The Louisiana Democrat., 1889-05-08
Vernon Parish Feud.
CAUSED BY THE KILLING OF a NUN
DERoUs DESPERATE.

ana consequently Wv i.
the parish are doing all in their power "A
to keep the peace and prevent trouble 1
because they fully appreciate the fact C
that if an outbreak occurs it is lmpos' le
s;ble to tell where it will end. 1t ap- le
nears from information which States ri
reporter received this morning that the s.
feud is between the intelligent ana S
law.abdiug people and the ignorant a
and lawless element Of the PARISH c
Several years ago desperate from q
Texas, named W. d. Ly!es, settled IN q
Vernon parish, and his principal occu-
nation was to trade in horses and cat q
tle which had been stolen In Texas t
and run across the Sabine river to be {
sold in this State.
Lyles built him home at LeesvlIle,
and as be had been driven out OF Tex
as for cattle stealing and at any mo-
ment expected to be confronted oy
Texas vigilantes Or law officers be al
ways went armed with Winchester
rifle. six shooter and belt filled
with cartridges. He was a man OF
murderous disposition and soon MADE
;, himself terror to the law-abldlng
neoule. On several occasions he
punched inoffensive citizens of the pa
rish with the muzzle of his rifle and
. would walk in a store and deliberately
y stem on the toes Of men and insult
= them with the view of providing dif-
- fcuIty in order to afford him an oppor-
- tnnitv to murder man. Finally for
~ ~, hearauce ceased to be virtue, and
rk the people of Vernon determined to
or Get rid of the desperate, so one day
&C. while he was crossing bridge about
!'' six miles west of Leesville his caree
: vas briefly terminated by his bod.
being filed with eighteen buckshot
'"' The killing of Lyles was the hegin
'"S ming of the trouble. A man name
N' D. Z. Sorrelle, who has been resi-
:, W dent of the parish for the past thre
'D years and whose antecedents are no
.! known. is the editor Of a paper
=" Leesville, called the Peoples fr1en
INV and he at once became warm chan
y " pion of Lyles and made fierce ATTACK
10" |. in his paper against DR.. E. b. sma
'o' and other leading citizens of the pa
n' ish charging them with the assassin
ton of Lyles and calling upon Lyle
ohm brothers in Texas to come and aven
Ion, his death.
of DR.. Smart, his family and frien
ugh represent the wealth and intelllgen
tern of the darish, and as they were I'M
mer- cent of the deed, the Vernon Neacs,
nave old established newspaper, detene
Sc of DR.. Smart against the attacks ms
who against him. The result was the P
the ple of the parish were divided into
very factions, the good supporting
prac- Smert and the ignorant and law
rail inclined rallying around Sorrelle
Ga The good element is, however, d
dedly in the majority, and as
with Smart has many friends in the ne'
with boring parish of Sabine, oorre
crowd will be wiped out if a coill
eseca occurs Lyles, the reporter lear
:, ana used to make his appearance armet
a NOT the teeth, and on one occasion "
ona he had case before the court he
oo. with his Winchester rifle and threa
- .ho ed to kill the attorney of the oppo
-, side if the case was decided ag
Stora him. The attorney, however,
;s nine pened to be man OF pluck ana
I'd a. as to court prepared to defend hin
:, 40, and no doubt a tragedy would
mokea taken place IN the court room ha
=, .ve the Judge continued the case Il
mt hut nitely, and declared he would N
a. me- it so long as Lyles came into
armed A short time after Lyle
,ants killed two or three Of his br
=. ,,o;. came in from Texas, but finding
.9r the situation was too warm thu
ol tho out faster than they came ln'
-. Go, feared that the conduct of Sorre
bev ad- attacking the best citizens OF IN
ish will result in some one sh
him, and in that case a war
was 81, y opened, which will result IN a 10
.lon 0S'' great many lives. The good
II gown however, while doing all in the
and over er to prevent trouble, are prepa
delicate the worst, and when the ball o
cut a la will prove very lively affair
.. :, were Orleans States.
ded ia Merit Wins.
n silver. o;+;,ors