The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-10-24
LYNCH LAW IN WISCONSIN.

La Crosse-Cause of the Murder I'm
known-The Guilty Man Taken from
Jail by an Infatuated Mob and Hanged.
La CROSSE, Wis, Oct17.-F. A. Bur-
ton, President of the Blaine and Logan
club here, was shot dead by ruffian named
Nathaniel MITCHELL but better known as
'Scotty'' at eight o'clock last evening Will
the Republicans were forming in pro
cesSion on Main street. Seven shots
were fired in quick succession. TIL
murderer was arrested and hurried
to Jail before the immense crowd
| could realize what had occurred. As soon
as the fact was made known there was the
most. intense excitement, and hundreds of
men in uniform and carrying torches hur-
ried to the courthouse yard and demanded
that the prisoner be handed over to them
Sheriff Scott, Chief of Police Clark, and
posse of police at the jail door tried to calm
the Infatuated multitude.
| At 1890 p. m, the officers were not able
to. stay the mob, which refused to listen to
argument From nine o'clock to ten the
courthouse yard and square presented a
scene Of great fury The mob increased in
numbers until the entire space on three
sides of the jail was a dense mass of human
| ity, demanding that the murderer be hung.
The torches Of the men fared above
| the sea of heads, and the white plumes
moved resolutely about the square. The best
citizens in the place were present. and
watched the fearful scene with blanched
faces but with no expression of sympathy.
There were hundreds of women in the
| thoroughfares and the walks about the jail.
The excitement grew steadily in force
and the demand at last found leaders with
cool heads, who went methodically about
taking the man from prison and lynching
him. Beams were procured and in a short
time the heavily b0lted and barred doors on
the Fourth street side Of the Jail were bat
tered in by the crowd who poured into the
first-floor rooms The Sheriff and assist
ants succeeded in clearing the room the
first and second time. but ON the
third rush the mob Overpowered
them and held its ground. The interior
wooden doors of the cooking depart
ment yielded like so many pieces of plate
glass. In the meantime the heavy oak door
leading to the main stairway on the west
side was battered down, and the crowd was
placed in full possession of the main cor
ridOr. While this was going on the crowd
| became almost colossal about the place, but
| aside from the rush of the men at the Jail
the best Of order prevailed. There were no
| drunken men in the mob, the whole work
being done by Tesolute fellows who decided
to make the murderer pay the death penalty
before they left the square.
Once in the corridor Sledge-hammers
were used to break in the heavy iron doors,
two in number that interviewed between
there and the cell-room. These soon yielded,
| and as each advance was made the crowd on
the outside was appraised, and constant cheers
OF encouragement went up. The pris-
Oner had been confined in cell No.
5 on the lower corridor, and the crowd had
| little difficulty in finding him. He was
| taken from the cell and dragged into the
| yard. He was identified as the man who
| did the shooting, and the officers, when APP
pealed to, declared they had the right man.
When he appeared from the jail-dOor,
held up by the men who had him in charge,
there was long, peculiar yell that went
through the trees and streets, making every
one for blocks away realize without further
assurance that the awful retributiOn had
been completed. Numerous men were soon
climbing to the branches of the trees, and
| in minute tree was selected. A rope
was thrown TO man sitting on the first
| strong limb. lie quickly attached it, and
everything was made ready for the eXecu-
| ton.
At this point i'll the proceedings there
was a pause. Among the leaders were
some who wanted the murderer to make a
| statement, While others, more impatient,
urged immediate action. The murderer
| declined to say anything except that he was
| the man who shot Burton. At this juno
ture the cry went round: "Pull him upw
''Hang himr' Don't Iet hiDa live minute
| longerp'
It was understood that the Light Guard
Company OF the Third Regiment Wisconsin
National Guards had been ordered Wlt ts
| charge the mob, and there was. an impress
| sion that the execution would be prevented.
The mob seized The rope and made a strong
pull but the ru.iian freed his hands and the
rope broke before lie was raised from the
ground. In less than five minutes
new lope was thrown over the
heads o. the crowd and fell with
in few feet Of the executioner.
This was adjusted, the prisoners hands and
arms firmly tied, and in another moment he
was hanging in the air with his face closely
pressed against the limb Of the tree. The
body of the doomed man was left hanging
only few minutes when it was taken down
Iifeless and left in charge of the Sheriff
The body Of Mr.. Burton was removed to
his home during the evening. One bullet
passed through the head, two through the
lungs and two into the abdomen any one of
which would have been fatal.
In searching for mCtiYe for the act the
only plausible theory that is yet advanced
is that two years ago, when Mr. Burton
was Acting Surveyor Of Customs at this
port, this man was frequently impOrtuning
for hospital certificate 50 that he could
spend his time at the hospital at the ex
pensG of the river men. Mr. Burton told
him to 90 to work and stop drinking, and
he would not need the benefits of the ma
rine physician. Another theory is that
Mitchell thought he was killing another
man.