Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-06-02
HUNTED BY MOBS.
A Blood Curdling Lie About
Frank Weems.
The Milan Liar Evidently Has Recently
Taken Up HIS Abode at Morris
town, Tennessee.

For several weeks the readers OF
the papers have been wondering
what had become of the Milan liar.
lie has evidently shaken the sand OF
West Tennessee from his shoes and
has taken up his abode at Morris
town. The following was sent from
that place to the st. Louis Republic
and is reproduced for its ridiculous
ness:
"Cbas. Weems, the negro charged
with attempting to assault white
woman at Chattanooga on May 10,
is in Jail here.
"Weems was arrested after the al
legged assault and jailed at Chatta-
nooga. That night mob captured
the Jail, only to find that Weems
had been spirited away. His where
abouts were unknown until located
in Nashville, twenty-four hours later.
The mob spirit became rampant and
second riot followed in the capital
city, in which dozen men were
hurt, one seriously. A fire engine
was sent whirling through the streets
to draw the crowd from the Jail,
but it did not break, The police
forced the crowd back, while Weems,
in garb of the jail cook, boldly
walked out and Joined the officers at
the depot.
"Then began race that out classes
anything this Slate, and probably
any other, had ever seen. Weems
was taken to Guthrie, KY, but was
compelled to leave in an hour to
avoid mob. The telegraph opera
tors along the line of railroad joined
10, and as far as possible kept the
towns ahead informed. Weems was
taken to Clarksville at night. A
mob surrounded the Jail at midnight.
Weems and Jailer Held and Deputy
Sheriff Pillar, of Chattanooga, all
heavily armed with cooked revolyers,
marched through the crowd to the
depot. The train was fired on al
every station on the way back to
Nashville. Late as it was. armed
men paced the station platforms and
made ugly threats.
Nashville reached, the officials re-.
fused to take Weems. A start was
then made back for Chattanooga, bul
not before twenty-five armed men
had come aboard and announced
their intention of staying by Weems
until lynched. Every town along
the route furnished menacing crowds
and guns were thrust through the car
windows. AT Tullahoma 1000 peo.
pie stood on the track and stopped
the train. Thomas Carpenter, the
leading citizen, made an eloquent adj
dress, and the lynching was post
poned. Chattanooga had been in
formed of Weems' coming, and q
crowd had gone out to Wauhatchia
six miles, to do the lynching. The
officers heard of it ut Hooker, and
while the train was running at 2t
miles an hour Weems was thrown of
the car, the officers jumping after,
followed by four. of the armed men,
who were captured, disarmed and
tied to trees, while the trio took to
the mountains, tramping for eighteen
hours over Raccoon and Lookout
mountains, fording streams and
plunging through forests in the black
est night to Ooltewah, Ga. All dur.
ing the night they heard their pur-
suers and saw their torches. At Dol.
tewah, which they reached at day.
break, they took train for Knox
vile, which was reached in the after.
noon. Weems was denied admission
to the Jail, as he had been at Leba
non, Athens, Cleveland and Other
points, and was brought on to this
place, where he was locked up.
In five days he travelled over ,0O(
miles, saw over 200 nlobs ready tt
lynch him ; was refused admission tt
a score of jails; was attacked in three
went twenty-four hours without food
during which time he Travelled
twenty-five miles over the wors
mountains in the State; was thrown
from train, was shot at, visited
three States and was so near tive
others he could see them. If the story
could be told in all its details of stra
tagem, narrow escapes, exciting en-
counters, wild rides, lonely walk
and agonies of suspense, it would out
novel a novel;"