The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-09-03
MUHDEn lOf THE ,OtstATtA
PHIsONIIIs,


tho conflict between the whites aud
blacks, In Red river parish, had been
brought 10 an end by the capture Of lhe
leaders Of the black forces, These lead
err agreed 10 leave the state 10 snve
themselves from the punishment due
10 their crimes, selected themselves
the escort that was toNcc0mpnny them
10 Shreveport, aud wrote out resigns
lions Of the various public offices held
hy them--Onc belng sheriff Of the par
lsh, another tax collector aud another
deputy clerk Of The court, IN accord
unce with their INCREMENT, they start
ed for Shreveport under m escort Of
sixteen armed men, The Shreveport
Times " Tuesday has the following
dispatch showing the cruel aud bloody
end of this most unfortunate nllnr'
MINDEN, August 8l.-A gentleman
lust up from Red river says That the
company of men who started OSllreVo-
port with the CouHlalla prisoners were
overtaken twenty-five miles below
Shreveport, yesterday evening sun
day, about three o'clock, by forty. or
ility armed men, supposed 10 he TcA'
ans from beyond The SABINE, who
took the prisoners out of the hands of
the guard and killed Homer Twitchell,
Bob Devices aud Frank Edgcri0n on
the spot The other three, Howell,
Holland and Willis, escaped, but were
afterwards captured aud nre supp0sedtO
have shared the same fate. The prls-
Oners requested 10 DO taken Ia 'Shrevc-
port aud selected the man 10 take
charge Of the company that was TO
guard them. Every prccnutlon was
taken thnt was believed 10 be necossa-
~ 10 insure their safety To Shreveport,
The citizens were satisfied with nssllr-
ances made That they would leave the
state and did not desire to take harsh
measures, The Texans sw0re that they
did not intend 10 have such id
scoundrcls hunting homes in their
state. The gentleman from whom we
gather this Information says that he
saw the dead bodies of the three first
named parties.
This IL u sad days work ior Louis
lana and for the whole south. Woes
unnumbered will spring from this
bloody and indelensible net, Lam
gunge fails Us TO express the indign0-
ton that this fearful outrage cXcites.
There " no shadow of excuse that cnn
be urged In its defense The men muir
dered Were unarmcd; they were priso-
hers; they were under n safeguard, all
of which should have operated to stay
the hand of their murderers, no mat
ter what their oilense may have been.
That they were bad men, that they
had, for years, been engaged in rohbing
and plundering the people Of Louisiana
and that they were the instigators Of
the troubles that ended 50 disustrously
for themselves, there cun be no ques-
ton. That they had awaited them
selves of the power they had over the
negroes to inilame their minds 10 such
pitch of hostility against the whites
that they were ready and anxious TO
slaughter them Unfortunately, old
and young, male and female, there
can be no doubt. All this, however
does not furnish any justification for
the manner of their taking OIL This
is u country governed by laws. The
fact that the laws do not prescribe the
death penalty for those who incte
conflicts between the races furnishes
no preteXt of an excuse for parties TAX
ing matters into own hands and in
tlicting punishment according TO their
own crude notions of justice and right.
Viewing 1t then in whatever aspect it
may be viewed, we regard it as u
cruel, uncalled for and totally mex
cusablo outrage, and fear that ii may
lrOve to be the source from which dire
calamities may flow in upon the south.
But it is said that the murderers
We're Texans FROM west of the Sabine.
The object of this is apparent enough.
IL was the declaration of those engage
ed in the bloody work, and was made
for two purposes: First, to throw The
officers of the Jaw on the wrong track,
and thus secure escape for themselves,
and second, to relieve Louisiana of the
odium of this bloody,deed and fasten il
upon Texas. We protest against this
outrageous act of injustice, II is false
utterly, shamefully false. The deed
was done by Louisianians, on Iiouisi- |
ana soil, and we demand that the fair
name OfTexas be not dragged in the
mire by the allegation that it was her
citizens who went forth voluntarily
and without provocaton to commit
this horrible crime.
Every feeling that we have Is in
earnest sympathy with the robbed, in
suited and oppressed people of Louis
lana. We realise all they have sut-
fered ; we know that they have drunk
to the dregs the bitter cup of humilia-
tion and oppression We feel that their
provocation has been great enough to
justify almost any blow they might /
strike at their prosecutors aud SANDER (
ers but we cannot think that there Is /
even in the extremity in
which they find themselves, that win .
furnish a shadow of Justification for
the murder of these unarmed men,
who were leaving the state IN pursn-
ance of terms made with their cap,ors.
IMMIGRATION.
General j. B. Robertson, who Is at