Newspaper Page Text
THE LEE COUNTY JOURNAL.
VOL. X.
, |
HOWARD.LOSES
IN HIS APPEAL
Supreme Court Goes Against Con
victed Murdere ' of Goebel.
LIFE SENTENCE APPROVED
Appeal was for Purpose of Securtng
New Trial--Prisoner Suggests Lay
ing Case Before Roosevelt.
The supreme court of the TUnited
States Tuesday affirmed the decision
of the Kentucky court of appeals in
the case of James B. Howard vs. the
State of Kentucky. Howard was tried
three times in the circuit court of
Franklin county, Kentucky, on the
charge of murdering Governor Wil
liam Goebel, of Kentucky, on January
20, 1900, and convicted each time.
He is now under sentence of life
imprisonment, and he brought the case
to this court to secure a review of the
ruling of the Kentucky court of ap
peals, affirming a decision of the cir
cuit court against allowing him an
other trial. His principal allegation
was that the proceedings of the trial
court in the matter of selecting and
discharging jurymen was irregular.
Justice McKenna delivered the opin
ion, affirming the conviction of How
ard for killing Wiliiam Goebel. He
reviewed the complaint of Howard’s
attorneys that the discharge of J. C.
Alexander as a juror was in violation
of the fourteenth amendment. Justice
McKenna said in part:
“We cannot assume error in the de
cision of the court of appeals. We ac
cept it as we are bound to do as a
correct exposition of the law' of the
state, common, statutory and consti
tutional. Our inquiry can only be, Did
the state law as applied afford plain
tiff in error due process, as those
words are used in the fourteenth
amendment? We think it did. It is
not necessary to enter into a lengthy
discussion of what constiutes due pro
cess of law.
“It may be admitted that the words
‘due process of law’ as used in the
fourtéenth amendment protect funda
mental rights.
“What those are cannot ever be the
cause of much dispute. In giving
them protection, however, it was not
designed as was ~bserved by the chief
justice in re Converse, supra, to in
terfere with the power of the state to
protect the lives, liberty and prop
erty of its citizens; nor with the ex
ereise of that power in the adjudica
tion of the courts of the state in ad
ministering the process provided by
the law of the state.
“These words are apposite in the
nresent case. There is not an intima
tion that the juror selected in Alex
ander’s place was not as competent
as he. Nor can he say that the dis
charge of Alexander took frem the
other jurors who had been chosen
to try the case or to give to plaintiff
in error the right to a new panel.”
Howard, who has been in the coun
ty jail at Louisville for several
montk=, received the news of the su
preme court's decision calmly, but ex
pressed confidence that some action
would yet be taken in his favor.
“The matter has gone .to the Uni
ted States supreme court,” he said,
“and for that reason it is now a mat
ter in which President Roosevelt can
act. I think that those who have been
interested in my case will present
the facts to the president, and I feel
sure that when he learns the true
state of affairs he will interfere in
my behalf. I have been convicted of
the murder of Mr. Goebel, but I am
innocent of the crime.”
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC DEBT.
A Decrease of Nearly Five Million Dollars
Shown for Year 1905. :
The monthly statement of the public
debt shows that at the close of busi
ness December 30, 1905, the total
debt, less cash in the,treasury, amoun
ted to $994,8609,718, which is a de
crease as corapared with December 1,
1905, of $4,883,313. |
NEGRO IS RETROGRADING.
Such is Declaration of Governor Var
daman in Opposition to State Aid
of Colored Schools. :
Governor James K. Vardaman, in
his annual message to the Mississippi
legislature, which assembled Tuesday,
again took a strong stand against
spending public money for the educa
l tion of the negro, saying, in part:
“What_ shall we do with the negro?
Certainly the education suited to the
white child does not suit the negro.
This has been demonstrated by 40
years of experience, and the expendi
ture in the southern states of nearly
$300,000,000.
“As a race, the negro is deteriorat
ing morally every day. Time has
l demonstrated that he is more criminal
as a free man than as a slave, that
! he is increasing in criminality with
fearful rapidity, being one-third more
l criminal in 1890 than he was in 1880.
The startling facts revealed by the
census show that those who can read,
and write are more criminal than the
illiterate, which is true of no other
element of our pepulation.
