The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-02-09
BURNED AT THE STAKE,
hsrbarle Vengeance wreaksd Upon a
Human Brute in Texas,

Human Brute in Texas.
PARIS. Texas. Feb. IA mob of an
cry men and women numbering thou-
sands wreaked the most frightful ven.
geance of lynch law today upon Henry
smith, burly negro, who, with the
llendlshness Of a depraved brute. out
ragged ana cruelty murdered little four
year-old Myrtle Vance, on Thursday
Foo powerful to resist, they took the
prisoner from the guards, bringing him
mere, dragged him by a rope about his
neck TO the scene or his crime, subject
Ell him to every conceivable torture,
and there burned the pitiable wretch
at the stake.
All the morning trains had brought
people by the hundreds to this city,
white and black, to await the arrival
OF the guards who were bringing the
prisoner back from Texarkana, where
he had been captured. The country
for miles around had become wildly
excited over the crime and the hunt
1or the brute murderer. When the
news came last night that he had been
Caught and identified by members of
the Paris searching party, the people
seemed crazy with JOY, and thirsted for
his life. BY trains and wagons, on
horse and afoot, the people piled into
the city. The mayor ordered the liu.
llor stores closed, unruly mobs dis
perSed and schools dismissed. The
plans for the ! lynching bee were syste-
matte and business-like.
lienry Smith, big burly negro, had
on Thursday picked up little four-year-
Old Myrtle Vance near her fathers (Po.
! llceman Henry vance, house, and
quieting her with candy, carried her
through the central portion of the city
to Gibbons pasture. Several people
questioned him, but to each he said he
was carrying her to a doctors. At the
pasture, after assaulting the poor child.
he took one little leg in each haud and
literally tore her in twain. Then, COW
erlng the body with leaves and brush.
he laid down and slept calmly beside
his victim throughout the night. Hs
went home, got breakfast, and disap-
peared.
That day mass meeting was called
at the court house and search parties
sent out to find the child Her man.
gled body was found, and the whole
town joined in the pursuit O. the liend
who had murdered her. lie was caught
yesterday at Glow, On the Arkansas
ana Louisiana railroad, twenty miles
north of Hope. He denied the crime,
but blood stains were on his clothing,
and later he confessed.
This morning he was brought to Tex
arkana, where 5000 people had gath
cred, eager to get at him. The Paris
searching party begged that he be not
molested. The news travelled fast
everywhere along the line as the train
bore the wretch to Paris. Morbid
crowds gathered to gaze upon him. At
the depot at Paris were 10000 people.
The deputy sheritls put up a show of
pistols, but We're brushed aside and a
rush made for the Car. a rope was
thrown about Smiths neck and he was
dragged from the car. lie was taken
to rude fl ,at and borne through the
city streets. that the people might gaze
on the monster
at the open prarie, 300 yards from
the Texas and Pacific depot, the scat
Told awaited him. IG was six feet
square and ten feet high, and we'll with.
iii the sight Of ALL There for ifty min
utes the maddened mob tortured him
with diab0lical cunning that savaRes
only are supposed to show. Red-hot
irons were thrust from every side into
his body. His shrieks added vigor to
his prosecutors. First the hot irons
branded his feet, and inch by inch they
crept up to his ace.
The man was unconscious when at
last Kerosene was poured over on him
and cotton seed hullS placed beneath
nm. a torch set the pyre on fire, and
all was quickly consumed. Curiosity
seekers have carried away all that was
LETT. even to the ashes.
smith, some say, committed the crime
to revenge himself on Vance, who had
arrested him once when drunk and
dubbed him. NaLce is prOstrated with
grief, and his wife is dangerously i'll
from the shock.