The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1888-12-15
THE BIRMINGHAM HORROR.

A most unfortunate affair occurred
at Birmingham, Ala, last Saturday
night. A man named Richard r.
HAYES had been arrested and placed
in Jail, charged with the murder of his
wife, Emma K. Halves, and his two
daughters, May and Irene. The crime,
by whemsoever committed, was a
heinous one, and it excited the indig-
nation of the community. As a conse-
quence, but one which should not have
followed, a mob attacked the Jail on
Saturday night, for the purpose OF
taking the prisoner out and lynching
him.
The sheriff, Lige Smith, was warned
of the intention to take his prisoner
from him, and calling to his assistance
Chief of Police Fickard, he summoned
a posse of 100 men and armed them
with Winchester rides. At IL
o'clock, when the mob approached,
the officer was ready to defend
his trust and his oath, and as it heared
the Jail he warned the men composing
it to keep off, that he would protect his
prisoner at all hazards. He told them
repeatedly not to come closer as he
would be compelled to fire upon them.
He implored them to respect the law,
to 50 away, but they would not heed
him and continued to advance until at
last he gave the word to fire.
The scene that followed beggars de-
scription. Men of standing in the COM
munity, ordinarily good citizens, faith
ers of families, were stricken down by
the deadly volley. The killed and
mortallv- wounded were, Maurice B.
Throckmorton, postmaster: j. r.. Nc,
Coy, b~rickmaker; A. B. Tarrant, 81
years OF age and q student at Belleview
Academy G.. G. Tate, painter; Gilbert
Smith, colored ;Chsrles Jenkins, carpen-
ter; A. D. Bryant, bookkeeper; j.. R
Branden, Of Etowah county, temper
arily in the city; G. Bailey j. w. Gil
mere; Frank Childers; w. A. Bird
the seriously wounded were, A. j
Schide, q mechanic; Laurence Fitz'
hugh, civil engineer; j. w. Montgom
cry q Mr.. Berkeley Charles Bailey, 6
brakeman; John II. Merritt; Mat Ken
nedy }. W. Owen, a carpenter; Al
bert Smith, coloyed, and several others
Sheriff Smith and Chief of Police
Pickard deeply regretted the terrible
event, but felt they had done no more
than their duty. Sheriff Smith wher
afterward spoken to said 1--WE begged
and pleaded with the crowd to keeI
back and they fred the first shots
Several shots were fred by the Grove
before 1 gave the order to fire. W.
begged them to halt at the mouth of The
alley, but they still kept coming on
We begged them to 60 back, and time
and again warned them that we would
shoot; but they would not listen to us
They came half way up the alley-cIost
up to the Jail door-and were shouting
'Dynamite!' BLOW up the Jail with dy'
namitel' After all this and after they
opened fire, ! gave the order to fire,
They continued firing alter we ceased
l feel that we could not have done any
thing else under the circumstances
though fdeeply regret the necessity
Chief Pickard said;-''I don't SCI
how we could have done anything elst
under the circumstances, but l nevei
regretted anything in my life as mncl
as l do the unfortunate necessity. w
repeatedly warned them to keep bacl
and told them we would shoot if the,
continued to advance. 1 was inside the
Jail and heard q shot fred Oh the ont
side before Sheriff Smith gave the or
der 10 fire. / do not know who fire,
the shot, whether someone in the crow,
or n of the officers, as l was in
place where l could not see the flash.
am not used to crying, but when tn
. terrible affair was over 1 cried like
: baby-I could not help it."
: 1t was an awful occurrence, enoug
to make strong men weep, but the az
ton of the sheriff was to uphold tn
majesty of the law. The officers wer
Z in the right, and the mob was in tn
wrong. Either this is a government
the constituted authorities or we hay
anarchism. There can be no other al
tentative, and all good citizens mu'
e uphold the officers of the law.
The sadder the effect OF the pc
r formance of their duty the nor 1t sui
: iects them to individual animosities an
= enmities, the greater the moral sul
port that they should receive.
: The auction sale of the Sedalis Den
: ocrat, which suspended publication ju
before the election, took place lai