“In the south, Mississippi particu
larly, I know he is growing worse
every vear. You can scarcely pick up
a newspaper whose pages are not
blackened with an account of an un
mentionable crime committed by a ne
gro brute and this crime I want to
impress upon you is but the mani
festation of the negro’s aspiration for
social equality, encouraged largely by
the character of free educatiop {a
vegue, which the state is levying rib
ute upon the white people to main
tain. :
“It is your function to put a stop
to the worse than wasting a half mil
jon dollats annually—money taken
from the iciling white men\and wo
men of Mississippi—and devoted to
the purpose of trying to make some
thing of the negro whica the Great
A‘?i:hitect of the Universe failed tc
provide for in the original plan of
creation.”
ARRAIGNED ON CONTEMPT CHARGE.
City and County Officials Appear Before
Judge Speer in Macon Court.
l The new federal court rocm in the
' grand opera house at Macon, Ga., was
1 filled with spectators and members ot
{ the Macon bar Tuesday morning when
| City Attorney Minter Wimberly, Chief
of Police Granville Conner and Super
’ intendent A. Wimbush of the Bibb
] county chaingang, appeared beforz
| Judge Emory Speer to show cause
I why they should not be adjudged in
| contempt of court for re-arresting
lHenry Jamison before the mandate
} of the supreme court of ‘the United
] States had peen made the order of
’ the federal court at Macon.
The writ requiring their appearance
was issued upon the charge made by
Assistant District Attorney Alex' Aker
man, who fought the famous habeas
| corpus case through the high court
for the negro, and it was this attor
ney who appeared in the court Tues
day morning and demanded that the
three officials be held accountable for
Jamison’s arrest: His argument last
| more than an hour and every law
ver of prominerce in the city heard
the beginning of tkis most interesting
case.
For the accused men Olin Wimber
' ly. N. E. Harris, Joseph M. Hall and
l other leading attorneys appeared. Min
i ter Wimberly, answering for the three
| mnen involved, admitted the charges,
i but said all three had acted in per
- fectly good faith and thought they
] were following the only proper meth
i ods.
' TRADE WiTil BRAZ.L IS CUT OFF.
i New Tarilf of Republic Practically Bars All
| : American Products.
A serious blow has been struck at
the Ameriean export trade by Brazil,
~according to advices received by cable
from Pertropolis, the diplomatic sub
urb of Rio.
This is to the effect that an order
hgs just been issued putting in force
the new tariff, which bears with great
Gxerity on imports of American flour,
grains and many other important fom
modities. |
LEESBURG, GA., FRIDAY.JANUARY 12, 1906.
Great Damage Done in the City
and Adjacent Territory.
THE KILLED WERE FEW
Many BuilCings Completely Wrecked
and That Scores Were Not Killed
is a Miracle.
A tornado of terrific force passed
over Albany, Ga., and vicinity Wead
nesday at 1:15 o’clock, coming from
a southwegterly direction and spread
ing wreck and desolation over por
tions of a dozen blocks.
Several persons are dead and oth
ers will die as the result of injuries,
while many are mc:re or less seriously
hurt. 3
', Viewing the, wreckage left by the
“tornador ‘it: seems a miracle that a
‘score were not killed outright, the
i tributq claimed in the way of human
lives being astonishingly small.
\ The list is still incomplete, owing
- to the fact that much of the destrue
tion wrought was well beyond the city
limits. ;
The storm was immediately preced
ed by a blinding deluze of rain; the
heavens were darkened as at twilgiht,
’ and the wind attained a frightful ve
locity. It struck the Thair place, just
’ southwest of the city, where it killed
a negro boy and fatally injured two
members of the family of Jeff Davis
(colored). The buildings on the place
were combpletely demolisied.
Striking the big plant of the Vir
ginia-Carolina Chemical Company, the
storm demolished the two principal
buildings in the twinkling of an eye.
The acid chamber, four or five stories
high, was crushed like an egg shell,
‘ as was the large brick structure con
|tainiug the battery of ovens. A col
ored employe was killed in the col
lapse of the latter building.
k Walker Sanders, assistant manager
- of the plant, was standing beside th=
'negro and received serious injuries.
