The Bessemer indicator., 1893-07-29
'LYNCHlNG AT DENVER.
AN OLD SOLDIER AVENGED.
A Mig Mob with Little Dinieaity Cap
trres tho Coanty jail and
hfAngs Dan Arata. an
italian Murderer.


night of Wednesday the Goth. 1t can be said
however that the victim OF the mob was
guilty and richly deserved his fstel
The man lynched wsA ban Arata who on
the day rrevtoas while partially intoxicated
toalis murdered Benjamin c. tighuecs
highly respected c,.zet and a member OF the
u. A. X. LiShtfoot was killed In Arata's
saloon near the Union depot, without any
provocatlon whatever Arata, who Is an
Italian, had been ugly all day and WAS leck-
Ing for some one to wrenA seng-snce upon
when Lighttcct dropped into the saloon for
dtiek Vt ecer 90 hle why home from work.
Arata shot and pounded Lightfoot 70 death
and threw the body into m alley. He was
arrested hr. denied committing the crime,
Atata had killed man before and had been
cleared by an alibl sworn TO by Italians.
There were rumors of lynchins d.rins
the day. and at o'clock party of army
veterans and OTHERS formed at Eighteenth
aud tartnier streets and started for the jail
ter the purpose OF avcnging Lightfoots
death As the crowd progressed it was ang-
mented by thousands of merl -tylng Hang
the Dago,"
A. Fourteenth street the excitement be-
came so intense that the crowd began to run,
and then the rush to the jail became perfect
race, each man arrarrrtly Ia the greatest
alarm lest sohie others should get there and
rot hlm of the privilege of insisting at the
hiieous task. To get 10 The jail In th- short
cst possible time became everybodys aim,
and breaking from the original mass great
parties OF 800 or more swept along every
street, each taking the way tha: occurred To
II as the shortest.
A. shortly after oclock the square about
the jail was thronged by an excited mob Of
more than 900 men. The leaders lost no
time in spcech-maklng. Without moments
delay four OF them dashed up the steps TO the
north or msi- c-trancr- They were met
there by Captain Crews, who demanded what
they wanted
ave want that brutal fe-d OF Dago you've
got here" rrp..ed the spokesman, in low
V,i1e. You'll give him up'"
81 will not" was all the jailcr said, but his
tone evidently meant business and III door
closed with q cirrs.
"T-rn well take him." yelled the leaders
of the mob, and they explained as best they
could 10 their pnsh'hg, struggling comran-
sons below what Captain Crews had said, and
thc task that was before them.
When the actual work OF breaking in was
decided upon, a state af 'hin-. seselopcd
that showed ele-r's Ne spontaneous growth
nj the E.ogcment In the whole mob there
was not a tool OF even the dimensions of
tack hammer. No one had given a thought
to thing beyond tho simple getting at his
own person 10 the scene ot nctitn 'sow fdr a
few moment. ali was cenfusidn and uproar.
IA s'rdge tiedge"' hundred throats
wotld yell. "Brlng crow or a sledge,"
would come the echo from thousand or
more, but TO no one did It seem 10 occur to go
and get The tools himself Then principally
for want Of other OCCUPATION tho-n M thc
porch began t- t--r 'otG tic storm doors
ia an ins tant Constable George Welsh was
among them, cuflng and batting them right
and left with his fists and kicking the whole
dozen or so of the stcns ~l.olethei. His
fearless plncA and determination evidently
asci the mob, and had 1t been followed up al
once by the rcsolnte action of even a dozen
others the mob, big as 1t was, could probably
have been dispersed without further ,reph,c
But the supper, did no. rprne, The proper op-
porten,., was allowed to slip by and from
that minute the final result became incvt-
able.
A -tronsly-buii, hcavy-sc, man. etldently a
hcchanic, appeared with ceowhat aid with
him companfoh secrihe ! slcdgc. Without
= Ao{d these two tramped up the steps and
the next minute dull tbud. followed by q
ringing clank OF metal against metal, an
nouncel that the first actual blows were
struck and the crowd fairly -hriekcd with de-
lighted satlstac.lon,
fhcn h'os s.'er 1l6S echoed and re echoed
IN way that told plainly that the sledgc was
being welded By men who knew how ta use
It. All this time the T"nsS.s within the jail
I h"S VEGA keeping very quiet, but now they
could be seen through the windows, running
about, evidently preparing for defense, Tie
first result Of ibis movement t.ca.ilc aprartnt
~hen the light on the porch suddenly Vent
eut, leaving tnc vorfers ir darkness the s.s
bad been turned OF !ssitie inc jail For =
! few urments this caused a lull in the sledging,
but then q candle was produced, and soon a
kerosene lamp, mud the banging of the ham-
mer started up again With redoubled vigor
| amid tremendous yci'irr by tho rtrtd
tfe osit.Rnee at which this attack was be-
ing made Is peculiarly strongly situated for
defense. 1t Is perhaps ten feet above the
ground, reached by a flight of dozen steps
and porch not over Eve feet wide, Thi-
gave tbs attacking party very scaht room for
work. The door itself Is duubie, the outer
! one BEING Of iron ard stttl Bars, the Inner Of
scild Iron. The outer. or cage door trd Of
course to be oYercon.c lrst, and thu slcl,lng,
FOR all 1t wis kept up persIstently and with
Igor, had very little effect The crowd soon
began to be impatient, and ironIcal shouts OF
"Goln' to be all night about that door,r were
going up on every side, when all Mt once
there wa. change. a big brawny miner ap-
peared IN tEr porch, -nd be had his miner
| pics With him. With a wave of his hand he
got the other workers out Of the way and
struck scientific blow at the stonework
/ about the hinges. The spiintcrs and chi ps
flew In every direction and It was evident In
a moment that a very few more such strokes
would settle the door. The guards Inside ev
Identity appreciated this rs we'll az aiybody
fSr they at bnce ceased their Fabian tactics
and, throwing open the solid inside door
turned the fire hose on the lights OF the at
tackers. This caused another delay. while
the illumination was relit, only TO be extin
guished in the same way once again Tn,
next time the lightholders lit up they pu
their hats before the lamps and candles
1 while others tore of one Of the storm door,
and pressed 1t against the grating to break
the force OF the stream from the faces of th,
workers, snd then the hammer began again.
The struggle continued in this way fol
some time. One OF the guards inside the jail
fired on the besiegers and colored boy wa'
wounded in the hip This increased rather
than diminished the zeal of the mob.
Street cars were stopped and the headlights
taken of to furnish light for the men at worl
upon the door.
Other parties began work upon the othc
entrances OF the jail. Twenty men took
long four-nch iron pipe some one found Rnt
using II as batteringram made short worI
OF the ground floor door on South eleventh
| street Aa II went In a nerfecf roar of salIs