the cell where Tfenry Ingram is confined he was found looking wistfully out betweea the gratings of his cell at the passers b^. He came at the request of the sheriff to the door and was asked : ‘Cub, (I beliave that is one of your names) can you tell us something abont that little robbery and burning affair that occurred not long ago?’ ‘No, sir, / can’t tell you much for I was too drunk to remember hardly anything about it/ ‘It seems right strange Henry, that you should have gotten drunk to do such a piece of work as that?* ‘Yes, sir, it does, but Mr. Ferguson got me drunk and then made me go with him.’ •Had Mr. Ferguson said anything to you about robbing Mr. Blandenburg any time during the year?’ ‘Yes, sir. He had been talking about it off and on all the year. He told me that Mr. Blandenburg had a plenty of money, for he (Ferguson) had been stealing it all the year—a little at a time/ ‘Did you tell Ferguson you would go and help him rob Mr. Blanden¬ burg?’ ‘No; I told him I couldn't. But he kept on after me, telling how much gold old Mr. Blandenburg had, until 1 told him 1 would go.’ ‘Did Mr. Furguson ever talk to you in the presence of John and Jim Ingram about it?* ‘No, sir, he -never did/ ‘Did I understand you to say that John and Jim Ingram knew all about the robbery?’ ‘No, sir, 1 never said that, Fpr I don’t believe Mr, Ingram knows an} r thing about it, Mr. Ferguson told me if he was caught he was going to bring the Ingram boys into it, too.’ ‘Can you tell anything about the night of robbery, Henry?’ ‘We just went over to old Mr. Blandenburg’s, and set his fodder house a fire to run them out of the house, so we could go in and get the money. Mr. Furguson struck all the matches, and I got the trqqk qqt anc toted it off.’ ‘JFasthere a n y pistol-shots firec when you and Mr- F u Fgh s 9U were in the house?' ‘Yes; we shot to scare $Iiss King out.’ ‘Yes. Well, Cub, how much cash was in the trunk?’ ‘About a thousand dollars in mon- c y’ and some bonds, ' Wh y did,,,t vou take thc bo » ds - - ?Mr Furguson said we had better let them alone, they w M bad things to fool with. ‘How much djd }-ou get for your share?’ f I reckon I got about four or five hundred dollars.’ ‘W4iat did you do with the money?' ‘I kept it till Mr. Ingram come to me and told me that Mr. Furguson had been arrested, and had told all about the whole thing. Mr. ingrain told me that burguson had told them I had some of the money. Mr. Ingram then asked me how much money I had. I said l bad $465. Mr. Ingram told me if I would turn the money over to him and acknowledge the whole thing, he would try and get m .* out of it. i then gave him the money, and ac¬ knowledged the dee,!. Then Mr. Bussy come and arrested me ’ ‘Is this all yom know, or all you care to tell about the robbery?’ ‘If* all I know.’ ‘How old diet you say you were?' ‘I am about twenty three.’ •Upon the whole, you are a little sorry you went into that night’s work?’ ‘Fes, sir; and if I hadn’t been drunk I wouldn’t be in this cold place now.’ ‘Will you plead guilty,Cub?' ‘I don’t know sir, yet.’ WIIAT MR. INGRAM SAYS. Your correspondent then left the jail to seek new fields for informa¬ tion. Going into the office of the 'Winslow house* he found Mr. John Ingram in consultutiou with Ins at¬ torneys, and the following talk took place : ‘Mr Ingram, what is the straight story ot the recent Blandenburg robbery. Can you throw any light on the subject? ‘I know very little about it, but you are welcome to hear that.’ ‘You and your brother have been arrested and are now under bond, ar© you not?’ ‘ We are, but we can prove that it was n trick fixed up by Furguson to get us into it/ ‘Had you ever heard any iutima- tion of the robbery before it was com- united? Mr. Furguson to the railroad ‘1 did, but had no idea of what his intentions were He told me fie was g«ing to Chattanooga, that^ide that he coming bach and rob old man Blandenburg?’ ‘He never said one word about it.’ ‘It is circulated around that four hundred and sixty-five dollars of Mr. Blandenburg’8 money was found in your possession?' ‘It was ; but that is easily explained. You see when Furguson was arrested in Lawrenceville a dispatch was sent to Senoia to Mr. Couch stating that Furguson had been arrested and told the whole thing, and also with in¬ structions to arrest Henry Ingram or yather Cub. When 7 heard that Furgqson had been arrested, and had implicated Cub I, in company with told my brother Jim, hunted Cub up and him Furguson was arrested and had implicated him. At first, the boy denied having anything to do with it. But we told him if he was gudty he had better acknowledge it and we the^sal^lmdhT know ^all^about U, and had some of the money, which he went off and got and turned it over to me. The amount was $465 We then held the boy until we could see an Bussey and Tom Banks came to my house and hunting Cub. I invited them in asked if they were hunting the boy Henry. They' said tl^ey were. Thjn I told them to take breakfast 0 d otu"fryand U turned‘'“him wcDt»n dg over to officers together with the money he had given me.’ *^ r - lugram, was burguson umd with you at the time he left P *He was. He got very about some cotton.’ ‘Have you ever seen that letter written by Furguson to your&eif, from Lawrenceville?’ ‘Have you any fears about the termination of the case?* '^<>ne whnteyer.’ “ ‘With this the interview closed, I and Mr. Ingram was left with a smile of assurance on his face. ■{ TERMS—$1 50 A YEAR, ]\ T Q 9 THE STATE HOUSE HILL a synopsis of the principal ffa- Turks of tiik new capitol bill. Post Appeal. The bill introduced by Mr. Rice, Fulton, providing for the erection () f a new capitol, is already attracting considerable attention. A brief sy- nopsis of the bill shows that the building is to be erected under the charge and supervision of eight commissioners, to-wit: The gov¬ ernor of the state, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house, who shall serve without com- pensation, and of five additional members, to be elected by the general assembly. Ihe governor, president and speaker are ex-ofllcio members, and the oilier five will be -the execu- tive officers of the commission,’ and will give their personal attention to the details of the work, and will be paid one thousand dollars each per annum for their services, The com - missioners are required to take an oath for the faithful performance of their duties, and no commissioner shall have any interest whatever in the contract for the erection of the building, or for tue furnishing mate¬ rials, supplies, etc. Any violation of this sectiou of the act is made a mis- demeanor in office, and will be punished as such. Nor will any person employed bv the commission be allowed under suitable penalties, to have any interest in the contract j The commissioners are required, as soon as practicable to select a plan for a suitable building, pot to cost exceeding $1,000,(100, and to be com¬ pleted- -Ly Uu; first day of January, 1888. The sum of $200,000 is annu¬ ally appropriated out of ppy money in the treasury not otherwise appro priated, and should therp not be this amount in the treasury available for this purpose frppa year to year, then a tax sufficient to make up the re- <**«*■»»< *>y the comptroller^ nera|, The seventh section qt the hilt prouides that said capitol building shall be built of granite, rogk and 83 far “ Pf»ctio*bln, and that all materials used in the construction ot said bgilding shall be tliqse lound an d procured within the state pf Georgia, wherever thp same can be procured as cheaply as other material of like quality of other localities, It provides further that the capitol shall be erected on what is known as the City 7/all lot, which has been dona¬ ted by Atlanta for that purpose, and that it shall contain suitable rooms for the senate and house of represen. tafives, for the governor and chief executive officers, for the supreme court, the agricultural and school commissioners, the principal keeper of the penitentiary and the state librarian, with suitable vaults and placcs j- Q r tlle sa f e keeping and .preservation of public records, papers, etc. The commissioners are required to advertise for bids to erect the build, an d f G r supplies and material ft*»d tp t^ke %.satisfactory bond the successful bidder, who must be ‘the lowest responsible bidder.’ It is ma de the duty of the commissioners ^ ^ 6ubmit a foil and report to said general asserobly at its regular session, of their actings and doings, including a statement pt all expenditures. A STATUTORY ICONOCLAST. -- Senator Meldrim, of the district, is too young to be called a states „,an, but if his life is spared i» bound to become one. He is ous in habit, impartial in judgment, equable in temper and balances hjs enthusiasm w : th a very solid chunk of hard common sense. Why is called common sense we cannot explain, for it is thc most uncommon and the hardest to find. Senator MeHrim is serving his second term in the higher house of the General Assembly. In a moment of weakness he onee introduced a bill. This was a sad Wight upon the rosy dawn of & most propitious career, but he ha9 sinoe made atonement, by making industrious effort to kill every bill that comes within the range of his vote. Ho has learned how to vote in the negative and if true to himself, he will yet build a monument to his sagacity and firmness, in the hearts of his countrymen, more enduring than brass—more lasting than the brass of those Legislators who introduce bills about guano and fish traps and peddlers’ licenses and the code. It is impossible to overestimate the service that Senator Meldiim will do for bis constituents, for his State, the country and the world at large, if he will persist in the course which ho seems to have marked out for himself. But Senator Meldrim may achieve a success and may confer upon sutfcr| ing humanity benefits beyond those which arc to result from his wholesale slangbter of bills. Wben bills are once introduced, they have to be read once, twice and three times upon separate days. This costs time and money! both precious things to the tax paying people, They have to bo referred to a committee, sometimes to two committees, and not unfrequcntly to another committee. All of this costs more time and mone}'. Then they have to be discussed and in nine cases out of ten reconsidered and recommitted to the last committee from which they came or referred to another and a different committee, Then they at certain stages go upon the calendar and on the table and in committee of the whole and have finally fobe killed or to be engrossed and enrolled and passed into laws, which arc promptly repealed at the first session of the next Legislature, As we have followed the bills along from one stage to another it has been eas}’ for our readers to sec how much time and money bill# cost, even if Senator Meldrim succeeds in killing them upon their final passage. There should be some way of saving the expenditure of this fearful amount of time and money, Under the consti¬ tution and code of parliamentary rides at present in force, it is impossible to do these bills like flerod did the Hebrew babies—kill them in their infancy. But no such inhibition stands against the parents of these bills- And just here we would drop Senator Meldrim a hint full of meat. No man c0( ,| t t invade any well regulated newspaper office in this country, and a tteujpt to recite ‘Beautiful Snow’ #ud survi¥e the attempt ten seconds, j t ^ mo re than probable that the mangled remains of the next claimant quiet a j ong the Fotomao to-night’ may }’et be seen hanging from asunotum window some fine frosty morning. Human nature haa its limit of endurance and it has been established that the line must be drawn somewhere. We would not incite Senator Meldrim to murder. y^- e mcr plv point him to a new and enlarged field of usefulness. His physical stature, in spite of his high nervous organization, forbids the ^ope that he will be able to knock every fellow down who attempts to introduce a bill, and to hold his own in the subsequent racket. But a stuffed club will be found a most convenient companion for this busi- ness—a bag stuffed with sand. Deftly bandi^ it is capable cf administering a 8tunning b ) ow . If Senator Meldrim wUl drop ona or tvvo Q f h is colleagues a5thcy rise, bill in b*ml, the balance wiU take the bint and Georgia may free and happy yet, and be bo honored above men. Sometimes these „ nd blgs deal a deadly blow. If so, al „, qpon sq examination of the deceased, a bill to amend the code be t'ound on his person or near the corpse, the general provision of the col r e itseUi n relation to provisions wtiioli may justify homicide, can safely be relied upon t° secure ac- qoittal, even if any foolish relatives 3 bould insist upon judicial iuvestiga. tion Senator Meldrim’s device to kill jj je bill is good so far as it goes, but ft | s g j ow> cumbersome, expensive and uncertain. The sand bag is the thing, contains thc cheapness, celerity an d certainty of Uur guillotine.-^ Macon Telegraph. / ‘