Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-17
KU-KLUX IN TIES SOUTH
"NIaHT RIDERS" TERRIFY IN
KENTUCKY TOBACCO WAR.

"N1GHT RIDERS" IEhhAE In
KENTUCKY TOBACCO WAR.
LOUISVILLE. Ky. December 1T.-Tha
night riders have revived In Kentucky
the terror of the ku-klux days. Their
last exploit was to seize Hopkinsvil!e,
city Of 10000 Inhabitants. the largest IN
southern Kentucky. Fully 500 riders,
wearing black masks anu with white
badges pinned to their shoulders. slipped
into the city at am. They burned
$4,000 worth OF property. fired so many
voileys through the town that the DAM
age from shattered glass alone Is esti-
mated at 5000. left two men seriously
wounded and departed without encounter
ing opposition to their work OF destruc-
ton. In an encounter with a posse after
ward one of the ra:Gers Is said to have
been IL ed.
Tie night riders are the most conspic-
uous feature of the war THAI is being
waged by the tobacco growers Of i<vn-
lucky agaiIs, the American Tobacco Com
pany. BY reducing the compel ton in the
buying of'tobacco 20 practically nothing
that company forced down the price of
leaf tobacco until the growers say they
cannot realize enough to pay for rails nS
it, The tobacco crop is a mainstay in
many parts of Kentucky. and thousands
dep nd on it for their daily bread. The
growers determined to force the price up.
Growers Combination Failed.
The plan proposed In the beginning and
which is still being followed was to form
a combination OF the growers to oppose
the combination of the manufacturers, and
by withholding the tobacco make the To-
bacco trust come to terms.
Many associations of growers have been
formed, but some of the growers did not
come in and others grew weary Of waiting
and sold their crops. The more violent
men in the oc;ations have resorted to
the measures that gave rise to the night
riders, and, by destroying the property of
are not allied with them. have sought to
carry through their plan by force and
terror.
The Hopkinsvi!le raid was the second
time in twelve months that the riders
seized and terrorized a city. December l.
1905. they entered Princeton. Ky. town
OF several thousand inhabitants, about
thirty miles north OF Hopkinsville took
possession of the police and fire depart
frents. the waterworks. the telephone and
telegraph offices, and. with the town shut
OFT from the rest of the world, dynamited
and set fire to the Steger g. Dollar and
the John G. Orr tobacco factories. which
were allied with the trust. The damage
hSiN uS SlvV'VOU.
First Appearance of outlawry.
Inc nrst appearance of the night riders
WAS In November, 1905 when they de-
stroyed some tobacco barns and small
factories in Todd county. with a loss of
about $4,000. The first raid came on the
night of November II. 1908, when masked
bands entered the towns of Eddyville ard
huttawa. situated close together in Lyon
ana Caldwell counties. and destroyed thu
plants Of the American SNUFF Company
and M. c. Rice, with $50 900 loss.
Besides these. there have been many
smaller raids and visits to Individual
growers. Tobacco barns have been burned,
growers who refused to pool their to-
bncco have been taken from their homes
and whipped. houses have been fired into
and the occupants wounded.
Nearly 100000 Damage Done.
The LOSS approaches a million dollars.
In part it is as follows:
Hopkinsville raid. s2oO ncO
Miscelaneons a." d,roags '''''' a ,oS ~
Eddyvfl1e and Fredon!a raids 10000
With the same object as the night riders
though following different methods, are
the Gay riders. or peaceful army. as it Is
khoWp, Ihis Is composed of growers who
go through the tobacco district in the day
pool their tobacco.
They do not us, force. thinking that the
moral suasion of the call from twenty o.
thirty men will suffice for the average
planter Greensboro, In Davies county,
northern kentucky. a city of 5000 in
habitants. has been the gathering plac,
OF the largest peaceful army so far
Thousands. OF growers from the northern
part of the state held a series of meet
ings there recently.
Cities Threatened by Fires.
They called on the warehouse men and
the buyers in the city and urged them to
stop buying. Then they sent squads
through the surrounding country ON the
same mission. The presence of large
number OF growers who were not mem
bers OF the association almost prec,pi-
tated fight in Owensboro on the last
rally day.
Paducah a city of 10000 in the north
ern part OF the state, received warnings
from The night riders and stationed heavy
guards at all it's approaches. Even Lex
| ington and Louisville are threatened.
The greatest fear from the night riders
is that the fires they start. with the fire
department held in check. may spread
until they consume an entire town.
| The tobacco war Is not confined to the
Black Patch or the western part of thu
state. The white hurley district, which
comprises fifty-two counties, or tn
greater part of central Kentucky has the
same fight on. so far this district has
been comparatively peaceful. though there
have been many barn burnings, piant-bad
scrapingS and acts Of individual violence.