The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-06
FRANK PERRY IS STABBED
Condemned Negro Brought to
 Terms With Pitch Forks.
Had Been Furnished With Knifs. Tries to XII Deputy. shsria, Refuses to Give Up
 wsapon.
By Roscoe ". oorman.

q
 opalika. March 5.--(speciaL, ,--At 12,y
 today. after three years of weary waiL-
 ing. the people of Les County saw Inc dignity of the Inv maintained. ChArisn H.; Sparks, the negro murderer cf Ja1sz l Ingersou, met death on the Gnilows M
 the Jail yard at that hour but not untll
 his desperate criminal instinct prompted
 him to attempt to take the iifa pG ~ good citizen In pure malice agninaf fllu white race he stabbed Frank Parry a. l deputy sherifE, in the throat, and eaxa4 near severing the juwuIaw vaiu. Sheriff Hodge arrived from MOnkNon1~ cry at s:3T o'clock this morning. wh&rN | Judge Terry Richardson had denf6d thM writ of habeas corpus for aphrkA AN immense crowd witnessed tho arrival 6k the prisoner. for the people of Isea C0nnN | ty have been bearing the delay with I i'll concealed fnpatfences and their WEA&0 had been slowly rising sparks waa
 lodged in the county jail. The hnishtnE touches were put upon the rude gailows l immediately, in tue rear of the jakI. Tn& officers waited. expecting possible tnkers 1 ference from the powers that be. but na word came.
 Streets Were Thronged. ! Hundreds thronged the streets climhs ed upon house tops. and lined the xonceSs waiting to get q glimpse Of the mus
 derer or of the hanging. A few minutes before the time for the execution. tw0 l negro preachers spent few moments with Sparks. Just before they came | out he received a telegram from Ills lawyer. saying that there was no hofas that no interferencs could be had.
 Maddened by this. and as some think
 to get shot and save himself from gllo .af.s the neck Of Frank Perry who waA
 standing near. For \ while it was feaffa
 adr. perrx would de NawN ~ thlR J erinaa wns kept from the vast Gxo&W uronna the sail as th4 people weaH ax4 nited ana ent1d m haxe borne faft1Nf
 kf6nhl8 9r0fu SparkS. Tlle time for fslS hanging calna and the officers stafiea
 for tile prisoner. He bacHtd up in i corner Of his cell and 1t could ba Heat l that hs had the knife concepied in iis l sleeve SheriK Hodge called on Elm t9 I give up the knife and threatened to shoot him, but to no avail He h0wlad when pistols were pointed at him md | refused to be taken. Not until pltchfnrirs were requisitioned was he subdued. fKe
 was pinned to the wall with pltcnforss and captured. The abgolute coolnese ok sherif Hodge alone saved him for t;le l gallows.
 l Al last, lying on the floor on his faes. I strong hands fastened the handcuffs on him. and tied his lugs. Hs was asked if he had anything to say. and he said ke i was rot guilty. Ffs was sz5iissezz ard after l the desperate struggle looked eagerly
 about as If seeking for help.
 About this time . special train came from Phoenix City loaded Co the plat forms. It iS coincidenoe that a spec,af | train of soldiers went to Phoenix City
 to bring Sparks here when he was axs rested
 Determined on Hanging. | The gaiIows was as near covered &A
 could be- Despite the elIorts of tho pO@
 lice and deputies. dozens of men climbed
 the fences and housetops and surged around. and the &ids could not ba stemned The people had come to q
 hanging if one was to Dc had. and it waa evident that they were going to have one The officers carried the negro I'D the steps and he shouted good bye twice l to some one of the crowd outside the fence, who had haTloed at him. and th0
 moose was placed over his neck and the | trap sprung.
 The rope was too long. and Sparks went
 to the ground. He was drawn up by the rope and as soon as it was shortened
 he was hurled into eternity. death oes
 ing caused hy stsangula4ion. There vas
 cteer each time he dropped. The people were bitter over the terS
 ribla attack on Perry, right in the valley of the shadow. they were bitter over the
 assassination of Jack Ingersoll. one ot | the best negroes this county had. ana
 they were bitter over the long technical squabble by which the law was chea-ed
 for nearly three years.
 The person who furnished Sparks the
 knife with which he attacked Mir FesFy | is said to be in the county jail, the ct~ I ficers having promptly apprehended hira,
 For the public good nothing is belns | given out
 Tnus ends a long and exciting case m | Lee County It would have brought | blot on the fair name of the county soons for there were murmurings that could not be doubted and human passion was l beginning to run riot as it has ever done | when socIety's rights were at stake.