Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-07-28
Written fcr the Oxfcri Democrat
lvNcHgD.
A IRuE SKETCH.

Five o'clock In the afternoon. \ hot
summer day. the sun pouring down ~
rays upon = mining town on the banks
of the broad kanswha. The store
porche. are full of men, thankful for the
shade the gaudy awnings AFFORD. Men
Who swear, drink had whlskey and chew
tobacco; rough men leading rough lives
In q rough town.
suddenly from little cobbler's shop
In the rc.r of the stores comes a scream
% so,ne one In mortal sgony, q scream
AZ once terrible aad pltiful. In second
the men are upon their feet, and the
next moment are hurrylng around to
the shop. The Que In front pushes the
low, leathcr-hlnged door open aud they
crowd In.
Living half way across hi bench Il the
figure of the cobblcr. With an ugly bleed
Ing knife wound IN hls breast. tie IL
aui,e dead. IN the corner opposite
COVER. a hlood-.tslnci msu, anil In his
hand I. q long knife. There u sicken-
Ing expression upon hi. white face aud
blood iieckc'l lips, and one II the men
.hdddcrs a be- turns away and gets
nearer the door.
In few minute. officers arrive.
They clear the room, hsnicufi the fright
ened Wretch, Law the body on ih. bel
and take their prisoner to JAIL
Toward night Z, cloude'i up aud looked
stormy. sc nine o'clock, groups of
masked men brgan "a gather IN dark al
leys, and talk In whlspcr.. N ten min
ute. past nine the groups had gathered
on q CORNER Into MAS. Here = tall
mtn. their leader. sprsng upon a harrrl,
ani spoke Ia them. iie addressed them
n len,lemen, frlloN-men, ayrnger. aud
doycu other titles. When hc had spok-
en- fi,c minutes. h~ got down and III.
cruwd-now numbering hundrc,l.--hc-
gan their march. Ncavr the jail they
drew, speaking little, meaning much.
namp' tramp tramp
Tho man In hls cell heard them. lie
understood. lie dii no, CRY, nor rave
nor swear. ilr only smiled and the look
~ Insanity fast settled Ia HI. hl"od-'hot
eyes.
Tramp. tramp
They stopped. The frightened lallcr
cam. out anh asked what hc could do
for them. The keys but, gentlemen,
h- could NO, give up the KEYS; II VAS
against the law. Could potf \ frNolN-
et's cold murSle was prr..c'i against his
ismplr ani b. gave up. Then th" mtn
Ia the cell heard them unlocking the
great lock. aud coming. Nov they
Ncfc only i've cells away-four ur-thrr"
o-one-hcrr'
lie "a. dragged out without q word,
ani the crowd l-gsn marching up the
street again. Tho sky, dark snd THREAT
.nIng, Nas rent nov and again With
darling lightning, followed by heavy
p.als of thunder that shook the earth.
Heavy drop. ~ rain began 1" fall aud
blur the crimson spots upon the mans
shirt. lie dId n", .cc this. though; he
.aw nothing. heard nothing. lantern.
gllmmered her, and there In the grim
mass, showing for little way around
them, the flrm mouths and square chins
10 the lyuchers. ou they marvh"i, past
N. brightly lighted stores, past the
dark, old. unusc-i -torchouss Ia tb. light
agaln. They nctri the mans house.
4 woman ran screaming out ~ u, her
long hair streaming behind her, her ba-
by In her arms. She begged, she I'm
plor,d ~. men Ia lc, her .ec her hus-
hand. bat they pushed her roughly aside
aud marched silently on. NJ half-ps.t
nine the lynch.rs wrrv we'll out of town.
In few minutes they came a. tall old
tr-- On th. r,lgc ~ strram. Herr they
.iopt-.,l. and the moose WAS httsi about
the Wr-trh.d creatures neck. lie was
askri u d. wanted 90 say anything bc-
fore d. died, bu, he only smiled hlo,ic-
ally aud remained silent. They threw
the other end II the roIr over the limb.
The leader gave the wori, and In tNoo
seconds the man was dangling In mid
air over the cr.ek.
They tlei the other cnd ~ he rope io
= tr-c aud marched back Ia town. ~
ia. last man disappeared there came q
ha.h % lightning that split the tire with
a roar like cannon. The side with the
bo.iv on Il fell With a crash into the
creek. The rope snapped, snd the
corpse noatci dawn the stream Into the
river. The rain poured down, the light
ming gllnicd nov aud again, and the
tragedy vas ended.
Did the lynch.r. feel any bcti.r' oh.
~ course. They had done their duty,
and Who doesn't feel better after thaii
II mortified thru some when they found
out, a little later on, that the cohbler
had fallen on hi. own knife, and the man
hearing hi cry had rushed Ia his AID
aud pulled the knife out, but u wa. too
late Ia do anything now. fher. !.
woman Ia an Insane asylum la West Viz
ginIa, who continually beg. tb. attend
ant. to LET her 90 to her husband. She
4. especially Wild when IL storms. Even
mObs make mistakes.
n l. i0s mile. from Norfolk, Va, Ia
Bristol. Tenn, on the border. Lynch
burg, Va, I. jus, half way, ar ~ mllc-.
II I. named FROM one IL the first settlers,
whose custom ~ suspending petty Grim
Inal. by their thumb--snd sometimes
ncck.-from tree. CAV. the nsme Lynch
law to such summary proceciings and
punl.hment. Aud his example .iill pre-
vail. to-day In the same State, In Sec
tIon. 10 which, In a few months, out of
thirty -one cases, seventeen person. were
hung by Judge Lynch" and bat four
teen were brought 10 trial In judicial
courts.
EuarSE u. JrpkI>s.