The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-08-17

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 perse-victims Dragged Two Miles
 Toward Scene Where They Murdered
 the Whole Hodges Family of Five
 and There Saturated With oiI from
 Head to Foot and crenated--one
 Confesses--shocking Scenes.
 statesboro, Ga. Aug. 1s.-with clothing saturated with kerosene. writhing in agony, and screaming to heaven for the mercy that the mob would not show, Paul Reed and VIII Cato, negroes. two of the principals in the murder and burning of Henry Hodges and wife and three children six miles from Statesboro, three weeks ago, were burned at the stake to-day. This afternoon at 1:1 o'clock de- termined mob charged on the court house, overpowered the military guard. secured Cato and Reed, who had been found guilty after a legal trial and sentenced to be hanged, took them 1.-two miles from Statesboro and there burned them alive. The climax came lquickly and unexpectedly.
 The forenoon had passed quietly. the trial of Paul Reed, the ringleader in the murder, being concluded and a lverdict of guilty rendered. Both he and Will Cato, found guilty yesterday, were sentenced to hang September g. The crowd assembled about the court house was not as large as yesterday, nor was 1t so threatening, though for \ that matter there was never much parade, the countrymen always being quiet.
 In the trial of Reed there had been little delay. and on it's conclusion the lprisoners, as before. were hustled into the witness room. where a strong ,dll- litary guard was mounted over them l Tn the corridors the agitation be- gan. The spectators left the court room and from the lawn outside many entered the railways Shortly before | "a tall man, who seemed to inflanie it greatly. He called on those about him to follow Then Captain Hitch of the I lOglethorpe Light infantry. in command ! of the forces, realized that the situation Twas desperate. He posted guards on each side Of the stairways that led to the floor above, where the prisoners were confined. With fixed bayonets but unloaded rifles the guards stood. The mob surged towards them, but lwere repulsed several times. At the rear stairway the greatest, danger threatened. Prominent men, among them Rev. MT. Hodges, brother | of the murdered man, sprang to the front to address the crowd, and begged them to disperse. Sheriff Kendrick was
 among these. He cautioned the crowd lagainst violence, and pleaded with them
 to leave.
 II am your friend he said. T beg iyou to do nothing that will reflect on Jus as well as on the community. Dis \ perse and let the law take it's course. We need these men. There are others Ito be brought to justice, and only from the Information to be gained from. Cato and Reed can we bring the right ones to justice. I can almost promise you that when the case is finally sift-
 ed there will be five parties who are equally guilty"
 w C hltOW yOo etIG Oul @AlOAA0t 14StAT I drick," someone shouted, 'but promise us that you will leave these men stay in the Statesboro jail and not take Ithem back to Savannah. Then we will I disperse, not until then"
 There was some shouting and cheer- + ing and Kendrick could not reply.
 "Promisa that. they shouted.
 You shall not take them away from .i Statesboro.'
 I A commotion at the front drew the crowd there. This was but temporar- lily Presently they were back atslthe I rear and some twenty-five men crowded
 around the guards. Before they could
 be prevented they had caught two of \ the guards. wrested their rifles from I them and thrown open the breech i blocks The weapons were empty. That 1 was what the crowd wanted to ascer- tain. The troops had been given orr I ders not to load their rifies The cap ltured soldiers were held prisoners. The same policy was followed with others of the soldiers. Man after man, caught isolated, was relieved of his rifle aft
 CT struggle.
 1 At the front member of the mob
 crept along the wall until he got close to the guards and threw himself upon lthem. In the breach thus formed his Icompanions threw themselves. Two i hundred wildly cheering men followed him and soon the soldiers. though they fought desperately and inflicted bayonet wounds upon some of their assailants,
 were overpowered.
 I one young soldier of the Oglethorpe
 guards never surrendered. He fought
 his way through the mob and out upon Y the lawn. A weapon was raised to
 strike him.
 .i "Shame?' shouted the crowd, and
 struck down the man who had raised
 the weapon.
 | Then they threw themselves upon the
 boy and overpowered him.