The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-07

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 Mobile. October s.-The crimes commit ted upon Edna May Fowler, Lillian May savell. Ruth Sossaman and attempts on others whose names are not given, were avenged by party of forty-five men this afternoon at 12 :35 o'clock in lonely place just off the Holt road In the neighbor- hood of Prichards station The leaders ordered the men. who were all armed With revoivers shot guns and rifles, not 10 fire a shot and the orders were carried ont.
 Thompson, who committed the first crimes that startled the people of Mo bile. and worked them up into fury, was first strung up A long half-inch rope was thrown over the limb of live oak tree He slowly strangled to death. The body was jerlsed up distance of about fifteen feet and the rope fastened. Accord ing to one of the leaders Thompson con- fessed to him and called the Associated Press reporter over to hear 1t. but Thompson looked frightened. and said that he was not the man.
 His body was swung up at 12:3S o'clock.
 Conducted Very Quietly.
 Robinson was hanged as soon as ths body of Thompson had been strung up. The hanging of the negroes was con- ducted in very quiet manner, and dur ing the time that the work was going on, hardly a word was spoken At one time man in the crowd wanted to hurry the lynching, but he was stopped until all the arrangements were complete.
 IInt, from the time that he was taken off the train until the rope was placed around his neck. Neither of the men showed signs of fear, Robinson saying all the time that he was going to heaven. From the time that Sheriff Powers left Selma this morn- ing at an early hour he looked for trouble and was consequently very nervous. Sew era1 times reports were received on the train that the mob would be waiting at stations along the line, ready to take the prisoners and lynch him.
 Eight Men Board Train.
 When Mount Vernon was reached. eight men wearing white masks boarded the train. Five of them covered Sheriff Pow CTS and Deputy Charles Green with re- lvovers and told them that they had come for the prisoners as 1t was better to hang them outside of Mobile and away from the troops rather than perhaps sacrifice the lives of some innocent people. The revolyers of the sheriff and deputy were taken from them. The conductor was then asked to move all the people in the first class coach to the rear seats as more of the crowd were going to get on at Pla- teau. The conductor willingly compiled with the request and some of the pas sengers were also placed In the slepers. One of the leaders who stood on the plat form of the train, heavily masked, said tIz ax,d F iala 1,,5 i,,at boo lad train were all leading business men of Mobile, and that their action had been decided upon only after careful consider ation.
 Bloodshed If Taken to City.
 He said that if the negroes were taken Into Mobile by the sheriff and tried un- der military protection there would cer- tainly be bloodshed and their method was the best
 When the train reached Creola, fifteen miles from Mobile, large number of men wearing masks and one of them carrying bag which contained straps and ropes, came on board and were given their orders. At Pritehards station the masked mob with the prisoners closely guarded got off the train and started down the road. About 100 yards from the tree on which the hanging took place the cry was given to hurry" and the mob ana prisoners DrOke lfllO run. After running twenty-five yards a big oak tree was reached and the mob stopped and ropes were produced Fearing trouble with the neighborhood negroes scouts armed with rifles guarded the main road. The negroes were then strung up Nearly everybody in the crowd took hold of the rope.
 While the negroes were being hanged strict orders from the leader rang out: Boys. do not fire shot we are car rying out the will of the people,"
 Many Swarm to the Scene.
 After the hanging most of the masked men left, but it was only a few minutes afterwards when men and boys came swarming out to the place in droyes to witness the result At 2 o'clock this afternoon there were at least two thousand people on the scene and the bodies at that hour were still hanging.
 Sherin Powers made this statement:
 T did my duty to the last. When cov- cred by the heavily armed men I saw 1t was useless to resist, and with guns staring me in the face and being dis armed I gave up the prisoners.
 AS soon as the news reached the city that the two negroes had been taken away from the sheriff by a party of masked men, people began to flock to the scene of the hanging. Some left