Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, May 30, 1913, Image 8

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J Made “The Dundee Way” To Your Individual Measure for Would Cost You Elsewh Open Saturdays Until 10:30 P. M uourr STEVENS yiOTdilw II ADE STEVENS, youth who was arrested following the dis covery of the bodies of his mother and sister in the fire ruins of the family home on the McDonough Road. No suspi, cion is now attached to the boy, who is aiding to clear.thc mys tery in every way. Son Is Freed of All Suspicion. Men Sought Were Feared by Slain Women. As a result of his straightforward story and the proof he has brought forward to sustain it, the police vir tually have eliminated Wade Stevens as a suspect In the murder of his mother, Mrs. Sarah C. Stevens, and his sister. Miss Nellie Stevens, and the burning of their home on the McDonough road. The activities of the police and Sheriff McCurdy are now being di rected toward Walter Wilkes, and Krnest Maynard, former employees of Mrs Stevens. A country-wide search has been instituted for them. Descriptions of the negro and the half-breed have been sent out to all parts of the South by telegraph, and the officers are confident that it is only a matter of hour* before they are arrested. The theory that Wilkes and May nard committed the crime, formulated by statements made by fieighbors of the Stevens family, atid statements made by William Stevens, has been strengthened, the police say, by the statements of Wade Stevens. Wilkes Near Home. Young Stevens, brought to Atlanta from Chattanooga by Detective John Black at 2 o’clock Friday morning, told the police that twice within the past week he has seen Wilkes, the last time being only a few hours be fore the murder. ”! met Wilkes in town Tuesday night shortly before 8 o’clock,” said young Stevens. "He stopped me and asked me where I was going I told him that I was going to Chattanooga. He asked me if father had not already gone, and 1 told him yes Then he remarked that he supposed mother and sister would be alone at the house during the night, and I told him I supposed so. Then he asked me if we needed a hired man, and said he guessed he would go out and ask mother if he could get another job.” Young Slovens said he also saw Wilkes within a mile of his home last Sunday morning. *'I was driving to town," the hoy declared. “And I met Wilkes just beyond the bridge over the South ern railroad. He asked me where J was going, and 1 told him to town. Then he wanted to know if mother wanted any work done, and 1 told him I didn't know, lie then asked me if father was at home, and when 1 told him he was. he asked if he could go back to town with me.. He got in the buggy then and we came to town. He said he was going down on Decatur Street, and that was the last time I saw him until Tuesday night, just before I left iur Chatta nooga. Both Insulted the Women. Young Stevens is positive that Wilkes and Maynard committed the crime, and declares that both the men have several times insulted his mother and sister and tried to get them to give them money. "The negroes thought mamma kept a large sum of money in- the house,” said the Stevens boy. ‘and they were always asking her for a quarter or a dollar, and getting mad when she wouldn’t give it to them. Mamma and aister often talked of the ne groes, and said they were afraid of them. Three times that I can re member. while Wilkes was working for us, he tried to insult sister, and that is why we discharged him. Twice sister saw him peeking in the window when she was dressing or bathing, and both times he grinned and cursed and ran. "Mamma and sister were just as much afraid of Maynard as they were of Wilkes. He tried to insult Nellie one day and mamma drove Save money NOW Furniture at High’s. on him away with a gun. He had threatened the whole family several times, and we were all afraid of him. . Maynard was a half-breed In dian and negro, aud was always in a bad humor and talking about money. ’ Young Steven» also threw light on a phase of Wilkes’ character that up holds the theory that Mrs. Stevens’ Bible, found In Wilkes* cabin, may prove valuable evidence. “Wilkes always was saying he wanted to be a preacher, and In March ho borrowed mamma’s Bible. He drank kits of whisky, and would sit with the Bible in one hand and a glass of whisky In the other, laughing at the Bible. He used to point out places in the Bible where it said not to kill anybody, and then he’d say it was all bosh and make fun of it. Tie would say that he’d bet he could do all those things and not get punished. He and Maynard were together when ever they got a chance, and they drank a lot of whisky.” In young Stevens’ story of how- he spent the day on Tuesday, he de clared thai he knows nothing of his sister taking his clothing to a neigh bor's. and says he was not at home all day. His statement, in which he is corroborated by “Red” Merchant, arrested with him in Chattanooga, follows: “I left home at ,8 o’clock Tuesday morning, after a quarrel with mamma. 