Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME XXXII. NO. 37.
COURSON ON STAND IN OWN DEFENSE
OF CONVICT CAMP
TELLS US
Declares in Witness Box in Jack*
sonville Court That He I reat*
ed New Jersey Boy With
Kindness
CHARGED WITH MURDER
IN SWEAT BOX'
Relates to Court Details of
Events in Sunbeam Prison
Camp Which Resulted in
Fatal Punishment.
Jacksonvlle, Fla., Oct. 13. (/P)—
George W. Courson, former captain
at Sunbeam prison camp where the
state alleges Arthur Maillefert was
rrymxlered by strangulation when con
ir ed in a sweat box, with a chain
about his neck attached to a rafter,
took the stand today in his defense.
Courson, who tips the scales at 285
pounds, settled himself in the witness
chair and answering preliminary Georgia, ques¬
tions, said he was a native of
was 57 years old, and has lived in
Florida for 34 years.
For 25 years of his life he said he
worked as a railroad section foreman,
lie has been connected with the state
road department prison camps for 12
years.
Courson said he worked his way
from a team foreman to a camp cap
tain. He was acting captain at Sun¬
beam camp in the place of J. F. Baker
when Maillefert died.
He is the father of five children.
Asked to tell his story about the
death of Maillefert, Courson began:
“On the morning of June 1, Road
Foreman Denmark brought Maillefert
to camp.
“Jersey (Maillefert) said: ‘Captain,
I done served mv sentence. I don’t in
tend to hit another damn lick.’
"I told him, ‘No, sir, your time is
not made. You were sentenced here
for nine years and my job is to see
you do it.’”
Courson said he tried to reason with
the boy, but Maillefert continued to
say: “I’Ve served my time.”
“He said: ‘If you don’t kill
you’re yellow.’
“I told him I must be yellow then,
because I was not going to kill him.”
“If they had wanted you killed, they
would have killed you before they
sent you here,” Courson said he told
the youth.
“I asked him if he was sick or any
tliing and he said: ‘Not a damn thing
wrong.’”
Courson said he sent Maillefert back
to the road work and that about 4
o'clock that afternoon “they brought
him in again.”
“I told him I was going to put him
in the sweat box and to make
there wasn’t anything wrong with
1* Skm I called a doctor and he told me
had seldom seen a better body on
'
a i. an.”
Courson told of having left the boy 7
in the box that night and of going
to the box and heaving “Jersey cut¬
ting on the box.”
lie called a guard to stand by and
see that he didn’t escape.
“Next morning I went to the box
and found how he got the knife in the
box.
“Jersey said to me: ‘I’m
home.’
“I said: ‘No, you’re not.’
He said: ‘Well, I’m going to hell
then.’ ”
if Courson related how he rigged up a
barrel and put it on the boy,
him he could walk about the yard, sit
down in the sweat box or amuse
sr ‘ f: I want you to be comfortable,”
said he told Maillefert.
Courson said lie was warned by a
barrel. trusty “Jersey” could get out of the
On two occasions, _ he said, he saw
Maillefert outside the barrel. Maille
fert was put back in the sweat box
Thursday night with the barrel.
The next day he still had it on and
that afternoon he put out and
into the woods.
Se™* t? Courson t°ld of the chase and of
hoard three shots, which is
usually a signal to call the guard.”
And then “I heard three move
shots,” he said. “I turned to the
trusty with me and said, ‘I hope that
boy ain’t hurt.’”
After Maillefert’s recapture and re
turn to' camp Courson told of talking
to Jersey and asking him, “Jersev,
what in the world am I going to do
with you?”
“He said, ‘You can’t do a damn
thing but kill me,’” Courson quoted
“I said, ‘No. I ain’t, but there’s one
more I thing I’m going to do to you.
m going to build some stocks 'and
put ’em on you and put you back in
se box.”
jfe 1 '. “ ‘Yes, and I’ll tear
’em off and
2Way a0,a >n,’ he told me
“I -Bid ‘No, you won’t. I’ll chain
__
("Continued on Page 2)
THE BRUNSWICK NEWS
Body Found In Field
j
The body of Dr. Simon S. Baker,
65, former president of Washington
and Jefferson (’(liege was found in a
field near Washington. Police said he
apparently had committed suicide.
