Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / June 16, 1916, edition 1 / Page 5
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1V fAJ- m to 1 v - ;' - f il m , ; BEACON FLASHES. . Mis3 Gladys Hornthal spent Tuesday in Roper. Bill Hilliard made a joyful trip to Raleigh the past week-end. Mr. Van Ii. Martin haa moved his law office into the new Har ney Building. Mis sas Ruth Avers and Sadie Ausbon are visiting relatives and friends in Kinston this week. Messers. Brownie Dixon and Wigg Watts attended a dance at Rocky Mount last Friday night. -Mrs. W. B. Watts is visiting relatives and friends in Raleigh, Ro:ky Mount and Williamston. Mrs. D. S. Jones and son, Master Lawrence, are spending some time with friends in Nor folk. Mrs- C. D. Carstarphen of Williamston, has been visiting Mrs. L. P. Hornthal here this week. Mrs G. S. Swain of Suffolk, Va., is vi3iting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. V. Norman, on . Third St.- Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Shef field of Raleigh are visiting Mrs. Sheffield's parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. V. Norman. Mr. W. B. Watts left Monday for Raleigh. He will leave there for Ashville to attend the annual Bankers' Convention. Clyde Cahoon, D. E. Woodley, Plymouth Garage and Motor Co. and L'. P. Pinkham ha ve very at . tra:tive 'advertisements in this issue. Be sure to read them. ftfr. Robert Ausbon with hjs two sons, Willje and Robert; of Hobgood, motored down and . spent a few days with relatives and friends here the past week. Mr.'and Mrs. G. H. Harrison, Mr?- P. 0. Brinkley, Mr. Moye Spruill and Mr. and Mrs. C. V. W. Ausbon spent the day last Sunday in Belhaven with friends. Special attention is called to the adv. of The Washington County Bank in this issue, in reference t;o the special arrange-, ients they have niacje to rnai;e jqans o our farmers, Mr. (V Latham left - Monday for Waynesville to attend the annual meeting of the Knights of Pythias. He will also attend he Convention of the Bankers shich" meets at Ashev'ille this year, Messers. W. B. Watts and L. W. Gay lord motored to Green yille Saturday last to make an important business transaction. Thev were accompanied b y Messers. Lloyd Horton and C. S. Ausbon. Sheriff J. E. Reid, assisted by deputies W- J. Starr and L L. Ghesson, left yesterday morning for Raleigh, where they went to take John Savage, for electrocu tion; Will Savage, Mary Savag'e, Chas. Spruill and Jim Smith to the penitentiary. - While the criminal side of the docket in the Superior Court just ended bas been the mo3t strenu ous and costly, possibly the county has ever experienced, ow ing to the great number of capi tal and serious offenses tried, yet it has given the greatest sat isfaction to the general public. On the last page of this issue ve are carrying a special article on the work of the town officials, and on the same page appears a complete account of the financial affairs of the city. Pay marked attention to each and learn some- j thing of the condition of Plym outh, A Card of Thanks. . We take this method ofex- $ng, as best we can, our, and deemed insecure, the pris- .grateful thanks to our ' oners were taken to Edgecombe " xls and the public generally .County jail for safe keeping. V. heir kind office performed . While Judge Allen was pas and outspoken expressions of ' sing sentence npon the condem. sympathy for us, and belief injnedman he stood there as non the innocence of. our son and chatently as if he was hearing brother in cur late days of sore1 the latest gossip, -and after the -trial. j Judge's admonition he sat down Words cannot express our with a mirth'ess chuckle. It gratitude to you, but our sincere' seemed a3 if he could not grasp .i i ; t i nraver is mat none oi vou may i ever be subjected to the anxiety and heartache that has. so un justly, we-feel, fallen upon us. Yours sincerely, J M. Bowen and , Family. AS ensational T erai SAVAGE TRIO GET JUSTICE. JOHN SAVAGE SENTENCED TO E LECTRIC CHAIR; WILL SAVAGE THIRTY YEARS OF PENAL SER VITUDE, AND MARY SAVAGE TO BE "IMPRISONED FOR TWENTY YEARS FORTHE MUR ULR Or MR. GEO. H. BOWEN. From Friday night until Mon day noon Sheriff Rcid . and his deputies were all over the county summoning a special 'venire of one hundred and fifty men, from whom were to - be selected the jury for the trial of John, Mary and Will Savage, who, on the 19th day of March cruely and unmercifully beat Mr. Geo. H. Bowen and his ' daughter, Miss Claudia Mr. Bowen died from the wounds inflicted on him