The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-29

ing | said to Henry Marcus, lets go and
see what's the matter down towards the
railroad where the hollering is He replied,
Well, all right. I'll go with you. Some
body must be killed from the hollering that
is going on My wife said Bird. don't go;
you might get shot yourself. Henry Mar
Gus, Sam and myself all went In the direc-
ton of the shooting, where we met the posse.
hailed them 100 yards off and said, Who's
datp Mr.. Marion Gill caught my voice, and
said, 'Rafe, my brothers. got killed; for
Gods sake come and help me- All the rest
of the posse broke and run. They thought
we had guns, and they said they ran to load
| their guns, because theirs were empty.
81 never killed the beef, and know moth
ing Of it. At o'clock that evening Marcus
came home from Parnell's, where he had
been at work, and none Of us left the house
until we heard the firing. ] got up about .
O'Clock that morning, woke Henry and then
my wife. / heard the train go by at 6
o'clock and fix the time by that Shortly
after, and without breakfast, nv wife and
me left home and went TO Marion ellis
and got there about a little after 7. ] stayed
at Marion CLIPS that afternoon till o'clock,
my wife and me butehering fifty head Of
chickens. Martha Roberts, my next door
neighbOr, who lives about half of quarter
of mile from my house, and an old col
ored woman named Rose knows this state
ment to be truen
Bird then went on TO detail his visit to
Savannah on Saturday and his staying here
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday forenoon
looking for the two men that he had met
on the railroad, so that he could point
them out to Detective Wetherhorn, and
concluded his statement, in food of tears,
as to how he had been treated by his cap
tors Tuesday night.
TIED BY HIS THUMBS
"When they arrested me,n he said "they
took me to station No. /, on the Central
railroad, and tried to get me to tell them
about the shooting. | told them | did not
know any more than had told the Coroner.
They then took me about 100 yards back of
the warehouse and tied my thumbs together
and threatened to hang me up by them half
an hour at time until | did tell | sail,
'Gentlemen, | know nothing about the
shooting. can't tell any more than done
tole you. | didn't kill the beef They then
took me back to the warehouse where they
kept me until very late. 1t must been
long about midnight. II was a good white
after the 8 o'clock train passed. They
then carried me about mile out in the
swamp, in the woods, and said they was
going to lynch me. | begged them and
prayed to them all knew how not to lynch
me, and when | saw they were going to kill
me, | said, to save my life, knowed could
show them man that killed the beef. That
it was a colored man named Brown, who
lived at the 4-mile hill They then went
and arrested him and carried him to the
station. But they let him go for when it
come daylight I told them better; that |
had been compelled to lie on somebody to
save my life"
Further developments in the Gill murder
will be awaited with interest. and that the
guilty parties are spotted by Detective
Wetherhorn seems to be pretty generally
believed There was rumor that Marcus
had been arrested yesterday afternoon, but
he is still at large.