Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-05-30

End Of Two Brutes.
Early Saturday morning mob which.
at Danville. ILL.,, had been in possession
Of Vermillion County's Jail for several
hours, succeeded in locating John Halls,
Jr., and William Royce In their cells, took
them outside and hanged them for as
saulting Miss Laura Barnett. From mid
night, when the crowd first made Its APP
pearance at the Jail doors, until the vic
Tins were reached, 1t was the determined,
desperate struggle Of a frenzied mob to
mete summary justice, battling against
heavy oaken doors and iron bars, and oc-
casionally halted by the grim stand of
little band of defenders of law and order
under the command of Sheriff Thompson.
No amount of parleying on his part and
no amount of plea from his wife could
Withstand the mob which had but the one
object in view.
Vain Plea for Law and Order.
At o'clock Sheriff Thompson sent for
Judge Bookwalter, of the Circuit Court,
who addressed the crowd from the jail
corridor. He counselcd them to peace and
order, and for a minute, and but a minute
only, his words were needed. Then an
other desperate attempt was made to
reach the cells where the two men were
secreted. Finally Royce was located
crouching and shivering with fear. A
score of hands dragged him unceremoni-
ously from his hiding place underneath
the wooden bench which serves prisoners
as their bed. Half dragged and half push
ed he was hustled into the dining room
and seated on the table. A rope was
placed over his head, and while part of
the mob kept close guard over him the
others continued the search for Halls until
he was discovered in another and more
remote portion Of the Jail.
At 3:15 o'clock the mob secured both of
the prisoners and started toward the
bridge with ropes about their necks. They
were hanged almost upon the scene or
their crime. Citizens of Danville joined
the Infatuated farmers in their work of
vengeance. The story Of the crime had
been the topic of discussion all day. Bust
ness was practically suspended and shop
keepers ans: their clerks gathered in knots
on the street corners AID discussed the
affair with farmers who focked to the
city during the day. Shortly after night
fall ominous mutterings were heard and
some openly counseled the more quiet Of
their neighbors to take summary VEN
geance on the perpetrators Of the crime
and not take the chances of the laws
delay or the techncalities which might
arise and eventually free the men.
AS early as 10 o'clock the crowd con-
gregated on the main street, and it only
needed a venturesome leader to proceed
to the Jail at once. That leader was soon
found. From whispered threats the cry
arose for vengeance, swelling on the night
air until it echoed and re-echoed from one
end Of Danville to the other. A rush was
made for the Jail, where, under fear Of
just such proceeding, the guard had been
REINFORCED, but constituted only hand
full of men to face frenzied, bloodthirsty
mob, wrought up to an indescribable pitch
and bent only on having the lives of the
two covering men within. Clamoring at
the jail doors, the mob was met by Sher-
if Thompson, who denied admission and,
retiring behind the doors, locked and dou-
BILE bolte6 them.
Rush for Battcring Ram.
This action of the sheriff only added
fuel to the already blazing fire of indig-
nation. A hurried search was made for
some instrument with which to batter
down the jail doors. Part Of the crowd
rushed away, returning in few minutes
with a hemlock telegraph pole, which will
ing hands grasped as a battering ram. The
stout oaken doors of the Jail were con-
structed to withstand any ordinary as
saults, however, and the efforts of the
mob proved futile until another party ar
rived with a steel rail.
Sheriff Thompson and his men warned
the stormiDg party to desist, but were
met with boots and jeers. The little band
of defenders was powerless against the
fast increasing mob, and when the furious
blows, urged on with vengeful hearts,
shivered the main door, they retreated be-
hind the inner Jail. The hallway was too
narrow to permit effective work with the
railroad iron, and a shorter piece was
secured. With this the second door was
attacked, and at 10 o'clock in the morn
ing gave way before the impetuous mob
which surged through the gap and de-
manded the keys of the cell in which the
prisoners were confined.
Halls and Royce were thoroughly
frightened and covered in the darkest COR
ner of their cells, shivering at the sound
of the imprecations on the outside and
the victorious acclamations of those who
found themselves in possession of a hith
erto impregnable fortress. They begged
for mercy, but Sheriff Thompson was ut
terly unable in the face of the determined
men thronging the corridor to afford them
any relief. In fact, with him discretion
had overcome valor, and he with his little
band retreated still farther before the an
cry administrators of lynch law. But
with their battering ram of railroad iron
the mob quickly wrecked the interior of
the Jail, and the end was soon over.
Thursday evening about 7:3O o'clock
Miss Laura Bennett and a friend, Miss
Lillian Draper, were returning from an
evening stroll. They were crossing the
Vermillion river foot bridge when they
were attacked by Halls and Royce. Miss
Draper escaped and gave the alarm.
Halls and Royce were both well-known
young men of Danville, and for several
years had borne an unsavory reputation.
They were arrested on complaint of Miss
Draper, and further Identification by John
Downs, an old man who met violence at
their hands while endeavoring to assist
the girls.
Telegraphic Brevities.
The Merchants National Bank of Sc
attic, Wash, failed.