Dr. Baker disappeared Oct. 10 after
leaving his Pittsburgh home for a
stroll.
.---— ----- . __________
,
|
Spalding , County Court Fails
10
C„„,ici and Charged With I
Death of Negro Prisoner Last
| .I,, I
j
Griffin, Ga., Oct 13. (IP) ...
_ _
0,d * v three minutes, a Spalding
superior court jury today
Found 1’. 14. Randall, foi mei county;
convict manslaughter warden, not gurlty^olinvolun- connection with j
m
the death ot .J. 1. Lassitei a negro,
Prisoner, last July. !
The trial was one ot the fastest on
re< i?, 1< ,n hpalding county.
Yhe defense offered no witnesses,
an( ' arguments were dispensed wit l
both state and defense.
Randall made an unsworn >
m which he denied responsibility
F°i’ the death ot the negio. i
Fie said he had been advised by a ]
S uar( l that Lassiter was not work* j
ing, and ae approached the negio
with a small switch m his hand. He,
ordered the negro to work, he said,.
and Lassiter attacked him with a pi< v.
Then, he said, he struck at the negio
with the switch, which was broken,
over Randall the P icl said j handle the - then .-.I *."j
negro a
e< F Fo work, but slipped and tell, ms;
head striking the running board oi
truck standing nearby.
The state charged Randall killed
the negro “without malice by hit
ting, striking and beating him with
his hands, lists, sticks and other wea
pons.”
H
WILL ANSWER SEVERAL ELEC¬
TION QUESTIONS OVER BROAD¬
CAST AT TEN O’CLOCK
_
By W ALTER T. BROWN
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 13. t/P>—Gover
nor Franklin D. Roosevelt was ready
today to discuss before a nation
wide" audience some aspects of the
question of relief,
Tn a radio address at 10 o’clock,
eastern standard time, tonight, he will
^ a n< on a series of questions which
ten executives of welfare organizations
■ submitted to candidates for the presi
dency. In substance, the questions
i a)e - substantial increase
Do you favor a the
jn federal relief outlays during
emergency? substantially inereas
; Do you favor aid
led public works appropriations to
employment? favor unemployment msur
Do you compulsory by
ant *e reserves made
the states? strengthening the
1 Do you favor
I children’s bureau of the labor depart
. ment ? forthcoming
In connection with the
speech, an utterance in his acceptance
address at Chicago on July 2 was re
called. “that while the
“I say,” he declared,
primary responsibility of relief rests
with localities, yet the federal govern
ment always had and still has a con
tinuing responsibility for the public
welfare . It will soon fill that respon¬
Ability.” talk likely will be Mr.
Tonight’s
Roosevelt's last public address before
he leaves on a 3,000-mile campaign
; trip next Tuesday morning that will
take him into 16 states in eight days
DELEGATION FROM
B. E. F. AT CAPITAL
After Its Leader, Hoke Smith,
Had Conferred For More
Hour With Secretary
Grants Audience
PRESENT PETITION
TO GENERAL HINES
Censures President and Ad=
ministration For Forceful
Eviction of Army From Wash*
ington Streets.
Washington, Oct. 13 (/P)—President
Hoover today received personally a
delegation from the bonus expedi
tionary force, after its leader, Hoke
Smith, had conferred for more than
an hour with one of the president’s
secretaries.
Frank T. Hines, director of vet¬
erans affairs, stood beside the chief
executive’s desk as the B. E. F. dele¬
tiled into Mr. Hoover’s private
office. Those in the lobby outside could
hear the president say: “Gentlemen,
1 am glad to see you.”
Smith placed upon the president’s
a petition asking that members
the B. E. F. be given clothing, cots,
mattresess and blankets and a food
allowance of not less than 15 cents
day.
Two women were in the delegation.
newspapermen as they left the White
'
“We gave our petition to General
in the presence of the president.
e p| e( (g e ,j our unswerving allegiance
the constitution and the flag,”
ith sai(1
r f] le p t,j^j approved by recent
e 011> a
at Uniontown, Pa., con¬
.
