Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-01-05
ANARCHY SUPREME
Law and Order Goes Down Be-
fore a Mob.
AcLIMAx REACHED IN THE CONTEST
Fifty-Seven Corpscs Proclaim That
Lawlessness Is the Monarch in
North Carolina.

Another Bloody Fight at BakersviIIe and
Three Condemned Men Brutality Put to
Death-Eleven of the Sherifrs Posse
Fall Victims to the Sherif1-s Idea That
He Ought to Do His Duty-Twenty-two
of the Mob Bite the Dust-What VIII
the Great State" of North Caro-
lima Do?
MARION, n. c., Jan. S.-Another desper-
ate battle has taken place between Sheriff
Moomaws' deputies and the mob of lynch
ers at Baskerville, Mitchell county, this
state. Calvin Swipes and the Whitsons
have been lynched, but the vengeance of
the mob cost at least thirty-two more
lives. The names of those of the sheriff S
posse who are known to have been killed
are: Tom Beckner, Tom Hale, George
Hallifeld, Elmer johnson. Robert Jones,
Wallace Laws, Nathan Pannell, William
Reed, Dan Richie, Philip Sans, James
Williams.
Killed of Judge Lynch's Men.
Those of the mob known to have been
slain are: Theodore Bailiff, Thomas Black,
George Brady, VIII Butter, Hagerly Byrd,
Phil Crowder, Henry Gancey, Thomas
Hatfield, Charles Henry, Abraham Jackson,
Jim Nance, Ben Norton, John
Osborne, William Osborne, Charles
Patrick, William Perry, Jack Phillips,
Alex Sans, George Thomas, Owen Thomas,
John Worth.
Brave Sheriff Moomaws' Response.
The Jail is a frame building and was gar
!isoned by seventy-five men whom brave
and faithful Sheriff Moomaws had depu-
TIED After The assault Tuesday morn
ing the lynchers gathered in town to the
number of 500, determined to lynch the
condemned men. At 4 o'clock Tuesday
afternoon formal demand was made up.
on Sheriff Moomaws for Swipes and the
two Whitsons by a messenger from the
mob, who approached the Jail under flag
of truce. TO this the garrison responded:
ave viii Gle first" Then they knew there
would he fight The defenders of law
took positions armed with Winchestels
and awaited the onslaught AT shutdown
the mob appeared in front of the jail
Warned by the sheriff.
Halt, or I'll give the order to fire." rang
out Sheriff Moomaws' voice No attention
was paid TO the warning. Fire rang out
the order, and seventy-five rifles poured a
direct and fiankinC hail of bullets into the
determined lynchers. They wavered a mo-
ment as a score of them went down, but
with the steadiness of veterans closed up
their ranks and rushed forward again un-
der the leadership OF a gigantic mountain
eer, who urged them forward with the Old
"rebel yell" Again the rifles of the be-
sieged rang out, and this time they were
answered by a concentrated fire from the
mob. The aim was deadly. Every window
on the exposed sides of the buildings occu-
pied by the defenders was shot out, and Il
dozen men fell wounded or killed.
The Jail Carried by Storm.
With a rush the mob was under the
walls of the Jail and with another rush in
side the building. There was a short strug-
gle. What were seventy-five men against
500? A few revolver shots, 100 dubbed
rifles and all was over. The deputies, with
their leader, Sheriff Moomaw. MORALLY
wounded, were in the hands of the mob
and every one of them was looking down
the muzzles of at least three Winchesters
There was no hope in further resistance
and the fate of the three murderers was
sealed