The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-11-11
THE CRUEL CLAN
That Tennessse's Military 9oWer
is Now Rounding Up.
IT SW0RE ITS 0ATnS

~ SWsERE EBS UAsnS
IN Dripping Blood, Enforced 1t
Orders With Torture and Wantol
Murder, and Lived Up to Its Mot
to, Dead Men Tel. No Tales" En-
forcing Without s|ercy.
Nashville, Tenn, Nov. 7.-Deas
men tell no tales.
Neither 90 the oath-bound mem
bers Of the dread Night Rider clan
men who took their obligation /!
the wild forests around Reelfoot lak'
and signed their names in drippin:
blood, while about them the stillnes!
Of night as dark as Erebus was bro
ken only by the weird scream OF tn
heron or the loud too-hoo OF ths
swamp owl.
But the terrible secrets of thu:
fierce clan are being given up-anc
By the living. Lips that have bee,
sealed through fear Of death
through fear Of the silent riding
band Of masked men and horses with
muffled feet; lips that have feared
the oaths, the threats Of the mid.
night assassin, the moose, the swing
of death.
The bloody rule Of the night riders
was enforced by torture and |anton
murder. It was unchallenged while
the sufferers were residents Of the
wooded country surrounding the
lake. It promises now to be broken
by the power OF the State backed
by the flashing bayonets OF the mai
ional guard.
Crimes local in their character had
been safe. When the red-handed
outlaws lynched Captain Quinti1
Rankin and attempted 20 kill Col
onsl R. z. Taylor they awakened the
law-rsspecting sentiment Of the State
and brought their leaders to the
shadow of the gal;ows.
Thank God, I can talk at last;
and I will" was the cry OF mother
in the Reelfoot lake country when
she beheld the soldiers and realized
that law was to supersede the rule
OF murder.
She was the mother Of lad who
had been forced to join In a rail-
10 Hickman, KY, where family OF
negroes was wiped out by the night
riders. This boy, who went unwil-
lingly, never returned, and after the
soldiers arrived story leaked out
of newly made grave in the woods.
4 sweet-faced girl, wearing black
in memory OF the lover who lay IN
the grave, came to camp and the
secret Of that raid was revealed.
It'd" Burton, who was induced to
turn States evidence, is hunte:
ard fisherman. For hours he was
silent and defiant, but the temptation
of the promised reward Of s1O,UOo
and feeling OF safety inspired by
the presence Of the soldiers won him
over to the side OF the State. He re-
vealed the secrets; Of the night rid
ing clan, and this and other informa-
lion gained by the authorities has
resulted in the arrest Of 100 men.
Governor NJ. R. Patterson, who IS
personally directing the work, be-
iieves that the ring-leaders are
among the prisoners, and that the
blood Of Captain Rankin vii! De
ayanged.
Tom Johnson, who is said to be
the captain Of the night riders. IS
one Of those taken into custody. lie
has maintained a logged silence.
His time IS spent in pacing the nal
row confines OF his cell, while he
gazes furtively and longingly toward
the recesses of the forest.
While the grand jury investigation
is held secretly as possible, 1t is sa!t!
that the constitution and bylaws
Of the Night Riders clan have been
offered in evidence The penalty foE
betrayal OF the obligations imposes
by the ritual is death. The names
of members are signed with the:s
own blood. The clan decreed that
members should not employ negroes
after June, 1909, that banks shoul1
not exact over per cent interest
On loans, that merchants should moi
make over 10 per cent profit, ana
that cotton and other commodities
should not bring less than 2 CERTAIN
figure.
Many OF the men who have set
lied on the lake are said to have lef'
sor other regions between two suns
IN fact, at Reelfoot, as in the Pan
handle Of Texas, it is said to be "bac
form to ask some people wheri
they came from, breech of et1que
that will be promptly resented
Crack shots, men VINO know not TIT
sense Of fear, men convinced thi
others OF means were deriving then
! Of their just right to make living
Of such are the night riders Of Reef
foot
| 1t is believed that prompt and ef
recrive action by Tennessee Will ten
10 stamp out the scourse o
night riding that has spread iron
| Kentucky over a wide area OF IN
South.
! Pun Down by Car.
Columbia. S. c.. Nov. 5.-MT. an
Mrs. 7. J. I.ipscomb, Jr., and Nj:
:. J. Lipscomb. Sr.. were seriousi
injured by street car coiliGing Wit
a carriage IN which they were ric