Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1875-12-19
g SIX HUNDRED AND ONE,
Hanging Of Burt, the Carson In
ceAdiary.


to us from the State Capital that
Thomas Burt, a self acknowled in
cendiary and thief, has been hung by
q seif-constituted tribunal of citizens
OF Carson. The circumstances are
briefly these: Burt was bad man,
a known incendiary and thief, who
some time since only saved himself
from State Prison by turning traitor
to his guilty companions. He had
previously been banished from the
eastern part of the State by the out
ragged people, and had chosen Carson
as a new field of operations. Subse-
quent to his conviction of arson, he
has been repeatedly notified to quit
the town, the citizens having good
reason for believing that he still
practiced his damnable calling of
peatedly refused to heed the warn
ing, and the citizens thus defied by
q single desperate, bore the humili-
alton till patience ceased to be vir-
tue, and ON Thursday last gave Burt
and two of his s.pals" final notice
to leave the city. Percy and Latner
-Burt's companions-wisely obey
ed the edict; but Burt, the greater
scoundrel OF the three, still defied the
committee who waited uron him,
by saying, "They can't get me out
Of this town unless they pack me
out" He tempted fate day loo
long. At an early hour of Friday
morning party of disguised men
proceeded to the building where Burt
slept, ordered him to get up, and af-
ter securing his arms, marched their
prisoner to the cemetery and hung
him to the gate frame until life be-
came extinct. Those who found the
body discovered slip of paper PIN
ned to the dead mans clothes LABEL
ed "60l." The above are substan-
tally the facts as related by the Car
son papers.
As 10 the action of the people of
Carson who have taken the law into
their own hands, we have this to say:
The TIMES, in common with the 9TH
er newspapers of this section of Ne
vada, has repeatedly suggested the
interference of the "60l" as the only
method Of successfully putting down
crime in the sections of Nevada in
tested with lawless men, and now
that that body have followed the
suggestions Of the State press, We do
not propose to condemn them for so
doing. No newspaper of standing
has right 10 take an equivocal or
non-committal position in this affair
and we much regret to see that some
OF our contemporaries have done SO.
However much we may regret the
state of affairs which has made this
illegal demonstration against crime
q necessity, We still recognize the
fact that there ,0as necessity for it,
and unhesitatingly say that justice
LAS only been done. There are those
who will hold up their hands in holy
horror and loudly condemn the peo-
pie who hanged the incendiary Burt.
They either do not realize the state
of things which led to the act, or are
not among those who prefer law and
order to crime and insecurity
to life and property. For months
past, more particularly in Carson
and Virginia City, crime has been
rampant; bold bad men have defied
the law, and taken full sway OF the
two towns; innocent men have been
shot down like dogs in the street,
either wiifully or by stray bullets
from the scene OF attempted muir
ders, and the assassins have escaped
punishment entirely or got clear by
payment OF few paltry dollars into
police court; houses have been laid
in ruins by the incendiary torch for
the sake OF plumber; the officers OF
the law have proven an insufficient
protection to people and property,
and honest men and respectable wo-
men yeniured from their homes after
nightfall in fear OF their lives. Such
had become the state of affairs that
some definite action not authorized
by law was absolutely demanded in
the name OF justice and order. The
people Of Carson made the first step.
We hope for the sake Of the good
name OF our State abroad, that there
will be no necessity Of taking simi-
lar one in Virginia or repeating il in
Carson, but II there is no other way
Of holding crime in check, let the
people protect their lives and prop
erty by recourse 10 citizen tribunals
and the speedy punishments infict-
cd by "Judge Lynch" Necessity
has no law and there is dire necessity
of a. reform. Satus poputt supre'ao
est lez.
The Reno journal" boastingly
claims to shave always been sound