**We, the assembled representatives
of the B. E. F., do hereby censure
an( | those of your administration
took part in, and the means used
j n tfff. forceful eviction of the B. E. F.
rom the District of Columbia on July
and 29, 1932.”
In addition to the clothing, blankets
food) the pet ition asked that the
immediate recognize the need for'the
payment of the adjusted
certificates. The demand for
relief, the resolution said, was
made after a law had been enacted
by the Last congress providing an
of $50,000 for “the enter
of French veterans.”
__________
ROBBERS GET $38,000
Grand Island, Neb., Oct. 13. (/P)—
\ robber gang armed with machine
Uns an( | pj s j; 0 i s took $38,000 cash
$8,000 in bonds from the Nebras
] ia National Bank today and forced
three girl employes to accompany
them to cover their retreat. The girls
released unharmed three blocks
away.
GASOLINE REDUCED
Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 13. (/P)—A reduc¬
tion of two cents per gallon on gaso¬
line was made today by several com¬
panies serving this section. The re¬
duction makes gas available at 22
cents and the grade sold at 21 cents
available at 19 cents.
Marie Dressier
Is Best Actress
Of Past Season
Hollywood, Oct. 13. (/P)—The veter¬
an actress, Marie Dressier; who last
year was voted the award of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences for the best performance by 1
an actress has been nominated for!
the honor again this year. The award
will be made November 15. Miss
Dressier was among three nominated,
Lynn Fontanne and Helen Hayes be¬
ing the other two.
Miss Dressier was named for her
portayal of the motherly nurse in
“Emma.” Last year it was her per¬
formance in “Min and Bill,” in which
she enacted the role of a waterfront
character, that gave her the award.
Miss Fontanne was nominated for her
role in “The Guardsman,” and Miss
Hayes for her part in “The Sin of
Madelon Claudet.”
Those nominated for the best per
formance by an actor were Wallace
Beery in “The Champ”, Alfred Lunt
in “The Guardsman,” and Frederic
March in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
Frank Borzage, King Vidor and
Josef Von Sternberg were the direc¬
tors nominated for the academy
award. Borzage was named for his
production of “Bad Girl,” Vidor for
“The Champ” and Von Sternberg,
for “The Shanghai Express.”
The three pictures nominated for the
best photography were "Arrowsmith,"
“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “The
Shanghai Express.”
BRUNSWICK, GA.. THURSDAY, OCT. 13, 1932.
AFTER ATTACK BY
Guardsman is Struck Over Head
and Rifle Taken Away By
Pickets at Taylorville,
Mine
FOLLOWS SHOOTING
EARLIER IN DAY
Both Democratic and Republican
Headquarters Ordered Closed
to Prevent Gathering of
Miners.
Taylorville, III., Oct. 13. (/P)—Min¬
er pickets slipped up behind a guards¬
man of the lOtitli cavalry at the Pea
body mine No. 58 at Hewittville to
day, struck him oil the head and dis¬
armed him.
Quick action was taken by Captain
Carl Meaeham after this incident
which followed the shooting earlier
at Ike McGuire, a miner. He ordered
both the Democratic and Republican
headquartres in Taylorville closed, ex¬
plaining that their use as reception
rooms was abused by the miners, who
were congregating in them in large
n umbers.
At St. Vincent’s hospital, the sol¬
dier, E. D. Hancock of Springfield,
-was suffering from a scalp wound.
Fifty-nine arrests were made by
troops. Forty-eight were taken in a
group for congregating at mine No.
9 at Langleyvillo and detained in the
soldiers’ barracks. One woman tak¬
en with them was released. The elev¬
en others included several women and
Tino Griano, William Spinner and
Tony Kaplan. The last three were
arrested in connection with the shoot¬
ing of McGuire.
Shortly after breaking up that
crowd, guardsmen fired on an auto¬
mobile, the driver of which refused
to halt. One shot broke the wind¬
shield and a second punctured r. tire.
The four occupants told the guard
they were returning home after pick¬
eting mine 58 at Hewittville.
