Hattiesburg daily progress. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 18??-1909, 1902-09-24

Cnen secured the straw mattress,
ripped it open with the same knife
used at the hogkllling, poured on a
can of Kerosene, and with broom
which had been Ignited at the fire.
place touched off the funeral
pyre. Then the three men disappear
ed, while the flames mounted sky
ward from the burning building.
The flames were first noticed by
Mrs. Welsh, the nearby neighbor,
about daylight. She woke up her
husband and. sammoning a neigh
boring family named Roebuck, they
went to the scene. The house was
almost consumed and in the center
they could distinguish through the
smoke the bodies of the two officers.
Water was procured and they eX-
tinguished the flames around the
| bodies and gave the alarm.
The officers were doubtless dead
before the flames reached them, but
they had been horribly burned. The
trunk of John Montgomery's body
was the only part left intact. The
legs were off about half way above
the knee and hip joint, the entire
body was very much charred, the
back part of the skull was off, and
on various parts Of the body by using
a probe the doctors found where the
! bullets had entered. The body of
| Hugh Montgomery was almost as un-
recognizable, and positive Identified
ton would have been impossible had
it not been for rings on their fingers
| Mathis, Lester and Owens had taken
| the guns, watches and money from
| the bodies before setting fire to the
| house.
Then commenced the search for
| Mathis. Lester and Owens were
not hard to capture and readily gave.
| up to the citizens posse. But posse
of several hundred men scourged the
woods and fields for several days in
search of Will Mathis. Scores of
| friends of the dead men from POnto- |
toe county poured in to join in the
search, and the conclusion was |
reached that If Mathis was captur- |
ed alive nothing on earth could avert |
a lynching.
It SO happened. however, that |
when the desperate was finally sur |
rounded it was the sheriff's regular |
posse, and they rode into the peace |
ful little university town of Oxford |
on the fourth afternoon following the |
killing with the prisoner strapped to |
the back of horse. He was quickly |
hurried to Jail, and for two or three |
days afterwards it looked like a |
lynchIng Vas inevitable, but cooler |
Judgment prevailed. Both federal /
and state officials promised speedy /
trial, and gave their word that there |
would be no hampering the wheels
of Justice. The turbulent people |
finally dispersed, and quiet was re-
sumed.
al, M
acknowledged his guilt and said that
he wanted to answer for it as quick
ly as possible. When the trial was
commenced on the 30th Of December, /
however, he attempted to foster the
crime on Orlando Lester, stating
that the negro precipitated the shoot
ing, and he took only a minor part.
The confession of Mathis, made |
not only to the officers, but to num-
ber of newspaper correspondents, i
was doubtless brought out by the /
fear of the lyncher's rope, and when
he was placed on the stand in his own
behalf his story was weak and falter-
ing, and it was plainly apparent
throughout that he did not intend to
give the actual facts of the crime.
By skillful playing of the GRIMM
ais one against. the other the prospe-
cutiOn finally succeeded in drawing
out the whole story of the killing. Il
Will Jackson was first tried and Il
given life sentence. Next followed II
Orlando Lester who was sentenced
to death. Mathis was the third to
be placed on trial, and then followed
Whit Owens.
Jackson did not appeal his case,
but the others went to the supreme
court for final hearing. Only one
possible feature could possibly II
operate in the cases, and this was
the peJured testimony of Orlando Il
Lester, who had demonstrated that
he was self-cOnfessed liar.
The Mathis and Lester cases were Il
affirmed and date set for execution.
The following week the supreme L
court reversed the Owens case on the Il
ground of periured evidence and the
legal errors of the trial Judge.
Owens was confined in the Jack /
son jail throughout the summer for
safe-keeping. Owing to the fact
that the testimony of Mathis and
Lester was needed for his second
trial, Governor LonginO gave
Mathis and Lester a respite until
the 14th of September, and the /
respite was extended for a period of
two weeks by Acting Governor Har-
rison, as the Owens trial had not
been concluded.
Whit Owens is now awaiting exc
cution fort the murder of negro
named Hamp Williams, and the
| evidence shows that the negro Or
| lando Lester was a participant with |
| him in this killing. The lower
court verdict has been appealed to |
| the supreme court, but as there is no |
| possibility of reversal, in the opln-
| ion of the attorneys, it was not |
| deemed necessary to further prolong |
the lives of Mathis and Lester, and |
| the governor was not requested to |
grant further respite.
| Thus ends two of the participants
| in tragedy that shocked the entire
commonwealth, and has cost Lafay-
| cite county nearly $4,000 up to the |
present time in court fees, keeping
of prisoners, etc.
That the arrest, conviction and
| banging of the murderers has had
good effect none will doubt. The