Rock Island daily Argus., 1892-02-22
JUSTICE, PERHAPS,
But Not the Justice of a Civil,
lied People.
A SPECIMEN OF TEXAN BARBARIsM.

Negro Ravisher Burned at the Stake, the
Match Being Applied by His Fair Vic
tim-The Wretch's Clothes Saturated
with Coal Oil, and He Suffers for Twen-
ty Minutes-He Meets Death Brayely,
and Wants the Ladies to Have Fair
View of the Entertainments.
TEXARAKANA, Ark. Feb. 22.-Five
thousand people stood near this place
Saturday afternoon, and with sullen faces,
unmoved by anything savoring of pity,
watched while Ed Coy, negro, was
burned to death for criminally assaulting
Mrs. Henry Jewell Feb. 13 last Mrs.
Jewell is the young wife of a respectable
farmer living two miles south of town, and
since his crime Coy succeeded in eluding
the officers until Saturday, when he
was discovered at the home of Ed Gaines,
colored, four miles north of here. He had
mistress at the home of Gaines, and it
was she who disclosed his hiding place, fear
for the safety of herself and family acting
as the incentive. The posses in search of
Coy suspected that he was being harbored
by Gaines, and two or three times last
week Il rope was put around the latter's
neck to make him give information.
Betrayed by His Mistress.
Saturday morning the mistress of Coy
went to the house of A. B. Scott, white
neighhor living near by, and told him that
Coy was at the house of Gaines Scott at
once sent a massage with the news post
haste to town, and posse Immediately
went out to arrest the negro. Meantime,
however, Coy had left Gaines house but
was apprehended and taken in charge by
MF. Scott and two sons, who held him
until the arriva! of the men from town
The Latter Immediately brought their
prisoner in and, placing him in a carriage,
conveyed him to the Jewell farm, where
Mrs. Jewell, without hesitation, identified
him beyond all doubt as the man who as
saulted her The trembling wretch was
then returned to town and placed in a
room with a number of guards
Making Progress in Mob Barbarity.
All the posses were in by . o'clock, and
the leaders, after a consultation. decided
to hang the negro to a telegraph pole on
Broad street, at the state line, the most
public place in the city. Cox was accord
ingly marched to that point with a view to
carry out this programme, but when the
crowd saw the rope and OWNED that hang
ing had been decided upon there were
thunders Of protests.
Away with the ropel Hanging is too
good for him! Burn him, burn him. was
the shout that went up from 5000 throats.
The leaders soon saw the futility of op-
posing the wishes of the mob. but begged
that the deed should take place out of
town, and to this the crowd agreed. Half
trotting and half running the crowd
rushed the doomed wretch across the Iron
Mountain railway.
Refused to be Robbed of Their Fun,
Here there is a beautiful grass plot of
three or four acres void of timber or shrub
berry, save one tree, eighteen inches in di-
nneter and broken off at the top. To
this plot Coy was hurried and one man
who still favored hanging began climbing
the tree. In flash a score of Winchesters
were leveled at him and he was made to
descend. The announcement was then
made that the next man who should at
tempt to climb the tree would be hanged
upon it-that the negro was going to be
burned and that was all there was to it.
Coy was strapped to the body of the tree
with iron fastenings and coal oil was
poured over his entire person in liberal
quantities,