The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-09-12
Prisoners Bruteiiy Fired upon
While Chained In the Cage
Indignant Pubic.

Sunday morning as breakfast was be-
ing carried to the prisoners. three OF
them, having already sawed an opening
through the cage, were at the door,
rushed out as it was opened. aud go-
ing down stairs, rudely pushed hrs.
Finley. the itilors wife aside. lnJurlng
her slightly. An alarm was soon eIver''
and quick pursuit soon Overhauied Ed
Boone and the two negroes, Abe brown
and 10 Bristol, who were brought oack
and placed in Jail, Brown aud Bristol be
ing handcufsd and chained together and
a guard placed, to keep watch until the
cage could be repaired.
All WAS quiet, until ten clock "heh
Iepeatcd pistol shot at the jail. attracted
IN haste, a numbcr of citizens, armed To
render any assistance necessary, when 10
their surprise and indignation they found
the TAILOR mad over the rough treatment
Of his wife on the escape, and Unnamed
with whi>key, taking vengeance on one oil
the prisoners, by shooting him as ne
S God In the cage, chained and handcuf1ed.
" hatever the provocatlon, OF abusive
and p%rofane language fy the prisoner, no
one will attempt TO justify or even ex>
cuse, such inhuman treatment OF everso
mean a culprit as Abe Brown Especial
ly by him whom the law ha0 asslg ied a.
his protector. DR.. Gilkey who attended
the prisoner, informs Us that, he rec. wed
four painful though not dangerous bui
let wounds. One passing through the
fieshy part OF the arm etween the shoul
der and elbow, another below the elbow,
a third across the chm, and the fourth
IN the ceutre of the stomach. Just hiding
itself, which he easily extracted. Com.
meut upon such facts, Is useless, beCgar
ing expression. An indignant. vet law
abiding public sentiment. eau only await
the action OF the law, which seems both
judicially and executlvely paraIyzed =
Marion Lanp-I0St.
The above account which has been
telegraphed by the Associated Press
over all Yankeedom. brings to mind
some recollections OF the same jailor
and his jail. On a quiet Sunday even
lng, August 215. 1871, while the village
church bells were ringing the call 10
worship, a singular procession was filing
into Marion. \ cavalcade OF mounted
s~callawags. half drunk. or wholly so.
Z ttTIlltt With i dllh' tsI tIliItN. ttil'i sSIlb-
.antly displaying their brief autlori-
tv. SUR puIded and escorted an old
wagon covered with dirty canvas. I'm
der the canvas. crouchiny on the hard
bottom of the wagon, without seats OF
straw. were six men. chained like wild
beasts, all their shackles being fastened
together by one chain. From sunrise
until sunset. tor forty miles. over the
rocky. mountain reads. these men had
been dragged in all the sitting heat ot
an August day!
Were they outlaws: desperadoes :
violent malefactors: Had they COM
mitted some dreadful crime: Nothing
of the kind! They were all respectable
citizens. the first on the list being the
late editor of the Asheville Citizen, and
the present editor of the Farmer ana
Mechanics. They did not even know
what were the charges asserted against
them for tiey had been arrested by
lawlcss force. without any sort OF war;
rant, and refused all hearing before any
authority whatsoever,-while imprisOn-
ed for months in a filthy dungeon, de-
MED even the poor privilege of plenty O
water to drink,-not to speak of food tC
eat. Yet they had never been unruly
or boisterous, or threatening, and there
was no excuse, nor pretense OF excuse
for treating them in this manner. except
that they were respectable Democrats
As the staggering cavalcade APP
preached within two miles of Marion
there appeared long w of camp-fires
on both sides of the highway. Wha'
did it mean: Each fire was i'll front o
a farm wagon, loaded with the family
or friends, of some poor farmer, who haC
been ~summoned'' or ''bonded' to APP
pear at Federal court in Raleigh. Toe
poor TO pay hotel bills, each had tt
leave his crop wasting in the fields
while he wagoned his way for the thir(
or fourth time, to answer some trivilou.
and unfounded complaint, brought fO
the double purpose of euriching the Off
Gals. and terrifying the Democrats.
On reaching the public square, a com
pany of Yankee soldiers enveloped The
wagon, and the six persons were drag
ged out, as best they could in their stiff
fened condition. Some ladies who hap
pened to be passing on their way tC
church. turned back home. saying
I'VE canno kneel in prayer while sucl
sights are at u doors -
The prisoners were marched into the
Jail. Il we~ather-beaten, two-story struc
ture,-occupied by the jailor as a resi-
dence on the ground floor; and as {
prison above. The upper wa:
about ten feet square, with low ceiling
ragged walls. and two small windows
with iron gratlngs. Within this Don
was an iron cage, about the size AM
shape of the cages for wild beasts in
circus,-perhaps eight feet long by ST,
feet wide. and six feet high. In thi.
narrow space the six gentlemen wer,
!, thrust-all chained as they were. Th,
cage was already occupied by one -;
thief undergoing sentence. He was no
Clearly in person Oh habits,-and ha,
covered the floor with grease, tobacco
spittle. and rotten refuse of melons. TO
gether with the leakage of a filthy buck
t ct. l speak of the floor, but in realit,
the cage at that time had no floor eX
cept two or three pieces of plank,-upor
which the thief had stretched his yer.
mln-intested rags of blankets. The re