His escape was & miracle.
% The track of the tornado was not
mmore than 75 yards in width, but it
left the face of the earth clean where:
iever its full force was felt.
~ From the guano factory it jumped
I to a thick settlement of negro cabins.
- Here twenty-five buildings were com
pletely demolished. Some were oc
cupied by as many as a~half dozen
- persons,. mostly women and children,
“and while a great many were injured
"not one was Kkilled outright. Furni
ture, bed clething, etc., were blown
entirely away.
In the midst of this group of
houses was the colored Methodist
Episcopal church, a large and rather
imposing structure. It was complete
ly destroyed, together with its furni
ture.
The stormed turned at thiz point,
and passed almost due eest threugh
Residence street, though its full force
was not felte again until several
blocks had been passed over., How
ever, on Residence street th: dam
age was great. A number of pretty
cottages were unroofed, the deluge
flooding them and ruining their con
tents.
The storm descended agaln at the
intersection of Washington and Tift
streets. Here it demolished the par
tially completed cold stcrage plant
of the Albany Artesian Ice company.
It passed to the plant of the Georgia
Cotton Oil company, where it demol
ished the large two-story wurehouse,{
containing thcusands of tons of cot
ton seed. 1
Great havoc was wrought in tho
yards of the Central of Georgia andf
Albany and ‘Northern railways. i
Dozens of freight cars in the two |
yards were unroofed. A delivery wag- {
on on Washington street, was picked |
ap, with horse.and driver, and car-i
ried through the air a considerable
distance into the railroad yards. The '
driver was seriously injured. ;
Hundreds' of negroes in“ the city are
homeless, and many ,have lost all
their household effects. The injured
are being cared for, and efforts are
being made to secure shelter for all.
; ]
FARMERS MAKE PLEDGE.
Work for 1906 Mapped Out at Meeting
of Georgta Division of Cotton
Association.
District organizers will be sent into
2ach congressional district of the state
to more strongly organize the Geor
gia division of the Southern Cotton
Asociation in every county of Geor
zia during 1906, and the work will be
pushed as it has not been before
since the assoeciation was organized.
This important step was determined |
upon by the Georgia division, which
met in annual convention at the state
capitoi in Atlanta Wednesday.
Among other resolutions passed by
the convention was one prescribing a
pledge for the Georgia members that
:hey will not, during 1906, plant more
lhan 16 acres of cotton to the plow,
and that they will besides raise at
home a full supply oi provisions for
home consumption. ; |
President M. L. Johnson and prac {
tically all of the old officers of the‘
Fecrgia division were re-elcted to
serve during the new year.
Every speaker had something to
say about the prosperous conditions
prevalent in the state, and alludedi
to the fact that there is more money ‘
in the country now than there has
been since 1860. : e
This was particularly noticeable in
the strong address of President Jor-
Aan, who also warned the association
against the danger of allowing poli
ties to enter its deliberations, because
the history of other associations of a
like character showed their wreck had
been due to this very fact.
A resolution endorsing President
Jordan for re-election to the presi
dency of the Southern Cotton Asso
ciation at the coming meeting in New
Orleans; endorsing Richard Cheat
ham for reelection as secretary of
the centra! associaticn and indorsing
John D. Walker of Hancock, treas
urer of the Georgia division for the
position of treasurer of the nationmal
assocciatior, was unanimously adopt
pd. This resolution will be transmit
ted to the New Orleans conventlon.
DEPiW’S RESIGNATION DEMANDED
' 12 nesolution introduced in the New Yousk
General Assembly.
The New York state legislature
started off at Albany with a rush
Wednesday.
Aside. from the reading in both
houses of the annual message of the
governor, the most important develop
ments were the election of Speaker
James W. Wadsworth; a long debatei
‘in the senate over a rasolution re-i
questing ‘the resignation of United
!States Senator Chauncey M. Depew,}
on the ground cof disclosures in con~{‘
nection with the Equitable Life In-|
surance Sccisty, which ended in the{
withdrawal of the resolution for the
time beinsg. 1
SCUTHERN GIVES BIG ORDER.
Coniract is Let for Building Over Eight!
Thousana New Freight Cars. !
