The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-06-24
DELAWARE LYNCRING CRIME
SLoWNESS OF THE COURTS HELD
 RESPONSIBLE.
General Belief That Had Speedy TrIal Been Held the Outrage Would Have Been Ayerted-Jadges Hold That Popular Prejudice and Indignation
 PrecIuded the Possibility Of Speedy
and Fair Hearing.

Wilmington. Del. June 23-The ex- citement attending the gruesome trag- edy enacted last night outside the city limits when George F. White, the negro who outraged and murdered seventeen year-old Helen s. Bishop. was burned at the stake. has subsided. The swift and dire punishment meted out to the perpetrator os the terrible crime is the sole topic of conversation, but tonight the details are calmly rehearsed. Pub lie sentiment appears to deplore the resort to mob violence, but the concen- sus of opinion is that summary ven- geance alone could atone for the out rage. It is generally believed that had the courts brought the murderer to speedy trial last nights tragedy would have been averted.
 The, judges who had postponed action upon the case Of the confessed assaiI- ant of Miss Bishop to-day explain their action by stating that popular preju- dice and indignation would have pre- cluded the possibility Of a fair trial.
 It is not known as yet what action the state authorities will take. Cover nor Hum says he will confer with Alt torney General H. H. Ward. The latter made a brief statement tonight in which he said that the state will await the result of the coroner's inquest and that every effort would be exerted to ascertain the names of the leaders. Cor oner Mccormick has not fixed the date for the inquest.
 Deputy Coroner K!limer, who to-day visited Prices Corner, the scene of the lynching, found little to view. All semblances of the human form in Whites body had been obliterated by the averaging fire and the morbidly curious relic hunters. A small portion of the trunk and one or two charred bones were recovered and taken to the nlorgue. Of the hundreds of persons who to-day visited the spot where the funereal pyre was lighted scarcely one left without some ghastly memento. One arrest was made tonight by State Detective Francis The prisoners name was not divulged by the police, but it is said he is charged with hav- ing been a party to the lynching. The police officials have little to say Of the affair. It is said that city detectives were in the crowd last night and recog- 1nized some of those who participated in the burning. Other arrests, it is believ- ed, will follow.
 During the show of resistance made by the police and the jail officials when the mob attacked the Newcastle work house Peter Smith. twelve-years-old boy was shot in the back The bullet which struck him evidently came from n s4.I5 5s., zJs ! s by the prison warden that his guards fired over the heads of the lynchers. Smiths condition is critical and he is not. expected to live. Another young man. whose name is unknown. was slightly injured. The only other person known to have been hurt were a man who was kicked in the abdomen by White, when the negro attempted to es- cape from his torturers, and another man who had his arm burned.
 Mrs. Bishop. mother of the murdered girl, is in a state of extreme nervous ness. White was put to death within 8 few hundred yards of the Bishop home, and the glare os the fire and howls of the mob could be plainly seen and heard at the house.
 The arrangement for the execution of White were complete. Bundles of straw were secured from a nearby barn and upon these were piled dry underbrush. Fence rails were split and added to the pyre which was thoroughly soaked with kerosene. The negro was then bound from shoulders to feet with a heavy rope and thrown upon the blaz- ing pile. Before the torch was applied White confessed his guilt and prayed fervently for mercy.