The age-herald., 1899-05-13
R. E. Davis Attacked by a Negro
 Farm Hand.
PARALLEL TO HOSE CASE
Assassin Had Been Discharged and Sought Revenge Assault Upon Victims Beautiful Daughter May
 Have Been Contemplated

d Wnite 1aIiner iVlnS on the stone Moun- tain road about six miles from this city, was murdered in his home early this morn ing. The crime is believed to have been committed by Will Lucas, a negro who was discharged yesterday by MT. Davis. Lucas is missing, and posse of men with bloodhounds- is on his trial. The farmers of that part of the country are greatly ex- cited, and if Lucas is caught he will be lynched.
 The deed parallels the unspeakable crime of Sam Hose in it's first chapter, and that the second hideous chapter was not perpetrated was due to the timely arrival of neighbors, who were aroused by the assassin's shot and the screams of the victim family.
 The negro who is suspected is farm hand whom MT. Davis discharged from his employ yesterday. The motive for the deed-was the same which prompted Sam Hose to slay Alfred Cranford.
 MT. Davis is one of the most respected and esteemed citizens of DeKalb county, an elder in the Presbyterian church and a prosperous farmer He was 55 years of age and has a beautiful 20-year-old daugh- ter. His residence is on the Stone Noun tain road one mile from Decatur. The house is newly built and sets in a grove of trees fifty yards back from the roadside.
 Ine QetallS or the murder are SiIHildF tO those of the Palmetto affair. The murder CT was discharged from the place yester- day afternoon for laZiness and failure to attend to the duties of a farm hand. He left the place and remained away till night had thrown a cloak of darkness over the scene of his contempla4 ed crime. He then returned and concealed himself on the place till the opportunity for the deed pre- sented itself.
 The footprints and marks on the soft earth about the house, with statements of the family of the victim. from chain of evidence from which can be ascer' aimed the various steps in the fearful tragedy as easily as if there had been an eye witness to the whole horrid scene.
 The negro made an attempt to enter the house by the front eaer at about o'clock, but was driven off by MT. Davis. who raised the window and plainly SOW the negro Will on the front steps. That the fatal shot was not fired then was due to the darkness about MT. Davis and the un- certainty of a shot in the dark. The fami- ,y, consisting of MT. Davis, his wife and daughter, where in the sitting room when the negro made the attempt to enter the house by the front door. After the negro had been driven away the family retired, and the household grew still in slumber
 At o'clock MT. Davis was awakened by q noise at the back window of room across the hallway from the sleeping rooms. The room is large one where, the unused lumber of the recently finished house Is stored. The white-haired victim of the impending tragedy crossed the hall way and entered the lumber room. At the Goor he struck match and held it above his head. The lighted match furnished the opportunity for a good aim for the assas- sin. who was peering in at the window.
 From the marks in the soft earth near the window the assassin's very attitude can be determined. When MT. Davis en- 4Io tha al from the window and knelt on mound of earth twenty steps away. All was dark within the room until the match flared up and showed the victim standing at the door in his n'rht robs. The assas n waited no longer Raising his weapon he fired through the window. The thin light went out and the room was again wrapped in darkness. The murderer could not have known at the time the effect of his shot.
 Mir. Davis staggered back to the hall and fell into the arms of Mrs. Davis, who had followed her husband into the hall.
 ''Fm shot" was all he said.
 Mrs. Davis helped the wounded husband into the sleeping room and managed to get him into bed. Then she aroused the houshold and soon the entire neighborhood was hurrying to the house. The Davis house is some distance from the nearest neighbor and it was some time before the tlrst neghbor arrived
 The murderer had fired the shot from the back yard. The bullet went through window pane, leaving small clean cut hole, struck MT. Davis in the right side. passed upward through both the left and right pen tineal cavities, punctured the right lobe of the liver and lodged in the left lung. The bullet was from a pistol or rifle and was a 3S calibre ball
 The negro brute had no intention of leaving the place after his shot. He walk ed coolly to the front of the house and again tried to enter the front door, Even the screams of the women did not frtghten him off from the foul design within him.
 The footprints about the house show that he walked from the rear of the house and up the steps to the front door. These footprints are separate and distinct from those the negro made when he tried tho door earlier in the night. They lead from the opposite side of the house.
 MT. J. H. Poole was. the first neighbof to arrive at the Davis house. He was awakened by the report of the weapon, and later was thoroughly aroused by thd screams of the women. He hurried from his home in his night clothes and arrived there before the other nefghbors. Others came up in few moments however, and the house was soon filled with excited citizens
 When the affair had been told by Mrs. Davis, pursuit was at once instituted. A pack of blood hounds were secured from Decatur and put on the trail. They fol-  hundred yards only, and it was lost. Ths trail led in the direction of Atlanta, and it is supposed that the negro made his way into the city. He is known to have an aunt and a cousin who live somewhere in this city, and 1t is highly probable that he is hiding with them.
 There can be little doubt that the negro whom MT. Davis discharged yesterday is the red-handed assassin The aged victim rallied for a few moments this morning and stated positively that 1t was the negro Will whom he saw at the front door last night, when he raised the window and drove the fellow off MT. Davis Is known to have no enemy. on earth, and only the negro with his awful purpose could have executed the deed which is to end the life of the esteemed and respected farmer.
 The weeping wife and daughtep were seen this morning and they gave the full particulars of the assassination. Mrs. Davis is slender. white haired lady of 5O and her gentle spirit is broken by tho terrible tragedy.