The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-24
.MOb'S AWFUL VENGEANCE
UPON A NEGRO F|END
Sam Hose Hacked to Pieces With Knives and Then
Burned at the Stake.
Crowd Fights For Chastity Souvenirs and His Body Car
ried Away Piecemeal- Confessed the Crime.

I Mrs. Elroy's yard. To this she OBJ
! Jected strenuously and the mob. COM
plying with her wishes, started for
Palmetto.
Just as they were leaving Newman.
word was brought that the L o'clock
] train from Atlanta was bringing peo-
pie TO Palmetto. This was thought to
| be regiment of militia and the mob
at once decided to burn the prisoner at
a favorable place rather than be com
PEELED to shoot him when the militia
put in appearance.
| The crowd, now numbering nearly
LOU people, hurried along the road
way a line of buggieS and vehicles
of all kinds, their drivers fighting for
position in line, followed the procession,
at the head of which, closely guarded
marched the negro.
one and half miles out of Newman
halt was made A little to the side
OF road, was a strong pine tree and
up 10 this the negro was marched, his
pack placed to the tree and his face
to the crowd which jostled closely
about him. Here, for the first time,
he was allowed to talk. He said:
Il am Sam Hose, killed Alfred
Crawford, but [ was paid to do it. Lige
Strickland, the negro preacher at
Palmetto, gave me $12 to Kill him."
AT TINS d roar went up from the
mob The intelligence impaired by
Hose was spread among them.
Let him go on. tell all you know
about 1t, came from the mob.
Did Not Outrage Woman.
The negro. shivering like a leaf,
continued his recital
Il did not outrage Mrs. Crawford.
Somebody else did that. L can identify
them. Give me time for that
The mob would hear no more The
clothes were torn from the wretch in
an instant. A heavy chain was pro-
duced and wound around the naked
body of the terrified negro and clasped
by lock at his neck. He said not u
word at this proceeding. but a mo-
ment later, at the sight of half a dozen
knives flashing in the hands of mem
bers of the mob he sent a blood
curdling yell.
In another moment, a hand grasping
knife shot out and one of the negro's
ears dropped into the hand of another.
Hose pleaded fOF mercy and begged
his tormentorS to- kill him quickly. His
cries went unheeded. His other ear
was cut off with barbarous frenzy.
Then his fingers. one by one, ware
severed from his hands and passed
among the members of the yelling and
now thoroughly maddened crowd. The
shrieking negro was quickly deprived
of other portions of his anatomy.
On His Funeral Pyre.
Come on with the OIL now cried
some one, and almost instantly a
huge can of kerosene was produced
and placed at the foot of the tree, where
the negro, his body covered with blood
from head to foot was struggling
with his chains. The kerosene vas
lifted over the negros head by three
or
over him. By this time. good supply
of brush. pieces of fence rail ana
other firewood had been placed about
the negro's feet.
This pyre was thoroughly saturated
and "a match applied. A flame shot up
ward and spread quickly over the pile
of wood. As it licked the negro'S legs.
he shrieked once and began tugging at
his chains. As the flames crept higher
and the smoke entered his eyes and
mouth, Hose put the StumpS of his
hands to the tree back of him. and
with terrific plunge. severed the up
per portion of the chains which bouIG
him TO the tree. His body held to the
tree only as far as the thighs, lunged
forward, thus escaping the flames
which rOared and cracked about his
feet One of the men nearest the burn
ing negro quickly ran up. and push
ing him back, said: Get back into the
fire there and quickly coupled the dis
jointed chain.
The road for a distance of half a mile
on each side of the burning negro was
black with cOnveyances and was simply
impossible.
Body Cut to Pieces.
The crowd surrounded the stake on
all sides, but none of those nearer than
100 feet of the center were able to see
what was going on. Yell after yell went
UP and the progress of the flames was
communicated to those in the rear by
shouts from the eye-witnesses.
The torch was applied about half past
and at 8 O'Clock the body of Sam
Hose was limp and lifeless, his head
hanging to one side. The body was cuc
to pieces. The crowd fought for places
about the smOuldering tree, and with
knives secured some pieces Of his car
cass as did not fall to pieces.
The chain was severed by hammers.
the tree was chopped down, and such
pieces of the firewOod as had not
burned were carried away as souvenirs.