Taylorville, 111., Oct. 13. I/P)—Ike
McGuire, a miner, was shot in the
face and breast by pickets who call- j
ed him from his home at Hewittville
today. Badly hurt by the blast of shotgun j
slugs he fired into the crowd. The j j
firing brought national guardsmen
and tear gas bombs helped the sol- i
diers disperse the crowd. i
The shooting of McGuire signalized I
the return of the many released pickets ar -1 |
rested yesterday and on their
promise to go home. j
They returned to picket duty early
lliis morning and six national guard
companies were kept busy clearing |
the highways with tear gas and smoke
bombs.
Despite the picketing and the
tack on McGuire, mine number 58 at j
Hewittville, where he was employed,
opened for operations with 250 men ,
after yesterday’s holiday in comment
oration of the Virden massacre in the
union strife of 1898.
Two shots were fired by militia
today—making a total of only four
fired bv the soldiers since they were
posted here several weeks ago to pro¬
tect miners and mines from violence
in the quarrel between rival unions.
One shot was fired into the air when
a guard truck deporting pickets from
town stopped at a boulevard and part
of the cargo of strikers jumped off
and sprinted away. Another shot was
fired into an automobile tire when a
carload of pickets failed to stop at a
national guardsman’s order.
Thus far no one has been wounded
by a militia bullet. Gas and smoke
bombs have been used to keep the
peace.
SMITH ■TA TO eDC^A SPEAK. V
EIGHT TIMES IN
PARTY’S INTEREST
New York, Oct 13 (/Pi——Former
Governor Alfred E Smith, begin¬
ning next week, will make six
speeches in behalf of Democratic
state and national tickets in New
England, New Jersey and New
York Hate, it was announced at
his office today.
His first address will be de¬
livered in Tammany Hall. New
York City, on October 19, the an¬
nouncement said. The next dale,
tentative] v set. awaiting word
whether the armory can be ob¬
tained that night is October 24,
in Newark, N. J.
Former Governor Smith is
scheduled to go up into New Eng¬
land on October 27. making
; speeches in Boston, and Provi¬
dence. R. T„ that day Another
speech is to be made October 28
somewhere in the Albany dis¬
: trict, riTrksihly in Albany or in
| Troy. N. Y. The final address
listed in the announcement is set
for Buffalo on October 29.
Mrs Samuel Instill (left) and Mrs. Martin Instill (right), whose hus¬
bands have been indicted in connection with the collapse of the Instill
utilities empire, are living in seclusion—Mrs Samuel Insull in I’aris and
Airs. Martin Insull in Orillia, Out. Both have been reported ill.
mo WHO ESCAPED
Fair Who Eletl Duval County
Prison While Waiting to
Called as Witnesses Taken
Decatur,
Decatur, Ga., Oct. Li. ( A‘) Two men
identified as escaped convict witnesses
in the Florida prison torture death
ol Arthur Maillefert were
here shortly after 3 a. in. today in
stolen automobile by DeKalh
p 0 |i ( .,,
Officers I.. M. Turner and C. !\ Ford
who made the arrests after a chase
of several blocks through the streets
said the men gave (lie names of
Drew and James Warlord and readily
admitted they were tile pair of
oners who broke out oi tile Jackson
viHe jail while awaiting a call
the witness stand.
The DeKalh county officers coni
'<'<■ and said they were told the men
lice and said they weer told the men
arrested would lie sent for at once.
Suspicious actions attracted the at
tention of the officers to the men,
they said. As they approached to
the occupants of the autonio
it was speeded up. The car, Ofli
‘ r Turner said, was stolen in Decatur,
9 o'clock last night,
Drew and Warlord told him they
here from Augusta by freight
I he two escaped Sunday from the
jail where they awaited a
call by the state to testily against
aptain George Courson and Solomon
prison camp officials,
on trial For murder in the death of
Arthur Maillefert, a young New Jer
convict, in a punitive prison sweat
,,x -
Aged Negro Loses
Fight To Escape
Death In Chair
Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 13. (/!>)—Tom
King, 60-year-old negro who has five
times heard a judge fix the hour of
his execution for murder of a police¬
man, has suffered another disappoint¬
ment in his extraordinary fight to
prove his innocence.
