The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-01-06
The Sforr Denied

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. Jan. Sit is oil.
most impossible TO get trustworthy Infor-
nation from Bakersville. n. c., concerning
the alleged lynching. Persons from Gran
berry Forge coming In on the morning trains
said that the whole neighborhood was ter
riDly excited over the affair, and thar
Snipes. the murderer of Osborne. was
surely Iynched, and that twenty-five men
were killed in the attempt Several others
were said to have been fatally injured.
The mob was said 10 be searching in the
country for Aaron Wisrman. who Was also
implicated In the murder of Osborne. but
was acquitted on account of insufficient
evidence.
Efforts TO reopen communication with
Bakersville, n. C.. have thus far been
unayailng. Reports from Cranberry. tho
nearest railroad station. say that the snow
in that section of the country is deeper
than II has been for years. 1t has been snow
ing constantly for five days and as yet has
not stopped. The snow Is now from TWEEN
ty-nine TO thirty-four inches deep and many
houses have fallen in and several miners
have received slight injuries. The old citi.
zens say that this snow equals the one OF
1865. when so many lost their lives.
A dispatch from Chattanooga says: Mail
runners have been sent out and every
method has been taken TO obtain paTticu-
lars to verify the blood-curdling reports of
From the sources from which the reports
were originally transmitted, all efforts to
verify the story have been met by state
ments that the roads were showed mp and
carrier has arrived at Cranberry.
n. c., from Bakersville, who says
he knows nothing of any fight
there. 1t would appear from his state
ment that the story OF yesterday was not
true. later report says that the story as
reported in the papers to-day is g. fake" OF
the first water No such occurrence has
taken place. and the peopIs Of that locality
are at loss to understand why the story
was told"
A dispatch from Raleigh. n. c.. says:
"a special Just received from O prominent
citizen living in Mitchell county to the
Daily Chronicle prOnOunoes the report or
riot and lynching at Bakersville a gross
canard. If lynching occurred the report
has been greatly exaggerated. Many of
the names reported among the killed are
unknown in that section. The dispatch
has been read in the House of Representa-
tives by the Speaker"
The "Thunderer" Falls Into q Trap
LONDON, Jan. 6.-The Times devotes an
article this morning to the news from Ba-
kersyiIles calling it an astounding tale of
lawless outrage rising almost TO the level
of civil war. This outburst of savagery,"
says the Times, mot in the unsettled
regions of the far West, but in the heart of
the older States. is q startling fact. It isa
warning to AmerIcans that they cannot
afford TO play fast and loose with lawless-
ness. It does not appear that ut Bakers
vile any such qualified justification for
the conduct of the lynchers existed as in
the case OF the New Orleans Italians. Mr..
Bryce considers lynch law as being mainly
due TO tho spirit of economy resulting in
the absence of an efficient local force.
Doubtless this accounts for some OF the
facts but not for all"