Arizona republican., 1912-03-15
County Seat Village Thrown Into Confusion When a Gang of Mountain Des. peradoes Commit Whole sale Murder
JUDGE IS SLAIN
 ON THE BENCH
Terrible Crime is Committed by Virginia Moonshiners for Purpose of Averaging Conviction of Member of Gang
HSsociaicd Press DiSbGfchl

| /tNSOC tuItU { FCSS DtSpiLCH 1 HlLLSVILLE, Va. March 14.- i Troops Of mountain outlaws rode down out of the Blue Ridge today to the ' Carroll county court house here, as- sassinated the judge upon the bench,
 the prosecut utor before the bar, the sheriff at the door, in less time than 1 1t takes to tell 1t, and while sentence | was being pronounced on Floyd Allen, one of their number. When the crack
 of the rifles died away only one mem Der of the human fabric of the court Dexter Goad, the clerk-was alive and he had been wounded
 Jurymen and onlookers were struck by the fusilIade but none was ser iousIy wounded. Tonight the outlaws
 are up in mountain bush with citi-
 zen posse making a serblance of pur-
 suit. Sheriffs' deputies from neigh boring counties cannot reach here be-
 fore morning. A special train from Roanoke tonight brought twenty de-
 tectives from Galax, the nearest rail-
 road station. nine miles away. IL will
 be midnight before the men can get
 here over the mountain roads, hub deep in spring mud. 1t will be prob
 ably daylight before the forces can be assembled. A reward of a thousand dollars for the capture of the band offered by Governor Mann, was in
 creased tonight to three thousand. The governors proclamation states that three hundred dollars will be paid for each individual member of
 the band, dead or alive. Captain E.
 w. Devant, Of the Second Virginia
 regiment, has been ordered here with
 200 men, rifles and ammunition.
 Troops from Roanoke and Lynchburs
 may not be called. The shooting ter
 rorized Hillsvile to a point Of par
 alysis. Not a man would give an or
 der or organize pursuit.
 Judge Thornton l.. Massie rose
 from the chair as the bullets struck
 him. and fell across his desk. Com
 monwealth Attorney William Foster. with half a dozen bullets in his
 brain. crumpled down on the floor.
 Sheriff Lewis Webb was shot and
 killed as he reached for his revolver. The bullets grazed Clerk Goad and in the confusion he was reported
 killed
 Jurors who had been wounded slightly were reported dead and re-
 ports of a wholesale slaughter went out.
 Floyd Allen was before the bar this morning on conviction. He had been taken prisoner by a deputy sheriff Allen had struck the officer over the head with the butt of rifle and escaped Sheriff Webb had gone into the mountains and taken Allen despite { dire warning of what the venture might mean.
 Attorney Foster prosecuted fear | lessly and a mOuntaineer jury, gath cred from the inland region (fOr no man in Carroll county cared to sit on the trial at alb had convicted him. i This morning the fact that he was to be sentenced attracted an unusual
 ly large gathering at the court house | in the center of the village. Those ! who could not get into the small room peered through the windows | Just as Allen was about to be called mp for sentence two of his brothers. | Sidney and Jack, at the head of a 1 | eers, rode up to the court house. The ponies were splashed with mud that testified to a long ride through the ' hills The two brothers and their companions. some carrying rifles and
 others armed with revolvers. crowded i into the small courtroom and stood behind the rail about the door Floyd was in the dock In youth he was a fine figure. and even at fifty. when [ his reddish brown Whiskers are turn | ing grey, he iS no Weakling. Judge | Massie mounted the bench and Prose- cutor Foster moved sentence upon
 Allen. who stood up. There was
 shuffling of feet and a general move
 ment among the mOuntaineers in the 1 back of the room The usual formal ities over. the judge began to pro- nounce sentence. The last words that fell from his lips precipitated the tragedy: one year at hard labor
 Before the last word was concluded the fusillade began. Allen. with an oath never to go tO prison. sprang out 1 of the prisoners dock as Judge Mas
 sic collapsed upon the bench. An other roar of shots and Prosecutor Foster was on the floor in a heap. Sheriff Webb was springing forward for the prisoner when the lead found