Newspaper Page Text
he Bainbridge Search Light
MBER »•
BAINBRIDGE, DECATUR COUNTY, OEORGIA, FRIDAY. MARCH 4, 1904.
and
zeal.
* g prosperity,
pidly becoming one
towns in this sec-
* t u and enterprise
on all sides. The
town has been
last tew years
-h unabated
jdv reasons why
u ld and will be a
e heart of one of
i„ g sections in De-
The farmers of that
■ ng the latest im-
r farming and are
-d frugal and are
-insulating around
properties and
ides.
ts of Whigham are
her for a bigger,
ter town and their
ing with success,
they decided that
water works and
nt They pulled
and now these
ured.
ce with the wishes
the city council last
tract with an Alba-
water works,
of a few weeks
be supplied with
all modem conven-
1 recommends that
hinery used for
ter can be easily
electric lighting
ty will also have in
is prosperous
perity.
and
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF DECATUR COUNTY AND CITY OF BAINBRIDGE.
$1.00 YEAR IN ADVANCES
To Increase Carrier’s Pay.
Congressman Griggs has recent
ly introduced a bill in congress for
the purpose of increasi ng the pay
of rural free delivery mail carriers
from $6oo per year to $720. At
present the rural carriers are re-,
ceiving only about one half the
salary received by the carriers in
the cities, and the hardships of the
two positions are scaYcely ,to be
compated. "The Rural Letter Car
rier now gets £50 per month and
must furnish his horse and buggy;
and with the present high prices
of feed it is claimed that they do
not secure enough pay. The in*
crease under the Griggs bill to $60
per month will therefore be wel-
come news to them in the event
of its passage.
There are a number of Free
Delivery carriers in the county and
these will of course watch the
progress of the measure with keen
interest.
Notice Local Legislation.
Notice is hereby given that at
the coming session of the legisla
ture, a bill will be introduced
changing the mode of electing the
board of county commissioners.
Providing that thereafter they will
be made elective by the popular
vote of the people.
, Spooner Painfully Shot
y Night by a Negro. He Was Looking
Killing Dog and Received a Load of
in His Face and Probably Lost an Eye.
is now in Jail.
1st Mr. J. J.
lie west side, was
ithe head and face
lie will probably lose
eye, aside from
has accompanied
d shot which en -
shoulder and arm.
rred near the shin-
• S. J. Warren, sev-
west of Iron City,
regretted by Mr.
y friends who hope
u be well again,
ring news of the
this office, a reporter
led up Mr. Frank
sonville, who was
tr at the time of
he has furnished us
My of the shooting:
" with Mr. Spooner
right: w; were in
which had been
Pi we did not find
wt expected to, and
<ln g nt the house
®ider, we decided
was there; we
e ai) d 1 stopped
*hi!e Mr, Spooner
,flc f> a te; tne dogs
tht negro came
hls 6 ur > in hand
and proceeded toward Mr, Spoon-,
er, who was a short distance from
the fence. The negro demanded
who it was, and Mr. Spooner re*
plied that he was not after him.
About this time the firing began,
with the result that Mr, Spooner
was painfully injured. We imme
diately left the house. I am sure
that the negro did not know that
it was Mr. Spooner,”
Parties arrived in the city Tues
day night with the negro Newton
Alexander and he was lodged in
jail to await an investigation of the
case. He speaks frankly of the
matter, acknowledges that he did
the shootihg, and claims that he
did not know it was a white man
he was firing at. It seems that
Alexander had a difficulty with
another negro in Iron City Mon
day, and be claims that he thought
that the negro had come 10 his
house that night to assault him or
to burn his premises. He also
claims that Mr. Spooner fired the
first shot.
When heard from last Mr.
Spooner was resting as easy as his
physician .could expect. .He is
attended by Dr. Thomas Chason,
of Donalsonville.
DEADLY STREET DUEL
Last Saturday Morning on Streets
Prominent Young Men Resort to Pistols, One Dead;
Other Under Charge of Manslaughtor,
Bond $5,000, Given.
5,r Studio.
* n *ho has been
C «V Studio
Mr - a »ct Mrs. 0. V.
^dzgeraici. j^j r
„ SS Photographer
c *s dor,
*ct -
'bid
some ex*
: »as been in
worked up a
studio.
S o-moer of
**i!XT, his de
a., some
Bt i. n
,orj C nave
-,'Sk In
lc thn
m Fitz-
,. . with
“M-he M ' lendlcl
And Still They Come.
Under the appropriate heading
of “Running Some" The .Bain
bridge Search Light is publishing
the announcements of twenty five
candidates for office. The offices
from that of coroner to judge must
be most attractive in the good old
county of Decatur.—Pelham Jour
nal.
The above comment appeared in
the last issue of the Journal; since
then there has been an increase of
several candidates and there are a
few whose announcements have
not reached the paper A lull
count places Decatui county s
army of office seekers at an even
36 with several precincts to hear
from,
The duel fought between John 1 chambers of both pistols nad been
Hunter and Mercer Baggs on the emptied they grappled and at-
side walk in front of the old court .tempted to striae each other and
house last Saturday morning about
9 o’clock was the most thrilling
and exciting event that has proba
bly ever transpired in Bainbridge
Hunter was instantly killed and
Baggs wounded, but not seriously.
