The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1908-06-25
THREATENED BY MOB
Saas Battle. a Dowieite, Narrowly
Escapes Being Lynched by
Infatuated Eeighbors
BEATS CHILD IN AWFUL WAY.
(From Tuesdays DafIy)

The people residing on the west side
on Park street had some real excite
ment late Monday night when a. crowd
said to have been full five hundred peo-
pie, threatened to lynch Silas Battle,
follower of the late John Alexander
DoWie, who was charged with having
beaten his seventeen year old daughter
human manner. Battle was saved by
the arrival of the patrol wagon and
when he was arraigned before Justice
McCarron in the Justice Court, he plead
ed guilty to charge of assault and
battery and was fined 800 and costs
Of the action. Not having the money
to pay the fine he went to Jail for nine
ty days. AS the self confessed child
beaten left the court he turned to the
justice and in solemn words declared:
"May the Lord have mercy on you
and Peace be with you.''
The incident was one of the most IN.
usual ever known in Kenosha. Battle
was resident Of Zion City for mum
Der Of years and is said to be intensely
religious. He came to Kenosha some
time ago and had been living with his
children in fiat over a restaurant on
West Park street. The girl in ques-
tion is great favorite among the peo-
pie in the neighborhood and the assault
on her by the father caused the widest
excitement. The girl had gone away
from home early in the evening and it
was claimed by the father that she had
been at the merry -go-round. The girl
came home accompanied by her sweet
heart just after nine O'Clock and it is
claimed that the young man kissed the
girl good bye at the door. This is said
to have been seen by the father and
that he was so Infatuated that when the
girl entered the house he began to
beat her with a rubber strap. The
screams of the girl attracted attention
among the neighbors and some one rang
a call for the patrol wagon while others
went to the house. These people claim
that they found the girl on bed in an
unconscious condition and that it was
necessary to throw water on her in or
der to revive her. She was terribly
bruised from the beating that the
father had administered to her and was
suffering intensely. The facts in the
case were noised about and before the
police arrived the crowd got ugly.
Cries of "Mob him." "Hang him.
"Ride him out of town and similar
expressions were heard while the father
was covering in room on the second
floor of the building. The crowd had
no chance to get at the man until the
police arrived and they quickly but
quietly got the man through the crowd
and the wagon went like mad for the
county Jail with the crowd following.
The escape Of Battle was decidedly
close
When arraigned in court Battle as
sumed an attitude of the injured party
in the case, but when he saw that the
people in the neighborhood were ready
to prosecute to the fullest extent he
pleaded "guilty" to the charges
against him and the court fined him.
He declared that at Zion City he had
been allowed to punish his children all
he wanted to, but that the laws here
seemed to be different. He will proba-
bly, recognize the difference by the time
he gets out of the county Jail. The
girl was very sore this morning. but
was able to go to her work at the
hosiery factory.
The daughter who was beaten was at
the Jail half an hour after her father
had been committed and while she adj
mitted that she had been beaten she
was loyal to her father and stated that
she deserved all she got as she had been
very wrong. The wife of Battle stated
that he pleaded guilty on a mlsunder-
standing of the case and that while he
had whipped his daughter he had not
treated her cruelty. The wife and
children declared that Battle would not
serve out the time in Jail.