The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17

For one negro desperado to terrorlze a whole section of a great state oolns r,,irder robbery and other polu ueeu9 of crime and to successfully eluue 9oni0 of the most daring catchers or crtLni @ nals of the country for over Tour years, is an act almost lnci tn AIaD and vet this thing occurred In Ala huna It forms unique chapter Tn inc criminal annals of the state ana makes a story of deep, thrilling lnter- est in its telling. . o,,n ming outlaw, the four years Tn pursu,' of him; his repeated crimes, Alciuu Ing the murder Of al least Iou, eor tha men: the superstitious regard TOT .he outlaw by the negroes of his sectlon and the final endirg Of the outiaw-aii combine to make it of great interest to a reading public. .,,
 Nearly fourteen years ago the story developed in South Alabama. For four wears a lone negro caused the entire section of South Alabama and North SIorida to be in a complete state of ter rorIzed demoralization. During that .saoo the lives of four white men were snuffed out after futile attempts 10 hring this negro to justice TWO or these men were prominent cItizens ol Escambia County, Ala aSAiha c,,ty Fla two were from Escambla county ia' Ssoras of white men were shot by the bCOISS OL
 negro outlaw. ~,
 Tho entire detective system of the r.o1isville and Nashville Railroad com nanv was drawn into the hunt TOT tn1 negro. A number of the most shllil ui
 s +he nicked men of Pinkerton detec- oL .. s" .encv exhausted the'r cunning. tI,ndreds of volunteer citizens rom 4ha Counties of Butler. Crenshaw, Cnnccuh. Escambia. Baldwin and Mo htle in Alabama and Escambla ana oth- er districts of North Florlda' tosethel with the law officers dld all that m III their power Icy and, hafhed' gave up +he chase through sheer wearlness:
 caee after case of Winchester rifles and Colt revolvers were rushed by the T.ouisville and Nashville to South Ala- hama, and enough ammunition was burned to have kept Guatemallah rev = olution doing business for some years The guiding spirit of the chase Wa : Superintendent James ]. McN'HIey di',js; ion U, +he Mobile and Montgomery olVIsio" of inc Louisville and Nashville Rall- ro,d Company It was his division that had been demoralized by the negro desnerado. Scores of freight trains had been held up and footed. and scores of train crews had been shot-
 Led by MT. Mckinney.
 Mir Mckinney was iniefatisable in his efforts to trap this negro ne ID not a man to ask ms suoCI S t 40 q thing that he was unwilling to at- tempt himself, and on numerous occa- sions he risked his life in a manner that would have made many brave man hesitate. One of the finest, most ,.triking traits about the big framed, O. hiv hearted railroad superintendent IS b;s loyalty and devotion to duty.
 The chief difficulty that the outlaw hunters had to contend with was the supsrstition of the negroes of that sec tion. The negro desperado had been shot at so many times and had made so T,anv miraculous escapes from what looked like certain death or capture that the negroes believed him to bear a charmed life. With awe they re garded him as immortal and no voodoo doctor in the heart of Africa ever had inc hordcs of ignorant savages so thor oughly at his mercy as this negro had his followers in South Alabama. They fed him. clothed him, hid him and went