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THE DAWSON NEWS.
/];\E 5 Rainey.
7O BE CLOSED OUT REGARDLESE OF CGCHS L
The entire stock of Dry Goods, Clothing, Shoes, Dress Goods, Notions, Groceries, etc., of J. H. Davis will be closed out at once regardless of cost or
price for cash. All these goods are fresh and new, Now is the time to buy, and now is the chance cf your life-time to get grand bargains. Remember
that every dollar’s worth of these goods must go at some price. Come at once before the choicest goods are picked over. No goods charged to any one.
pplD THE PENALTY.
gARRISON STEVENS DIED ON THE
GALLOWS WEDNESDAY
For the yturder of J.G. Wells. Protested
. Innocence to the Last. The Gov
. ernor Refused to Interfere.
on Wednesday at 1 o'clock Harrison
grevens died on the gallows for the bru
tal murder of 5. G. Wells.
The doomed man Wwas brought down
from Americus the jafternoon before by
gheriff Christie. To avoid the large
crowd that had assembled at the Central
depot to see the prisoner, Sheriff Chris
tie got off the cars at the junction with
gtevens and, placiong him in a closed
pack, had him almost to the jail door
before the waiting throng knew what
had been done.
Awhile before night Dr. Scruggs, pas
tor of the Methodist church, called at
the jail and talked with the condemned
negro concerning his spiritual wellfare.
When supper was served he ate
with relish of the usual prison fare,
and rested comparatively well through
the nigot.
THE DAY OF THE EXECUTION.
Stevens was awake early Wednesday
morning and ate a hearty breakfast—
five biscuit, a quantity of syrup and two
glices of bacon. Jailer Slade offered to
have prepared any thing he wanted, but
Le ate when the other prisoners were
served and said he did not care for any
thing else.
During the morning several of Steven’s
male relatives and friends called to see
him, his brother being admitted to the
jail just a few minutes bafore the execu
tion. e was entirely deserted by bis
femile relitives, however, n)t one of
them calling to tell him good-bye. The
absence of his-wife was especially notice
able,
As the hour for the execution
approacied a large crowd of people,
regardless of the very bad weather and
sloppy streets, gathered on the outside
of the jail yard., The Guards were on
duty under command of Captain Clark,
and 00 042 was permitted to enter with
out instractions from JSheriff Christie.
The crowd in the streets was not allow
ed t)approach even as near as the side
walk,
It was 10 o’clock when a NEwS report
ersucceeded in passing the pickets and
entered the jjail. Bailiff C. G, Lewis,
wio was keeping the death-watch, and
os¢ or two visitors were on thein
side, Stevens had just finished a shott
ak with Colonel Parks, and was
locked alone in his cell whea the report
€t approached the door and spoke to
h.im. He was in a very nervous and ex
ited condition, and almost his first
O.rds were to declare, with trembling
Voice, that he was inndcent. The
terview was cut shore by the arrival of
?VS- K. S. Lucky, E. W. Whitfield, J.
- Thomas and Ben Mallory, all color
0, bringing with them a dish of tempt
l?g food. Stevens said he did not care
O anything to eat, and did not touch
“at was brought him. Just before the
fporter withdrew the doomed man re
tested him to call again just before the
fecution, as he had a requestand a
tfl?cmvnt he wished to make.
,]-.he preachers were admitted to the cell
f”( (‘L(l“ osed. Afterafew minutes
u“'h““"‘*‘ ttlon an earnest prayer by Rev.
"‘"'*\ wasg ieard through the grated
”l and at its conelusion another sup
:”\'| :" 1S "“11'-:‘1'0(1 by one of the other
t”“x r‘l“t‘ll' appeals to the Mercy
b [‘ ‘,Hfr ¢ ndemned .mrm werg at
q w;lwi“‘l‘»“; ill.l(l pathetic. During
ot u;hl‘-\w,.rmens was .overcome’by
e ht"m'l:l‘.t fx-cely, his s:)bs'; being
£ jail. rd Ly ,those in the corridor of
Tllieox::;:;;mt; remained in th.e cell ua-
Bheciy ("‘hril? }mur determined upon
that h"l{r "htle for‘ the execution.
t lo: the ep'ut.y Slade opened the
wdenffed gy r;mmsters pass out and
B o neyy 1;':‘ Whofe la'st moments
drew to gpe sig‘: e;vmlg the.cell
isper, mage i h'an , almost in a
% v tn is request to THE
Wife haq pot :affi that the reason
Ming waq e een to see him that
3 use soon after his ar-
Dawson, Ga., Wednesday, February 6, [895.
rest she took up with a preacher, and
had since neglecied him. Her actions
seemed to bother him considerably, and
he was evidently anxious for the public
to know of her infidelity.
