The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-13
SWINGING FROM SAME LIMB.
,vxcIIrRS' VICTIMS TIED UP BY
WRISTS AND SHOT.

Their HIOOd-SOaked garments are
rroxen stiGT and IcicIes Hang From
rbeir Hair-NIust Hang There I'm
.u This MISUNDERSTANDING Was Not
ono of the Number-Oyer 800 shots
Fired Into Them-MOb Would Hear
No Reason.
Albany Ca. Feb. 12.-Since O'Clock this
morning the dead bodies of three negro
men have been swinging from the same
limb of a while oak tree that stands be-
side the wagon road that leads from Lees
burg.
Pieces of bran-new plow line are loop
ed around their wrists and fastened to the
swinging limbs above,
The bodies are frozen stiff, and long ici-
cles depend from their kinky hair. Their
open mouths and the sockets of their eyes
are filed with sleet and snow, their blood
soaked garments are frozen stiff, and the
rails of the demolished fence beneath
them are stained a deep red.
The three negroes taken from the Lee
county Jail about l o'clock this morning
were George Bivins, George Fort and Bill
Holt
Cupid Redding, who was for a long time
supposed 10 be the principal actor in the
horrible crime that startled this section
of the state a couple of months ago, is
stn held by the Lee county authorities
as accessory after the fact, it having been
proved that he did not assist in the out
rage of Mrs. Maroney, but subsequently
enabled the principals to evade arrest.
Tried to Dissuade Them.
After the mob secured the three men
this morning, they marched due east from
the jail to a point about a quarter of a
mile from the corporate limits of the
town.
number of the best citizens of Lees
burg, among them Judge Henry L. Long
Of the County Court of Lee county, made
eloquent pleas to the mob, and tried to
dissuade them from their purpose but
without success.
The mob at first started to string their
victims right in front of the court house,
but were prevailed on by Judge Long to
30 OulSlue the corporate
Reaching a place that seemed suited to
their purpose, the negroes were ordered
to stand on a rail fence beside the road,
about which spread the branches of an
oak tree. In a few minutes they We're
tied by their wrists to the same limb. and
the fence was then torn from beneath
their feet
Fired Three Hundred Shots.
While they swung thus, their feet with
in a few inches of the ground, about 800
shots were fired into their bodies
In a few minutes the mob had entirely
dispersed, and many people in Leesburg
did not know until this morning that any
thing unusual had transpired.
There were about 100 men in the mob,
and il is believed that it was composed
Of men from Dooly Worth and Lee coun-
ties. The mob was thoroughly organized,
and made little noise
The men in the mob left word they
wanted The three dead bodies to hang
Where they We're until Monday, and gave
notice that it would 90 hard with who
ever dared Interfere with them before that
time Accordingly, the three bullet-rddled
oofpses have swung in the wind all day,
and will not be cut down until tomorrow
morning.
Secured the Right Men.
There seems to be absolutely no DOUBT
that the mob made no mistake. and that
bVins, Holt and Fort were the three
guilty parties
Bivins made a confession several davs
ago, and implicated the other Two negroes.
lie stated that on the night of the crime
ne went to Maroney's house for the pur-
pose Of robbing him. and committed The
o'ner crime because it seemed to be so
Public sentiment in this section seems
'c enufely with the lynchers
Ihe Mob Large One.
me MOB which took these men from Jail
o%iie lulo town from all directions and in
uH xmas or conVeyances Americus sent
u, sest delegation, many coming from
'.S' poiht' 1t was reported early in the
.lns ,T. lhat they We're going to Smith
ofici,I- - axe a train from there, but the
''ls setting wind of this, the plan
was changed pam
e. ne party arrived at about midnight.
I'm I'm Jones who had heard of the inten-
% GHS OF The mob was on the alert and
F""eu admission was asked. promptly re-
seu' HIS word went for nothing and
% moment the jail door was battered
"" IN tve minutes after making The
In ~ T OF the sheriff the mob stood With
vo,,I Jall The sheriff, seeing that he
mSp ' pe unable 10 do anything with the
tb, Iyu' entered the Jail and asked them who
IN %alued' Ihey told him they wanted
t5.,. ooA over the negroes he had and that
Lr,,,.,wyere were after the rascals who had so
og 'tSny outraged Mrs. Maroney. the wife
sVHooimaster, in December LAST.
The sheriff Was Covered.
l,ra" .,l Sneilh then, under cover of several
wb,e. WIZ sized revolvers, unlocked the cage in
W. ~" the negroes, fourteen In number
No. confined. The leaders Of The mob
noir,,1 Sutnilted and as the men were
We vy,h.,eu out, asked them to stand ASIDE
Ias%l the three men were selected he
HooI,. asked for Arthur Scott and Henri
me- saving they were equally enlltv
,hor, snerin plead with the mob ana toid
Tbd " ne ne did not think they were eniItv
and ia1' i,oo then took the three men name6
0''u Ielt Tor the woods 'i'''iieN