1 had cut tile oats on Monday and on Tuesday she wanted me to put them In the barn. It had rained dur ing the night apd I told her it was too wet. She was mad and said if 1 didn't put the oats in the barn I could leave. I told her I would If she would give me my clothes, and she wouldn’t do it. “So I came to tow-n in the overalls that l have on now. I met ‘Red’ Merchant on Pryor Street near the Unibn Depot, and we were together about f»wn until about 1 o’clock, when ‘Red’ went home, to East Atlanta. 1 hung around town until 3 b’clock and met ‘Red’ again. We stayed down town and about 5 o'clock we met four boys, one of them the McWilliams boy, and stayed with them until about time for the train to leave. We caught the 8:55 W. and A. train and got into Chattanooga about 1:08 oYdoek. At 1:30 w r e saw a mun named Parker who runs a newsstand near the Chattanooga depot, and talked with him for some time. Then we hung around town. I wasn’t ar rested by the Chattanooga police. When I read in the paper Wednes day morning that mother and sister had been murdered and that 1 was wanted, 1 w-ent to the chief of detec tives and gave myself up.” Young Stevens and young Merchant were taken to the Decatur County Jail by Sheriff McCurdy Friday. They probably will be held a few- days un til the Chattanooga end of their story is proved. Young Stevens says the man Parker, owner of the newsstand, will come to Atlanta if necessary and prove that he was there about the time the murder is supposed to have been committed..' Will Bible Solve Stevens Slaying? *!•••{* Clews In Holy Book Negro Read +•+ d-ad* -J-a-r- •!••*!• Verses About Murder Marked Testament Given by Slain Wom an to Suspected Hand Found in His Cabin. Is the Holy Bible to play a part in j solving the mystery of the murder of Mrs Sarah C. Stevens and her daugh ter and the burning of their lonely j farm house? Whs the murderer a type of. hu- | inanity who combined a passion, or i contempt, for the Bible with an in- ; satiable craving to kill, rob and de stroy? Was this fanatic Walter Wilkes, a negro, who up to three weeks ago worked for Mrs. Stevena—known to he a close student of the Bible? Was he aided in his fiendish work by Ernest Maynard (or Mannard), a half-breed Mexican, who worked at the Stevens farm before Wilkes came known to be a friend and follower of Wilkes, and as deceitful and as treacherous? Tin- finding of Mrs Stevens’ Bible on a shelf In a log cabin formerly oc cupied by the negro and the Mexi can. with many passages having ref erence to violent deaths and actions marked with * cross in lead pencil, has brought these questions strongly to the fore, and has caused the in vestigations of Sheriff McCurdy and De tective Rosser to point toward the negro and the half-breed as possible perpetrators of the crime. Officers consider the Bible, with its marked passages, one of the most re- latkable and important bits of evi dence unearthed since the Investiga tion of the murder began. The Bible has been positively lden- ifled by Mr. Stevens and two of Mrs. Stevens’ brothers ns the property of Mrs. Stevens. The inscription on the fly-leaf—"Mrs. Stevens’ Hook"—has been identified as her handwriting. Mr. Stevens made the further im portant statement that the Bible has been in Wilkes’ possession sin^e the last of March, when Mrs. Stevens loaned him the book at his request. The negro had told her that he was studying for the ministry and did not have a Bible of his own. Striking Passages Marked. Practically every passage that is marked with the crude cross has ref erence to some form of violent sin ihat is punishable by eternal damna tion. The passages refer to killing destroying, lust and adultery, the greatest crimes in the spiritual and temporal calendar. These questions are being raised: Why did Wilkes mark only passages dealing with violent sin and Us pun ishment? Did the marking