The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1893-07-13


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I,s.t T. - cont =
80 - lIaAstsl lllss 81 narnsA 81
IS ths lell ~ lEat. ss.sssS
Cause III. July 10 Much excite.
mont still exists regarding the lynchine
Of Miller g Bard Nell, KY, Friday at
efnoon, and grsve doubts exists . "a
his guilt His frst examinatio Va
held q Wickline. KY, Friday morning.
About . half-dozen Of tho leading cdti
xens OF the place and officers Of the law
conducted the examination fl. secret
session. e had been generally under
stood mp to this time that there VS.
/ blood On the person and on tho cloth
Ing OF the negro, and that . razor and =
large pocketknife which he carried were.
reektng with blood. In fact, kilograms
had been sent to Sikeston. whero he.
was arrested, to this effect. The ex.s
animation proved this q be entirely
erroneous. .s o..
Mr.. Ray, the father OF the murdered
girls, was the chief examiner and did
everything in his power to get proofs
as to the prisoners guilt, but wAs q
fair % any man could be under the cir
cumstances The only positive evidence
that could be called rood proof against
him was the fact Of his hand. being:
covered with scratches, which must
have been made by thorns, leading Ill.
to infer that he had received them while
in the blackberry patch where he il
supposed to have murdered the girls.
He could not give any account Of how
he got these scratches.
The mob of more than 1000 who had
gathered at Bardweh were thirstinp
for revenge for the brutal murder OF
the innocent girls, and as the accounts
OF the evidence against the prisoner
We're exaggerated and distorted ne
they went from mouth to mouth
they had made up their minds
that the prisoner was the guilty man
beyond all reasonable doubt. It had
been determined to burn Miller 1t the
stake and preparations had been made
for doing 50. As the crowd was hurry
ing Miller to the stake MI. Ray, father
of the murdered girls, mounted the pile
of combustibles and cried: For. Gods
sake, gentlemen, do not burn him; we
are not positive that he is guilty"
Then the mob having the negro, as
has been told, hanged him, and rifle
ball was fred through his body.
Shortly after the rife ball had entered
the body all movements or contrac-
tions of the muscles ceased. A
physician felt the pulse and pro
nounced the victim dead. & Then
relic hunters began their work. Knives
were opened and pieces of the
victims undershirt, which had been
tied around his loins, were cut of until
there was nothing left on his person.
Then began brutal treatment of the
body. One man sliced of a finger. an
other an ear, still another toe. This
was kept up until the body was badly
mutilatec. Then some one cut 4 deep
slit on his abdomen. n-e...
Some one suggested that they burn
the body to save funeral expenses
This was soon decided upon and the
body was let down and about twenty
men caught hold of the chain and
dragged the wreck of man on the.
ground through the streets to 2 point
about quarter of mile away, Here
q great heap of wood was piled up, the
body placed on top, more wood was
piled on and the huge mass fred. The
body burned slowly and it was many
hours before it was consumed astr !
1t is proper to say now that after the
man was dead there was no feeling OF
jubilation manifest Upon the con-
trary, a sort of mental wet blanket
seemed to hover over the crowd and two
out of every three men cautiously ex-
pressed doubts as to the propriety of
their action and said they feared his
connection with the murder was not
fully established. .. -....<s as..~-
Information from q Trustworthy
source at Wickliffe is that kilograms
have been received there confirming
Millers statements as to where he was
July 4 and 5. Miller's story was that
he was at Bismarck, Mo-, the morning
of July S. and no one has brought for
ward any evidence to the contrary.
Careful inquiry has failed to disclose q
single person who will say positively
that he saw Miller in Bardwell, or even
Carlisle county, that day.
RUINED BY HOT WINDS