The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-03-19
them, sndE II nbsr rusiier does n OF
7wnft To- write tl,eir. sll a
Nnr,itsf1it,p Startling. ~

want 40 write Mem.
Nothing Startling n.
WAS 4 plait, simple hanElt,s 8, vel sli
HsA effectively done In Vie T..
ij,oaiIl,,i,sti number 1t Witnesses pro vided
h WI. iby lh,y, and n here was nothing i,h-
M,fnaiSabout ltt lsxceht that III is cry tii'.
&s,suAj .slf$hht ,itiheard OF In Vttginia, TOT.
f, rAsro criminal to inarch u ron ", ,!la
@Saia,'irap with his eyes fixed StNpoi: The
srririfix IA the hands pf q prizes n, OF ne
Catholic Clllt II. 81 On II, II 81 n. Il " n.
Since his5 incarceration In the Lyme hl, ,l
&lai,g q month ago, ard was bnptize 81
%inin4 thht Church only vest crday morning.
iSlon tho outside OF the jail and. II, the
s,ren,s leading thereto, there was Quite
$a large crowd OF people eager 10 see
g como part Of tho execution or to get & q q
@t.lin,psc OF the doomed criminal, but
5s,i,srs Mas no sort or demonstration, no
&,,sordet whatever. and bit little excite
samenl. !. Roanoke was as orderly ana as
#cotn,,Ssrti to-day as OF, n Sabbath day.
Tho law has been indicated. an awful
crime mas been expiated 4nnd this is the
last oftlie famous Roanoke case. winch
Eln$onc way and another has cost tho
ICpmmonWe about $4,000 But what
about the white mans burden. tho edu.
&cntcd negro and the negro problem tnat
NO are hearing SO much about III these
days 81 prosperity anu national advance
&ment?
The Negro Indeed a Problem.
8S1onring The month and two days VIII
&liams epent In the LynchburE jan ne
was q model prisoner and gave ING ON.
cers no trouble. He did not have many
visitors. but to all he talked freely and
intclgently, He was a negro above the
average intelligence and was we'll edit
Rcnted lis negro education goes. lie wrote
< 4 good hand, read we'll and was very
good at figures. Te received his carca-
gtion In tile public schools OF Virginia.
and the White mans money paid for II.
And the white mans money VIII pay the
bill which ills awful crime, a1,prehen--s
sion arrest, protection. trial and exect-
zion have made Here is an object lesson.
Here issthe end OF ono Of your educated
negroes and pity It, Is he was
II only one OF many Of his kind. He was
anoten bad looking negro had apparently
none OF the vlciousness SO often pictured
In The bad negro's face. Some of the
pictures OF Jim that appeared In the
papers were misleading. He had much the
appearances Of the slime good ma turcd,
3nnanag eable family servant. But he was
mean. he was bad, very bad. and his
&eductiOn6 seemed to afford him the better
Truly the negro Is a problem.
Some Strange Stories.
5!t Yes he talked freely OF his past short
Slife-hc was only twnety-ninc year ole. ~
of his crime. his arrest, his trial ana mig,
doom. Yesterday afternoon IN t ne
Lyrchburg Jail he seemed to take pleas
#,iro In convcrsing with the inuuisitive
newsps per men, who piled him with many
questions. III.
sd Speaking of his past life. he said he
twice narrowly escaped 2lynching. Ac-
cording to his story, in 1893 q white No-.
man was crllninallE assaulted in Rea.
nokc. and he enrnEed poplllace was req
hot ifter tho assaulter. The guilty man
&and two others, Williams and a negro
named Thomas Smith. we're SUSPECTED.
Tie three tried to escape. and had got
8tenSllpon4 II wcst-bound freight tram on
the outskirts Of Roanoke!f The mob came
upon them. Williams and Tom Smith
were seized while the reall, guilty man
Jumped upon the tender OF the engine
hiding in the coal. and escaped. The
injured woman failed to Identify either
@WiIl;ans or the man. Smith. and u WI
$ljams was released, but the mob sun pc
Iieved Tom Smith was guilty, and he
was lynched altiough. according 70 MI = 4
Elt8r.s, he was innocent ~ IS itrue .h h'
TIC assault he tells of was committed IN
seS and that Tom Smith was lynched
Is also true that many OF the people 9.
5Roanoks have long been satisfied .hat
ne wrong man was lnobbed. The other
j4u.rts55of williams's story are Doubtless
also true.
Willians's second escape, as told pS
him was III West Virginia. lie says an
Italians wife vas robbed OF $500 ana tnut, ",
dared. lie was suspected, arrested ana
narrowly escaped lynching, put the o.
5ffcers saved him and at the trial ne sue
ceeted in proving an alibi.
The Long Black Coffin.
Being asked why he fingered so near
Roanoke after his last crime as Nortn
Fork. ". va. when he had SO much
time 70 &c. further away, he told TINS
remarkable story: When he left Roam
Hoke he made his way to North Fork.
a5.All along the route he read all the papers
he could get TO earn what was goiils
#5or. In Roanoke concerning himself. q !
North Fork lie obtained q position as
Ing out the Office one day he heard q
guest reading tito appetizer from Ihe