The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-02-18
sheriff's Deputies Opened Fire
on Mob Killing One and
Wounding Three
SITUATION IS SERIOUS AND
MILITIA may Be NECESSARY
Mob Was Bent on Lynching Two Ne.
grOcs Who We're Under Arrest fol
Stealing Purses From WOmen-As.
sociated Press Reporter Wounded.

men, members of company X of this
city, this morning natrolled the side
walks in front of the Alexander coun-
" court house. where shortly before
l o'clock a. m.. Alexander Halliday,
the leader of the mob attack on the
!aii' was shot to death by deputy sher-
ms and where four others, two of
tnem not members of the mob, were
wounded. Halliday. who is a son of
former mayor of Cairo, lay for three
hours dying beside the court house
steps, with the temperature a few
degrees above zero. During that en-
tire time, Sheriff Nellis, acting on Or
ders received by telephone from Gov
efnor Deneen. refused to permit any,
one to remove the wounded man or
to allow physician to enter the en-
closure. The sheriff says he believ-
ed the man was dead. Capt. G..
Creamy of company K said he did not
nave Halliday taken to the hospital as
soon as found. The officer says he
thought the man was dead. When the
TACT was discovered that the body was
warm, the unconscious form was Or
dered taken to the hospital where
whysicians said Halliday breathed his
last.
The mob tried to lynch two negroes
VINO were arrested for snatching
purses from women.
John Pratt, one of the two negroes
yesterday is said to have confessed
that he snatched a purse from Mrs.
Maloney. He was indicted by the
grand jury after he had been .identi-
fled by her as the man who had COM
mitted the robbery.
When the mob, which numbered
more than 200, marched to the jail
steps last night, Sheriff Nellis threw
open the front door of the court house
above the jail and said: II am here
to protect my prisoners" and when
the rioters did not halt at the sheriffs
command, he told his deputies to open
fire and to shoot to kill. Deputies
began shooting into the mob killing
Thomas Halliday, son of ex-Mayor
Thomas w. Halliday, and wounding
three others. The crowd fell back
and the body of Halliday lay upon the
steps of the court house all night,
Sheriff Nellis refusing to allow any
one to enter the yard to remove the
body until daylight. This morning
the situation was critical, as the peo-
pie seemed worked up to fever
heat.
The mob first began forming short
ly after dark. and as soon as talk Of
lynching reached the sheriff he ap-
pealed to Governor Deneen for troops
and swore in five deputies. Governor
Deneen ordered Company K of Cairo
to assemble at once and report to
Sheriff Nellis. but Capt w. d. Greaney
was unable to collect his men until
after daybreak this morning.
Governor Deneen also ordered the
militia. company at Effingham to pro-
coed at once to Cairo.
1t was nearly midnight before the
mob, which had been growing in
numbers and seemed ready to storm
the Jail, demanded John Pratt and
Lincoln Wilson, the negroes, who had
been arrested and found to have in
their possession articles stolen from
Mrs. William Nlaloney and Mrs. Ac-
cord. Several in the crowd returned
the fire, but the deputies were unin-
jured.
Among the men wounded by the
first volley fired from the Jail by the
sheriff's force was George B. Walker,
correspondent of the Associated Press
Mr.. Walker was shot in the hip. but
his wound is not serious. Walker
went through the riots of last Novem-
ber. The others wounded are Horton
Freeban and John Maloney. More
than hundred persons of the mob
loitered all night about the streets
near the Jail. The mob spirit has
never died here since the murder Of
Miss Annie Pelley, the shop girl. last
November by a negro and subsequent
lynching of one black and one white
man.