of the Bible within a month of the murder have any bearing on the crime? Does it show that Wilkes’ mind was constantly filled with thoughts of murder and robbing? Did the marking of Exodus xix:13. “And it came to pass that on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the mount," have any bearing on the burning of the house, the crackle and roar of the flames and the tjiick clouds of smoke? Did the- marking of James 1:14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed,” have any reference to his desire and efforts—alleged by the girl’s relatives to have 'occurred—to attack little Nellie Stevens? Did the marking of James ii:10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole Jaw, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,” mean that he would be- equally guilty whether he commit ted assault, murder, robbery, arson, or all? The portions of the Bible that were marked, presumably by Wilkes, are as follow's: Exodus xix: 13—There shall not an band touch It, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it be beast or man. it shall not live; when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. Violent Passages Indicated. Exodus xix: 16—And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and light nings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was In the camp trembled Exodus xx:13—Thou shalt not kill. Exodus xx.14—Thou shalt not com mit adultery. Exodus xx:17—Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man servant, nor bis maidservant, nor his ox. nor his ass, nor anything that is’ thy neighbors. Exodus xxi: 15—And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. Exodus xxi:17—And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. Exodus xxi:19—If he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall be that smote him be quit; only he shall pay for the loss of his time and shall excuse him to be thorough ly healed. Exodus xxi:22—If men strive and hurt a woman w-ith child, so that her fruit departeth from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. Exodus xxi: 23—And if any mischief follow', then thou shalt give life for life. Exodus xxi: 16—And he that steal- eth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall be surely put to death. Exodus xxil:16—And if a man en tice a maid that is not betrothed * * * he shall surely endow her to be his wife. Matthew v:36—Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. Matthew vii: 23—But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee is darkness, how great is that darkness. Hebrew's xiii: 17—Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give ac count, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is un profitable for you. James i: 14—But every man is tempted, when he is draw'n away of his own lust and enticed. James i:16—Then when lust hath Save money NOW on Furniture at High’s. FREE, NEXT SUNDAY, The American Sunday Monthly Magazine, contain ing the first chapters of Jack London’s new story, is GIVEN FREE with every copy of the next Sunday American. Buya Home—Like Furniture On Very Easy Payments S UPPOSING the FURNITURE DEALER asked you to pay RENT for your Furniture, for the rest of vour life—and, in the end, he wore to take tfack the furniture as HIS property! Wouldn't that be preposterous? It's just as UNREASONABLE for you to pay RENT for your HOUSE ami, in the end, for the property to still belong to your landlord! The i-t ' are exactly the same. The big KURNITtTRE STORES will sell you, at the lowest possible "• FURNITURE on the DIVIDED PAYMENT plan! We will sell vou. at w.m ; tsMhle price, a pretty HOUSE and LOT, on the same basis— “the Dl\IDKD PAYMENT plan- $100 down and as little as $21 a month, till the home is •■aid for No mortgage to assume. \\Y have several brand-new bungalows and cottages. in the well popu- ticti and picturesque section of Atlanta known as CAPITOL VIEW—on ■ re. : t ar line ,nl\ eighteen minutes from FIVE POINTS. You > uiA RENT your FURNITURE—then WHY rent your HOME when > “o > an BU\ a h< e on EASY TERMS like you buy furniture” Phone us eome to «>ur office and we'll tell more about our plan for selling vou a oar .Dome HOME, on our DIVIDED PAYMENT plan. W. D. BEATIE, 201 Equitable Building Beil Phone. Main 3520 Atlanta Phone. 