The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-17

til noon, when friends of the injured came
and removed them to their homes
The dead, whose bodies were horribly
mangled, remained where they were until
shortly after noon, when coroner's jury
was impanelled. In the absence of Coro-
ner Dunlap, Justice of the Peace Cum
mings summoned the jury and conducted
the inquest
Leader Ordered the Firing.
Gem Waits one of the negroes, who
miraculously escaped being shot, was the
first witness. He said:
Il was at the warehouse, and crowd
OF masked men, about twenty, came. They
ordered the guard to throw up their hands
They made them leave the guard room
The leader then ordered his men to fire on
the prisoners first counting one, two
three. The men afterwards loaded and
fired again"
Guard Baker testified that the mob filed
the room, and the guards were forced to
the wall.
The leader of the mob gave a count,
and the shooting began. They had pistols
shOtguns and Winchester rifles.
They did not stay over five minutes
1 do not know which way they came or
which way they went when they left"
J. j. Conner, the other guard examined,
said:
Il was guarding the prisoners about 1
o'clock. A crowd of masked men came
in the room by forcing the door open and
moved the guards back. The prisoners
were commanded to line up, and then the
order to fire was given, which was obeyed
They shot and reloaded and shot the sec
ond time. The room was filed with the
masked men, do not know the num-
ber'
The JurY's Verdict.
The jury then rendered a verdict, which
was presented In writing, reading:
I'VE, the coroner's jury, empaneled in
the cases of the death of Harrison Hud-
son, William Cotton, Jr., Ed Brown and
Henry Bingham, find that they came TO
their death from gunshot or pistol shot
wounds from a crowd of masked men to
the jury unknown, a little after midnight,
or on the morning of the 18th of March,
1899. r. j. Bulard Foreman"
The town has been visited by two incen-
diary fires since Feb. 1, and the citizens
have been afraid to rebuild, owing to oft
repeated threats of the negroes that they
would do the same thing again. The coun-
ty authorities have been very active in
their efforts to apprehend the incendiaries
and yesterday arrested nine negroes.
William Cotton had confessed to Dr.
H. l.. johnson that he and eight COM
panions had conspired to burn the town
and loot the stores. The burning part of
the programme was successfully carried
out, but the fire spread so rapidly and
the buildings went up in flames so fast,
that they were unable to obtain anything
from the stores DR.. Johnson got the
names of the eight accomplices from Cot
ton, and on this evidence the warrants
were sworn out
Military on the scene.
The Capital City Guards of Atlanta, fif-
ty-fve men, under command of Col. John
S. Gambler, late of the Third Georgia Vol
unteers, arrived at IL o'clock, and report
ed to Mayor Arnold The Mayor distrib-
uted the men throughout the little town,
and, together with the citizens now doing
duty as deputy sheriffs, it is believed
there is force sufficient to quell any
uprising by the negroes.
From the best information obtainable
the mob did not exceed twenty men. They
made no noise to announce their coming,
and the dispatch with which they got
away from the scene of the crime, would
seem to indicate that the number employ
ed in the work was small. The two ne
groes who have talked say the room was
crowded with men, but the Office would
not hold over thirty, mob, prisoners and
guards. The doors of the warehouse were
not bolted and were forced without any
trouble
The town is quiet tonight. The only sign
of life is the solitary patrol every few
PAGES walking back and forth on his beat.
The citizens apprehensve for the night,
have queted down and place complete
confidence in the ability of the militia to
preserve order.