Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-08-11
MEMPHIS EXCITED
The Communication Of the Sentence of
II. Clay King Denounced.
THE GOVERNOR HANGED IN EFFIGY.
Threats of Lyuching Against KinR-Thc
Prisoner Spirited Away but Followed
Possibly Another Tragedy.
rRr t0lnrraph % ,ho pIspatch.l

[By telegraph 20 the Dlspatch.l
MEMPHIS. Tenn. August 1O.-The city
/ was thrown into q state of intense excite
I ment when the announcement appeared
in this mornings papers that Governor
Buchanan had coInmuted the sentence of
Colonel II. Clay kiug. who was TO have
been hanged on the 18th instant for the
murder Of Mr.. Poston. This mornings
| ApDeaL AUdidnche saws:
If the Governors power in the matter
is absolute and conclusive. the RESPONSE
bility is. his alone. He IS not required to
/ give reasons. He may yield to any passing
capricc. to appeals to his sympathles, to
prejudice, aud yet his authority remains
! indisputable and supreme. 1T his deter
mination OF the King case Is TO be taken as
n precedent, then we see no reason why
! any other criminal should ever be hanged
! in Tennessee. King, in cold blood, after
careful deliberation, shot down David H..
! Poston, unarmed and unsuspecting. 1t
was an assassination in which the victim
was given no chance To defend himself
! There could not have been murder more
heinous. When the trial was had the muir
/ derer himself, with the.most extraordinary
assurance, protested against the lntrouuc-
| ton of the insanity plea"
THE SUPREME COURTS REVIEW.
Discussing the review of the case by the
Supreme Court the ApDedt- AUdldncbe con-
tinues: "The opinion was welcomed by
| ALI lovers of law and order. Its effect was
not confined 10 Tennessee. 1t was felt
throughout the whole United States, and
! the Supreme Court of Tennessee was en-
/ titled 10 enduring honor for advancing
| civilization to that degree. The court did
not overlook any phase of the case; 1t
1 fha KING made
| for his act. But the Governor has brought
all TINS TO nought. Having the greater
mower TO save he has met the courts
mower to condemn, and has whlstled the
latteris Judgment down the wind. With
stroke Of his pen he has gwen hope to
every murderer IN the jalls OF Tennessee.
He has rebuked the jury and made hght
of the States highest tribunal OF justice.
IL we're infinitely better II the jury OF the
trial court had bade King go free. We
now wish sincerely it had done so. 1t
were even better if the Governor had
granted an absolute pardon. He has acted
without the support of the trial Judge, the
Jury. or the prosecutor, usually an es-
sential prerequisite in gubernatorlal Glenn
ency, and 1t now remains for Kings at
torney to solve the question OF his tree
DOM"
VEHEMENT DENUNC1ATIoN.
The Ecen{ng Scimiidr vehemently do
nounces the Governor in sensational edi-
torlal abounding in such sentences as
these: " He has spit on the courts of the
State and nation, and held out his hand to
save an assassin in whose person was GEN.
tired aud upon whose fate depended the
question whether influence IN the South
was sufficient TO make q distinction be-
tween persons convicted of -blooded
murder"
the gallows. to which Oil the courts
of the country, after careful re-
view of the evidence. bad condemned him,
was crime more damnable even than the
murder of Poston.
- He hos risen above oil law. oil right,
and all Justice. What King did as n cltl-
zen he has done as the Chief Executive of
the State. He has taken the law IN his own
hsnds; he has justified the murder OF
Poston; he has saved the assassin; he has
taken the smoking pistol from Kings
hand stepped into his shoes dipped his
hands IN the blood of his victim, and
trampled upon the already outraged law.
He has turned deaf ear 10 the plead1ngs
of the victims family for justice. He has
made the Governor of the State the cham
pion OF murderers-
The Governors conduct tears the BAN
dage from justice. Ii pulls down the Pill
lars of the temple. II paralyzes the strong
arm of the law. IL stiles the cry of the
widow and orphan, and makes OF the
courts sham. 1t shakes the very foundl-
tions of society. and makes every man a
law unto himself.
IF Buchanan should be shot down
from behind a pillar of the portico OF the
Capitol to-day: if King should be slain on
his way TO the penitentiary. who shall say
that the gallows would bear fruit :"
PROPOSED HANGING IN EFFIGY.
These publications aroused intense feel
ing A mass-meetlng was arranged for to-
night at which Governor Buchanan was
to have been hung in etigy. IL was given
out that the jail would be attacked and
the notorious prisoner would be lynched.
SO great was the anxiety that Criminal
Court-Judge J. J. Dubose issued the fol-
lowing order late this evening";
" Ii appearing to the Court that there iS
now undue excitement III the public mind
because of the commutation OF the SEN
tence of II. Clay King, who was by the Su-
preme Court sentenced to be hanged on
the 18th day of August, 1892. and 1t further
appearing that because of the threat
ened mob violence it is not safe TO
longer keep SAID King IN the
county iail of Shelby county, it is
therefore ordered by the Court that the
sheriff of Shelby county, without delay,
take said King and deliver him to the
keeper of the penltentiary, at Nashville,
In pursuance of the order as made by the
Governor committing his sentence to life
Imprisonment in the penitentiary of the
State. j. ). DUBosE.
Attest James T. Hunter"
KING SPIRITED AWAY.
King was spirited away this evening and
NAV escape mob violence. The whole
country is aroused kilograms from Mis-
sissippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee are pour
ing in, protesting with fiery indignation
against the action of the Governor.
The mass-meeting tonight promises to
be an immense affair, though several IN
fuential citizens are doing all they can TO
stop it.
FEARS THAT KING MAY ESCAPE.
Ld'er.-Sberiff McLendon took Colonel
King from the Jail this evening and out of
the city on the Chesapeake and ONO rall-
road en route for Nashville. The Sheriff Is
one-legged and unaccompanied. Kings
son is with the party and there are some
fears of an attempted escape. The Lou
isyllle and Nashville train leaves at 1890
o'clock tonight aud connects with the
train carving the prisoner at Mckenzie at
8 A. VI. Ii is rumored that friends OF
Poston will take this train and ,oyertake
the prisoner, and If they do there Will
doubtless be another tragedy.
10 T.. MA severe rain-storm prevails.
TIE GOVERNOR HANGED AND BURNED IN
KFFIGY.
Il:lO p. M.--After the rain had subsided
O crowd of people assembled at the corner
of Main aud Madison streets, the most
ha oftr