The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1909-07-29
WILL MACK PUB
LICLY HANGED
Vast Crowd Sees the Brute Pay the PEN
atty of Horrible Crime--His
Last Word Was
Guilty.

crowd to sing two verses of famil-
lar hymn, to which there WAS only
one response, which covered only a
few words of one lime, and THE
preacher needed the wishes of the
mulititude and quit ait the end of the
first verse. Them a short prayer and
the ceremonies religious were over.
Mack handed the preacher his ring,
asking that it be given some of his
Slipped off, his hands securely fas-
tened behind his back, the moose ad-
justed around his neck, the black
cap drawn down to hide his face,
when Mr.. A. B. Stubblefield said ito
him, "Mack, you have only a moment
to live-are you guilty or not gull
ty." He spoke in low, but distinct
calm voice Guilty" The trigger
was pulled. He dropped eight and
half feet. There was no struggle,
mo contraction of muscles, no sound
from the throat-his neck was broken
cleam when the plunge was taken at
12:42. At 1886 he was pronounced
dead and shortly, afterwards his. body
was cuE down and carried to the ne
gro graveyard and buried-his rela-
tives not coming to claim his re-
mains, nor were any of them here
so far as known, to see him hang.
When the body dropped downward
there was loud shout from hun-
dreds of throats i'm the crowd of 5000
people who were here that day The
rope was quickly cut into small
pieces and carried off by those who
wished to keep a memento of the
grewsome sceneL
The crime for which he hung was
though d constant search was kept
UP it was in June that he was capt
ured i'm Tate county. Gov. Noel had
dne militia take him away from the
legal possessor of the criminal and
spirited him away to VickSburg for
safe keeping until trial, June 21st.
When Mack was brought here for
triad six companies of soldiers accom-
panied him. There was no disorder
-hfs trial was fair the evidence
showed undoubted guilt, the verdict
was guilty, the sentence death, and
he was marched back to the train
and again carried to Vicksburg to
spend the time until July 23rd, when
he was to hang.
An appeal was spoken of, but a.
bandoned. Nothing could have BEEN
gained except delay and the people
were i'm no mood to put up with a
delay. Public hangings are wrong,
but under the circumstances, the
outlet acQuiescence of the people to
submit to a legal trial, their good
behavior throughout left no alterna-
tive to the board of supervisors but
to- grant the almost universal demand
for a public execution.
Hardly amy one present Friday
will ever request another public legal
hanging are outspoken against
lit. Probably one fourth, or maybe
ONE third of the crowd were negroes,
and the only good effect it can have
ON them is to see, that, even if one
escapes death by mob by hanging or
burning, that although the state
might use soldiers to have him tried
legally that, if convicted, the rapist
must hang. 1t took seven months
of strenuous searching to find him.
1t cost private citizens over $3.50 to
get him. 1t cost Rankin county over
$500 to try and execute him-the mil
htia cost the state over $1,000 to
lquuop ou pIoq ITg puB 'uugq lo94o.rd
the figures would reach $4,000. But
the criminally inclined would do we'll
to- remember that whatever the cost
im money, time, or blood lit requires
the negro rapist must die-as soon
ais found, if proof is positive, but by
law, if the law gets him before the
outraged people
The gallows stands yet and adornt
ing them is the dead man's shoes
taat the veriest thief is afraid to dis
faIGih