Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1906-12-17
Henry Davis Held On Charge Of As
sault On Mrs. Reid.
THE VICTIM PARALYZED AND LOSES
HER EYESlGHT.
Great Indignation Aroused Over The De-
yeIOpment In The Recent
DastardIy Assault.


because of having had his toes frost
bitten, which causes him to limp in
walking.
Davis, or Chambers, is suspected of
having committed the assault upon
Mrs. John Reid, near Iglehart's Sta
tion, last Friday afternoon, and is
held in Jail awaiting developments.
He is strongly suspected of being the
guilty party and has been positively
identified by colored woman,
Josephine johnson, of Parole, who
was brought TO town yesterday and
taken TO Jail for the purpose of iden-
tifying the man she said she saw in
the vicinity Immediately after the
crime was committed. The colored
prisoners were assembled in corri-
dor with the accused and the john
son woman was walked up and down
before them. She singled out Davis
Tor Chambers) as he is called.
from among all the others, and said
'he is the man.
Mrs. Tucker, of Parole, said she
saw man walking in the direction
of Annapolis at o'clock Friday af-
ternoon after the crime was committed
and the man walked with n limp, and
answers the description of the man
now in Jail. 1t remains, however. for
Mrs. Reid to identify the accused,
which now seems almost impossible,
as at a late hour this afternoon it was
given out by the victims husband
that the wife is paralyzed on one side
and is blind from the result of the
shock and assault. This being the
case, Mrs. Reid's identification of her
assailant is impossible.
1t is now thought that the brute
accomplished his purpose, although
this was denied by the victim and
her husband. For an attempted as
sault ten years in the pcnitentiary
is the limit of the law, for the crime
itself, hanging. Sheriff Linthicum
is doing all in his power to protect
the prisoner from violence, which is
threatened in the county. The Sher-
iif, armed to the teeth, spent last
night at the Jail. and will continue
to avail himself of Eevery means to
let the law take its course. lie said
this morning that he did not antici-
pate an attack on the Jail. He said
that he would not remove the prisoner
to Baltimore, as he felt entirely able
to protect him.
number of men, estimated at fifty,
had assembled near the home of Mrs.
Reid and were coming to Annapolis to
enter the Jail and lynch Davis. Sheriff
Linthicum and Deputy Smallwood
stayed at the Jail all night with the
regular force as a precaution. How
ever, the report appears to be unfound-
ed, though there is intense indigna-
tion in the vicinity and also in this
city.
Davis persists that he is innocent
and claims that he was not out of An
napolis on Friday. He did not have
a hat when put under arrest and this
is a circumstance that tells against
him, as the man who assaulted Mrs.
Reid dropped his hat. 1t was seen in
the road, but afterwards disappeared.
Davis claimed that his hat was taken
Saturday by another man. When he
was arrested yesterday by Constable
Small the wife of Davis is said to
have remarked: That's why you
said you burned your hat, is it?" He
has lost several toes on one foot and
limps perceptibly and this is another
circumstance against him, as Mrs.
Reid stated that the man who assault
ed her limped as he left, though she
ascribed it to the blows which she
gave him with her carriage whip.
Davis is an extremely low type of
colored man. He is nearly, if not
quite, forty years of age and is short
and thick set. He has no regular
work and as n rule no regular home.
He has served a Jail sentence for vag-
rancy, it being discovered that he was
sleeping in a stable in this city,
without the owners permission. He
has very low mentality, though ii
could probably not be said that he
was mentally irresponsible.
When the crime was committed
Davis was out W ith two colored women
gathering holly. He is said to have
left them and it is thought when he
saw Mrs. Reid in the buggy he jump
ed on the back thinking to take a ride
and the villainous design occurred to
him after riding on the back of the
buggy some distance. Mrs. Reid was
unconscious OF the brute's prese nee
until she was attacked and pulled
from her buggy and assaulted.
The capture of the suspect by Dep
uty Small was very clever, and adds
other laurels to those be has already
won. No man in the county or city
has better knowledge of the colored
element about Annapolis than Dep
uty Small, who keeps mental photo
graph gallery OF every colored man
and woman in the ''rogues' gallery
hereabouts. Great Indignation is felt
in town and county by the colored
race as well as the white people over
the occurrence, and it is feared trouble
is brewing for the suspect if his iden-
tity can be assuredly established
The result Of the crime caused lit
tie tiff and unpleasantness yesterday
between Sheriff Linthicum and Mr..
John Reid the husband of the victim.
Mr.. Reid accosted the Sheriff, it is
said, to urge that matters be facilitat-
ed in the apprehension Of the negro
assailant. Strong language is said TO
have been used by the infuriated and
wronged husband and the lie passed.
The Sheriff is said TO have struck at
Mr.. Reid with the butt end of his
whip, being in his carriage at the time,
but Mr.. Reid lodged the blow, and
the Sheriff drove off.
The entire affair connected with
fha aeeaulf unon Mrs Reid has Great