The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-02-27
First Impulse Was to Burn the Ban
dts mt the Stake, hut the Rope
Was Finally Decided On.
NERVE SHOWN BY THE '.KID"
WHO JOKED AND CURSED UNTIL HIS
BODY WAS DANGLING ALOFT.
Full Confession by Crawford, Who
Begged for Whisky, and Fell i'm a
Faint as the Rope Touched Him.

WICHITA FALLS, Tex, Feb. 26-Foster
Crawford and the kid" who yesterday
raided the City National Bank of this place,
killed cashier Frank Dorsey and seriously
wounded bookkeeper p. p. Lanford and
ran off with $4OO, were lynched tonight.
The robbers We're surrounded in thicket
last night nine miles from town and cap
tured after Crawford had been wounded.
They were brought back and lodged in Jail
and a company of State rangers placed in
charge. To-day mob began to form, but
it was deferred from storming the jail be-
cause of the presence of the soldiers. Late
this afternoon the rangers were called to
Amarillo and left the prisoners in charge
of few citizens. and at $50 o'clock to-
night the mob. which had grown to several
thousand persons. attacked the Jail. After
a show Of resistance on the part of the
citizens in charge the mob battered in the
Jail doors and forcibly took possession of
the prisoners. The two men were taken to
the bank which they attempted to rob yes
terday and an improvised scaffold was
erected The first impulse OF the half
crazed mob was to burn the prisoners, but
calmer counsel prevailed.
After the mode of death had been de-
cided on, there were yells of Hang the
Kid frstv' Then others cried: mo, hang
the oldest first.'
1.-The Kid" refused to say a word and
those having him in charge yanked him
onto a box. The scene was a weird one.
One robber had on high-hell boots, black
pants and a deep red flannel shirt In a
moment the rope was about his neck and
man who, some say, looked like one of
the men whose horse had been taken yes
terday, fixed one end on the cross bar. All
this time the ''Kid" was jeering at the
mob. laughing and cursing. He never
quivered. He was asked to say what he
wanted and was told he would be given
hearing. In reply he said:
That's all right. If you are impatient
swing me up now. / amt afraid to die, not
a - bit of 1t. Pull the rope."
A voice in the crowd-You're going to die
now. Tell us your name.
The kid don't give il I do.
1t Is Younger Lewis and my father and
mother reside in Neosha, Mo.
ANY messagey' from voice In the
crowd.
"well, tell my father I was not scared a
bit; that | died like nervy man."
Anything for your mother?"
mo, not a word. She will see the mes
sage to the old man. Say. you fellows, go
and look In that dugout and you will find
$4,000 there"
The kid" or Younger Lewis as he said
his name was, continued chatting and
laughing with the crowd, poking fun one
moment and cursing the next until some
one yelled: Time is up.'' The Kid then
said: Il am twenty years old and robbed
that bank. / am dead game and ready to
| die Go ahead!
In an. instant he was pulled UP above the
| throng. He never quivered kicked He
| just went up in the air and he is hanging
| there now. Men on the frontier for years
| said no gamer man ever died. He was the
| coolest in all the great throng.
| All the while Crawford was a spectator
| Of the scene. He began to weaken and
| confessed. giving some valuable Information.
| He placed the responsibility for the crime
on the kid" The mob pulled him off the
| improvised platform next TO the bank he
| attempted to rob and his head was about
| on a level with the dangling feet of his
companion. He asked for Captain Burnett
| The latter was a spectator in the crowd
| He went to Crawford and had long talk
| Crawford had worked on Burnetts ranch
| for years and long was a trusted man. He
began stealing his employers stock, how
| ever. and associatng with territory out.
laws. The two parted company.
Crawford confessed to the robbery of yes
terday but denied the murder He was a
| small man, poorly clad, with red face ant
short clipped black mustache. When the
lynchers began to look for second rope he
begged for whisky. 1t was given him. He
talked and then begged for more. He agair
addressed the crowd in Comanche. Eng.
| lish and Spanish. Those who understood
say his utterances were incoherent. The
rope soon arrived and as it was put about
| his neck he fell either in faint or from
the effects OF the liquor he had drunk. Hf
| was soon strung up along with his com
panion and their bodies are still dangling
In miGair.