by these brutes on the 21st day of April. It seems that John Savage had been working around .the Bowen home off and on for several years, and was familiar with the conditions and surroundings of the home. Ve learned that M r. Bowen had a sum of money in hjs hqm?, and becoming cove tous, enlistee the aid of his wife Mary, and son Will, and then went to the Bow. n ' home with the purpose of obtaining this money. Mary stated that John forced her and Wil to accompany him on this mission against their will.. She stated that she and her son stoutly maintained a de sire to be excused.f rem this visit, but were quickly overruled by the older Savage, . Inuring oy immediately after the process of unlawfully getting this monev, one of the victims screamed, and was heard by Mr. Charlie Bowen, son of the de ceased, who lives, jnst across the road from the scene of th,s depredation- lie immediately went over to fjnc vyhat the trouble was, and on entering the house he found his sister in a most critical shape, she being beaten into insensibility by the fiends. No trace of his father could be found, and after search ing for s'orp,e time ha cam? to town in quest of the sheriff and a physician, .fter'-the sheriff and his dep uties reached the scens of the crime they began a more care ful search for the missing man, who was finally found stowed away in a small closet, totally oblivious to everything. Then an investigation was made and several tracks were found. Mr. J, y. Shores and his blood hounds at E. City were tele graphed for, and upon their ar rival the dogs , were put on. the trail and took a round-about course to the home of Savage. Savage, his wife and son were arrested as suspects, although they stoutly denied any knowl edge whatever of tho crime, and after a preliminary hearing ! before Recorder L W. Gaylord they were held without bail to await trial at June Term of the Superior Court. The local jail being cro .vded by the road crew a coniprenensive mea as to what is in store for him. The jury sitting on this case were : C. E. Marriner, J. B. Ambrose; A. B. Ambrose, Z. T. Tarkenton, 0. II. Armstrong, Z. H. Phelps, B. M. Snell, II. of Court. JAMES BOWEN EXONEEATED. JURY RETURNS VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY IN CASE OF STATE VS JAMESO. BOWEN, CHARGED WITH HAVING CREMATED HIS WIFE; MYSTERY REMAINS UN SOLVED, HOWEVER; GREAT NUMBER OF WITNESSES. The Court House was a seeth ing mass of humanity from Tues day afternoon last until Friday night at 7:30. People from all over the county were here to witness the elucidation of the mystery case of James 0. Bowen, who was tried for burning his vife to death here on November 20, 1915. After a conference of about 30 minutes the jury re turned a verdict completely ex onerating the defendant of the crime. No evidence came out at the trial which was considered a logical solution of the strange manner of her death. Throughout the trial Mr. Bow en sat with an impassive expres sion on his face. He seem ad to be bewildered hy the circum stances of her dath which caus ed somo to suspect him of a ter rible crime. The jury says that Jim Bowen is not guilty of such a savage crime. Jim Bowen has suffered the loss of a wife he loved; and then to add to his tor ture he was arrested for having murdered her in a most brutal manner, we have heard no per son say that Jim Bowen bears malice for his prosecution, nor that he feels imrieiv3Iy toward anybody who appeared against him in the trial. History of the Case. On Monday morning of No vem-j ber 20th., 1915 oijr entire corn unity was electrified by hearing that Mrs. James 0. Bowen hs,d been totally cremated during the night before. , At first some people took it to be ! an idle rumor, Mrs. Bowen liyejl just outside the limits of the town and had there been a fire of any size most' people would have known it. However, a good many.people immediately betook themselves to the scene of the tragedy, and there it was that the rumor was affirmed. " On the morning of the tragedy Mr. Henry L. Lassiter, who married a sister of the deceased was at work on the kitchen of the house in which Mr. and Mrs- Bowen lived. He went to hia work at about 6,:50, and at 10:30 his wife came over to bring him water. While there Mrs, Lassi ter went into the house to inquire as to how her sister was feeling (Mrs; Bowen had been in ill health for Several years, she be ing afflicted with heart disease, On entering the house she failed to find her sister, and on going to the bed-rcom door she found it fastened, and the