The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-08
Wanted to Lynch a Negro Found in the Room of a Popular Young Woman of Eufaula.
Deputy Crawford and coloneI Graves Protect the Life of Lawrence Davis Who is Rushed to The County Prison in uay- ton.

Eufauia. June 7.-(speciai. Jay shrewdsense shown at the right time. and by courage at the critical moment. civil and military officers outwitted and bluffed a mob which formed last night. after it had battered in one of the jail doors. and all but had Law renee Davis, negro. charged with at tempted assault. in its power.
 In the struggle between the mob. the officers and the military. the rope with which Davis was to be hanged. several sledge hammers and other trophies were captured from the mob.
 Escorted by the Eufauia Rifles fhfa morning, Davis was pat aboard Gen. tral train, apparently to be carried to Sherin Crawford had him in charge, and when the train reached road about ten miles from Eufaula, the train was stopped. A surrey was in waiting and the negro was quickly driven In safety to Clayten.
 The failure of the mob to secure Da- wis was due 1t is said. to the fact thai several of the enthusiastic members of the mob got drunk and attempted to pull of the lynching before the ap- pointed time. And 1t Is said that while there were several sensible and res
 sponsible men who would have beex willing to lead the. mob. they with
 aetiye members had ''tanked up" on
 blind tiger whislxey and could not ba. controlled
 Courage of Crawford.
 Deputy 6eeriff Crawford, who is h charge of the sheriff's of1ce at Eu- fauia. there being two court houses and
 two jails in the county. acted pronapt- FSA
 of the negro. He kept the iail door looked, parlied with mob and kept them ! out until the military reached tho | scene. He had called for the military as soon as the situation darkensd. At
 the critical moment. when the noh had broken one sf the iail doors with q heavy piece of timber. Colonel E. N
 Graves, of the Governors stafE, hurtiAd Il to the jail with only two members Of I the company. Captain Kenneth Mc- | Kenzie was then aksembllng his men
 as rapidly as possible.
 When Colonel Graves and his two
 men reached the jail. Deputy Crawford
 had extinguished all the jail lights ex- cept one. In front Of the jail in the dark. the mob was about the door bat | tering it with heavy piece of timber. | Approaching the side door Colonel Graves called out loudly: "open the
 door; side door. Mir. Crawford I'm
 here with the military company. Let
 In the military company"
 This call biuffed the mob for the
 time. The battering on the door
 ceased. They fell back for a confer- ence. In the meanwhile other mem.
 bers of the military ran in the sida
 door every now and then to join their l comrades
 Mayor McDoweii arrived on ths
 scene. He mounted the landing irI front of the jail door and appealed to
 the mob to so home. He assured them
 that Davis would have a quick trial and that the evidence against him was strong enough to convict. But the mob was still ugly. Captain Mckenzie stationed some of his men in the courr house. which overlooked the jail yard
 and which commanded the entrance to | the jail. Colonel Graves, with q de- l tachment of men dashed across the | yard and interposed themselves be- | tween the door and the asBaiiants of
 the jail. Several members of the conn pany with loaded sprIngheids were 1 stationed on the jail landing. In the meanwhile the mob surEed back and forth. Some man mounted | box in the yard and made speech to l them. He was evidently drinking for l his voice was fearful. He shouted out
 incoherent sentences. but the burden l of his talk had to do with his mothers | l cry few seconds some man with ro- | bust voice that carried all over the l business part of the city. would cal; out with long drawn infection: Come on. boys. Come on. boys"
 1 In the dark there was a .cussln'
 match between members of the mob | and members of the military company. | They recognized each other and the l would-be lynchers passed profane conn | piiments over the narrow space that l divided the two factions. The officers
 of the company were especially re-
 viIed by men in the mob who had been drinking. Epithet after epithet were
 hurled at them, but this wordy warfare
 caused no bloodShed.
 On the Landing. The smallest member of Che com- many. Jenie couric, becausp of the nerve and courage he was showing , was put in the point of the greatest danger. on the jail landing in front of ! the door He and Colonel Graves with one or two others pushed back the mob with the butts of the rife and threat ened them with their bayoneta AS ! the mob surged back and forth a big young fellow reviied young Couri>, 8 little and dried up'' with several oth- CT more uncomplinlentary ad5ecttvss. Couric, who is hardly as tall as his
 .Thats all right, you big stif. I'm here doing my duty and if you put your foot on this lAnding--if you even
 touch 1t I'll drill you through with a | bullet"
 The mob sought to sllp up by the aide of the door and Colonel Graves
 tushed out with detafl and pushed fhem back again:
 "If a man tries to cross this lfne.~
 he ordered. push him back. If lia
 keeps coming, run him through with | youH bRyonet.'
 Davis kaeit in his cell. praying fer | vsntly.
 Captain Mckenzie was rapidly sta- tioning his men about the 5Ail and
 court house. A magasine fn one of the Isprfngaeids became iAmmad. Captain ! McKenzie took it Co Gx h and as he
 worked with 1t the oaFhridNe exploded. At the sound of the shot the eiarnoI | of the mob was suddenly siienced, and
 the guardsmen gTippsd their guns and
 wondeted what was coming next. nut | the rife barrel had been pointed liH I