The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-20

........ssss..s.......s. to the prison commission at that point. He could have been sent by the com mission to one of the county chain gangs of the state, or put to work in the prison, at the discretion of the commission.
 The excitement which attended his entrance In the prison was such that no disposition, that would send him away from it seemed safe or advisable. As after events have shown, there was really no gang in Georgia. where he would have been secure. He was kept at work therefore in the prison as other prisoners. awaiting any other disposi- | ton that might be found advisable. The state penitentiary, IS it is called, was never built with the idea of preventing an attack from the out | side. Any determined body of men woulG be able to effect an entrance, if such an attempt was decided upon. l There was no stockade around the l prison; only wire fence. It was found cut at the time of the attack, and could have easily been penetrated at any point.
 "The vast building was full of win dows, both in the basement and main story. It was like a dormltory one great sleeping apartment. the prisoners
  ] occupying the sleeping dormitory at night. The cots stood side by side, Il. easy proximity. This method of taking | care of the prisoners at night has been 1 found to be the healthiest in the south" "When I asked the legislature at their recent session to appropriate money to be used in building separate cells for | tho prison farm newspapers took up the matter, and contended with much force that | was entirely wrong.
 "In my consultation with the prison | cc cmmission over MT. Frank, we felt. and thought of the need of more guards, more wardens; but the idea was that these were needed to prevent his fellow prisoners from hurting him. I felt that there was too much exposure in letting the prisoners all sleep together in the same great room. but the outside attack l was not considered in this. Such danger was thought tc be small after the first month It was believed that, if prison guard could hold an attacking party in check long enough to get word to the authorities, the prisoners could. be pro- tected. The county authorities were close at hand and there was one of the | best military companies in the state within two miles of the prison. This com pany, with the militia in Macon, had been dir ected by the adjutant general to keep in readiness for immediate service If called on.
 Prevented Assistance
 "The complete secrecy of the movement; the careful preparation of every detail; 1 the cutting of the telephone and tele- graph wires. thus completely isolating the prison from the outside world, pre- vented any expected assistance and en- abled the attack to succeed.
 1 There is no provision of law for keep ing A military guard over the state farm. This would be impossible under our ex- isting statute, as the governor cannot use the military unless the civil authori- l ties first request 1t.
 l Under our constitution, the civil au- i thority is superior to the mlitary-and martial law must be declared before the soldiers can take charge.
 | "I would have called out the militia l to prevent an invasion of the state s property, but even in such case, it is considered nec/ssary to consult the civil authorities first. and simply use the mt
 tia to aid them.
 Some four weeks ago I received an alarm in the form of secret message to | the effect that A mob intended 10 storm the prison and lynch Frank on stain 1 night l at once telephoned the authori-
 ties in charge. including the prison com
 mission. the warden at the state farm the sheriff of Baldwin country and Cap tain Ennis of the Baldwin Rifles I se- cured the proper request from the civil
 authorities, and immediately had General Nash to get in readiness to handle any local situation thIt might arise. and 1, Captain Ennis was directed to call his men to the armory. prepared to go to I the farm at once. The Macon military l was also put under arms.
 1 Incurred Censure
 | For this course. I incurred consider | able censure, for the alarm seemed to be
 entirely unfounded, and the people most concerned felt that had done them an injustice. even threatening to call an in dignation meeting to protest against the course I had adopted.
 1 'lt has come to light since the result
 of Monday nights work that my prompt action In this matter delayed the lynch ing of the prisoner for a month, as the
 mob coming in few miles of Milledge-
 vile and hearing of the preparation, de
 cided to postpone the attack
 On Monday night the militia would
 have been called out had the request been made in time II seems that thu
 mob went to the rrison at about lt
 o'clock Tn the night. knew nothing
 ON the occurrence until about IA Tuesday morning. when l was called over the telephone by Constitution
 rep6rter. who stated to me that mol