Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-02-09

20 onIouuuy oum00O 30 p0S0oe1c 20 %
allowed 70 rsmAln uupahaluAsd
TAs scsns was ~ smoking room Of the
eavags club h Ioodua.
a noeursous criminal I'D besu hanged In
H. noruins. Several msmbsn os the club
wsrs talking q ~ slBair. and each one d.
s1ibsd what bis tssllnQ would b. u b wess
~ 10 Tie scsFo,d 10 b Aangsd
During this couvsrasion an actor, well
6own, bat b whom managers scarcely
mow wAy, nsvw lntruss any bus secondary
partA 1t dlmt In IN aEm chair, sending up
loag pul1s oe smoke soaring to the ceiling.
't3slle, thers b n, who has not given his
epanion." aid ons Of the group. suddenly no.
taclng ths actor; II ~. n. tell ~ how you
wush tel u you wore being led TO the scaf.
Soaas
~ setor raissd his syss 10 the ceiling and,
osser anothr pun 81 his cigar, aid quietly,
"Wsll, boyA shouh tel that at last was
trusted With lsading para
CHAPTER XVI
Lynch law b . summary justice which, IN
several Of the stats. b constantly being
dealt out 10 criminals who, either from the
insuflcincy Of The ordinary lava or becaus
oe the absence Of judicial authority In tho
nslghborhood, might escape punishment
Not the least ssmblanco Of Q trial or even
oe examination, - rule; the populace has
taken u into it, head that certain indi.
vidual is guilty Of crime, that suiiices; he
d sought out, torn from his family, led to the
spot fixcd upon for his execution, and there,
without questioning or shrift he d hanged,
burned or shot, according to the fancy Of bis
executiooerA Sometimes tho criminal q In
prison, but the process Of the law d slow and
uncertain. end tho people fear that BE- may
escape justicA Again, there may b chance
Of the malefactor convincing the jury that
he b innocent; this dos not suit the humor
Of the enraged populaca They attack the
prison, and demand that t0Air prey be do
livered over to them. II the governor Of tho
prison refuses, the doo1 are burst open,
and the prisoner Is seized and forthwith led
to execution.
II d to be hoped, for the credit Of Amer
lean civilization, that this blot win soon be
removed.
Lynch law has its humors, az the western.
ers express II in the cynical language which
Is 30 natural to them, II q when there has
been Q mistake made--in the victim, and the
whole thing has to be gone over again, be-
cause the wrong man has been lynched
Again I leave an American newspaper, The
Chicago Herald, to speak,
''The little town Of St Helens Is In fer.
ment A party Of lynchors entered 1t this
morning, and went straight to tho house Of
Mz. Williams to appriss her that her hus-
band had been lynched by mistake during
the night After having expressed their re.
grets, the men left to 60 In search of the real
culprit We do not attempt to describe the
anguish Of tho poor woman. It Is feared that
she viii lose her reason"
This took place in the year Of disgrace 1888
In tho days Of the "gold fever" In Cali
fornia San Francisco was overrun by scoun-
drelism of the most virulent type Twice
was the infant city reduced to ashes by In
cendiary banda Then the leading citizens
roso In their wrath, banded themselves to-
gether In the name Of the "vigilance Com
mittee," and soon from every available lamp
post dangled the body Of a ruflan. By such
treatment was the city purged Of crime and
the reign Of law and order for the first time
established