The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-31
FAILURE OF MOB
MoBILIANs TALK OF THE FIAsCo
 AT COUNTY JAIL.
Negroes Join Whites In Condemning Awful Crime of Mobile Fiend and Were Members of Lynching
 Party.
Advertiser Bureau,
 AA1Aila An@ [

| Advertiser Bureau, Mobile, Aug. 80. The action of the mob of one thous' | and men which resulted in what migh | be termed a fiasco., is the talk of tht town today. ''Where is the fiend in carnate?" was the exclamation on al sides. No one could give answer ana | the assurance of the sheriff that the negro, Win Thompson, had been spirit ed away was all the answer obtainable That the negro had been spirited away from the county jail not more than twenty minutes before the fren-
 zied one thousand arrived on the scene and had battered down the big wooder
 proved only too true. The bird had flown.
 To describe the scenes within the building after the mob had broken down the massive iron door, even to $ thoroughly trained newspaper man, | would be a task. Sheriff Powers, a: soon as the door was broken down, was
 seized by powerful white man and squeezed until he was virtually power. less. A well-thought of negro in tht city was among the first to enter the jail. Sheriff Powers laid hands upon l him, but the negro good-naturedly
 brushed him aside and went with the white men towards the stairway lead TheIr Futile Search.
 Sheriff Powers. Chief of Police Ron
 Pat Pat J. Lyons, urged the mob to dis, perse, assuring them the negro was not within the walls of the jail. The crowd would have none of this and de-
 manded that Ed Fowler, father of one of the outraged children, with a com | mittee, be allowed to go through the jail and search for the fiend incar- nate. Sheriff Powers consented to this and it was after o'clock this morning and after Fowler and his friends had made thorough search of the Jail in vain, before the frenzied whites and blacks consented to leave the jail yard At the solicitation of Mayor Lyons, a handful of militiamen had been round ed up and taken to the county jail to stand guard over the broken gateway l to the bastile, number of murderers being confined there awaiting trial, or the carrying out of the law. These were in command of Capt. Thomas McCay, of the Lomax Rifles. This morning. Capt John callaghan. commanding the Mobile Rifles, assumed charge of the militia, two squads. one each from the Gulf City Guards and the Mobile Rifles
 having been placed on duty,
 during the trying time at the jail was
 and is yet a mystery, despite the ru-
 mors of we'll known men.
 It is positively known that after midnight Chief Deputy Will Powers se-
 cured sum of money from a we'll
 known hotel proprietor, saying he
 needed it for an emergency It Is also
 known from a reliable source that d blackboard left the county jail about twenty minutes before the arrival of the mob and that two deputies and an- other man, the negro fiend, 1t is now believed, left the jail.
 But they did not catch a train out of Mobile during the night, 1t is pos itively asserted. It was said on tho
 streets that the negro was at noon
 today in the city prison. This was dis
 credited by men who were on the alert
 in that direction during the night. A
 well known travelling man, W. C.. Fellows, reached Mobile this morning
 by way of the Southern Railroad from
 Jackson, Ala. To your representative
 he stated that he had 1t from relia- ble source that two white men in seen in the morning northbound pas senger train, which left the city at 5:05 o'clock this morning. The trio were seen in the car at Jackson. If the statement was correct the negro evidently was taken to Birmingham or some other safe haven.
 A monster petition was signed last night calling on Judge Semmes to take steps for the calling of special grand jury to give the negro's case hear ing and a special term of court to try him. Judge Semmes being out of the city the effort, up to this time, proved
 Rev A. F. owens, a negro, and one of the many well ellrespected negro cit iZenS Of Mobile, was seen this morning. He decried the unmentionable crime of Thompson and said he voiced the sent
 iment of avery well minded colored man and woman in this city and coun- ty. He stated to your representative
 that he knew whereof he spoke when he declared there were many negroes in the mob, all of whom have the re- spect of the white people. each of whom were willing to aid In lynching the brute.
 make no pretense of concealing their Identity today, and 1t Is thought there will be no efforts taken to do anything iu court against the mob. This, how ever, may not be the case. Odds not, those who were in the mob will not deny being there
 throes as last night when the gates to the jail yard and the iron door of the jail was battered down by determined men, who sought the capture of Willie Thompson with the intent to deal to him summarily punishment.
 Sheriff Powers informed the invaders of the bastile last night that thompson had been transferred from Mobile County to another for safekeeping. A diligent search of the jail proved the sheriff correct Sheriff Powers declar- Mobile County He first stated that the negro had been taken north on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad last night. Later he turned turtle. The first statement to the press was that Thompson was taken from the county jail at o'clock last night and taken on board north-bound Louisville and Nashville train al Magazine Point, north of this city. Sheriff Powers then, at o'clock, said he had telegram from his son, Will Powers, chief depu- ty sheriff, that Thompson was safe in Birmingham Sheriff Powers stated the negro had been spirited away and was safe in a foreign bastile. The state nr ent of w. C. Fellows that the negro passed through Jackson this morning In custody of deputies was verified by man named Williams, who swore Thompson was placed on board of a Southern train at Creola, hand-cuffed and in custody of guards. and taken north on the Southern Railway.
 The Lomax Rifles are on duty at the county jail tonight safeguarding the prisoners now in the county jail.
 A mob of nearly 2,000 went to the jail again tonight and demanded ad- mittance to the jail in search of the negro. Sheriff Powers gladly consent ed to this. and a committee went In side and investigated. They failed to find the negro. A detachment from the Lomax Rifles. Capt Thomas McCay commanding. was on duty at the jail and Sheriff Powers asked the com manding officer to allow the committee to pass through their lines, which was granted.
 At 10, 80 o'clock tonight Sherin Pow CTS received a telegram from his chief deputy. Will Powers. dated at Birming- ha m qa vino he and his aide had arrived