The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1893-02-09
HE WAS BURNED ALIVE.
Awful PUNISHMENT OF a
NEGRO MONSTER.

Tortured with Red-IIot irons and rhen
Consumed by Fir.-Trn Thousand People
Gather at Paris, Texas. I" Witness the
Fearful Proceedings.
A Fearful Fate.
Henry Smith. the Paris tTex.) negro
who first abused then killed i-year-Old
Myrtle Vance, has expiate l in part his
awful crime by death at the stake.
Ever since the preparation of his awful
crime the city and entire surrounding
country has been in a wild frenzy OF cX-
citrmtnt. When the ncws came that
he had been captured hear Hope, Ark,
that he had been identified hy b. j..
Sturgeon. james 7. Hicks and many
others Of tie Paris searching party. the
city was wild with Joy over the aplrc-
hensiot of the lru.e. Hundreds ct
people poured into the city from the
adjoining country. and the word passed
from lip to lip that the punish
ment of the tieni should fit the crime
that death hy fire was the penalty Smith
should pay. The curious and sympa-
thetc alike came on train and wagons.
on horse and on foot, 10 see if the frail
mind tr mind could think of a way TO
sufficiently punish tho tcrpetratcr of
so terrible crime Whisky shops were
closed, uhruly mohs we're dispersed.
schools were dismissed by proclhma=
ton from the Mayor, and everything was
done in a business-lihe manner. Off
GERS saw the futility of any effort to
guell the almost riot. SO law was laid
aside. and the citizens took into their
own hands the inhun an beast and
burned him at the stake. Never before
since the days of the Spanish inquisi-
tton. when cruelty was law. has there
been such terrible punishment meted
OFT to any man: but so horrible was the
crime. in its magnitude 20 inhuman and
60 CHASTITY, that the punishment Inflicted
upon him was Infinitely small in COM
parisOn.
He was brought through TcSar"nna,
| where 5000 people awaited the train,
anxious to see n man who shoul1 re-
ceive the fate uf Ed Coy. At that place
speeches were made by prominent Paris
| citizens, who asked that the prisoner be
no. molested by Tcxaikana people, but
| that the GUARD lie allowed TO deliver
him up to the outraged and indignant
| citizens of Paris. Arriving in Paris.
| the train WAS met | ! a surSing mass OF
| humanity 1n,00a strong. The negro
was escorted through the city 20 that
| NIL might see the most inhuman mon
| ster known in current history. Smith
| was placed upon scaflold six feet
square and ten feet high. securely
| bound, within view of all the bnholders.
Tcr;ure.l by Rcd-Ii"t Irons.
Here he victim was tortured for fifty
| minutes by red hot iron brands thrust
against his Iu,vcrins body. tommene-
| ing at the feet the brands We're paced
against him inch iy inch ntil hey were
thrust against The face. Then, being
apparently dead, ker, senc VS. poured
upon him, cottoHs. hulls placed be-
meath him and Sc. On fire. in less time
than it takes to relate ii the tortured
man wns waited beyond the grave to
another fire hotter and more terrible
than the one just experienced.
| Tie cause Of the crime was that Hen
ry Vance when a deputy policeman in
,h" course # his du Y was called 70 ar
rest Henry Smith for being drunk and
tdisorderiy. The negro was unruly and
Vance was forced 10 use h's club The
NEGRO sworc vengeance AMI several
times assaulted Vance. In his greed
for revenge he last Thursday grabbed
up the little girl and committed the as
lsauit, then tore the child limb from
limb The father is Frustrated with
grief and the II other lies at death
door. hut she lived to see the slayer OF
her limo cent babe suffer The most hor-
rible death that could be C nceived.
The negro for a long time a ter start
ing on the ,ourn y 20 Paris did not real.
ize his plight At last when told he
must die by slow torture he begged f"i
p: election. What protection could he
get with thousands o: people from Hol ,
to Paris demanding his life? He was
willing to be shot and wanted Marsha
Shanklin. of Paris, to shoot him. He
plead d and writhed in bodily and men
tal pain in anticipation. Starcely ha,
the train reached Paris than this torture
commenced. His clothes re- torn o.
pieeemcii and scattered in the crowd
people catching the shreds and putting
them away as memen.os. The child's
father, her brother and two unclcs the1
gathered about the negro as he lay fast
nned TO the torture platform ana thrus
the hot irons into his Guivering flesh.
Every graan fro the ficnd, ever,
contortion of his !ody, was cheered 10y
The thckly packed crow of n,ofn peo
pie. After burning the feet and legs thu
hot irons were rolled up and dowr
Smiths stomach, back and arms. The1
the eyes were burned out and iron:
| were thrust down his throat. The mel
of the Vance family having wreaket
. vengeance, the crowd pi' ed all kinds Q
combustiblc stuff around the scatfold
, p, ured oil on it and set it a.ire. Th'
negro rolled and wrigSled and tossc'
out of the mass only to lie pushed bacl
, by the people nearest him. He t"ssc'
oat again and was roped and puile'
ba k Hundreds ofPeople turned away
but the vast crowd still locked calml.
on.
Every train that came in was loade;
to its utmost capacity, and there wer
demands a. many points for speclh
trains 10 iring people to see the punish
ment Of fiend for an unparallele
crime, and when the news of the burn
ing went over the country like wildfir
at every country town anvils hoome
forth the announcement. Gov. Hog
tclcgraphcd the officials at Lamar t
protect the negro. Henry Smith, frol
: mob violence, and after hearing {
Smiths fate wired them to take tn
names OF the parties principally con
I ccrned in the affair for prosecution.
I Last Words Of Famous Men.
MY country. Oh. how | love m
country. William Pitt, the younge
Il AM going the way of all flesh. l ai