The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-12

Capt Hitch and Sheriff Kenderick
In the matter Of authority came up
again. Two men, one a brother Of the
| murdered man, had asked the military
officer who was in charge. and Capt.
Hitch responded that he was. Wit
ness heard nothing out of the ordi-
nary in the. words Of Judge Daley in
sentencing the prisoners.
When the final rush came, witness
was in the courtroom, and went to
! prisoners room. AS he was knocking
for admission the mob came up be-
hind him. The door was opened by a
bailiff on the inside, as a witness had no
| key. The mob came in and rushed
him if he resisted. One man had his
hand in his pocket.
Col. Napier; did you say, There's
/ Cato and Reed with an oath2"
Kendrick. Il did not My idea was
| to reach the solicitors room and get
the prisoners through a scuttle hole
| into the attic. which was about twelve
feet high over that room. The prison
/ ers were taken out by the mob I did
not say that one Of the other prison
| ers were not the man they wanted.
Andy Bell himself said he was not the
man."
On cros-examinagion Sheriff Ken
dorck stated that he demanded the Gus
tody of the prisoners after capt.
Hitch had been overpowered. Capt.
| Hitch did not cooperate with witness
except in a limited measure. There
were no indications of serious trouble
| Tuesday morning. After the court
house was cleared witness thought d
dead line" ought to have been estab-
lished about the building. He was not
present when Judge Daley told Capt
| Hitch that such a course would pro-
| duce friction
| A list of special bailiffs was asked
| for and Sheriff Kendrick called over
a half dozen names, but stated fur
| ther that the list was not complete.
| He was particularly asked relative to
| one, B. T. Mallard, and he stated that
| the man was not a sworn bailiff, but
waited on the solicitor. J. G. Mitchell
and G. H. Mock were the deputies in
the prisoners room when the mob
came.
Failed TO Cooperate.
Col. Napier: Estate how Capt.
| Hitch failed to cooperate.
| Sheriff Kendrick: IT do not know
exactly. I gave him all the informa-
| ton | had. l asked him if he had
enough men and he said he could stand
| off a thousand men with the squad he
was bringing to the Court House at
the time. suggested that as the SEN
| fences were soon to be pronounced
It would be well to have all of
the soldiers there"
The witness had heard of no con-
sultation between the officers and of
no plans to get reinforcements. After
| the negroes were taken, I saw one sol
| der hurt, but not of any member Of
| the mob.
On cross-examination the sheriff stat
| ed that he thought the situation was
| entirely in the hands of the military
but that if he had the power he would
have moved about two-thirds of the
people out of the court room. Cues
! tioning by the court regarding the CO.
| operation of the civil and military au-
| thorities, Sheriff Kendrick said that
| Capt. Hitch had not ignored him, but
simply had not much to say. He had
| taken no receipt from Capt. Hitch for
| the prisoners, as they were still In
| the Court House. The crowd could not
have gotten back if a Gordon had been
| thrown around the Court House. when
| 1t was cleared.
| Questions by members of the court
| relative to the ability of the soldiers
to hold the Court House steps against
the mob as witness saw its numbers
and temper were ruled out on objec-
ton by Col. Napier, the judge advo-
| cate.
| The witness did not know the names
| of any of the men who came for the
| prisoners He had not used his pistol
because he thought it would be futile
| He saw Landrum George in the room
after the prisoners had gone, but did
| not identify him as a member of the
1 mob. The witness looked from a We
randa to see if the soldiers were pur-
suing the mob. Thought much blood
shed would have resulted from an at
/ tempt to retake negroes.
Judge DaIey's Testimony.
Following the evidence of Sheriff
| Kendrick, Col. Napier asked leave to
| introduce the testimony of Judge Daley
| as given before the court of inquiry
There being no objections the testi-
| mony was read by Mr.. E. p. Kings
berry The principal point was that it
was his understanding that Capt
Hitch was in full charge of the situa-
| ton, superseding the civil authorities
At the suggestion of Capt. Hitch that
| part of the order relative to returning
| the prisoners to the Chatham county
! jail was omitted
Eye Witness to Burning.
Mr.. G. NJ. Query, a reporter for
| the Morning News, was called. He
| was at the trial at Statesboro, and
at the burning of the prisoners. He
saw Capt. Hitch seized and taken
down the stairway and the men seized
| and passed down into crowd like
| watermelons." He followed the mob
about a half mile and was informed
that they were going to the Hodges
home, some six miles out. He was on
foot and decided to return for con-
veyance and then followed. The pris-
oners were in the custody of the mob,
and statement was being made by
one of the negroes. The burning be-
gan about 3 o'clock, an hour after
witness reached the scene. He thought
there were perhaps 200 persons at the
burning. Some seemed to weaken. In
reply to a question from the court, it
was stated that some members of the
mob expressed the fear that they might
be pursued, and urged haste.
Prosecution Rests.
At this stage of the proceedings, Col.
Napier announced that the prosecu-
ton would rest its case.
The resting of the case came sooner
than was anticipated by the defense,
and the evidence of witnesses not pres
ent was read as taken before the court
of inquiry, though in two instances
this course had been agreed on be-
fore
The evidence of Mr.. Charles f. Stew
art, assistant general passenger agent
of the Seaboard. was read by Mr.
Kingsbury, relative to the speech OF
Capt. Hitch to the members OF his
company before they reached States