The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-01

lS llfl " ~ i
arc not dense 1T this point. the WOODS
are some forty feet west of the spot
and towards the east there Is not an
abstraction to light, but a clear open
field. that at the hour the assault mus
have been committed, he was saCSled
that nersons could have been seen anu
easily distinguished at this place we
conld have introduced several other gen
1lamen who saw the Cole girls Oh Ihelr
way 10 the mill as they ran from MISS
Lille with their p.tiful screams, VINO
vvonld have testified as to the l1ght. put
If Won and tho "Other persons, whose
character cntitle them to your consul
Grafton viii not believe the testimony OIL
Mr.. Terry. Mr.. Frank Cole, Miss MAJ
ito Cole, and Mr.. McAuley Simply pc
ca1lee John Evans attorneys assert thclE
belief in their clients innocence, We
could not convince you at all.
The next reason why Mr.. DockerF
thinks Matte Cole mistaken Ill lef lueh-
1ificati0n Of Evans is because 50 ihaIlS
m"uIatto negroes were arrested. lie uoo9
not claim to have any positive ana
direct evidence that these arrests were
made from the description made y!
Miss Cole, bat argues that they must
have been made from the description
given by her. | am possibly as well ac-
uuainted with the facts from Wllch
these arrests were made as amy ponce
officer engaged in the pursuit. My opn-
ion about this point III the cast ouSnt
TO he worth more than Mr.. Dockery 9
for caused the arrest OF Il nunlDer OF
Tho n~arties. and throwing aside the ut
lie professional dignity l had, aided
directly in a great many of the arrests.
After reachin@ the scene Of the crime
and taking in the situation as best L
couIl. ran to the Main street of the
town to alarm the people anu put them
ON the lookout. Before | left the scene
of the crime where ten or twelve men
had c~ongregated or in my race to the
maiu part Of the town | heard some
person, | do not remember who, say
if was a mulattO, with a mlstache us
nassed Mr.. Coles residence there
were Il good many people standing on
the streets near his house and L may
have heard this statement there. But
Matte Cole was mot there and had not
been there after the assault. l ran on
to the depot to notify the agent ana
ask him to watch for amy suspicious
character who undertook TO board the
train which was abut due, | probably
told the agent the rumor l had heard
as TO the description of the man; l
returned from the depot and found the
report general that it was Il mulatto
man with Il mustache, how this report
originated and how it spread so none
of us engaged in the pursuit have ever
been able to understand; Matte Cole
at this time had not given any descrlp-
ton that we have ever been able to as
certain other than Such as she gave us
she ran screaming towards Pee Dee fac
tory. No description was phoned as
coming from her from Pee Dee factory:
certainly not before Matte made the
statement to Mr.. William EntWlStle,
which describes John Evans with &C
curacy as to dress and lips and general
description as he brought her from Pee
zee factory to identify q suspect who
had been arrested on this rumor tina
the criminal was q mulatto man WITT
a mustache. The first arrest was made
in this way; some of the cOlOred peOpi|
said there was a foreigner i'll town
mighty mean looking, who looked Tx
Il mulatto. about this time the %foreigne'
came walking down the street and {
band of patriots who We're excited
without any officer of the law tool
charge of him. He was turned owe
to the Mayor. the crowd were ordered t
stay back and the Mayor and | carrie!
the foreigner to Mr.. Coles reSidenc
to be identified: Mr.. Cole knew nothin:
of the mans description and did no
claim to know it; Miss Lille who Wa
greatly excited could not describe the
man. saying she only saw him as he ra1
off from her across the field, that IN
pulled her bonnet over her face an,
she could not see, but that Matte SAY
him.. she reckOned. We 'phoned tn
Superintendent of the factory to brinj
Miss Matte over at once. In he eal
time orders were put out to watch on
for any mulatto leaving town, or up an
about at the hour of the assault, whe
Miss Mattie arrived accompanied b
MIR. Entwistle, the superintendent {
the factory, | cautioned her before sh
saw the man under arrest to be Garrett
and not make Il mistake, that the ma
she identified would almost surely di'
and if she made Il mistake she Woul
be responsible, she said she was Statistic
she would know the man If she SaN
him again: we carried her around tn
house to where the foreigner was; sh
hooked at him and instantly said b
was not the man; that he was too brigf
and had too much mustache. Abor
tIllS uIiiFe lIlt SlfSIlI dlIu llt1 tll1INt
with a mulattO, Il rather dark one, Mis-
Matte said he was not the man, the
for the first time those of us who WEI
conducting the arrests had some INTEL
gent conversation with her about the d.
Scription of the man: we had all bee
greatly excited and acted with very Ii
lie discretion up to this time: she to-
us how she saw the man and as [ Il
member it. her statement then was suI
stantially as she gave it ON h stan
as | have heretofore quoted it; as
the description of him she said he W;
not plum black, and he was not We
low, and had Il light mustache."
asked her il his mustache was about fl
color of Mr.. w. G. Leaks. Il gentlema
standing near who had q light. sane
mustachc, she replied: Il don't mea
light colored. but just Il little bit" Tl
was as definite as anything We could g
from her except she described his dres
while we were talking with her, Il
boys We're bringing up yellow negroe
every few minutes and Matte prom
IL disposed of hem by saying they we
too bright. But as the report had go
out that the assailant was a mulatt
the boys were catching every one TIL
could hear of being up at the time
the rape, after Miss Mattie's descri
4.n,, xV-nc soon rnV Nil ,-D~I -