Both young men were prominent
in business and social circles and
each had a host of mutual friends
who regret deeply the horrible
tragedy that ended the life of one
and brings trouble and regret in
that of the other.
The story of the encounter is
accurately and graphically told by
the many eye witnesses who testi
fied in the preliminary hearing had
before Judge Bower on Wednes
day, which consumed almost the
entire day. Mr. Baggs had been
at the home of his brother. Dr.
Baggs, in bed suffering from his
wounds since the encounter, al
though during that time he was
under the strict surveillance of the
sheriff and his deputies, a warrant
having been sworn out against
him charging him with the murder
of Hunter. He was able to be
present at the hearing,
Forty or fifty witnesses had been
summoned and sworn in behalf of
the one side or the other. There
was little conflict in their testi
mony and it all tended to the same
general effect, and might be
summed upas follows: J. P. Brown
and John Hunter left Toole’s store
a little before 9 o’clock on Satur
day morning together to go to the
post office. They were friends
and Brown was on Hunter’s right
and had his left arm around Hun
ter’s shoulders and they were dis
cussing matters of mutual interest.
As they were ’ approaching the
entrance to the old court house
Baggs, coming in the opposite
direction, met them, and when
within six or eight feet of each
other both parties drew their pis
tols from their pockets simulta
neously and began firing at each
other. Mr Brown was totally
unaware of the trouble until the
firing began and then he quickly
jumped into the court house gate.
Across the street there were sev
eral men who were standing on the
side walk and whose attention was
drawn to the trouble. They agree
that the firing was done so quickly
and so close to'gether that it was a
matter of impossibility to tell who
fired the first shot, Mr. Brown
himself being unable to do this.
Eleven shots were fired, and as
some of the witnesses expressed it,
“it sounded like a pack of fire
crackers going off and it was all
over in a tew seconds.”
When the firing began Baggs
stooped to a crouching position.
He evidently did this for the pur
pose of shooting under the cltfltfl;
of smoke which soon enveloped
them and probably for the further
purpose of allowing the bullets of
his enemy to go over him. Baggs
was shooting an improved Colt's
•52 calibre pistol six shooter, while
Hunter was using a 38 Smith &
Wesson five shooter. Baggs re-
dunng the
advanced
upon him as he shot When the
mained stationary
shooting and Hunter
shot.
fell to* the ground, off the side
walk, Baggs under the bottom and
Hunter on top of him. By this
time Policeman Waters, Brown and
Macdonald reached them and pull
ed Hunter off, but even then he
was gasping for his last breath and
died in a very few minutes there
after. Baggs was seen to be
wounded, it was not known how
badly, and was quickly taken to
the office of Drs. Chason & Cha
son. Hunter’s dead body was
taken to his room in the Bon Air
hotel, where Dr. Toole pronounced
life extinct. Hunter was hit four
times, one bullet penetrated his
chest, going almost entirely
through his body, cutting the
aorta at the right of the heart and
appeared under the skin on his
back; the others struck him in the
groin, hip and shoulder. Either
one of the first two wounds would
have proved fatal. Baggs was shot
in the left forearm and received A
flesh wound in the neck. His
wounds are not serious and his
physicians expect him to be well
in a short time.
There was much evidence be
fore the committing court as to
the causes that led up to the fatal
affray. Business disagreements
seem to have been the origin of
their trouble Both young men
came to Bainbridge from Quitman
about two years ago and formed a
partnership and went into the fur
niture business. Everything ran
along smoothly until last October
when Baggs sold his interest and
the partnership dissolved. Since
that time disagreements between
them have arisen as to certain
transactions in regard to their
former business affairs, which en
gendered hard feelings followed by
rash language, and both being
young men, impetuous and high
strung, threats were uttered and
finally executed in the deadly duel
that has been described.
After the evidence and argu
ments from counsel Judge Bower
rendered his decision binding the
defendant over to the Superior
Court for manslaughter and fixed
his bond in the sum $5,000, which
was promptly given. Messrs. Mike
Baum and Stanley S. Bennett, of
Quitman, and W. D. Sheffield
represented the prosecution, while
Sam S. Bennett, of Camilla, Don-
alson & Donalson, Albert H. Rus
sell and Harrell & Hartsfield were
attorneys for the defendant.
The whole town was awe strick
en last Saturday morning by the
news of the tragedy and regret
and sorrow was the universal feel
ings. Both young men were pop
ular and had the same friends and
their hasty acticms were lamented
rather than contemned. Their
friends regret that something
could not have been done to heal
the breach of trouble.
The Quitman Advertiser pays
the following beautiful tribute to
John Hunter which shows in what
esteem he was held in his home
town It is safe to say that the
same things were true of him here:
“And thus ended the life of one
of Quitman’s brightest young men
Mr. Brown Runs Some.
