Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-10-23
TAXING IHE TOWN.
A DRUNKEN SPREE WHICH COSTS
FOUR LIVES.

A DRUNKEN SPREE WHICH COSTS
FOUR LIVES.
A DIsORDERLY SET OF CoLoRED MINERS
NEAR CLIFTON FORGE RESIST CON-
STABLES POSSEE-THEY KILL ONE OF =
THE POSSEE-AT NIGHT A LYNCIIINGt
PARTY TAKE THREE OF THEM OUT OF
JAIL AND HANG OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES s.
OF THE AFFAIR.
&C., &C., &C.
LReported for the Staunton VINDIcAToR1
CLIFTON FORGE, Oct. q.
| have before me two photographs. Onei is
marked 'sOctober 18th, II A. M 1t IS of
three colored men, Charles Miller, John
Scott and Robt. Burton. Miller is tall,
bold looking man wearing @ short coat,
striped trousers, a dark shirt and "a cowboy
hat. Out of his trousers pocket protrudes
the handle of a revolver on which he has
his hand. John Scott is tall mulatto.
wearing short coat and cowboy hat
Around his waist is a belt into which are
stuck four reyolvers, and in one of his hands
is shorter than the other two, but wears the
same sort of hat and clothing, and in his
hand holds a revolver pointed downward.
The other photograph is. one might say,
the natural sequence of the first, though OF
a far different character. 1t is marked
Oct. 18th, II Z. NJ A tree stands in u
gorge. On one side Of it hang Charles
Miller and John Scott, fully dressed and
dead. On the other side of it hangs Robert
Burton, his hands tied behind his back and
without coat OF shoes, also dead These
pictures were taken from life by S. S.
Grifliths SEQ, photographers. One was
taken at their gallery Saturday morning, the
other was taken at the tree Sunday morn
ing. The hours marked on them show the
different position of the subjects of the
photographs at those hours. In the back
ground, not seen in the picture, because the
men had set it down in the tear when they
stood for their photographs, was the Evil
Genius which was back of the whole bloody
history-a half gallon can of whiskey. [
Will try and give you history of the two
tragedies, an unusual one to Virginia, of
which these pictures are the Illustrations.
THE SCENES OF THE TWO TRAGEDIES.
Clifton Forge is a fast growing and pref
ty railroad town at the junction of the
Chesapeake & Ohio and Richmond Il Allie
ghany railroads, sixty miles West of Staun-
ton. 1t is the terminus of three, railroad
divisions and it's population, nearly all
railroad men and their families, is $500.
1t is quiet and orderly place and has re-
quired but two policemen. The town is
divided, one might say, into two towns by
a broad network OF railroad tracks that runs
through it's centre. North Of this are pref
ty. fresh looking residences and stores.
South of it, is a narrow strip of land bor-
dering on the river bank and covered
chiefly with railroad offices, hotels and sa-
looms. Crossing the river from this strip
by bridge. you follow the railroad track
for a mile when you come to an old stone
house ON the West bank of the river, and
little further on you come to the manufac-
turing town of Iron Gate. At the back of
this stone house is steep hill running up
several hundred feet. 1t was at the foot
of this cliff and in front of the stone house
that one of these tragedies occurred. At
the Eastern extremity of the pretty Main
street of Clifton Forge, stands neat frame
house, and in rear of it is a rough. unpaint-
ed plank house, resembling small carriage
house. The first is the Mayors office. The
second is the police station. Directly on
leaving the Eastern end of this Main street
you enter a gorge in which trees are plenti-
full. On one of these trees, about eight
hundred yards from the police station, the
second tragedy was enacted.
ENACTING THE ROLE OF ''COW-BOYs.o
Clifton Forge is the centre of a thickly
populated mining region, and this fact
brings to it's eleven saloons ON Saturday
nights many patrons of both colors. They
are not a desirable set of visitors save to
the saloons. It is but two Oh three weeks
ago that party of colored miners from the
county came to town, got drunk and on
their way home fired their 1evolvers into
Quentin Williams house, one bullet going
into his daughters bed chamber. On Satur-
day morning about 10 clock. there came IN
totoWn five negro men and a boy OF fourteen,
bent on a Saturday spree, in other words
they came to stake the town." All were
from the "Big HILL" mines near Glen Will
ton, about five miles from here The lead
Ell was Charles Miller from Bedford county,
who had already established an unsavory
reputation as disturber of the peace here,
and who last Spring had been fined $27 for
being drunk and carrying a pistol. His
companions were John Scott of Goochland,
Bob Burton of Amherst, Bob Scott of
Goochand, Ben. Newton, residence I'M
known, and the boy, VIM. Morton of Mad
ison. They went to a saloon and began
drinking and in addition got a glass oil-can
full of whiskey. The whiskey seemed to
give the popular idea of the ''cow boy, ''pos-
session of their senses, and they went to the
photograph gallery and had the pictures
taken which l have described. They then
left the residence part OF the town and did
not appear there again until four of them
were brought as prisoners. While at the
photographer S he suggested to them that
if the police saw their revolvers they would
be taken away from them. They replied
that they ''would take the man that at.
tempted to take them,'' Later, they showed
that they were in earnest in that Going
down to the saloon part of the town they
drank still more and became very noisy,
flourishing their revolvers in the street and
swearing. officer Gleason went up to az
rest one of them, and Instantly three of them
covered him with their revolvers, compell-
ing him to desist. To the extent of sue
cessfully defying the law they had kept
their intention to take the town. They
then started acrOSS the bridge on the road