The reporter suggested to Stevens that
he had but a few minutes to live, and
: asked him if he had anything to say con
cerning the murder of Mr. Wells. He
said: ‘Boss, an innocent man is goinz
to hang, On the day Mr. Wells was
killed I was never nearer than a mile to
where he was found, and I know no
more about it than you do. Mr. Wells
almost raised me and was the best friend
I ever had. When I wanted a gnarter, a
half doilar, a dollar or any piece of mon
ey, or anything else, all I had to do was
to go to Mr. Wells and getit. I was
¢)nvicted by vegroes who were arrested
for doing the shooting. They swore
avainst fme to save themselves. The
right man will be found sume day, and
then everybody will be sorry that I was
hanged.” When asked about his spirit
ual condition Stevens said he was unlike
m.ost men just going to the gallows—he
did not believe he would go to heaven,
bat felt better in that particular since
the visit of the ministers.
Here Deputy Sheriff Slade called Ste
vens, and with a firm step and a calm
manner he started to the gallows. In
the hallway of the jail a photographer
was waiting to take a picture of the
doome i man. This had haidly been done
when colonel M. C. Edwards, one of
Stevens’ attorneys hurriedly entered the
jail and handed the following telegram
to Sheriff Christie:
ATLANTA, Jan. 30.—T0 M. C. Ed
wards: Will act on reecommendation of
judge and solicitor. Have them to wire
me. W. Y. ATRINSON, Governro.
The governor had been wired for a
respite, and the above was the reply.
Of eourse the telegram stopped all pro
ceedings until Judge Griggs could be
seen. Colonel Edwards and Colonel
Harc the latter, also one of the counsel
for the murderer, immediately went
on thaid errand, and for an hour plead
ed with the judge to recommend a re
spite. He declined to interfere, and
a second telegram was sent by the attor
neys urging the jgovernor him to act.
Just before 1 o'clock the following,
which sealed the fate of Harrison Ste
vens, was received from the executive:
ATLANTA, Jan. 30.—T0 M. C. Ed
wards: 1 will not interfere in the case
of Harrison dtevens.
W. Y. ATKINSON, Governor.
Upon the receipt of this telegram
Sheriff Christie at once proceeded to ex- ‘
ecute the sentence of the law. Although
much excited Stevens walke.d upon the
gallows with a firm step and stood per
fectly still while the rope was being ad
justed about his neck, remarking at one
time that it was too tight. It was not
until the black cap was placed over his
ead by; Deputy Slade and Sheriff Davis
ot Calhoun county that his nerves gave
completely away. As the cap passed
over his eyes he gave along groan ani |
said: |
“Good bye, everybody; let this be a
wacning to you.” -
Another groan followed, and he ex
claimed: ‘
©.Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. I have
done nothing. (Good-bye, everybody.”) ‘
Scarcely had the last word passed his
lips wien Sheriff Christie cut tile rope, |
and suspended his boly in the aire The
fall broke his neck, aod nota muscle
moved after the drop. The rope was
cut at 7 minntes past 1, and in 8 minuates
he was pronounced dead by Drs. Deun,
Dozier, Buchanan and Wall.
During the morning an offer was
made Stevens by physicians for his
body, bat he declined it. R:latives took
charge of the body after tne execution,
and (,;'lrried it to Shiloh for barial.
No hanging was ever better conducted
than this one, and Sheriff Christie, de
sarves praise for the manner in which
he executed his unpleasant daty.
The protestations of inn cence by Ste
vens are believed by only a very few,it be
ing the almost universal opinion that the
right man has suffered for the crime.
Candy Pulling.
The ladies of the Methodist church
bad a candy pulling at the armory Fri
day evening for the benefit of the organ
fund. It was a yery enjoyable affair, and
a noat sum was realized.
. Y 0
- fRIGRT THE PROSPECTS
l FOR SECURING A COTTON MILL FOR
, DAWSON. *
A Committee Now Actively at Work to
| That End. Several Thousand
Dollars Already Subscribed.
Pursuant to a call the committee ap
pointed to take in hand the matter of
soliciting subscriptions for the purpose
of building a cotton fact ry in Dawson,
or inducing eastern mill owners desiring
to come south to locate here, met Friday
tc prepare subscription lists and get
everything in readinegs for an active
canvass.
Notwithstanding the very disagreeable
weather there was a large attendance of
the members, including several from the
country, and the dcep interest manifest
‘ed clearly evidenced their determination
‘to make a success of the Indertaking.
A definite plan of proceedure was
agreed upon and several matters of mo
‘ment discussed, and the committee
‘adjourned to begin an energetic canvass
for subscriptions to the stock.
On the first Tuesday in March it is
proposed to have a mass meeting of the
citizens of the city and county to further
discuss the project. The committee will
also report to that meeting their pio
gress in securing subscriptions.
