Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1909-05-25


 begged for mercy and some one in the crowd yelled, That was what you gave the poor little girl when you checked her." and they dragged him through the hallway out into the office and into State street Once on the street the mob gave yell and cried Lynch him." Kill his We'll show this black brute how to attack innocent, defenseless girls."
 The mob moved south on State street, to Second avenue. The negro pleaded for mercy, but the mob only jeered him and yelled Let's lynch him. The sooner the better While moving towards Main street from State, the leaders tied rope around the negro's neck. Reaching the cor her of Second avenue and Main stree. directly in front of the Progress, one man went up the telephone pole and threw the rope over one of the spikes pfotruding from the pole One man yelled: Give him chance to pray :" There was silence, but the ngro's words were not heard He was trem- bling from fright and his garbled words were not understandable. For thirty minutes the mob stood around the negro. making remarks of every character. Finally they decided to pull him up. As they did so the negro Ionght againA the strong arms of twenty men, but they raised him from the pavement and he shot into the alr. when about ten feet from the ground the rope, a small affair not larger than an insulated wire. broke and the negro fell to the pavement with dull sickening thud Hang hlm again several cried. but it was unnecessary for the negro was dead But the mob frightened the rope about the negro's throat. tied the broken ends and pulled him up again, leay- ing him suspended in the air about three feet from the ground.
 Their work done the members of the mob began to d'sperse. While the negro was being drawn up the pole the nrst time several hundred lncadescent lights, strung at that cor I,np Travellers Meeting. were lighted Previous to this time at exactly 12 o'clock. all of the street lights, down. town. went out. It appeared to have been a prearranged affair.
 The mob evidently was not well organized and lacked the generalship or real leader. Their work was slow and coarse, but they. seemed to be satisfied after the negro was dead
 When Davis fell from the pole his mead struck the curbing and blood spurted in every direction. As his body was being drawn into air a sec ond time. blood trickled down his back and limbs and fell forming q pool beneath him.
 Dav1s'S Crime.
 Davis paid the penalty for a brutaI crime. He entered the home of H khoWlton Padgett early Friday morn- ing and finding Miss Amey Holmes. MT Padgett's sixteen year old niece in bed and alone in her room, he pro- ceeded to choke her into insensibility The young lady was awakened but cou'd not cry for assistance. She fought her assailant and attracted he,. aunt, Mrs. Padgett, the only other person in the house, to the room Davis jumped through window and escaped. He was arrested as sus- pect Saturday afternoon near the Elxs Theater by City Detective Stanley and mad on pair of stolen shoes at the time. When questioned by Constable ffank Stewart, the negro admitted en. tering the Padgett home and declared that he did not attempt to assaIl, Miss Holmes, but merely choked he, to prevent her from giving the alarm lie admitted burglarizing another house the same night he entered the Padgett home. He is believed to have come here three weeks ago from Mem phls. being a strange negro in tht city
 coroner H. K. Williams teIephoned aiter being notified to come dowr town to H. I. Holderness to cut the oody down. The body was taken tc the undertaking parlors of the Hold erness Company at 2:30 o'clock.