Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-03-20

cause it believed mob at night might ..tur,
upon innocent Italians and do damage. The
call was brief as follows.
'All good citizens are invited to attend q
mass meeting on Saturday, March IA, at Il
O'Clock a. NJ, at Clay Statue, to take steps te
remedy the failure of justice in the Henessy
case. Come prepared for action"
This call was signed by forty men-men OF
high standing in the community, including
lawyers, merchants and other. Among the
sgners was Mr.. E. T. Leche, Commissioner
of Public Works of the city. Every prepare
ton was made by the committee on Friday
night. A large number of rifles had
been placed at store; a hundred men select
ed to use them when the interior of the prison
was reached; near the prison had been ull-
loaded during tie night some heavy pieces
OF timber, and arrangements had been made
with an independent artillery company to use
its guns in case the timbers failed to break
open the gates.
| THE PEOPLE ASSEMBLE.
The people commenced assembling at the
Clay Statue long before 10 o'clock Saturday
morning. and the assembly was extraordina-
ry-lawyers, doctors, merchants, clerks,
mechanics, every avocation was there and
few, if any, of the turbulent class which
generally gathers in a large city " hen some
two thousand people had gathered there, W. S.
Parkerson prominent lawyer ami President
of the Southern Athletic Club, addressed
them from the steps of the Clay Statue His
speech was brief he said that whenever courts
fail and jurieS are recreant 'then it's time for
| the people to do what courts and juries have
failed to do. We are ready. These gentle
men and | are here present to do what is
necessary-to lead you. What shall it be?''
He was followed in brief speeches by Walter
d. Denegre one of the leaders of the New
Orleans bar, John c. Wickliff a prominent
| attorney and James ID. Houston one of the
foremost men of Louisiana.
THE EXECUTIONS IN THE JAIL.
AS they concluded, the four gentlemen de-
scended the steps and came outside of the
monument railing. The crowd, now some
four thousand, started down Rampant street
towards the Jail. 1t was then seen that in the
line were three carts with ladders and ropes
AS it passed a store, the Winchester rifles were
handed out to the men who had been nam ed
to do the shooting and they fell into line
again. In a little more than ten minutes it
had arrived at the jail. So quickly had all
been done that the Sheriff was away hunting
the Mayor, while the Mayor was absent hunt
ing Governor Nichols, both having just heard
that the mob was assembling. The keeper of
the Jail refused to open the front gate but in a
few minutes the big beams had broken in the
gate on a side street. The leaders of the mob
stood at the gate and only admitted the men
armed with Winchester rifles detailed for the
execution. The prison keeper hoping to elude
the mob had removed the Italians from their
cells and run them over to the Women's ward.
AT the bottom of the steps leading to that
ward an old colored woman told the men
where they We're. The six armed men who
reached it first did all the shooting there. They
ran up the steps and along the passage and
found the prisoners crouching in the women's
department. They screamed for mercy and
ran towards the end of the yard towards
Adams street under a gallery. The execu-
TONERS commenced firing on the flying prison
ers. Geracci, lame one, who ran slowly be
hind his fellows, was the first to fall. Then
Monasterio and Jim Caruso fell. Frank Ro-
nero crouched down and buried his head be-
tween his knees. He was the only one that
had hat on and it was riddled with bullets
and his black Prince Albeit coat torn to
shreds. Joe Macheca, whom it had been in
tended to take outside of tile prison and hang,
was met by another section of the exeeu-
TONERS running from his cell to the chapel.
felled to the floor and shot through the brain.
Polizzi, the prisoner who became insane DUR
mo tho trial faiupaI nd win boJ ,
to turn STATES evidence, was next found. He
had no coat nor hat and wore red flannel
shirt. He was crazed with fear. In few
minutes he was pushed out of the prison and
dragged to the lamp post corner of Marais
and st. Ann streets and hung. AS he was
swung up volley of bullets went through
his body. Bagnetto after being shot was also
dragged out of the prison and hanged to tree
nearby. Antonio Marchesi was shot, but his
son, a fourteen-year-old boy, one of the exc
cutioners took pity on and hid him between two
mattresses. Scaflidi, who with the elder Marche-
81 separated from his companions and ran I'D
to his cell, was slain after he got inside the
door. In the gallery Loreto Comitez and
Louis Trahni were slain. Six of the assassins
escaped by hiding in different parts of the
Piiooii, ohS vi oHOil NC1S lledllf UHIGe
hundred pounds, wedgmg his way into a
little dog honse. Nearly every man killed
had from two to twenty gun-shot wounds.
A PEACEFUL RETURN OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR
HOMES.
After the work had been ended in the inte-
rior of the prison, Mr.. w. S. Parkerson mount
ed the sill of one of the street windows and
rnpnivad Inv In
ing. He said:
"Fellow-citizens, after the law had failed
and justice had been thwarted by corrupt
jury and the hired agents Of the murderers,
the citizens, under the leadership of my asso-
ciates, have this day taken the law into their
own hands and melted out swift punishment
to the assassins who have long Infested and
disgraced this community. The men Who
Killed Hennessy are dead-sOme within the
walls OF this prison and others upon the street
before your eyes. Lynch law is Il terrible
thing, gentlemen, il is a terrible thing but the
Malta must cease i'll New Orleans from this
moment and forever. The responsibility for
this day S tragedy rests with the infamous jury
that acquitted the murderers. The people,
however, demanded that these murlererS
should be punished with death, and we have
executed their will. Now this affair must end
here, and if you have confidence in me, you
will at once disperSe and return to your homes.
resting assured that if there are any other
matters to be attended to they Will receive
our attention.
The crowd at once moved back to the Clay
Statue and quietly dispersed to their homes.
THE DEAD MEN.
Joseph z. Maclleca was native of New !
Orleans, of Maltese descent and wealthy.
He founded the Royal Balize Steamship Co.,
and owned the first steamer that was sent to
Central America for fruit twenty years ago
Lately his brothers have run the business and
he has been man about town. He was
worth several hundred thousands of dollars,
and was the controller of the Sclian popu-
lation in New Orleans. The testimony IN