At Friday’s meeting it was announced
that $9,000 of the stock had already been
\ voluntarily taken. That is very encour
| aging, and when the committee gets out
‘among the people it is believed that the
amount required will soon be raised.
Everybody knows the benefits that
would accrue to the whole county by the
establishment of such an exnterprise here.
‘ The state of South Carolina has made
'many strides forward on this line, and to
show the benefits arising theretrom we
give the following figures: ‘ln and
near Spartanburg, in that state, eight
factories paid $254,000 in dividends dur
ing the year 1894. In the Greenville (S.
C.) News is a list of seven cotton facto
ries in Spartanburg and Greenville coun
ties which alone pay out $183,000 in
dividends semi-annually. They are as
follows: Pacolet M'fg C('o., $35,000;
Clifton M'f’g Co., $32,000; Converse
M'f’g Co, $15,000; Enoree M'f'g Co.,
$16,000, Spartan Mill, $15,000; Fiedmont
Mills, $37,000; Pelzer Milis, $30,000.”
Suppose Terrell county had the above
amounts in dividend money turned lo se
every six months within her borders,
together with the earnings of the hun
dreds of employes necessary Lo run these
milis? What a flood of wealth and
prosperity wouid sweep over the county!
Terrell has all the advantages needed to
run even a greater number of factories
than those above mentioned.
It has been ascertained that with the
mills established in ‘he midst of the
cotton fields the raw material can be
manufactured into cloth at a saving ot
five dollars per bale in the single item of
jransportation, to say nothing of other
ltems. We learn that the treasurer of
one of the mills at Lowell says that their
plant in Georgia would save in the item
of transportation on coal alone $50,000
anaoually.
These Carolina mills were built with
loral capital, and some of them on the
instaliment plan such as has been out
lined in the columns of THE NEws. We
reprint, from the Greenville, S. C., News,
the following bearing divectly on this:
“*Many a man pinched himself to help
build some of these mills which are now
paying dividends. Hasn’t every such
man reason to be glad now that he did
pinch? When his dollar is worth $1.25
either to sell or as collateral and is pay
ing him better and surer interest than
any iovestment he has, why shouldn’t he
be glad—especially when he can feel
that his money has not oniy helped him
directly, but has helped him indirectly in
many ways and has done much to build
up his community and state?”’
If these Carolina peop'e, by self-denial
and economy, can raise the means o 0
establish mills that are annually pouring
wealth into their homes we of Terrell
can do the same thing and secure some
of the same benefits.
" Let us learn wisdom for ourselves by
‘the experiences of others.
TO BRING THEM TO GEORGIA.
The Central’s Great Scheme to Bring Set
tlers Here.
The management of the Central rail
road has devised a plan that is calculat
ed t 0 Induce many farmers and home
seekers of the north and west t 0 come to
Georgia, and only the co-operation of
our people is needed to insure its suc
cess. The plans suggested are, briefly,
as follows: ;
A handsome pamphlet descriptive of
that part of Georgia trayersed by the
Central railroad; the climate, products,
character of soil, price and description
of farm lands, and besides containing
much other valuable intormation such
as might be desired by prospective set
tlers, 1s being prepared and will be
issued about February 14th, and dis
tributed in the north and west by
experienced agents.
‘Thousands of the pamphlets will be
put in the hands of thrifty and desirable
immigrants, and from it a full and com
prebensive idea of our section may
easily be obtained.
The books are to be printed and dis
tributed by the Central railroad, free
of all cost, and many farmers and others
in this and every other couuty along
that line of road have assisted by fuar
nishing descriptions of lands they desire
to sell, together with price of the same, |
location, etc. :
Mr. S. A. Pruitt, the Central’s agent
at this point, wiil be glad to furnish any
one in this locality with free copies of
the pamphlets as soon as they come.
If you have farms or lands you wished
advertised in tbis pamphlet, write to J.
C. Haile, General Passenger Agent, Sa
vannah, Ga.
WAIT A MINUTE.
—John Seay has bought Perry
Crouch’s Interest in their grocery busi
nass, and moved into the building on
Lee street between the stores of Melton
& Co. and the Sale-Davis Drug Co.
—Sheriff Christie has less prisoners in
jail now than in four years. There are
at present ouly two or ,three occupants
of that lastitution.
—~Tae NEws waats to do your job
printing, and will do it atas low prices
as first-class material and go)d work can
be furmished.
—Mrs. D. K. Christie and Miss Lizzie
Whitchard, wh» have both been quite
sick, are now improving.
—Mrys. T. R. Thornton has moved into
the Baptist parsonage and opened a
boarding house.
e
One From Liarsville.
