Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-02-10
Horror Of Horrors,
Latter Days of the Ro-
man Empire Dis
counted by
The Fearful Retribqtion
.Vidhd Upon Horny Smith, The Negro &T,
iIAer and Murderer d liNA
Myrtle Vance,

PARIS, Tex, Feb. Henry
Smith, the negro who ravished and
murdered Myrtle Vance, the 3-ycar
old daughter Of Henry Vance of
this city last Thursday night, has
expiatcd his terrible crime.
His was perhaps the most horrl-
BILE death ever inflicted upon a hui
man being. Those who witnessed
it will never forget the scene in all
it's indescribable horrors. No Ian
guage can describe the fearful ret
ribution visited upon the monster
who committed crime that has
no parallel in history.
Smith seemed Indifferent about
his fate at first, but when told that
he must die by the NEST cruel
manner that human. ingenuity
could devise, he weakened and beg
eed the officers to save him; but in
the hands of mob of 10000 en-
laged people the minions of the
law were pewerless.
Smith was taken to a
wagon and placed in a chair on
top Of box and firmly dashed to
it. He was then driven to the
public square and around it and
through the principal streets and
then to an open field near the Tex
as and Pacific depot. Here scat
fold ten feet high had been erect
ed. Around this there was q surg
ing mass of humanity for nearly
100 yards in every direction.
A cold, drizzling rain was falling
that froze as it fell. The covering
shivering wretch, whose face was a
picture of agony and terror, was ia
ken from the wagon and forced up
the steps, where he was pinioned to
stake.
His coat and shirt were torn OF
him piece by piece and thrown
among the crowd, where they were
eagerly seized as relics.
When stripped to the waist Hen
ry Vance, the father of Smith S
victim, his son and two uncles of
the child, gathered around him,
They then began to thrust red
hot irons under bis feet.
Every contortion of his body and
every groan that escaped his lips
brought forth shouts of approval
from the spectators. Vainly he
begged for mercy. Vainly he pre-
tested that he did not know that it
was Vance's child.
The red-hot irons burned deeper
into his flesh and he uttered terri
BILE cries. Cries that told Of untold
suffering.
Finally the irons were rolled up
and down his stomach, lack and
arms.
The crowd gazed on the terrible
scene with horrible fascination,
as the slow process Of torture pro-
ceeded.
The climax was reached when
the irons were thrust into his eyes,
burning the balls away.
Then they were thrust into his
throat and still he lived and suf-
fered and writhed.
When the relatives had glutted
their vengeance great mass Of
combustible material was placed
under the scafold, oil was poured
over Smith, the platform and the
fuel and the match applied.
For a time he was enveloped in
a dense volume of smoke. As this
passed away and the flames shot
upward Smith was seen amid the
fire, swaying back and forth.
In a little while be became still
and all thought him dead. The
fire burned the ropes that bound
him and he fell upon the burning
platform.
Then he began to toss and roll
about as the flames rolled and
Kissed around him.
1t seemed impossible that any
thing could have lived for a mo-
ment in what was almost a fur
mace.