3520 'conceived. It bringeth forth sin; and «ln. when It is finished, bringeth forth death. James ii: 10—For whosoever ahail keep the whole law, and yet offend In one point, he is guilty of all. Colosslans 111:20—Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing with the Lord. Ephesians xxxlv:25 — Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man with his neighbor; for we are mem bers one of another. Ephesians vi:6—Servants, be obe dient to those that are yout* masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, In singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Stevens Aids Officer*. Several points that had puzzled the officers investigating the case were cleared up with the arrival of Mr. Stevens from \’hattanooga and his visit to his burned home Thursday afternoon. His identification of vari ous objects and his statements that none of them were in their usual places have completed and upheld the murder theory. The ax and the hoe found In the bed room, where the bodies were found, Mr. Stevens identified a* be longing to the house. The hoe, he said, is usually kepi on tne back porch, and the ax is kept at the wood pile in the rear of the house. Sheriff McCurdy and Detective Rosser are positive that the ax and the hoe were the weapons used by the murderer; and they are positive also that there were at least two of the fiends. Though Sheriff McCurdy declared that young Wade Stevens and “Red” Merchant will be held until their ac tions on the night of the murder can be thoroughly investigated, he Inti mated that all clews now point to the regro and the Mexican, Walter Wilkes and Ernest Maynard, or Mannard, and intimated that a country-wide search will be institued for the two men. Both Were Discharged. Maynard, or Mannard, had been discharged from the employ of Mrs. Stevens because he had insulted the young girl and once-had attempted to attack her. Wilkes was discharged because he became a "peeping Tom.” and was surly and threatening on the day he was ordered off the place. Wilkes knew Mr. Stevens would be away from home on the night of the murder. When working in the fields with the negro a month ago Mr. Ste vens told the negro that he would at tend the reunion, and remembered the negro had asked him the date when he would be away from home. The investigation conducted Friday by the officers developed ‘the fact that Wilkes and Maynard were together a great deal of the time. 'City of Savannah Is Overhauled Entirely Information was received Friday by W. H. Fogg, district passenger agent of the Central of Georgia Railroad, that the Savannah Line steamship City of Savannali left New York yes terday for Savannah for the first* time since it was overhauled thoroughly. Improvements consist of seven ad ditional staterooms, private baths in connection with large bed rooms and a barber shop similar to those on the City of St. Louis and the City of Montgomery. The City of Savannah is one of the most commodious ships plying between Mew York and Savan nah. GERMAN WARSHIP ASHORE. BERLIN, May 30.—The German cruiser Bleucher went ashore this aft ernoon during a heavy fog. Other warships are standing by. Former Columbus Woman Dead. COLUMBUS.—Min. Franz White, a former resident of Columbus, ia dead at her home in Georgetown. S. C. Her body will be brought here for the fu neral Saturday. Save money NOW on Furniture at High’s. . TYB YT TREATED. Q alok ■ JJXwvJi swelling, short breath " soon removed,often entire relief 1 n lft to 2o days. TFlal treatment sent FREE. | Write Dr. 11. h. Greens Sons, Box 0. Atlanta, Gs. ADDITIONAL TRAIN SERVICE. Effective Sunday. June 1st, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad will establish double daily service between Cartersville, Ga.. and Etowah. Tenn. Train 35 will leave Etowah 6:30 a. m., arrive Cartersville 9:25 a. ra.: train 36 will leave Cartersville 10:3u a. m., arrive Etowah 1:30 p. m.; train 37 will leave Etowah 2:20 p. m. ar rive Cartersville 5:20 p. m.; train 38 will leave Cartersville 7:12 p m. arrive Etowah 10:10 p. m. adv! Your Usefulness Ends When Your Eyesight Fails Your Most Valuable Possession—They Bring All the Beauties of Nature to You. .*. .*. .*. D O YOUR EYES ache when you read? Do the words become blurred? Does the sunlight Irritate your eyes? Do you see little spots after working at something that requires close applica tion? If so, nature is warning you. She is telling you that you are using the strength of your eyes faster than she can supply it. Rest glasses may be all you need. See us to-day for an examination. Delhy and you may seriously impair your sight. 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