The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-16
TROOPS OUT TOSAVE NEGROES.
GOV. FOLK CHECKS THE MOB AT
SPRINGFIELD, MO-,
And Offers a Reward for the Conviction
OF Any Man Who Helped In the Satur-
day Night Lynching Probability That
the Mob's Victims Were All Innocent.

day Night Lynchlng Probability That
the Mob's victims We're All Innocent.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo-, April 15.-After having
burned three negroes for crimes of which
all we're probably innocent the feeling
against the blacks has grown, rather than
diminished, but the State militia sent here
by Gov. Folk will probably save the city
from further disturbance.
The people say that the negroes ought to
be driven out of the city and that the time
to do it is now. The mob which lynohed the
negroes last night was o~utspoken in its
declaration that the negro portions OF the
city would be destroyed if negroes who
we're wanted could not be taken from the
Jail.
The third OF the three lynchings occurred
early this morning. VIII Allen, a negro,
accused of killing o. NJ. Rcuark, was taken
out Of the jail and, although he protested
his innocence. was hanged to the electric
light tower in the public square. The rope
broke and Allen fell to the ground but he
was strung UP again and his body was shot
many times as 1t swung in the air above the
mob.
The public square, the scene OF the
tragedies of last night, has been visited
by thousands during the day. Children
on their wa. to Sunday school stopped to
find souvenirs in the ashes. The oharred
bodies of the three negroes lay in the square
until noon, when they were placed in a
box and carried to an undertaken.
D;te 90 ,nnoJ from, tho fro that hurnaI the
negroes nave been picked up as souvenirs
and everything that served as a reminder
of the grewsome scene has been carried
off. A piece of the skull of one of the negroes
was found by one man, who displayed it
to the crowds that gathered around. Several
persons tried to buy 1t.
And the three negroes lynched and burned
by the mob we're probably innocent of any
crime There is no evidence that they
we're guilty.
Their death was not the result OF any
particular crime they had done; it was not
because Of any particular hatred against
them as individuals. 1t was the expression
Of the peoples hatred for the negro. 1t
was the vengeance of the whites upon the
blacks.
In this town there nave been several
murders OF "Hllt Iutu Wy htei'cS' ioi
lowing these came the presentation of THE
Clansman," which further incensed the
whites against the blacks.
Then came the assault of a white
by two black men Friday night, and the
mob formed, battered down the jail doors
and lynched three negroes.
F.. v. Homer, the Sheriff, and six armed
deputies remained in the jail while the mob
spent two hours tearing out a window and
cutting open the steel doom of the cage,
All of yesterday afternoon the mob was
forming. Word had gone out that two
negroes. Fred Coker and Horace Duncan,
had attacked a young white girl and that
the negroes were in jail. The fact was that
two negroes had held up a white mar out
driving with another's wife and had robbed
him and according to the oman's story,
had attacked her. But the woman had
said positively that Duncan and Cocker were
not the men, while her companion said
they looked to him like the ones.
As the afternoon wore on farmers kept
driving into town At dusk there were
groups on every corner. The saloons were
busy. The police force, seeing the trouble
coming, took its two negro prisoners out
of the Jail and hid them. The chief te!e-
phoned the Sheriff to prepare for troubio
but he laughed at the warning and made no
preparation
All but six prisoners out of the more than
fifty that were locked in the cells last even
ing have made their escape, among them
being Gus Cane, colored, charged with the
murder of o. NJ. Rouark. the same crime
for which Allen, the last victim, died.
The inside of the Jail is completely
wrecked, the mob not stopping after they
had gotten their men but continuing their
work OF destruction until practically all
the prison bars were down.
About s., 1000 damage is done the prison
alone, while in the Sherif's residence the
damage il fully as much. Sherifs in the
surrounding counties have been notified
of the prisoners escapes and descriptions
of them have been furnished.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo, April i5.-Gov.
Folk, speaking Of the Springfield lynching,
said tonight;
Il have not been fully advised az to the
facts. The action of the Sheriff seems to
nave been in striking contrast to that of
Sheriff Hogg of Butler county, who cour-
ageously defended himself and his prisoners
from the mob that sought to take the
prisoner in his custody. He protected
the prisoner. as it was his duty to do,
This prisoner was afterward tried, con-
victed and put to death by law.
"The lynohing at Springfield was a most
disgraceful occurrence and whatever the
OF ence Of the negroes may have been and
however deserving of death they may have
been they were entitled to punishment by
law and not by a mob.
when a mob takes the law into its own
hands, as this one did, any member Of it is
guilty of murder. | will request one of the
Assistant Attorney Generals TO aid the
prosecuting attorney of Greene county to
punish the offenders and shall offer a re-
ward of $500 for any information given to
the officers that would lead to the convic-
ton OF any member of the mob.
The Sheriff Mayor and many prominent
citizens of Springfield having notified me
that the city was in riot and disorder and
having requested the aid of the State troops,
the Adjutant-Ge General has been ordered to
furnish all the troops necessary to protect
the lives and property Of citizens,