The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-08-07

SAEA&Ee0/
"Dare not? Yes, but we dare"
,der-illegal dillingham; you can't make
anything else out Of it or talk anything
else into it. have committed no
crime. am not to be killed by you
because you dare not, In spite of all
you say. outrage the law to that ex-
tent"
And they looked each other in the
eyes so long and hard that every one
else in the schoolhouse held their
breath.
Dare not?' says the pockmarked
man. Dare not? Yes. but we dare
The only question for us men here is
whether we dare let you 60 Free
"Your defense of lynching," says Dr.
Kirby. "shows that you at least are
man who can think Tell me what
am accused of"
And then the trial begun in earnest
The doctor acted as his own lawyer
and the pockmarked man. whose name
was Grimes, as the lawyer agin US.
You could see that crowd had made up
| its mind beforehand and was only CIV
| ing us what they called a trial to sat.
| isfy their own conscience. But the
fight was betwixt Grimes and Dr. Kir-
by the hull way through.
One witness was a Teller that had
been in the hotel at Cottonville the
night we struck that place.
This man admitted himself that he
was here to turn the niggers white"
said the witness.
| DR.. Kirby had told 'em what kind of
medicine he was selling. We both re-
membered it. We both had to admit it.
The next witness was the Teller that
run the tavern at Bairdstown. He had
with him, fur proof. bottle Of the
stuff we had brought with us. He
told how we had went away and left it
there that very morning.
| Another witness told Of seeing the
doctor talking in the road to that there
niger bishop. which any one could Of
seen it easy enough. fur they wasn't
nothing secret about it. We had met
him by accident But you could see it
made agin us.
Another witness says he lives not fur
from that Big Bethel church. He says
be has noticed the niggers was worked
up about something fur several days
They are keeping the cause OF it Sc
cret. He went over to Big Bethel
church the night before, he said. and
he listened outside one OF the windows
to find out what kind of doctrine that
crazy bishop was preaching to them.
They was all SO worked up and the
power was with :em so strong and
they was so excited they wouldn't Of
hearn an army marching by. He had
hearn the bishop deliver message to
his flock from the Messiah. He had
seen him go wild afterward and preach
an equality sermon.
Then they was six other witnesses.
All had been in the gang that lynched
the niger that day. That niger had
confessed his crime before he was
lynched. He had told how the mig
gers had been expecting Of Messiah
fur several days. and how the doctor
was him. He had died approaching
and a-prophesying and thinking to the
last minute maybe be was going to get
took up in chariot of fire.
Things Kept looking worse and
worse fur u.s. They had the story as
the niggers thought 1t to be- They
thought the doctor had deliberately
represented himself as such. instead
of which the doctor had refused to be
represented as that there Messiah.
More than that. he had sever sold
bottle Of that medicine ,
Then the doctor gave bio own tesh.
mony. ..... .... ..
Gentlemen" be says. 1T is true
that came down here to try out that
STUFF In the bottle there and see IT a
market could be worked up for it. 1t
is also true that. after | came here
and discovered what conditions were.
decided not to sell the stuff. ! didn't
sell any. About this Messiah business
know very little more than you do.
The situation was created, and blum
dered into it. l sent the negroes word
that was not the person they ex-
! pected. The bishop lied to them. THat
is my whole story" ~z
But they didn't believe him Fur It
was Jest what he would Of said II he
had been guilty. as they thought him.
And then Grimes gets up and says:
Gentlemen, demand for this pris-
oner the penalty of death.
"He has lent himself to situation
calculated to disturb in this county
the peaceful domination Of the black
race by the white. NJ lls .15ll
l ''The negro who was lyqched today
might never have committed the crime e
Us did had not the Wild, disturbing
dream u equality been sdrrins = biz biz