The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-11-20

viii Harris One Of the Slippery Kind,
and MOI Bold Ill the
Ashcyiiic Villain.
Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Obscrver.D
! Il don't believe that the AsheviIle
7, negro is VIII Harris; he is too bold"
said Squire JOIN p. Hunter, at
Derita, last night. Il know VIII Har-
ris and he is the sort Of negro that
slips, steals stealthjly in the dark and
does his shooting.'
Squire Hunter should know VIII
Harris, who labOred for him, stole
from him ana finally shot him.
His first serious o%ffense," said
Squire Hunter to an Observer man.
yesterday, was when he stole corn
and meat from me. l missed the stuff
and suspected viii. ON my way To
town the morning after the theft, /
met him in the road, arrested him
and carried him to Charlotte, where
he was tried and sentenced to the
| chain gang for eight months. Two
weeks after ne began to serve his time
he escaped and came back to his Old
haunts. 1t was about this time that
he shot me from ambush and ran
away. His wife received Il letter,
saying that he was dead. The writ
ing was in Wits own hand and he
had drawn a coffin on the paper.
Later captured him at the home Of
his Wife. who was Pearl Houston.
Harris escaped from the chain gang
Il second time He and his brother
in-ldW, Sam Houston, broke into the
Sammonds store, in MaIIard Creek,
for which Houston was arrested and
was given a preliminary hearing be
fore Squire John Graham AleXan
der and bound oven to court. When
dark came on, the day of the trial,
Harris set fire to MI. Alexander's
barn, so as to give his pal an Oppor-
tunity to escape. y second barn, be
longing to Mr.. Alexander, was fired,
both being consumed at once. HOus-
ton did not have sense enough to
| ,tt oh - on L ng-T. ,IA - - tf.l-
to free him by shooting into q
Charlotte-hound buggy, but got the
wrong turnout. The Dad intended for
tire officers in charge of Houston,
struck an innocent negro, shooting
the reinS out of his hands.
After this day VIII Har-
ris disappeared. But the people were.
by this time. thoroughly aroused.
His escapes from the road, his sever
al thcfts, his robberies, his inccndiary
fires, his attempts at murder and his
insolent audacity had stirred the men
Of the Derita section to action. \
posse was organized and d determined
effort was made to capture the negro,
but he had fled the country.
At irregular intervals since his
first offensc, Will Harris has return
cd to Mallard Creek, the homo of his
wife, to make trouble, among any
and everybody. ON one of his visits
he attacked Joe Dodd, coIored,
shooting off a finger. The officers
were notified and Harris was chased
with ( bIoodhounds. but at the
close of the race, when it seemed al
most impossible for Harris to escape,
he mounted a quiet, peaceful Old
milk COW. which had been engaged
per, and rode her until her tongue
hung out. In this way he fooled the
dogs and went his way rejoicing.
1t was at this period of his life
that VIII Harris made the acquaint-
ance of the late Van Griffin, the only
negro detective that ever lived in
Charlotte. The officers had employed
Van, who was Il giant in body, to To-
cate Harris. Van was clever. He
donned the stripes of Il convict rush
ed out of the woods into the homo of
Cal. Houston. father of Harris
wife. and asked for something to eat
and a change of clothes. Cal. gave
Van everything that he asked for
md when they We're about to burn
the discarded suit VIII Harris, en-
terfng from the back room said:
NO. don't burn your stripes. / make
it a rule to leave mine in running
water. and it gives me good luck
But Van threw his in the fire, left
and went to the nearest telephone
and notified Sheriff Wallace and 9th
ers that Harris was at his father-in-
laws house. The place was soon sur
rounded, but it was then that Harris
made his most daring escape. 1t was
pitch dark and the officers could not
see their hands before their faces.
viii ha2 prepared. for just such an
emergency as he faced at that mo-
I.ment. He had cut a hole in the floor
of the cabin; just beneath a bed, and
when the officers began to file in he
let himself down to the ground. 1t
required but a jump or two to reach
Ithe woods. Like a ghost Harris de-
parted and again escaped to d distant
land.
soon. however. Will Harris return
ed to ~Mecklenburg. He was after
Van Griffin. Van had the nerve to
try to locate him again. He pilotei
while the fellow hunters were warm
ing themselves before an open fire
the detective went to the home OF
| Joe DOdd. to see if he could find out
anything about Harris. All this time
Harris had been lying low, like Brer
Rabbit. waiting his opportunity to
soak his dark-hued enemy, Van
Griffin. Therefore. Van went in
the Todd home Harris opened fire On
the building, which was a two-story
log affair. and sent his fearful charges
of lead into the house, boring great
holes through the logs and Earring out
the thinking. In the anti Van
and Joe Dodd had climbed the stairs
where the detective had tlattcned him
self on the floor. Joe Dodd showed
more courage under pressure than die
Van. for he returned the fire as best
he could. Harris. fearing to enter the
house lest the officers come to the
rescue of their Sleuth. stood Outsjds
and tried to locate Van with his big
bore rife, which he moved about Il
t his efforts to hit his enemy.