One of the first steps taken by thei
Southerr. railway for the year 1906]
was the placing of an order for 8,729 |
cars for the freight service. This or- |
der has been necessitated by the tre- |
mendous growth cf freight traffic in |
the large portion of the south fed by |
the Southern railway. While the exact |
figures could not be learned, it is
known that the contract exceeds ss,'i
000,000, i
M'CALLS SUCCESSOR ELECTED. g
New Head of !nsurance Company Will Get |
Much Smaller Salary. '
John A. MecCall officialy resigned
the presidency of the New York Life f
Insurance company Wednesday, and;
Alexander E. Orr was appoicted in
his place at the salary of $50,000 a.!
,year, Mnp. McCal¥s salary was $lOO,-‘
000. ,
The board of trustees also cut down
the number of vice presidents, so that
hereafter there will be two of these
nfficers instead of three. I
Men and Animals Entragped by
Frightful Explosion of Firedamp.
BELEIVED ALL-ARE DEAD
Horror Occurred at Cooper Company’s
Plant in Coaldale, West Virgunia.
Rescue Work Quickly Begun.
Twenty-one minéts ‘were killed in
an explosion of 'm'l}ié?kas_ in the shaft
of the Cooper Mine company at Coal
dale, W., Va, at nogn Thursday. Im
mediat_ely following, 'the explosion,
whieh: was ‘heard fox' several miles,
rescue parties set to work to explore
the wrecked shaft.
Coaldale is"a ‘filhfi'fij’; town situated
on the Nox*fdlf{_ and""Wgstem ratiway,
and'is 15 miles wobt o' Blustield. It is
in Mercer county, and wire facilities
are inadequatd, Soré’#dea can be
fermed as to the. forge of: the explo
sion when several, hp_ufs after the ex
plosion, one, of the miners, who could
not be identified on account of being
so badly mutilated, was found a dis
tance of several hundred fest from
the mine mouth, ha¥lng been blown
there, together with a ‘mining car by
the explosion. News of the explo
sion soon’ spread 'througli the coal
fields, and a great:party of miners
from’ the. numerous operations gath
ered to assist in the rescue.
i _ CREATED SCENE AI"W!HIE HOUSE,
| :
Woman Lemanded to Sce the President
* and Was Hustled Qut Bodily,
A Washingtecn dispatch says: A
distressing scene was enacted at the
white house executive offices Thurs
day in which Mrs. Minor Morris, aged
filty years, was carried screaming
from the building bacause sl refused
to leave without a resort to force.
Mrs. Mcerris told Assistant Secreta
ry Barnes that she wanted to seg the
president. She sald that her hus
band had heen d‘scha:g,;,el from the
- government service, and she wanted
to demand frcm the president his re
instatement.
Mr. Barnes explaingd to her that
the president had ncthing to do with
sich subjeets, and that ghe would bet
ter take up the matter with the head
of the department from 'which her
husband had been . discharged.
Mrs. Morris deglgred in a loud tone
that she had come to the white house
to see the president, and propcsed to
son him even if she had fo camp out
there for a month. The white house
officers tried to get her to leave, but
she defled any cne to touch her.
Two of them lifted her up bodily
and carried her screaming to a police
call box, where a patrcl wagon was
summoned. She was taken to the
house of detention.
Mrs. Morris was released frown the
house of detention shortly after 8
o’clock p. m., and returned to the New
willard hotel. She refused to
see anv callers;, sending word she
was indisposed,
She had heen a guest at the Willard
for a long time.
INFRINGEMENT ALLEGED BY DIXON,
“Clansman’’ Author Se'zes tha Property of
' a Theetr cal Aggregation,
Thomas Dixon, anthor of “The Clans
man,” through attorneys at Raleigh, N.
(~ attached property of the Cerinne
Runkel ecompany for presenting “In
Reconstrustion Days,” a play which he
claims is an infringement on the copy
right of his ‘“The Clansman,” but
which Thaddeus Breton of the Runkel
company says he wrote in forty days,
from Dixon's and ¢ther novels of re
construction times.
Committee Tackles Statehood Bil'.
The senate committes on territories
met Thursday and began consideration
of the joiat stat@hood bill. This was
the first meeting of the committee to
consider th: admission of states.
NO. 29.