Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-09-16
SHOT IN THEIR CELLS
FIVE PRISONERS LYNcHEp AT
VERSAILLES. INDIANA.
The JAILER OvERpowERED.
Mead Men Dragged Out ana H""se"
After BEING Fired on-cover""r
nm Investfgation-ssys
asncher. Shall lie Punished
n,.d Ont and Hanged

,vnrhed T.ylc Levi, Bert Andrews. chnofe
cordon william jenkins. and hiney
Shuler. ,.,
They were taken from the authorities
Tho men had been arrested for burglary
Frequent robberies had enraged the ciu-
yeps of tho county. and the mob was COM
posed OF citizens from Milan, sunmah'
and other towns
The mob on horseback entered the town
nm hour after midnight and called out
Jailcr Kenan. who. upon refusing 10 give
I'D the keys, was overpowered. Inc
mob soon pushed its way into the cell
rooms. and in their impotence first fired
ON the 1--WE prisoners and then dragged
them 20 tree, a square from the JAN
door. and hung Them up.
TWO ALREADY WOUNDED.
Andrews and Gordon had already been
wounded having been shot several times
while attempting 10 rob store at Cor
rect last Saturday night.
Shuler was In jail for attempted bur
glary. and Levi and jenkins had just been
indicted by the grand jury for robbery.
They had failed 10 give bond, and were
put in Jail last evening,
II Is thought that Levi and shuler
were both dead from the shots hred by
the mob when taken out Of the jail
The bandages that were on the wounded
men were found later this morning
along the street. where they had been
torn of as the men were dragged along
LYLE Levi was an old soldier. and bore
on his face wounds received during the
civil war while fighting for the Union.
None of the lynchers are known. Ihey
all came from a distance, presumably
from the neiehborhood Of Correct. where
the two men were arrested Saturday
night.
GOVERNOR MAKES INQUIRIES.
INDIANAPOLIS. IND, September 15.-
Governor Mount has sent the following
TO the Sheriff OF Ripley county:
"Wire me at once the particulars OF
the iynching that has occurred in your
county. ] further direct that you pro-
coed Immediately with all the power you
can command to bring to justice all par
ties guilty OF participation In the murder
Of the five men alleged TO have been
lynched. Such lawlossness is intolerable,
and all the power of the State, II neces-
sary. will be vigorously employed for the
arrest and punishment Of all parties I'm
pucated.
(signed) JAMES A. MOUNT,
Governor"
THE STORY IN DETAIL
LOUISVILLE. KY, September ia
special TO the Evening Post from Osgood,
Ind, says:
Incensed by numerous depredations,
repeated burglaries. and daylight rob-
,l,o of nj have
taken the law into their own hands. and
meted out TO the perpetrators a punish
ment greater than that provided by the
law. Five men, who have long been
terror TO the citizens OF this county, met
their death at the hands Of an enraged
popuace and when the citizens of Yer
sailles, the county seat, arose this morn
ing, II was to find the bodies of these
five men dangling from as many limbs
of an elm tree i'm the centre of the pub
lie square.
Stout ropes. not over six feet In length.
had served to send each TO his eternity.
and their feet were but few inches
from the ground, while their hands and
feet had been securely pinioned with
strong ropes
Versailles is q town Of some 500 people.
1t is one OF the oldest towns in the
State. and although II Is five miles from
a railroad station and has no telegraphic
communication with the outside world, 1t
Is still the county seat.
VICTIMS OF LAWLESSNESS.
For four or FIVE years, and even longer,
the farmers of the county have been the
victims of n lawless gang, who, appa-
rently lacking in fear, have piled their
vocation 70 the terror Of the people. for
they seemingly have had no visible
means of earning living.
Farmers would come into town with
bunch of cattle or load of farming pro-
ducts and next morning they would be
found along the roadside suffering from
a wound and minus the proceeds OF their
sale
ord German farmers have been visited,
and both men and women have been SUD-
jected TO all the fortunes that vicious
mind could suggest. Aged German wo-
men have been forced TO stand upon
red-hot stove in an effort to compel them
10 disclose the hiding place Of some sup
nosed treasure In the house. These de-
predations have continued increasingly.
Arrests have been made, but the guilty
Darties have covered up their lawless-
ness. and IL was seldom that conviction
followed.
During the past week robberies had IN
creased alarmingly. on last SATURDAY
word was received by the Sheriff that the
store of Wooiey Brothers. at Correct, lho''
ten miles from here, was 20 be entered
The Information was given by one OF the
gangs confederates who had been uhaer
suspicion. Sheriff Henry Bushing arrans-
ed that his informant should accompany
them, and securing five deputies. they
went to the place. Sheriff Bushing con-
ii. In a
IDENTITIES were stationed at a. convenient
distance outside. Shortly after midnight
The gang reached Wooley Brothers store.
clifford Gordon and the Sheriff's In
dormant were designated TO break into
Che building Gordon himself effected an
entrance and just as he stepped inside
the Sheriff grabbed him. Both pulled pis-
tolls at the same time and began firing.
Bert Andrews was with the robbers. and
he Joined In the fusil.ade, while the
deputies came TO the assistance OF the
Sheriff.
SHERIFF WOUNDED
Some thirty shots were fired. The
Sheriff was shot through the hand and
Gordon was shot several times. Three
pistol balls entered his body, and he was
al 20 shot in the leg. Gordon and Andrews
succeeded in escaping and came TO Os-
good, where they were arrested. The
robbers had driven out of the place i'm
buggy belonging to Lyle Levi. and from
Information subsequently gathered II was
learned that the robbery had been planned
at the home of william Jenkins. The
two latter were arrested as accessories.
All were taken 10 the Jail at Versailles.
Henry Schiller. "a years old. was put in
the Jail for robbing the barber-shop at
Osgood last week. Levi was 81 years of