Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1912-03-15
Dramatic and Bloody Ending
10 Trial Of Desperate in a
Mountain Town,
JUDGE. SHERIFF AND
ATTORNEY SLAIN
Clerk of Court and Several
Jurors Wounded, Rewards
Offered and Posse in Pursuit
of MurdererS,

my Morninw journal special Lens~d wire.1
Hnlsville Va. March ii.--in
flame OF unprecedented outlawry the
human fabric of the Carroll county
circuit court, In session here today,
was wiped out by assassination.
A troop OF mountain outlaws rode
down out OF the Blue Ridge noun
tains today to the Carroll county
court house here and assasslnated the
Judge upon the bench. the prosecutor
before the bar and the sheriff at the
door, in less time than 1t takes to tell
IL, while sentence was being pro-
nounced upon Floyd Allen, one OF
their number.
When the crack of the rifles died
away only one member of the human
fabric of the court--Dexter Goad, the
clerk--was alive. and he had been
wounded.
Jurymen and onlookers were struck
Iby the fusillade but none were
wounded seriously.
Tonight the outlaws are UP In the
mountains with a citizens posse little
organized, making a semblance Of a
pursuit.
Sheriffs and deputies from the
neighboring counties cannot reach
here before morning.
A special train from Roanoke to-
night brought twenty detectives 10
Galax. the nearest railroad station
nine miles away. 1t Will be midnight
before the men can get over the
mountain roads, hub deep in mud. II
probably viii be daylight before
forces can be assembled.
Rewards for Capture.
A reward of ST 600 for the capture
OF the band, offered today by Cow
ernor Mann, was increased tonight to
$4,000. The governors proclamation
states that S300 each will be paid for
Individual members Of the band dead
or alive,
Captain f. W. Devant of the Sec
ond Virginia regiment, has been or
derod To come here with twenty men,
twenty rifles and ammunition.
The troops at Roanoke and Lynch
burg possibly may not be called for.
The shooting terrorized Hlllsville to
the point Of paralysis. There was not
"a man Ia give order or to organize
n pursuit.
Judge Thornton l.. Massie rose
from his chair. as the bullets struck
him, and fell across his desk.
Commonwealth Attorney William
Foster. with half a dozen bullets In
his brain. crumpled down TO the
floor.
Sheriff Lewis Webb was shot and
killed as he reached for his revolver.
Bullets grazed Clerk Goad and In the
confusion he was reported killed.
Jurors who had been wounded
slightly were reported dead. and by
that indefinable method of communi-
cation which prevails In the woodland
country. reports of wholesale
slaughter went out TO the countryside
The Prisoner AT the liar.
Floyd Allen was before the bar this
morning convicted of taking a pris-
oner from deputy sheriff Allen
had struck the sheriff over the head
with the butt OF "A rifle, and the
prisoner escaped. sheriff webb had
Allen despite dire warnings of what
such q venture might mean. Attorney
Foster had prosecuted him fearlessly.
and a mountaineer jury gathered from
the inland section Oor no man in
Carroll county cared to sit on the trial
of an Allen) and convicted him.
This morning his sentence attracted
an unusually large gathering to the
court house in the center of the
village. Those who could not get into
the small room peercd into the win
dows. opened TO the first DAYS OF
spring.
Just as Allen was about To be called
up for sentence. his two brothers.
Sidney and Jack. at the head Of q
troop OF twenty mountaineers. rode
up To- the court house. Their ponies.
splashed with mud. testified To long
ride through the hills
TIN. two brothers and their COM
panions. some carrying rifles and
others armed with revolvers. crowded
into the small courtroom and stood
beside the rail and about the door.
Floyd Allen was In the dock. IN his
youth he was fine figure OF strength.
and even at So now. when rs rcd
dish-hrcwn whiskers are turning To
gray ~ IS no weaklinE.
JudE. Massie mounted the bench
and Prosecutor Foster moved S,n-
tcnce upon Allen. Who Sioud ~.
There was shuffiinr ~ tfrt and
n general movement smong fhc
mountainesrs in the hack ~ The
room.
The usual legal fcr'uai'tl-r esf~