The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-02-09
Birmingham of tho escort made BRIEF
address. He ssid: ~ 10


Birmingham of the escort made brief
4 address. He said: ~ ia,
..fEILow C,rIzExs: There isnstsan Of
fficer ON this train Who has sny scontrcl.
oyer The prisoner. Henry Smith venty-
Eve Of your citizens went in reply e tsls-
J: grains from your County Aasdiiss 70 msss
.haEaud Nee that. the prssbasr was protect
cd and delivered hers without iniaty. Ne
have dong chat thing Nc have Rpsss scsiv-
ed or misIed you; We sre not officers, bus
. merely citizens; we have. 10 authority 70
hold this prisoner against You Or any
one, and shall make no effort 10 do'so. Az
4 citizens We merely wish to surrender the
prisoner. We believe you will do what
j is right. Whatever may be dome, let 1t
be done as the people Of Lamar county
have done everything, in law abiding,
peaceable aud patriotic way. Nc cannot,
/ if we would, resist the thousands ASSEM-
bled here. The prisoner has adus;t Ted kis
guilt in the presence of q dozen good and
true men. This is all We can say"
4 Smith was placed upon a carnival float
Tia the mockcry of a king upon his throne,
. and, followed by the immense crowd, was
escorted through The city SO that oil might
see the monster. He was firmly; siashed
to the seat.
The line Of march was mp Main street to
the square, down Clarkyille street. thence
to the open prairie about three
hundred yards from the Texas and
Pacific station. s..
Here a scaffold ten feet high had been
erected Around this was surging
throng for $50 yards in each direction.
eAcold drilling rain was falling, that froze
as it fell. ~ sis.3 .t:s
The covering wretch was forced up the
steps, where he was pinned to q stake.
His coat and shirt was torn Of him, piece
by piece, and thrown to the;efewd, where
they were eagerly seized as relics.
When stripped to the waist Henry
Vance, the father Of Smiths victim,
yancc's son and two uncles Of the child
gathered around and began to thrust red
hot-irons under his feet. Every contor-
ton oftis body and every groan that es-
capped his lips brought forth shouts of ap-
proval.
Vainly ne begged for mercy: vainiy he
protested that he did not know that 1t was
iVancc's child he killed. The. yred-hot- Z
irons burned into his flesh deeper and
deeper. He uttered terrible cries. Final
| ly the irons were rolled up and down the
abdomen and on the back andarrns. The
crowd kept Shouting its approval to the
torturers. ,
The climax was reached when the irons
were thrust into Smiths eyes, burning
them out. Then the irons were, thrust
down his throat. The Vances then de-
clared their vengeance satisfied
Then combustible material was placed
under the scafold, oil was poured over
y Smith and the platform, and q match APP
piled. For time he was enxa31ped in
smoke, AS this Disappeared and tho
flames shot up, Smith was ,seen9to sway
back and forth.
Then he became still, and all thought
Ile was dead. The fire burned the ropes
that bound him, and he fell upon the plat
form. He then began to roll about the
4 PLATFORM 1t seemed impossible that any.
thing could live in that furnace.
i To the SURPRISE Of all, with desperate
struggle he pulled himself up by the rail-
ing of the scaffold, stood up, passed his
i...'3 ..,,>.. a Il
the scaffold and rolled out Of the fire be-
How. Men on the ground thrust him into
the burning mass again, and life became
|fextinct.
Hundreds had turned away in horror
from tile spectacle. but thousands shout
ed with satisfaction and with deuionstrn-
tons of delight. People were here from
every part of this section: They came
from Dallas, Fort Worth, Sherman, Deni-
son, Bonham, Texarkana, Fort Smith,
Arkadelphia. and party came from Ar
kansas, where Smith was captured. Every
train that came in was loaded TO lite ut
most capacity.
There we're demands at many points for
special trains. When the news reached
here Yesterday of the arrest pit spread
through the country like wildGre. Atevery
country town anvils and bells wero sound-.
! ed. People poured in here in constant
stream all night and day on horseback.
After the execution the throng dispersed
quietly.
On Thursday last Smith picked up little
Myrtle Vance near the residence Of her
i father, Policeman Henry Vance, and giy-s
ing her candy; carried her through the
centra. portion Of the city to Gibbons
4 pasture, just within the corporate limits.
He was asked by several persons what
+ he was doing with the child He replied
that she WAS Mr. Williams little girl md
!, he was carrying her TO the doctor. Ar
4 irving at the pasture he assaulted the
babe, and then LITERALLY tore her to
! pieces. e
!, I was in revenge, because her father
had arrested him recently. Covering the
body with leaves and brush he lay down
and slept through the night by the side Of
his victim. About O'Clock ON, Friday
i morning Smith awakened, went to the
house Of his wife, and compelled her to
: cook him breakfast. She asked him what
J had become Of that white child.
81 He replied: Il amt seen no white child,
land don't have nothing to- dos,vith whits
. folks" He ate bis breakfast and was not
seen any more until his capture.
E About 2 clock on Friday macs meet
ing was called at tile courthouse and
I, captains were appointed to search for the