The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-23
THREATENED LIFE OF DEPUTY BRENTS Crowd of Negroes Had Him Surrounded at Republic DEPUTIES RESCUED HIM Deputy Brents Had Wounded Negro Who Resisted Arrest and Fired
 at officer-The Mob
 Fired Shots.
DEPUTIES RESCUED HIM

Deputy Sheriff J. P. Brents, stationed at Brookside. had a narrow escape from death at Republic yesterday afternoon about o'clock at the hands of a mob of about one hundred negroes.
 Serious trouble was narrowly averted by the timely arrival of deputies from Birmingham. When the squad arrived at Republic several hundred negroes were congregated around small baker shop, into which Brents had been compelled to retreat, and were threatening to kill him on sight
 According to the statements of Deputy Brents and eye witnesses to the shoot ing, the deputy saw a negro man, whose name could not be learned, conceal pis- tol in his overalls. He approached the man and commanded him to throw up his hands. Instead of doing so the negro drew a .3S calibre Smith and Wesson pistol from his pocket and commenced firing at the officer. The deputy returned the fire. woundlng the man in the abdo- men and the neck. When the deputies left Republic last night the negro was still alive, but it was stated that 1t would be only a matter of a short time before he would be dead.
 Brother Incited Crowd.
 When the negro dropped to the ground several by-standers rushed up among whom was the brother of the wounded negro. He stirred the crowd to threats to kill the officer In a short while about , a hundred negroes had assembled. Deputy Brents was hurried into a nearby baker shop by Frank Phillips, the guard for the Republic Iron and Steel company at Re- public.
 All efforts to pacify the crowd having failed MT. Phillips telephoned the sheriff s office and asked that deputies be sent to the scene to rescue Brents. Chief Deputy Albert Stradford, accompanied by Deputies w. s. Cole, Joe H. Hill and George w. Courson. boarded a Southern freight train on Twenty-seventh street in the yards and made a quick run to Republic. When they arrived Dink Burrel marshal of Brookside; John Bivns, the mayor of that place Adam Stewart the mayor of Cardiff; E. R. Abernathy deputy sheriff at Blossburg; Lon Taylor mayor of Adamsville; Constable H. Bur- rell, and Clint Cole, constable of North Birmingham, had assembled but had been unable to disperse the crowd.
 Scattered Negroes.
 The party of deputio succeeded in scat tering the negroes, by threatening to shoot. Deputy Sheriff Brents was rescued from his perllous position and secured in the caboose of the freight train. As the train left the station four shots were fired wide of their mark
 At late hour last night 1t was re- ported that everything had queted down, and no further trouble was feared.
 Republic is a mining camp, owned by the Republic Iron and Steel company. thirteen miles from Birmingham on the Southern railway About four hundred small white population and for this req son the negro crowd could not be scat tered until the arrival of more deputies A number of union miners armed them selves to assist in dispensing the negroes, but as the company employs non-union , men they were not allowed to go on the property. It was rumored that the white and for time 1t looked as though a race riot was threatened. For several hours the town was greatly stirred up over the affair but after Deputy Brents was brought to Birmingham, little talk of violence were heard.