The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1909-08-05
MR.. 7. A. ECCLESTON
MAKES STATEMENT
TO A COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATIVE RE.
GARDIHG HIS ARREST By SHERIFF
PR0WELL MONDAY
CAUSE NOT GIVEN TO HIM

1
: of the City Fuoniture Co., one o1
the largest business houses il
Columbus, was placed under ar.
rest Monday morning about ter
O'Clock, near Greenhill bridge, by
Sheriff Prowell and three depu
ties. Mr.. Eggleston states that
| he, with Mr.. Charles Jacobs, hao
driven out to Greenhill bridge
solely out of curiosity, to see the
negro brought in who is charged
with burning the house of d. S.
| Cox last week. On what charge
he was arrested Mr.. Eggleston
says he has never been informed.
Sheriff Proweil released him
shortly after their arrival at the
court house.
1t has been rumored that the
charge against Mr.. Eggleston
was that of melting a mob, but
Justice of the Peace Matthews
informed him, Mr.. Eggleston
states, that there were no charg-
es whatever against him.
Before giving a detailed ac-
count or his trip to Greenhill
bridge in his buggy with Mr..
Jacob and his arrest there, Mr.
Eggleston summed up the occur
renee as follows:
why / was arrested by Sher-
iff Prowell Monday morning at
Greenhill's bridge where | had
gone in my buggy in company
with Mr.. Chas. Jacobs to see the
negro who is charged with burn
ing the house of Mr.. D. S. Cox
on the Pickensville road last
week, whom / had heard was
being brought to town by the
sons of Mr.. Cox who had captur-
ed him. | am to this good min
ute, as far as official informa-
tion goes. in entire ignorance.
1t is true that read in the Dis
patch of yesterday that / was
charged with melting a mob.
but Sheriff Prowell did not tell
me this, nor would he say any
thing in reply to my repeated re-
quests for a trial but that /
could go. He has never yet
named or limited at the name of
a charge explaining my arrest.
| will insist on a trial, just to
see what my offense was, if
nothing more. If | am guilty of
any crime / would like to know
it myself. Really | thought the
whole business joke when the
sheriff and his posse met me at
the store near the bridge. Sure
ly, if the charge can be that /
was melting a mob, the mob
must have been Mr.. Jacobs and
myself, and neither of us had
anything in the way of firearms
more dangerous than a parlor
match"
Asked for a statement con-
corning his arrest Monday on the
alleged charge of melting mob,
Mr.. Eggleston gave the follow
ing account:
TO begin with there has been
no charge against me so far as /
could learn at the Sheriff's of
flee naming any offense, much
less incitinga a mob. Mr.. Jacob
and went out to see the negro
just out of curiosity and for the
drive. l certainly had no inter-
est in the negro's arrest one way
or the other.
Here's exactly the way it
happened: Monday morning
about 7:30 o'clock Mr.. D. S. |
Cox, whose house the negro is
charged with setting fire to,
came to my place of business
and told me that his boys had
caught the negro at Memphis, |
Ala. Sunday afternoon and that
they were then or the way to
Columbus with him. About an
hour later l met Chas. Jacob en-
the street and asked him if he
would like to ride out to Green
hill bridge with me in my buggy
to see the boys bring in the me-
gro to town. He said yes and
we got In the buggy and rode /
about a mile the other side nf I