This story comes from Kansas: ‘A
man in that country raised last year 1,-
000 bushels of pop corn, and stored it in
his barn. One day some boys accident
ally set fire to the barn and while it was
burning the corn was all parched, and iv
filled a ten-acre |field, surrounding the
barn, level with the fence. In an adjoin
ing field was an old mare that had seen
a number of Kansas winters,§and, think
the pop corn was a snow storm coming,
Jaid down and immediately froze to
death, while the thermometer stood 66
in the shade.”
et
Gentry Barned Out.
Many of the children of Dawson, and
grown pe9ople, too, who saw the educat
ed ponies and dogs of Prof. Gentry, in
this city, a year or two ago, will be sorry
to read the following dispat:ch from
Bloomington, Ind.:
“The winter quarters of Prof. William
Gentry’s equine and canine wonders
was eutirely destroyed by fire]yesterday.
Eleven trained ponies, thirty-five educat
ed d gs, one monkey and $2,000 worth
of paraphernalia were burned. Loss
$18,060.
On the Sick List.
The numerous friends of that very
clever gentleman and efficient official,
Oxdinary Roberts, will regret to know
that he has been on the sick list for sev
eral days, and has not been able to be
at his office regularly. "Tue NEws is glad
to state, however, that be is now better.
Sl
The only way to cure catarrh is to
parify the %lood. Hood’s Sarsaparilia
purifies the biood and tomes up the
whole system. ¥ =
Vol. 11.—No. 35.
s
OFFICERS ELECTED
BY THE TERRELL TEACHERS' AS
SOCIATION
The County Teachers' Association Holds
an Important Meeting--Organization,
Electiop and Speech Making.
Despite the threatening appearance of
the weather on Saturday a goodly num
ber of the teachers of Terrell county
met in the chapel of the city public
schools in order to complete the organi
zation of the association started two
weeks ago.
Chairman H. R. McLendon called the
meeting to order and Prof. C. E. Grubbs,
the secretary, read the minutes of the
last meeting.
i A call was then made for the report of
the committee on constitution, and Prof.
E. E. Britton, the chairman of the com
mittee, submitted a report which was
unanimously adopted.
The election of officers was the next
order of business. Messrs. McLendon,
Yeomans and Grub®s were placed in
nomination for the position of president.
The names of Messrs. McLendon and
Yeomans were withdrawn, and Prof,
Grubbs was unanimous elected. As vice-
Presidents Messrs. J. L. Caughman, W.
H. Hiller, Misses Lillie Ware and Allie
Lawhorn were elected without opposi
tion. Prof. E. E. Britton was unani
| mously elected secretary, and Miss Leila
Clark was elected treasurer in the same
Imanner. In addition to the president
and secretary the following were named
as members of the executive committee:
Messrs. M. J. Yeomans, H. R. McLendon
and Miss L. M. Ingram.
School Commissioner Whitchard pre
sentea a request from tfe president of
the State Teachers’ Association asking
‘that delegates be electel to the next
meeting of the state association. Action
on this was deferred.
As the hour was late and many of
those whorfe names wer3? on the pro
gramme were absent, the assoc’ation
heird from but tvo of its membars.
Prof. E. E. Britton made an earnest and
practical talk about arithmetic, and Miss
Eloise V. Wilson charmed her audience
with her exposition of primary work.
So much pleased was the association
with the work of Mr. Britton and Miss
Wilson that, by a unanimous vote, they
were requested to continue the discussion
of their subjects at the next and suc
ceeaing meetings of the assocition.
Membership in the association is not
confined to teachers, butall interested in
education are invited to become mem
bers. The dues of the associati)n are
but a small amount, 25 cents a year, and
the meetings are held monthly oa the
second Saturday.
The next meeting is scheduled to take
place on the second Saturday in March
at half past nine o'clock in the public
school chapel,
Let every teacher in the county write
at once to the secretary, Professor E. E.
Britton, and enroli his name.
A full programme of the next meeting
will be published next week, though we
can announce now that those teachers
who did not appear Saturday to take
part in the work will be on the next
programme,
CUT HIS THROAT.
A Reported Killing Near Parrrott.
The Richland Paper publishes a report
to the effect that Joe Grimes and Will
Johnson, both colored, had a difficulty
near Parrott the other night about a
woman, when Grimes cut Johnson's
throat, killing him almost Instan'ly, and
left for pa~ts unknown.
The tragedy must have occured over
the line in Webster county, as the of
ficers here tell THE NEws that they
know nothing of it.
He Gave Himself Up.
It will be remembered that Sheriff J.
L. Horne, of Webster county, st pped
‘and locked a Columbus Southern mail
train at Weston, abont a year ago,
on account of the non-payment of
‘taxes. The Sheriff went up to
Columbus a few days ago and gave
bimself up to a deputy Untied States
marshal. >
