The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-23
RACE RIOTS SHAKE ]. OKLAHOMA TOWN; SITUATION CRAVE Militia Is Being Rushed To Assistance of
 the Whites TWO DEAD AND TWO FATALLY WOUNDED Trouble Is Precipitated When Ne. gro Kills City Attorney-Blacks Preparing to Wipe Coweta
 off the Map
 

Coweta. okla, October o. F.. Suddeth, a negro, was shot to death tonight by a mob of citizens who had armed them between negroes and whites in which tSuddeth killed J. D. Beavers, city at- torney, and wounded C. Oliver, and s. { Thompson, white men.
 Suddeth was wounded and then strung up to "a water tank, but was cut down before he died and locked in a vacant building. Tonight q deputy attempted to take the slayer to jail As the negro was being lifted into an automobile the mob opened fire. Probably fifty bullets entered his body.
 Large numbers of negroes were arriv- | ing tonight from the surrounding country and a race war seeemd inevitable. White men patrolled the streets and guarded their homes. They were afraid to take the women out of the houses to send them to Muskogee on the last train out.
 The trouble started yesterday afternoon. | A telegraph. operator named Swazer was walking with young woman when Ed Ruse, negro, in passing, pushed tho girl from the sidewalk into the mud. Swazer struck at the negro and another white man, whose name is being kept se- | cret. seized Ruse and Swazer beat him with his fists.
 1 Today Ruse had been walking the streets with long knife in his pocket seeking the man who held him. | City Marshal Hart ordered the negro to give up the knife and Ruse shot at 1 him.
 | At that instant Ed Suddeth ran out of Q. house across the street and opened fire, instantly killing City Attorney Beav- CTS and wounding Oliver and Thompson, all of whom were passing at the time, and took no part in the trouble. Suddeth | took refuge in a nearby house, which was bombarded with shotguns and revol- vers by several white men. The house | was set afire and Suddeth fled. He was 1 shot but not fatally hurt. He was taken to the water tank and swung up. It was then decided. however, that to kill him would precipitate a general race war, and | he was cut sd3-yrg sa..i
 Cvwero is iu \ stale of terror tonight and it Is feared an outbreak is inevi- table. There are 1200 people in Coweta, one-third of whom are negroes. The county is populated largely by ne- groes and it was stated tonight that if the blacks were organized they could bring 2000 men into town before morning. Negro missionaries have hurried out to surrounding gentlemens wit hthe avowed intention of bringing enough mon here to wipe the town off the map. They declare they will set fire to every house in town. Sheriffs of Wagoner. Muskogee and Tulsa counties have sent help to Coweta and every means possible will be made to prevent an outbreak.
 one negro woman set out on foot to- day for Red Bird, nearby town declar- ing she would bring every negro in the settlement back with her. Officers fol- lowed but failed to catch her. The citi- zens of Coweta are panic stricken and are poorly organized. They have shot guns and revolvers but not enough rifles. They are also short of ammunition. The town is without fire protection. A prom inent man said late today.
 "We have been expecting for two