The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-12-19

]UOIcNte.
JAN DELIvERY.-On Thursday night
,st. about II of the clock, some ten or
more men, said to have been masked,
came into Winchester and proceeded to
the iail. They effected the release of
Monroe Martin, who, with his cousin Hop,
was charged with the murder OF Gilmore
Il. Horton, in this county. several mont s
since. Hop Martin, after haviag given
bond in the sum Of Sj.OOO, fled the coun-
try. and Monroe alone stood the trial. The
first trial resulted in u hung ~jury"-thc
Jury being about equally divided. At
the late term Of our Court the jury stood:
Ten for hanging and two for acquiltal.
The prisoner was allowed to select his
Jail, the Judge having decided that his
ease was not bailablc. He selected the
iail in Winchester, in which he had been
kept. The sequel soon followed-hc was
released by outsiders, and surely another
sequel should now follow, to-wit: That
the Jail in Winchester is q mere force.
Criminals laugh at it. Any criminal who
has Il half dozen friends outside of the
iail can rest assured in the belief that
those half dozen friends can effect his re-
lease whenever they choose. In the case
before us the presumption in the minds of
the prisoners friends was that he would
not get clear upon a third trial. There
fore they proceeded to release him, in VIC
lation of law and Jury. And they seem to
nave had easy work. With n piece of
Dailinw. torn from the fence which sur
rounded the Jail, they priced open the
folding doors which open to the hall of
the building and then, with an axe. they
soon battered Off the Iadlock which was
intended, we suppose, to secure prisoners,
Upon entering the hall they confined the
tailor in his room by holding on to the
knob of the door 50 that he could not get
out. and thus they unlawlully kept one a
prisoner while another was being unlaw-
fully released. The only thing the jailor
could do was to run to the window and
see the party departing in peace. So
much for the Franklin county Jail. After
the release, but too late, of course, efforts
were made for the capture Of the escaped
prisoner. Sheriff Stewart, we believe.
made every effort in his power in this re-
sprct. but he only found two men in our
town who could follow him. ThecpizOoty
had rendered horses and mules unfit for
service. and to summons men to go was
like calling spirits from the Vastly deep
However, Mr.. Art. Martin and Mr.. Cad
zow were respondents. and the Sheriff.
and Deputy Sheriff John Turner, started
in pursuit af the prisoner. They soon
gathered. below town, about % or 80 men.
and, dividing their forces, met by agree
mpnt mt the house of Claiborne Williams,
about one mile and a half this side Of the
prisoners home. Proceeding there, ii
was found that the prisoner was ahead OF
them. lie had partaken OF a rcpast and lett
No one was with him, according to
the statement of his three sisters. They
said that Monroe had been there I'D that
he had said he was taken from Jail by par
ties whom he did not know. The hunt
continued and the result was truitlesS
and thus endcth one of many lessons We
have had in Franklin county in this re,
spect. Verify, murder will become more
and more common if some vigilant ano
preventive measures should not be taken
We do not know that Monroe Martin wa
guilty, but we do know that it was wrOng
to wrcst him from trial according to law,
and this will operate against him SHOULD
Ee ever be unprecedented. The truth l.
when men set law at defiance they do thu
greatest wrong, and government becomes
a mere mockcry. There is no necessity
for iail-breaking in this State. We have
as a general thing. good officers, and t''
law il not warned and ignored as it was in
DAYS of Radical legislation. and men cai
well afford to await the Jaws delay III
stead of breaking open jails ami deliver
ing to freedom prisoners charged witt
most awful crimes. In this connection W
wish to state that this was no kukluX AT
TAR, albeit we expect to see such Il fac
given it in Northern prints. The MAJ
murdered was a Radical, and the man VIII
was under trial was a Radical, and Il mem
Der of the Radical League, il report b
true. And yet, we shall expect to hear O
KukluXism.