St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-03-24
HI kiH.r OHtTdJcS.
TIE OTHER SIDE OF ONE STORY.

THE OTHER SIDE OF ONE STORY.
The terrible fight in crowded cour
room ut Meridian, Miss, which brok,
out durin" the trial OF Il colored man to
inccndiarism, and which resulted in til,
instant killing Of the prc,i ling Justice
the culorcd prisoner and several of Ill,
spectators, followed by the expulsion o
the Mayor, Il Northern man, has becl
made familiar to our readers by the trlc
graph, the accounts being more or les:
colorcd 10 sui the interests of the con,
trolling element i'll the place. The OK,
He'd Mayor (Sturgc$) having safely reach,
ed the North makes public his version O
the riot, or more properly, massacre. |,
Is almost needless to say that it differ:
widely from the tclcgraphic statements
According 10 Mr.. Sturgc-, his expulsion
from the town WAS not in consequence OF
the riot, that serving only rs II pretcNi
for carrying out long prcmcdiiated pur-
pose of %ittin" rid of Il northern carpet
ha"@rr, whose official position WIS due
To the fact that there were more co!orcI
| Nv ''''i' an N'l'hS lllslil " INV ItI'l III
Meridian. The elimination OF thc out
races WAS brought about in this way: \
numbyr OF colorri men had been NAL
treated in the Vicinity by parties d>.uis-
rd, and in order to suppress such law
l.'S-mr-~ and punish the perpetrators, three
prominent cDlorcd men. Rev. j. \
Mo"rr, W illiam D.nmiS and -. W. Tay-
lor, called a meeting Of all citizens to
consult ~ Ia the hest means to secure -
desirable an end. These tlrrr addressed
the meeting, expressing regret that 4 bet
ter ic..liu" did not exist. and ur4in. the
white men +" aid them in putting down
the ku kluN. This meeting WAS held
on Saturday.
The following Monday the ultra rebel
party held Il mccting. al which the speak
cr- declared that 'lhr present incumbent :
must he swept from tie face "t the
earth" Then atliiaNiiS wrrc made that
the three culorcd men referred to had
made inccndiary speeches; they were ar
rested ami tried. Mr.. >;ur4,.S attended
the ulnl, but apprchcndin" trouble from
the presence OF - many armed men, went
To hI- brothers house and took measures
To defend himself there. He heard the
sounds of the conflict soon after SAW the
ku-kluN cavalry in the street, and hclsl
the editor OF the democratic pap>r say.
I'VE must ",t the rascal" which cpi:hcl
hc understood to refer to himself He i,
positive Jude Bramlcttc died by Il bull
let fired 10y one of the hu-kluX at ncgru
who sat between the .Iud"r and the door
None oi the NEGROES were armed. Moore
wH~ wounded in the court house. hut CS-
capped from the window, when he WAS
dispatched 10y parlir~. watching tol lin
below. Dennis was shot in the room.
thrown out Oh the pavement. and his
death made certain 10y Il cut i'm the throat.
Tyler was also shot. Moorr'~ house was
then burned, and Stur.c- escorted uut OF
town and warned never t. return on pain
OF instant assassination.
1t will he seen Stur"'s'- Icr-ion of the
cause of the trial OF the cpiorcl men l.
different from that of the dispatch. the
former showing the incrndiari-m CHARGED
I" have been of political character,
while the latter gives ii literal >.nili-
ncc.-B">tpH JouuM