The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-06-10
REPORT ON j 7 Nlj III i 4
GEoRoiA's aHoRRiBLE AFFAIRS
-- NARRATED. rs
Detective L. P. Levin Makes Charges A
gainst PROMINENT Concerns to . Meeting
at Bethel church Says Lynchings Were
Pre- medttsted.

Detective T.. p. Levin, who was sent
to Georgia at the expense of the peo-
pie Of Chicago to Investigate the re-
cent Elynchings of Afro-Americans in
that state, has made a report Of the
condition of affairs there which was
read at meeting held at Bethel
Church., Dearborn and Th1rtieth
Streets. Sunday afternoon. 49,
The report dwelt especially upon the
recent lynching and burning at the
stake of Samuel Hose, charged with
the murder of ALFRED Crawford and the
assault on his wife at Newman, Ga.
In order to gather as much infOrn1a-
tion as possible about the lynching
and the innocence or guilt of Hose,
Detective Levin spent eight days in
the vicinity of Atlanta and the towns
of Griffin and Newman, posing as a
vender of patent medicines. h
Detective Levin says that the burn
ing of Hose was not the sudden out
burst of a furious mob, but was fully
premeditated. He said he asked many
white. people the motive for the inhu-
man treatment of Hose. ''They con-
sidered it a useless question" he says.
"a niger had killed white man and
that was enough. Some said it was
because the young niggers did not
know their places, others that they
were getting too much education,
while others declared it was all due to
the influence of the northern niggers. -
Mrs. Crawford denied that she was
outraged. g.>
The report says that the lynching
and burning at the stake of Hose was
not the work of the irresponsible rab-
BILE, but that it was openly advocated
by some of the leading men Of the vi
entity. The detective gives the names
of some Of the prominent business
men of Palmetto who openly urged
that Hose be burned at the stake as an
example to the Afro-Americans The
Atlanta Constitution, the report adds
contributed more to the burning than
all other forces in Georgia.
The report claims that every detail
of the killing of Crawford by Hose was
exaggerated in the columns of the At.
lanta Constitution. It says that pa
per invented and published infamma.
tory descriptions of crime that was
never committed, and by glazing head.
lines continually suggested the burn
ing of the man when caught" A re.
ward of $500 was offered by some oil
the leading men of the paper for the
capture of the fugitive, according tt
Levin, and during all the time Of the
man hunt they never once suggested
that the law should take it's course.
Detective Levin gives some of the
details of the lynching and burning Of
Hose and tells of the disappointment
of the crowd when Hose failed to bes
for mercy. According to his report
of the scene, gathered from those who
witnessed the whole affair, it was
more horrible even than the press re-
ports at the time painted it. The
names of prominent men who were
present at the burning are given by
Detective Levin.
One of the most astonishing charges
made in the report is that the railroad
officials, who made up special trai1
for the lynching party after the cap
ture OF Hose, actually advertised thu
burning and sold tickets to people at
tracted to the scene by these adver
tisements. In every case Detective
Levin says that the torture and hang
ing OF the aged preacher, Elijah
Strickland, was without a. shadow Of
reason of excuse.
The reading of the report was fol
lowed by speeches by a number Of
prominent people of Chicago. In spite
of the terrible cruelties brought forth
by the report moderation and appea
to the law was the theme of the vari.
GUS remarks. 1t was decided to have
the report printed in pamphlet form
for general distribution. Those who
spoke were Mrs. Ida Wells Barnett
Rev. J. F. Thomas, Rev. R. G. Ransom
and Clarence s. barrow