Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1900-11-23
COLORADOMObB URNSNEGRO
Torturs to Death Murderer Of
Little Girl,
BODY REDUCED TO ASHES.
Victim of the Furious Men Who Usurped
the Authority of the Law-Prays to
His Captors for Mercy but Receives
None.

A lynching more awful in it's de-
ills than any ever known in the south
tok place in Colorado Friday when
Preston Porter, a negro, was burned
to death for the murder of 13-year-
old Louise Frost. Never was venge-
ance melted out by a lawless mob in
more deliberate a manner nor the pain
so carefully arranged.
Chained to a railroad rail set firm
ly into the ground in the outskirts of
Limon, on the exact spot where his
crime was committed, Preston Porter,
Jr., or, as he was familitrIy known,
John Porter, suffered the penalty for
his deed 1t was 6:23 D. N. when the
father of the murdered girl touched the
torch to the fuel which had been piled
around the negro, and twenty min
utes later a last convulsive shudder
told that life was extinct. What agony
the man suffered while the flames
shriveled up his flesh could only be
guessed from the contortions OF his
face and the cries he gave from time
to time. The eXecutionerS, who num-
bered about 300 citizens of Lincoln
County, had not the least semblance
OF the ordinary mob. Their every act
was deliberate and during all the pre-
parations as we'll as throughout the
sufferings of the negro hardly an I'M
necessary word was spoken. Preston
Ported did not seem to realize the
awful punishment that he was des-
tined to undergo. As he had exhibited
Indifference to the enOrmity of his
crime, so he seemed to lack all under
standing of its terrible consequence.
Some of the men wanted him stripped
to nakedness before the match was
applied. The majority voted against
this, and it was not done. While he
was standing in the crowd the negro
was surrounded by men from all parts
of the state. They asked him for
pages from his Bible. He gave them,
and was generous in the extreme. Leaf
by leaf the Bible was torn apart and
the sheets crammed into the pockets
Of the relic seekers. Before the fire
was satrted the rope which held the
negro by the neck was almost entire
ly cut up. The man holding it was
generous, too. and he allowed all wOh
wished to cut small piceseSHRDLUUN
wished to cut small pieces from 1t.
These were all the souvenirs to be
obtained. as naught but ashes was
left of the murderer's body. Kero-
sene oil was applied to the wood, and
after a brief pause Robert D. Frost,
the father of little Louise Frost, whose
cruelty mutilated body was found a
week ago on that same spot, applied
a match. For a moment but a little
Pickering fame arose. Then the oil
blazed up, sparks flew into the air,
and the wood began to crackle. AL
most instantly the negro's trousers
caught fire. Even though the flesh
must have been scorched, he did not
utter a sound. The flames crept SLOW
~ upward on his clothing, the sparks
flew up in a colud Of pale smoke. Por-
to rturned his head, and frightful
expression changed his face. With a
sudden convulsive Juggling he stretched
his head as far from the rapidly In
creasing flames as possible and uttered
a cary of pain. 20, my God, let me
go, men. I've got something more
to tell you. Please let me go. o, my
God. my Cod" The mob was pitiless.
The remains were burned to ashes.