knob was very warm, She immediately called to her husband, thinking that the house was afire. The door, which was thumb-bolted, but not locked, was forced open. On gaining entrance to this room they'found the floor to be burn ing slightly in front of , the- fire place. A hole was burned in the floor about 24 by 20 inches Mrs. Lassiter called to her sis ter, and receiving no response, she made a hurried search, but no trace of her could be found. She then ran out into the . yard and called to her mother, Mrs. H. Gurkin, who lives just across1 the road She then reentered the house with Mr. Lassiter. I Chesson, Jr., T. E. Ainsley, G. A. Overton, G. W. Craddock and J. Adam Furlough. John Savage is sentenced to be electrocuted July 18th. who had armed himself -with a bucket of water, and in extin- ffuishing the fire, they discovered the charred remains of Mrs. Bowen, who had fallen throuerh the burned hole in the, floor. One of Mrs. Bowen's arms was found on the hearth," and one foot was found burned off just above the ankle. The foot was encasecl in a shoe which had not suffered from the fire. ' On Tuesday before the tragedy Mrs. Bowen was in town shop ping, and she stated to some of our merchants that rhe would have been in on Monday had ahe not been suffering from an at tack of heart disease. The burned woman's husband. Mr. James O. Bowen, who is employed at the Wilts Veneer Company's plant here, was sent for just.as soon as the condition was realized. Before the interment which was made an the following day, Mr. Bowen requested that a coroner's inquest be held, but this request was immediately overruled by Mr. H. Gurkin, father of the deceasee, who, in his grief, felt that such a pro- ceedure was unnecessary and uncalled for. After the excitement of her sudden death, and the first sharp agonies of grief had abated, many rumors and suspicions were circulated. These sus-1 picions were going the rounds vigorously, and the strange case furnished food for many argu ments. On the 3th of Dacomber. justj 10 days after the tragedy, an in- yest:gation was begun- A cor oner's inquest wa held, and the verdict was that Mrs. Bowen came to death at the ha,nds of some person unknown to them. At thr- .January term of Super ior Court the grand jury return ed a bill of- indictment against James 0. Bowen for the rurder of his wife. At oapias was is sued and Mr.. Bowen was arrest- ed, and placed under a, bond of two 'thousand dollars for his appearance at the June term ol a Plymoutlf s UderssIHiag The School Year Has 'Closed, Some are preparing" tor the Summer trip, some are preparing to enter Training Schools. A visit to our store to look over our mammoth stock of good, clean, seasonable wearing ap parel will convince yon that we are prepared to furnish you wity any thing- you need in our line. Below we mention a few items: OMiuiv: isoes- FULL LINE OF READY MADE UNDERWEAR. DAI M i'Y II A N DK ER 'HIEFS, WAIST PINS, KID BELTS, RIBBONS, GAUZE VESTS AND UNION SUITS. J Superior Court. Both "defense and ti'.'jccution were represented by' powerful legal talent, Attys, H. S, Ward, of Washington, Van B. Martin and W. M. Bond cpper.ring or the defense and Attyn Geo. V7. Ward and J. C. B. Eliringhaus oi vj. ony, ior ini proncculion. j Both sides putupablo andforco- iful arguments. The jury which decided thf future of Jim Bowen weie Messrs. L. W. Batsman, J. H, O.iver. W. M. Oliver, T. E. Fur la'igh, G. W. Bi?rs, Nathan OH- ft TOLD YOU NOT TO U FROM A FROM A CATALOGU iO m4m -ten 1 U P) WENT VJRQKG C:i WHICiS vnmi sell you. BEFORE you BUY IT:. VOU H VOU nfiU UO tiiQn FREIGHT TO m VCU U THE DriV VOU IVAMT IT. 1 DON'T 8UV FROM US "TO EEP OUR MONEY AT t HOME' BUT BECAUSE YOU Ci-.N BUY BeiTTER STUFF g FOR' LESS ftGEYTnAN BY SEMDNG HWAY. . . 1 .' JiAjliXjjXxu '3 1(4 ,;?- WIsBf Ml ""I v 1). b, Harrison, Geo. Whit! G. VV..imi!I, Cu'iicy Spruill, J H. Gurganu? ixd J. H. Patric ANOTHER PEANUT PR01 LEM SOLVED. With the 'Tom Huston" Har Pean-it . SheHer.- Wonderfu weichs oniv tweutv nound shells two bushib hour. Dont in jure tho"uuts. Absolute! v srua anteed. Convert your idle tim into cash introducing this i vour locality. Price only $4.5C vjl;ite variety wish to" shell. 1 mere than -one . variety, extr .helling plates $1.00 each. Thod as fiuscon, Hendersu, - Texas ORDER ANYTHING sv y 'if .) n DID WCT miiZ GOOD? vou see wn.yr you rijv u SUITS VOU: GET IT ? 4- , ' ; : Store. ; 1 t, h k
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 16, 1916, edition 1
5
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