The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-08-01
A SPECIAL TERM OF
COURT AUGUST 16
THE LAW REQUIn Els THAT TWO
WEEKS NOTICE BE GIVEN ~
FOR A SIP PECIALlTERM. /
THE NEGRO TELLS HIS LITTLE STORY
Attempts to Account for His Whereabouts at the
Time the Crime W Committed, but Says
~.
The Woman He Can Prove t.by is Of
Such Bad Character the Court


Such Bad Character the Court
Would MOI Believe er.
II would commend theik oodies to the
rack,
But that Tn 10th so long to keep their
souls
Out Of hell-6re. Philip Van Arteville.
The people Of Vance county are long
suffering and deserve much credit.
A great erime-the most heinous in all
the catalogue Of crime been COM
nitted In their midst, and under the
most darins and revolving circumstances.
Ehe law has been dehed. virtue out
ragged, young womanhood debauched. Yet
amid it all these brave people have
surbed q righteous wrath and Tefrained
from violence, that the good name of
the State may be preserved and the law
take its course. Their action in the
matter is most cOmmendable. Under
such circumstances as these men in other
State have laid violent hands upon the
perpetrator of the outrage, hung him to
the nearest tree, filled his body full OF
bullets or burned it at stake.
But the people OF NORTH carolina are
a law.abiding people Ieir moral sense
and love OF female virtue is as great
as it is among any people, and nowhere
in the good old State more so than in
Vance county. The fendish brute who
commits a nameless crime must, they
hold, be kill q and killed quick but
they wish il Aone under due form law.
To this md George Brodie. tn joung
ragro who so brutally assault a and
RAPED Miss Mamie Catlett, near Kit
trell Thursday evening, has been given
a fair trial in magistrates court; kept
in the county Jail, unguar1ed by militia,
for one night, and yesterday taken a
cross the county and brought to Raleigh
without being molested or any attempt
made at violence.
Brodie reached here on the $3.50 Sea-
board train from Henderson. He was
in charge of Sheriff w. II. Smith, and
guarded by six soldiers commanded by
Capt. P. T. Jones, of Company @. Third
regiment. Immediately upon his arrival
the prisoner was at once taken to Wake
county Jail, put in a cell with two other
negro boys, and he is there now awaiting
the special term of court ordered to be
held in Vance county, August 16, for the
purpose Of trying him for the awful
crime with which he stands charged.
Yesterday morning the news spread
like wild-fre and the edition of the
News and Observer giving an account
of the crime was quickly exhausted.
Then the people began to ask for later
news. "Has there been a lynchingg'
was the question everybody asked. A
telegram to the News and Observer said
there had not, but one was feared at any
moment A great number Of people was
in Henderson, the county was afiame
with indignation. Something may hap
pen at any moment" said the dispatch.
"Brodie attempts to give an account OF
himself and denies that he Is the man,
but his clothing shows stains. Last night
he admitted being the man and said in
reply to a question as to why he did It.
that he supposed the devil got IN him and
that he had been drinking. The people
are quiet, but there is such strong
undercurrent Of feeling and indignation
that 1t is generally thought that he will
be lynched. The fate Of the murderer
OF the poor unfortunate 'Falkner' wo'
man does not tend to make our people
await the courts"
At 1912 a. m, Governor Russell re.
ceived the following telegram from Mr.
J. d. Cooper, Of Henderson, informing
him of the crime and asking for a special
term OF court for the trial Of the guilty
man:
Terrible rape on white woman has
been committed. Negro is in Jail. Will
got order special term of court upor
! request OF commissioners and petition q
citizens"
Governor Russell Immediately tele
graphad Mr. Cooper as follows:
81 order special term for 10th OF Au
gust, the earliest day the law allows
Tell the people to hang him by law !
guilty"
But this did not quiet the excitement
Two weeks seemed long time to th'
high spirited men that stood about tn
streets in little groups and talked in low
sullen tones. Men began to openly sa.
they were in favor Of lynching and
1908 .. M, the Governor received