The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-03-08
NEGRO LYNCHEO
IN SPRINGFIELD, 0.
THE JAIL WAS STORMED.
PRISONER WAS SHOT, STRUNG UP
TO A POLE AND RIDDLED.

Assault Was Made Upon the Jail by
One Party With n Gathering Ram
at One Door While Another Party
Created a Diversion at Another.
Nearly 5000 Were in the Mob.
Bullets Rained Upon the Negroes
Body While the Crowed JOked.
Springfield, O., March 7.-Richard
Dixon, a negro, was shot to death
here tonight by mob for the killing
Of Policeman Charles Coils, who died
to-day from wounds received at the
hands of Dixon on Sunday.
Coils had gone to Dixons room on
the negro's request. Dixon said his
mistress had his clothes in her pos
session. Coils accompanied Dixon to
the room, and in a short time the
man and woman engaged in a quar-
rel, which resulted in Dixon shooting
the woman, who is variously known
as Anna, or Mamie, Corbin, in the left
breast, just over the heart.
She fell unconscious at the first shot
and Coils jumped towards the negro
to prevent his escape from the room.
Dixon then fired four bullets into Col
lis, the last of which penetrated his
abdomen.
Dixon went Immediately to police
headquarters and gave himself up. He
was taken to Jail.
AS soon as Coils death became
known talk of lynching the negro was
heard, and tonight a crowd began to
gather about the Jail.
Assault on the Jail.
At II o'clock the negro, Richard
Dixon, was taken from the Jail and
shot to death in the Jail yard, and the
body was taken from there to the
corner of Main street and Fountain av-
enue, and hanged to a telegraph pole,
where the mob spent the next half
hour Kidding the body with bullets
from several hundred revolvers.
The mob forced an entrance to the
Jail by butting in the east doors with
railroad iron. At 1920 o'clock the
mob melted rapidly, and it was the
general opinion that no more attempts
Small groups of men, however, could
be seen in the shadows of the Court
House, two adjacent livery stables and
several dwelling houses. At 1919
o'clock, the police were satisfied that
there was nothing more to fear, and
they, with other officials and newspa-
per men, passed freely in and out of
the jail
Shortly before II o'clock diversion
was made by a small crowd moving
from the east doors around to the south
entrance The police followed, and a
bluff was made at Jostling them off
the steps leading up to the south en-
trance. The crowd at this point kept
growing, while yells of Hold the po-
lice" Smash in the DOORS Lynch
the nlgger," were interspersed with
revolver shots.
Beating in the Door.
All this time the party with the
heavy railroad iron was beating at the
east door, which shortly yielded to the
battering ram, as did the inner lattice
iron doors. The mob surged through
the east door, overpowered the sheriff,
turnkey and handful of deputies and
began the assault on the iron turnstile
leading to the cells. The police from
the south door were called inside to
Keep the mob from the cells, and in
five minutes the south door had shared
The fate of the east one.
In an incredibly short time the jail
was filed with a mob Of $50 men, with
an the entrances and yard gates block
I'd by fully $500 men, thus making It
impossible for the militia to have pre-
vented access 10 the negro. had It
been on the scene.
The heavy iron partition leading 70
me calls resisted the mob effactufl-
iF until cold chisels and sledge ham
iners arrived, which were only two
on three minutes later IN arriving.
The paddock 20 he turnstiie was
broken, and the mob soon nlled the
'orridors beading 10 the cells.
seeing ihat further resistance was