The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-02-27
Ever Lynched in Texas was the
Wichita Falls
Bank Robber. kid" Who Died
With Jeers and Curses.
CONFESSIONS
MADE.
Jail Doors Battered Down by a
Frantic Mob,
And the Victims Hung on a
Scaffold Near the Bank.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas, Feb. 27.-
At $3.50 last night, a mob of several
thousand persons attacked the Jail
here, where Foster Crawford and 1.-THE
Kid" were confined. After a show of
resistance on the part of the author
tiles, 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
Tuesday, and an improvised scaffold
was erected, The first impulse of the
mob was to burn the prisoners, but
ca1mer counsel prevailed.
Yells of ''Hang The Kid first went
up Then others, ''No, hang the old
est first 1.-THE Kid refused to say
word. and those having him in charge
yanked him onto a box. The scene
was a weird one One had on high
heeled boots, black pants and a deep
red flannel SHIRT, which added grue-
some brilliancy to the scene. In a
moment the rope was bout his neck
and a man who, some say, looked like
one of the men whose horse had been
taken, fixed one end across the cross
bar. All this time 1.-The KID" was
ieering at the audience. laughing and
cursing. He never quivered. He was
asked to say what he wanted, and was
told he would be given hearing.
He said: That's all right. If you
are impatient, swing me up now.
amt afraid to die, not d-n bit of it.
Pull the rope
voice in the audiences: You are
going to die now. Tell us your name"
THE Kid" MY name is Younger
Lewis, and my father and mother re-
side at Neosho. Mo-
ANY message?" from voice in the
crowd.
well, tell my father I was not
scared bit; that 1 died like nervy
man"
Anything for your mother?"
mo, not a word. She will see the
message to the old man. Say, you
fellows go and look in that dugOut and
you will find SO, 900 there"
1.-The Kid, - or Younger Lewis, as he
at the last moment says he was, con-
tinued laughing and chatting with the
crowd, poking fun at them and ours
ing for moment, and then som one
yelled: ''Time is up
The Kid said: 81 am 20 years old,
and robbed that--- bank I
am dead game and ready to die. Go
ahead.
In an instant he was pulled up
above the throng. He never quivered
or kicked. He just went up in the
air and was left hanging. Men on
the frontier for years and years say
no gamer man ever died. He was the
coolest man in all the great crowd.
ALI the while Crawford was a spec
tator 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 onto the i'm
prOvised platform next to the ba nix
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
spectator in the crowd. He went to
Crawford and had long talk. Craw-
ford had worked on Burnett's ranch
for years and was trusted man. He
began stealing his employers stock,
however, and associating with terri
tory outlaws. Crawford confessed to
the bank robbery, but denied the muir
der He was a small man, poorly
clad, with red face and short clipped
black mustache
When they began to look for a sec
Ond rope, he begged for whisky. 1t
was given to him. He talked and then
begged for more. He again addressed
the crowd in COmanche, English and
Spanish Those who understood him
say his utterances were incoherent.
The rope soon arrived and it was put
about his neck. He fell, either in a
faint or from the whisky he had
drank He was soon strung up along
with his companion and their bodies
are still dangling in mid-air.
The 1ynched men raided the City
National bank at Wichita Falls, Tex
as, Tuesday afternoon, killing Cashier
Frank Dorsey and wounding Book
keeper P. 2. Langford. They were
captured nine miles from town, after
a fight of an hour. The robbers were
in thicket surrounded by pursuers
and surrendered only when all hope
was gone. They were taken to Wich-
tia Falls and State rangers guarded
them all night. Yesterday morning a
mob gathered for the purpose of
lynching the two robbers. but feared
to advance on the Jail as long as the
rangers were inside with the prison
ers. Last night the rangers left and
the mob soon had the men.
Gold Excitement at HOIIendsburg, Kan.
Or n