They have a new way of run
ning for office down in Florida,
C. M. Brown, who is a candidate
for governor seems to have en
gaged a half column ad in some of
the papers of the state. This space
is devoted to a picture of the would
be governor and below is printed
some very attractive comments
such as “The People’s Candidate,”
“Fifty-six Years a Citizen of this
State,” A Soldier Under Gen. R.
E. Lee, from First to Last Day,”
“Carries Four Yankee Bullets as a
gentle reminder of that great
Bloody Struggle,” "The Friend of
the People,” “Good Wages for
Honest Work,” and a number of
other spicy “catch lines*’ and a
platform to suit all kinds of voters.
From the appearance of this ad
in the Tallahasaecan, the printer
has very appropriately inverted the
column rules mourning fashion as
it were. We’re not acquainted with
Mr. BroWn but the printer’s action
is timely for two reasons, namely:
In the first place his method of
campaign ia hardly sufficiently
well in keeping with modesty to
take well and deserves rebuke; in
the second place we have under
stood that the voters of that state
have already centered their affec
tions on one Bob Davis, who is
now serving a term in congress,
and who was originally from this
county.
The State Primary.
At a meeting of the State Dem
ocratic Executive Committee held
in Atlanta this week it was decided
to call the state primary for April
20th. The action was a great sur
prise to the people, as heretofore
the primary has been held later say
in June. An effort was made by
a few to have the county execu
tive committee meet and change
time for the county primary to
that of the state; however the.sug-
gestion seems to have met With
disfavor by many of the candidacies
principally on the ground that tl»Jh
papers and the candidates them«\
selves have, already advertised the
time as April ut, and endless con
fusion would necessarily arise
should the time be changed.
This means that there will be a
small vote cast at the state prima
ry since the two come so close to
gether. The State Committee as*
sessed the candidates for State
House Offices $ 50 each for defray*
ing the expenses of the primary,
yet this amount will not go far in
the direction.
The Blakely Reporter comments
as follows: Decatur County’s
primary will be pulled off on April
1 st. That’s a day many people
play pranks on their frienda—as
they often do in primaries, too.
Cutting Off The Service.
The Western Unlen Telegraph Co. has Cut Off One
Man and Shorten the Hours of Their Service Here
tofore in this City. No Reason for It, Except to
put more Money In the Company’s Bank]
We understand that the Wes- broaden the scope of their service;
tern Union Telegraph Company
have definitely determined to cut
down the standard of service which
tnis town has enjoyed for the past
year, by taking out the assistant to
Manager Ware, and reducing the
time when the office shall remain
open during the day. Under the
new rule the office will be open
trom eight in the morning till eight
at night with intermissions of one
hour at dinner and supper. \Ve
do not understand under what pre
text the service has been cut down
except it be for pouring a few more
dollars into the till of the compa
ny.
We had hoped that the Western
Union would continue its efficient
service which was appreciated by
the citizens of the town generally,
and by the traveling public. We
have always thought that the ob
ject with all public utilities should
be to continue to develop and
rather than to diminish. We be
lieve that the business of the Wes
tern Union in this city is sufficient
to warrant the continuance of the
service which we have enjoyei
and we hope that they will dei
to do so. It is very annoying for%
business men right at the hour of
12 to 1 o'clock to have the office
close- and it is equally annoying
to traveling public not to be able
to send a telegram after eight
o'clock at night. It is probable
that our Board of Trade will take
up the matter with the company
and see if they cannot secure a re
turn to the service.
Manager Ware has been espec
ially clever to our people and by
his good service has greatly in
creased the income of the, office.
At the same time it is impossible
for one man to do the work of two
and the public must suffer the don
sequences.
He was not quite twenty years
old, a specimen of perfect man
hood, fine physique, and handsome
features, extremely kindly in his
disposition and a favorite among
our young men. Wherever he
went he was admired and loved.
His sudden demise was like the
cutting off of a beautiful rose in
early morning while the dew still
lingered upon its blushing cheeks
The hand of death in taking from
us the bright young life has pluck
ed one of our choicest flowers and
left us sorrowing and heartbroken,
He was the idol of a-loving moth
er, the cherished hopes of a fond
father, the favorite of a devoted
brother, sisters, relatives and
friends and his death has left a
vacancy that can never be filled
and only the God of peace and
love make it bearable. In Him
only solace is found.
The funeral occurred Sunday
afternoon, conducted by Kev. H.
G. GriswolilJ assisted by Kev. L.
A. Cooper, and was attended by
nearly all of Quitman.”
Death of Mrs. Davis.
Mrs. Thomas Dav;s, of Camilla,
died at the residence of her daugh
ter, Mrs. E. J. Willis, Tuesday
evening, after a short illness. Mrs.
Davis was seventy four years old,
and had only come to Bainbridge
on a visit to her daughter two
weeks ago.
The funeral took place Wednes
day afternoon at Hopeful church
in Mitchell county.
Blind Ti|ers is Thomas.
One day this week Zeke Jordan
and Henry Lumpkin, two negroes
who live at Cairo, were arrested on
a charge of running blind tigers at
that point, and after a hearing
they were convicted and sent to
the chaingang for twelve months
each. Cairo is one of the dry
towns that see to the enforcement
of their laws against the sale of
liquor