The Washington bee., 1901-08-17

three negroes At Carrolton q few DAYS
ago is denounced by press and people
as the most disgraceful affair that
has ever occurred in the State, and if
such thing as justice is obtainable in
the county Gov. LinEino is determined
that the lynchers shall not 90 unpun.
ished. Such open and brazen-faced
defiance Of law and the constituted
was never before ex-
perienced in the State.
The Circuit Judge Of the District,
whose home IS in CzTrolltOn, appealed
20 the leaders o. the mob, with tears
in his eyes, to let the law take ita
course; the district attorney aud the
Judge threw their arms about the uecka
of the leaders OF the mob and besought
them to spare the lives Of the Negroes;
but their pleadings fell upon deaf ears.
The worst feature of the lynChing was
tla, the Negroes were ROt even sus-
pected Of having committed the hoE-
rible murder the mob was formed to
avenge-they were suspected of guilty
knowledge, and the chances are that
if permitted TO live they would have
told all they knew. Gov. Longino did
all in his power TO stop the lynChing,
but il seems to have been done large
ly with q view to dsfyinE the Chief
Executive Of the State, as for any
other reason. His special train had
whistIed for the CarroltOn depot when
the ropes were drawn taut, and the
bodies Of the miserable Wretches. two
women and a man, were riddled with
bullets. The governor drove on in a
hack a few minutes later and was in
formed he had come too late. He
made the assembled multitude q
speech, in which he told them Just
what he thought Of lynchers, and was
cheered to the echo. He learned that
only about fifty men participated &C
tively in the lynching, while there
were several hundred men in the town.
The sheriff Of the county did net do
anything towards putting dOWR the
mob, declining even TO call out the
troops unless the civil authorities of
the county asked for them, and that
they failed or rather refused to do. The
disxraceful affair will be thoroughly
investigated by the courts, and it is
believed here that convictions will
follsw. The judge and the district
attorney and all other officials Of the
county were eye-witnesSes to the
lynchinRs, and the governor has sug-
rested that the Judge and the States
attorney Vacate their respective offices
for the Carroll term and have them
sslves put on the witness stand. That
course will put the matter right am up
to the grand and petit juries, and they
can hardly fail to do their duty
Birmingham, Ala. With agonizinE
screams and his eyes bulElng from kis
head, John Wesley Pennington, a Ne
gro, vas burned at the stake near En-.
tsTpTise, Ala, before q crowd of 500
snrAked and determined citizens of
Coffee county, to-day. The mob vas
composed Of both white and blacks,
and. though the suffering wretch
plsai led for mercy and frantIcslly en-
deaVorsd to break the chains that
tightly bound him, aot a trace ofsYm-
pathy was shown on the faces that
peersd at him through the flames.
Pennington h I'd committed brutal
assault upon Mrs. J. {. Davis. the
wife of one of the most prominent
farmers of Coffee county, and confess
ed his guilt.
The crime was comHitted yesterday
afternoon, while Mrs. Davis vas gath
erinR vegetables in her garden. She
was checked TO insensibility aud left
ying in the garden. AS soon a. she
regained her senses Mrs. Davis crawl
ed TO tn. house and told her husband
What had happened. A large posse
vas quickly organized. with blood
hounds, and they chased the Negro
until early this morning. when he vas
captured in q swamp. Pennington
WAS BoUNJ HAND AND FOOT
and taken back to the Davis home for
Identification. Word of the assault on
Mrs. DaYis had bsen sent by runners
for miles around Enterprise, and every
farmer in the nsiEhborhood had joined
in the search. There il not q telegraph
Office in Coffee county. but the mea-
sage travelled fast, and when the posse
arrived this moTnink with Pennington
there were at least Ave hundred per-
sons gathered near the Davis resi-
dence.
A great shout went up when the
prisoner was seen by the crowd, but
at a signal the men Withdrew 20 the
woods and quietly awaited the resuk
Of the meeting Of Pennington and Mrs.
Davis. Mrs. Davis Immediately reeoE;
nized him, and the Negro broke down
and Hspt. He admitted having com
mitted the assault and pleaded for
mercy, but no mercy was shown.