The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-11-26
CITIZENS TALK
LYNCHING FOR
might RIDERS"
ClarktOn Men Going Armed
After HulIs Repulses 30in
Pitched Battle.
POSSE ARRESTS z;
TRAILED BY HOUNDS
Two Detectives Wounded and
Several Assailants Shot
Dramatic Scene.

''nightriders" of about thirty men, all
armed with revolvers and rifles, in
which the officers repulsed the attack,
all that part of Dunklin and New Mad
rid counties is in a state of armed pre-
paredness for any eventuality.
Virtually every man in ClarktOn,
Maiden, Campbell and many neighbor-
| ing towns went armed last night in
anticipation of further gun-play if an
attempt was made to liberate the
seven "nightriders" who We're placed
under arrest at ClarktOn.
| Talk Of Iynching the men arrested
for their alleged parts in the attack
upon the men in the hut was rife in
Clarkton last night, according to re-
ports received by telephone from Ken
nett and CiarktOn. The prisoners will
be removed from Clarkton and sepa-
rated as soon as possible in order to
protect them more effectually.
The battle ragged for about an hour
beginning at midnight Monday night
and lasting till about l o'clock yester-
day morning.
The men in the hut were led by
George and Oscar Hull, formerly of
the Cape and who are we'll known here.
Oscar Hull, who formerly was marshal
at Oran and acquired fame there as
the Fighting marshal of Gran" was
shot in the hand. His wound is not
dangerous.
Frank Dennis, one of the men who
! fought through the night with the
Hulls, was shot in the head. The bull
let hit him a glancing blow and laid
open the scalp from the forehead in
front several inches back on his head
He is not considered dangerously hurt
either
1t is known that several of the
"nightriders" were wounded in the bat
! tale, but the company of attacking
mon managed to carry off their
wounded with them.
A posse of citizens from Campbell
and Clarkton, who made the seven ar
rests, all day yesterday beat the
countryside in search of more of the
men supposed to be involved in the at
tack. BlOOdhOunds were brought from
Campbell to trace the men.
The fight is the most serious clash
between private detectives and secret
service operatives and the "nightrid-
ing" element that has occurred in
Southeast Missouri.
The attack was made by members
of the same association, it is believed,
that committed depredatiOns around
Sikeston several weeks ago, and who
have taken farmers from their homes,
mobbed them, and horsewhipped them
or even shot them in the vicinity of the
battle in recent weeks.
The country in that vicinity has been
virtually infested for the last few
weeks with detectives, some of them
L. S. Secret Service operatives, some
of them private detectives employed
by land owners whose properties were
endangered by the "nightriders.'
1t is said there have been at least
80 men working to learn the source
of the nightriding depredations that
have been committed around Clarkton
and Campbell in the last few days.
A couple weeks ago, T. S. Heisserer,
banker of Oran, who owns a large
farm in partnership with man named
Smith, a mile south of Clarkton and
just across the line from Dunklin
County in New Madrid, employed the
two Hull boys to go to his farm and
quietly investigate the cause of trou-
BILE that had been made for him.
Mr.. Heisserer several days ago re-
ceived a "nightrider's letter threaten
ing him. The letter was placed in a
mail bax without having gone through
the U. S. Mails. This letter was shown
to f. J. Deal, president of the South
east Missouri Trust Co., and Mr.. Heis-
serer determined to go to the bottom
of the affair.
When the two Hull boys went into
the community, they began patching on
the Heisserer-Smith farm in small
wooden hut. None knew them or what
they were there for. They maintained
a discreet silence as to their mission
and worked with their "nightrider" job
at nights.
Monday evening, George Hull walk
ed into a restaurant in Clarkton, where
he and his brother had been obtaining
their provisions of food for the last