The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-06-22
MIL pm KILLS. FOUR


an.r,.rrd Near "atersfiIe' -. -
I'D sunday. Killing Pour
..,,eya-Capt. Hoskins. OF TIA
'l,rn Had so lie Dug Out "f the
I,s-,ri~-
.....,.. Tenn. June ls.-FouE
acre killed. twelve seriously
,.t and II conyicts and three
-. sl.ghuy injured yesterday in
lame u a bull pen near Wa
\ {. in the heart Of the
...s.. where tWo railroad COM
-.,. arc engaging in a var for the
-.-.tr Of the only remaining
-.a.r uass TO the east. The con-
80. .cre all negroes. the property
3D.. state Of North Carolina. and
80. being worked in connection
80. -.e construction work OF the
-,.--.oatlnental railroad.
Tho men killed were: Albert
u-.-r. o.! GoIdsboro, serving sentence
-, ,ef Years for receiving stolen
gods. VIII Green. OF Raleigh, serV-
.,- .rftcnce of four years for muir
49,. Henry Paul, OF New Bern, serv-
..g scutence of three years for lar
..r,. Clarence Walker. Of Western
..-.r Carolina, serving sentence OF
..,.r Years for larceny. All four
mel, mad only few months OF their
,.r.e 10 serve, one or two being due
o.. leave the camp in August
Major Wynn, OF Goldsboro, con-
,..,ad At the same time as his brother
.r.o Was Killed, and Sylvester Par
ham serving a 3O-year sentence for
,nurdcr. are not expected TO live.
Cant J. f. Hoskins, OF Raleigh,
aho was in charge OF the prisoners,
vent down with the pen and had TO
he dug from the debris, suffering sew
eral painful injuries. Guards j. +.
nichols and Ed McKerney had mar
row escapes from death, but were
only slightly injured.
The convicts were located in the
gary heart Of the Smokes, where
,beir camp looked down into the
pigeon River, $50 feet below. The
oon was so by so feet, the piles act
ing as supports being about six feet
in height near the edge of the trail
and twcnty-eight feet in height to
the rear. The building was con-
structed of heavy logs and it was
The great weight Of the top which
caused it to collapse.
The heavy building slid forward
pinning the men between the glan'
raftcrs supporting the flooring
Where the timbers came together the
men were terribly mangled and the
four met instant death in this way
Trees prevented a greater fall anc
the demolished structure came TO
standstill about 65 feet down th'
side of the bank.
Not a man in the building escaped
injury. An old negro preacher, serV
ing sentence for arson, standing OF
the bank gave the alarm, but it wa
100 late The building was divided
into two parts, one for the pen am
the other for the kitchen.
The cOnVicts, together with on
guard. were locked up in the per
the prisoners all wearing the ball an
chain, and another guard sat jus
inside the kitct en- door, rifle in hanC
with his eye glued to hole Wh1c
permitted him at all times to sc
every movement taking place With
the room At the time Of the acc
dent part of the prisoners were pla!
ing cards, the four who were kille'
it is said, being engaged in gam
at the time. Captain Hoskins VIZ
standing in the doorway of the k1tcl
en- when the crash came and was ca
ried down with the timbers. j.
Nichols, the guard locked up VIII
the convicts, crawled the entl
length of the building and finally b
came wedged in between two rate
and it was an hour before he WI
extricated.
Last week the convicts we
brought into the mountains and
was announced that they were bell
worked by the State of North Car
lima as their contribution toward t
Transcontinental railroad. The lie
nessee and North Carolina railroa
which is running it's trains with
two miles of the scene of the &C
dent, claims the right-of-way
which the Transcontinental road n
started work and were ready with
Injunction, so it is stated, to restra
the convicts from further work.