Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-11-29
A MOB LAW FAILURE.
A Desperate, Convicted Murderer
Holds Seventy-nve Men at Bay.

five or eighty residents of Aurora and
Manchester, entered Brookville, Ind, +,
and proceeded to the jail for the pur-
pose Of hanging Mcdonald Cheek. They
had come in wagons, in two bodies, from
different directions, and by preconcerted
arrangement, met in the outskirts of the
village, leaving their wagons about a
mile out of town in the timber on the
west fork of the Whitewater.
Arriving at the Jail, sledge-hammers
and crowbars were produced, and the
work of breaking down the outer doors
commenced. These were three in num-
ber, constructed Of iron, and withstood
the united efforts of the mob for some
twenty minutes before an entrance was
forced. As the last door fell the party
formed in military order, and before en-
tering INDUCED in a little formaIity,
which, under the circumstances, seems
slightly superhuous
The leader, standing at the entrance,
repeated the words: One, two, three,
in goes he, and stepped inside, followed
by his companions, each one as he en-
tered repeating the cabalistic words,
which, in view of the unexpected ter
mination of the attempt, when it became
necessary to reverse the movement and
hurriedly execute " out goes he" impart
ludicrous tinge TO what was intended
to be a tragic retribution.
A long hall runs through the jail,
upon each side of which are located the
cells Cheek occupied the third one
from the door on the righthand side.
The cell doors were open, as is the GUS
tom, in order to give the prisoners op-
portunities for exercise in the hall.
With the first blow upon the solid
outer doors Cheek reused from his slum-
Der, and knew intuitively that the hour
for which he has long looked had come.
Alone in the darkness Of his cell, know
ing that there was but little probability
of the arrival of aid, he made prepara-
tiou for defense, determined, at least, to
sell his life as dearly as he could
Wrenching post from the low bedstead
from which he had just risen, he took
his station near the door and awaited
the coming struggle In spite of the
awful crime that brought him to muir
derer's cell one cannot repress senti-
ment Of admiration for the courage and
coolness with which he prepared to meet
what seemed his inevitable doom.
After q word or two among themselves
they proceeded direct to Cheeks cell,
knocked at the door, which was about
half opened, and inquired, who's
here2
Cheek replied Harry" the name of
fellow prisoner.
Come out and show yourself"
He remained motionless
They asked again, who's in here2'
and he replied as before Harry"
A member Of the party cried That
Cheek, nowp' One of them, raising the
side of dark lantern, looked within the
cell, and seeing the desperate man
standing at bay like hunted tiger, has
tily withdrew with the cry, " he has got
club"
Shoot himl shoot himp yelled seve-
raj fthe mob.
No, no; don't shoot him. Here is a
rope-let's hang him" said one who ap-
peared to exercise authority.
Said another Shoot him, if you
can't get him."
At this moment Cheek made move
ment, and one of the party lunged at
him with a crowbar, bruising his side,
but inhicting no serious injury.
Another, who did not believe in incom-
plete work, drew a navy revolver from
his breast pocket, and handing it to one
Of his comrades who was flourishing a
small pistol, said, Here, take my re-
volverl don't shoot him with that little
onel 1t won't kill him.
That man would have been a capital
executive officer of the Paris Commune.
The speaker then thrust his, weapon
inside the door and fired. The muzzle |
of the revolver pressed against Cheeks
side, but at the moment it was discharg- |
ed he dashed it aside, and the bullet
glanced across his knuckles, inficting a |
slight wound. The man who had fred |
then put his head inside the cell to see
if the shot had killed the prisoner, but |
as he did so the bludgeon with which
Cheek had armed himself crashed down
upon his unprotected head, and he drop
ped to the floor like felled OK. His re-
volver dropped from his hand, aud was
at once seized by the prisoner.
As they saw the senseless form of their
comrade, and heard the crashing blow,
one of their number cried, My Godl
he has killed Snyder and has got his re-
volver."
Then these seventy-fve courageous
men held an impromptu convention to
decide as to the next step to be taken.
No doubt, as they stood there in the
CHASTITY light of the dark lantern, with
one of their number lying senseless and
apparently dead at their feet they expe-
rienced the peculiar sensations so graph
ically described in the narrative of Bob
Acres.
After few moments of irresolute
suspense, eyeing the gloomy cell from
which came such a deadly check upon
their operations, one of the gang, stand
ing securely behind the half-opened
door, pointed his revolver around the
corner, but before he could fire the
weapon was stricken from his hand by
Cheek, and he subsidized.
Another consultation was had. Some
body said, "Let us get out Of here, and
they got. Picking up the PROSTATE
form Of their fallen comrade they
marched out, each one repeating as he
stepped out Of the battered entrance
way, "One, two, three, out goes he,
very thankful that, notwithstanding the
failure of the enterprise, they had come
off with such slight loss in this we'll
matched encounter between one to
seventy-fve.
Cheek, with his bed.post in one hand
and the captured revolver in the other,
harassed the rear Of the retreating col
umn out into the Jail yard, where he
met the sheriff and a party of citizens,
who had been aroused by an alarm from
the jailer.
When the sheriff saw them coming
out Of the building carrying the
body of the victim he halloed to them,
they we're bearing off his pris-
oner. The only reply he received was:
Z" Firel frel shoot the -"
When the regulators reached the |
street, and saw the commotion caused I
hv their attempt they broke and ran ,