Seven years ago, Jim McNeely,
Butts county policeman, was killed in
a raid on a still near Indian Springs.
Tom King was arrested and charged
with his murder. Five times now he
has been convicted and sentenced to
die after a series of appeals and new
trials. For seven years he has occu
pied the Fulton county jail death cell,
Yesterday a negro giving the name
of Arthur Jones was arrested in
Knoxville, Term., by a Knoxville ne
gro policeman who believed him to hr*
John Bell, a negro, also indicted in the
policeman's slaying and whom Torn
King contends will corroborate testi¬
mony of Oscar- Whitehead, another
negro, in support of an alibi for King.
Jones was brought to the Fulton
Jail last night for possible identifi¬
cation. (fid Torn, his eyes
by advanced age anti long confine¬
ment, said he doubted if he were
Bell.
Old Torn last was sentenced to die
August 14 hut a reprieve was granted
so his case might be further investi¬
gated. He was visibly shaken by
failure of identification of Jones as
Bel).
TRIAL IS DENIED
Youth Condemned to Death For
Slaying of Orphan Printer at
Macon Loses His Second
Eight.
Atlanta, Oil. 13. (/Pf The state
'.supreme court today refused for the
second time to grant a new trial to
Manchester, convicted in Macon
h| ,,,op of the lmlr ,|„r of James Barks,
young orphan printer,
Tim high court today held that new
evidence, alleged by the defense in an
« "”' v t')* 1 -
instillicipiit to warrant granLing
it.
The opinion did not go into detail on
M( , w evidence.
All justices concurred in the ma
jonty opinion except Justice Atkin
Him who did not write his opinion hut
merely recorded his dissent.
Manchester lost his first appeal on
the merits of the case, and was re
sentenced before the extraordinary
motion for new trial was filed.
The youth was convicted with Mrs.
Sarah Powers, aged rooming house
proprietor in whose home both Ik* and
Parks lived. Mrs. Powers first was
.sentenced to death as instigator of
the slaying which the state charged
was committed in order . to collect
$14,000 insurance on Parks’ life un¬
der which Mrs. Powers was benefic¬
iary.
Mrs. Powers won a new trial on ap¬
peal and at the second trial was giv¬
en a life sentence.
The state claimed Mrs. Powers
promised Manchester $1,000 for the
killing.
Manchester was sentenced to elec¬
trocution Yanted on August 14, 1929, but wus
K a 00 day respite by Governor
L. G. Hardman. His execution date
then was set, for July 28, 1930, but his
execution was automatically stayed
by an appeal to the supreme court
which affirmed the conviction.
Manchester then was re-sentenced
to death December 4, 1931, but the
prison commission requested Gover¬
nor Russell, who had taken office in
the meantime, to grant an indefinite
respite pending further study of the
records of the case.
Ilis second appeal to the supreme
court, followed,
COUPLE IS KILLED
IN AUTO MISHAP;
MAN IS ARRESTED
Atlanta. Get. 13. UP) —Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph B. Jones, of Atlanta were kill¬
ed late last nigh! in an automobile
crash and police docketed a murder
charge against a man listed as W. E.
I Oglnirn. 41, also of Atlanta,
Mr. Jones, 23 and Mrs. Jones, 21,
arid their companion, Lloyd Hedger,
21, were riding in one car and Ogburn
and a woman in the .other. Hedger
was critically injured. Patrolmen
said Ogburn’s large sedan and Jones’
car crashed as the latter was cross¬
ing a street. The crash occurred at
Stewart avenue and Gleen street.
Ogburn was charged with murder
arid reckless driving and his woman
companion with being drunk and dis¬
orderly.
j hospital Jones was and dead his wife when died he early reached this
a
morning. Physicians said Hedger bad
an even chance to recover. The Jones
and Hedger were returning from a
bridge party.
Ogburn arid the woman were ar¬
rested at the scene of the crash while
waiting for a wrecker to tow then
car to a garage.
