Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-07-07
From Daily State LnnrnAl. LnlS 81

Only the last act IN the ptCCo 1t was
born on purpose to play.
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From Daily State journal, July 81.
The recent hanging In broad day
light of prisoner in the streets OF OF
tumw wa, and the utter If not wilful for.
getfulness of the officers in recognizing
any Of the crowd is another and Il
possible more damnable disgrace to
the State and community than tho case
in this city. Here the officers had
some excuse for not wishing to recog-
nize any OF the mob, bot ut Ottumwa
where it does not appear In the reports
that the actors wore maeks of any
kind. it should be considered crimi.
nal neglect of duty on the part of the
officers in not recognizing and bring.
ing to punishment the ring leaders in
this last disgrace. There IL NO know
ing who and where the next victim
will be found, and just 80 long a. our
officers, whose duty it is to see that
the laws are enforced, neglect their
duty in this manner, just 90 long will
we hear of hanging by mobe, and the
State disgraced by such proceedings.
AT Ottumwa, the prisoner and mob
victim had not received the fair and
impartial trial, accorded the vilest
criminal in law-abiding community.
There was no evidence that he had
committed breach of the peace by
which the murdered officer was JUST.
fled in arrcstiDg him. and Judging from
the actions OF lie citizens the mon Atty
OF the city could not have been great
ly shocked by his getting Odd
drunk" and is slim excuse for his DO.
ing arrested in the first place.
We have no wish or intent to justify
the act of mobocracy in this city on
the 10Th of June last, by which man
was hung in broad daylight in the
very heart Of this city to its infinite
disgrace. The boldness of the act, its
taking everybody by surprise, fairly
stupcfied and pArslyzed those who
happened TO be on the ground, and the
brief space of time in which it was
done, seemed to preclude any com.
biued opposition. We were not there,
nor was any one connected with this
Office, but we feel assured from the
best of evidence, and that of our own
eyes looking At 1t at = distance, after
the man was hanging, that from the
sudden and unexpectednes of the at-
tack on the part of the mob, there was
no power at hand that could have
saved the doomed man. With this
preface we wish to say that the charge
made by the Journal against the off,
GERS, we feel assured 1t would not
make, if it fully understood the cir
cumstances-tho assault to seize the
prisoner was 90 sudden and 90 terrible
In its character. that the officers were
cast to tho ground bruised and totally
overpowered in q moment, and not
over one minute, to the outside,
elapsed before the prisoner was dang
ling in the air. The attack was from
all sides, and no one man was brought
to the attention of the officers by being
conspicuous. Let ~ give an explana-
tory example in reference to the ina
bility Of the officers TO point out the
prominent actors. A Pastor of one Of
the leading churches in this city hap
pened to be near when the accused
was brought before the magistrate,
and he stepped into the Justices Of
nee to hear and sec. when the prize.
oner retired, he remained in the Office
and hearing the disturbance 1t tho
foot of the stairs, he stepped out upon
the balcony from the Office, where he
looked down at the height OF fourteen
feet, directly upon the whole scene.
This Pastor has been . resident OF this
city for number Of years, and yet,
when called before the Coroner's jury,
be could not tell the name, or in any
manner designate single person who
took part in the hanging.
Another Pastor of this city was mp
on the ground immediately after the
man was run up, and says, he saw st
that time and recognized the man who
was holding the rope by which the
man was held suspended, and yet he
could not afterwards recall who Il
was, nor can he now. Another prom
inent citizen who interfered in behalf
of the prisoner, testified that he could
not designate any man who took part
in the mob. Here is truly wonder
full Psychological phenomenon. It
SCENE hardly credible, and yet beyond
all possible question, these gentlemen
state the whole truth. The doomed man
the rapid, and terrible panor-
anna which passed before the minds Of
these gentlemen left NO Distinct indi-
vidual trace upon them.
I'm these examples by way OF explsna-
ton, the reader can form some idea Of
the sudden, terrible, and unexpected
character Of the act, and the difficulty
of the officers spotting the men who
did it. We must suppose that there
was concerted action, and that the
matter had been pre.arranged, but Of
all we ever saw, or read Of, Of this
character, we never met with anything
at all like It. The man WAS seized and
hung psst all recovery, while . citizen
at an ordinary pace would walk .
distance Of three blocks in our city.
As to whether the arrest of the lynched
man wac proper or not the Journal
does itself injustice when II raises .
question upon this point. or the pro-
priety of it there was not the least
question. When arrested the accused
Law etretch9d out unOn the nlaffnrm At