The Washington times., 1912-03-22
SIDNA EDWARDS IS
CAUGHT BY POSSE
& AFTERLONG CHASE
Nephew Of Allen Outlaws
Had Price of $500 on
His Head.

To Galax. Though a Baldwin lieutenant
authorized the statement that he is
being brought to Hills vile, many be-
lteve that in reality he is being taken
10 GalaX and thence by train to the
jail In Roanoke.
Preparing for Trial.
Preparations are being made foy the
trial OF Floyd and Victor Allen here
next week. Today Temporary Prose-
Cutor S. Floyd Landreth and his as
sistants, John S. Draper and J. c.
Nysor, will confer in Pulaski over their
plans for bringing those under indict-
1nent by the Carroll county jury to trial
owing to the belief that it will be inn
possible to get twelve iurymen in Car
roll county who have not formed an
opinion i'll u1e court. room murders or
are not related to the defendants, the
prosecutors are planning to 70 outside
the county.
lie placed on trial for the same offense
Tor which Floyd Allen was being tried
last Thursdly--interfeI ing with an Of
nref: rms trlal may reveal whether or
not the outbreak last Thursday was pre-
IneditatEd. -
1t was learned today that the Com
monwealth believes it has obtained val
liable evidence from a former friend Of
the Aliens tending to show that the
murders were part of carefully
planned plot. Floyd Allen, 1t was said,
was to give the signal for the shoot
ing by Volcing a protest against fur
ther proceedings. Court officials Who
examined the wounds on the victims of
the courtroom tragedy say 1t was evil
dent each member of the party evidently
had the killing of certain official as
signed to him. Judge Massie, Prose-
cutor Foster and Sheriff Law Webb
were each riddled with half a dozen
shots.
Frank Smith, of New Jersey, and w.
A. Wisler. of Pulaski, brothers-in-law
nf Victor Allen, have been gathering ev-
idence here since early yesterday.
Attorneys n. II. Hairston and r. II
Willis. of Roanoke, who will represent
Floyd Allen, his son Victor Allen, IT.,
and Byrd Merriam, reached Hllsvilie
today to prepare their defense when
these prisoners are arraigned before a
special venire ordered by Judge Staples
called for Yesterday by the judge in
instructions forwarded to Clerk Dexter
Goad. Mr.. Goad also received from the
governor a letter commencing himself
and others for their bravery when the
court was shot up.
Offer Financial Aid.
1t was said today that friends of the
prisoners, now held at Roanoke under
strong guard, had offered financial aid
in their defense.
Contrary to all rumors. Sidna Allen
has not returned to his mountain home
since he fled precipitately last Wednes-
day night. Under the hope that the
outlaw leader might try to sneak back
home for supplies or medical attend
ance, strong guard has been patrolling
every approach to the house throughout
the last week. Sidna Allen Is known to
be suffering from at least two wounds,
one of these either in his chest or abdo-
men, and his pursuers cannot under
stand how them Ountainer, who must be
in great pain, If not critically ill., has
been able to roam through the noun
tains in the damp, cold night air, and
apparently without medical attention.
Grandfather Was Hardy.
'Uncle Billy Combs, grandfather of
the Aliens, was a typical mountaineer.
and lived to be more than hundred
years old. He was a noted hunter III
that section of the Blue Ridge now be-
Ing. searched for his grandchildren and
their clansmen.
Uncle Billy" never wore shoes, and
only enCased his feet in moCcasins when
the weather prohibited him from tramp
ing the mountain wllds in his bare feet.
With his hint-loCk muzzle loader the
CrizZled old ancestor of the fearless
Allen clan would scOur the mountain
forests in search of game, and up to
the time OF his death surprised his
netghbors by his ability to bag panthers
bears, and other game.
Uncle Billy" had several sons in the
Confederate army, all of whom distin-
guished themselves for their fearless
y peSS ana uDlltN 10 Withstand hardship.
One of his sons several years ago killed
a man. He wag tried and convicted
nut subsequently pardoned by Governor
Montague of Virginia because of his
splendid war record. Judge d. w
Bollen, one of the attorneys for Floyd
Allen on the day of the court massacre,
had defended this ancestor charged with
murder, and presented his case to Gov
Uncle Billy" Combs had an eye and
car as keen as the animals he hunted
This keenness of sight and hearing
coupled with an endurance. equal to that
OF an Indian ena bIcd him to spend days
hunting in the mountains, during which
time he obtained sustendnce from the
berries and herbs growing in the woods
and from fish Of the mountain streams.
Old residents of Hillsville, including
Judge BOllen, tell many interesting
stories regarding the hardness Of
Uncle Billy and declare they remen-
Der him bringing game to HillsvilIe
when he had passed his ninetieth br,h-
day.
Do Not Know Fear.
II was this typical and indomitable
mountaineer hardness of the Combs
family blended with the spirit Of the
Jerry Allen family,paternal grandfather
of the Aliens, that produced the fear
less clan that annhilated the court of
Justice at Hiilsville. With their lands
the Aliens inherited a spirit that does
not know the meaning of fear and well
comes death any time rather than be
subjected to domination.
At the beginning of the civil war,
Carroll county, according to Judge Boil
len, sent more than l,S0O men to the
front. These men made up ten COM
panies of infantry and part of five
troops of cavalry. Three hundred men
of the quota died on the battlefield
while as many more died from wounds
In hospitals. At the close of the war
only half of the men sent out at the
call of the ConfederaCy from Carroll
county returned to their homes.
That these men were born fighters
can not be denied" remarked Judge
Bollen. They constituted the original
type of Carroll county settlers and It
Is hard for observers here to think that
sons of such brave men could counten-
ance the reign of outlawry just perpe-
trated by the Aliens"
The judicial circuit, in which Hills
Vile is included comprises the counties
of Carroll, GraXson Pulaski and Wythe.
Four courts are held a year. Many H.
lisit whisky cases are tried in the cir