PRICE FIVE CENTS
HELD BY INSULL
DESPITE ORDERS
Refuses to Surrender Papers
to American Consul at Athens,
Greece, to Prevent Him Eeav=
hiK Country
WANTED IN U. s! FOR
UTILITY COLLAPSE
Lawyers Instruct Him to Make
No Statement For Publication
in Connection With His Af*
fairs.
Athens, Greece, Oct. 13 </P)—Sam¬
uel Insull, under indictment in Chi¬
cago in connection with the collapse
of Iris utilities interests, refused to¬
day to surrender- his passport to the
American consul until Ire had consult¬
ed his lawyer.
"I lie attorney continued to refuse
any statement on the case for pub¬
lication.
It <vus said at I he American lega
I ion that il still was without official
notification in writing o( Mr. Insuil’s
release from detention or the reasons
for Iris release.
He was liberated on Tuesday after
a brief detention by the Athens police
when the courts ruled that since
formal ratification of the Greco
American extradition had not been
completed there was no legal warrant
for keeping him in cystodv.
Fear Bankruptcy
Chicago, Oct. 13. [/)>) Samuel In¬
sull, Sr., and Iris In-other, Martin, to¬
day were laced with threatened per¬
sonal bankruptcy actions us creditors
sought to bring to light assets in
branches of their bankr upt utility col¬
ossus.
Louis F. Jacobson, attorney for
creditors of the Instil! Utility invest¬
ment, Inc., involved in bankruptcy
proceedings before Federal Judge
Walter Limlley, indicated he likely
would seek personal bankruptcy peti¬
tions for the Insulls.
•Such proceedings, he said, would
enable cerditors to examine all hold¬
ings, cash, and real estate, of Murtin
and Samuel Insull in the search for
company assets. As tin* federal hear¬
ing now stands, only assets of the
company may he investigated.
Two usislanls of State’s Attorney
John A. Swanson stood by with or¬
ders to leave for Washington for a
presidential warrant for Samuel In
sail and to proceed fo Athens, Greece,
to return him on the warrant. Both
Instills are charged with larceny and
embezzlement as a result of the burst
utility bubble.
Witnesses whose testimony before
the Cook county grand jury resulted
in the indictments were scheduled to
appear- before Chief Justice John
I’rystalski to give depositions of their
testimony to support presidential
warrants for the I nsn 1 Is.
As soon as the testimony is sworn
to, extradition papers will be sent by
air mail to Springfield for the signa¬
ture of acting Governor Fred E. Ster¬
ling and then will be forwarded to
Washington for signing by President
Hoover :rrirI Secretary of State Stinr
son, the prosecutor said.
Swanson expected that his aides,
assitant State's Attorneys Charles A.
Bellows and Andrew .J. Vlachos, like¬
ly would leave for Washington tonight
to pick tip the presidential warrant
for Samuel Insull and would sail
either Saturday or Wednesday for
Europe. That warrant for Martin In¬
sull will be mailed to Barrie, Ont.,
Canada, where be is free on bond
pending extradition hearing.
CONTEST IS FILED
IN BERRIEN RACE
Atlanta, Oct. 13. UP )—Berrien coun¬
ty's legislative situation is still to be
cleared up.
J. P. Knight has qualified with Sec¬
retary of State John B. Wilson as
the Democratic nominee, but J. Henry
Gaskins had filed the contest and said
with I lie new state Democratic execu¬
tive committee.
The secretary of state said he had
been notified by Miss Eleanor Orr,
secretary of the state committee, that
askins had filed the contest arid said
he (Wilson) would not certify the
nomination to the governor until the
contest had been disposed of.
Wilson said that because of confu¬
sion during the final date of qualifica¬
tion it had been announced that Knight
had qualified as an independent. The
secretary of state said Knight’s let¬
ter of personal qualification set forth
that he was the Democratic nominee.
TREASURY FIGURES
Washington, Oct. 13. f/P)—Treasury
receipts for October 11 were $81,276,*«
609.69; expenditures, $59,984,692.53;
balance, $786,976895.78. Customs du*
ties for 11 days of October were $8s
782,471.41, . _____j