The Washington herald., 1917-05-23
Two Colored Persons Men
toned in Confession of AL
legged Slayer of Girl Given
Freedom After Trial.
CBy the InternatIonaI Ne,,s s.-,ice.I ]

CBy the international News Se=viceD
Memphis. Tenn. May 22-Dewitt Ford
and Dan Armstrong. two negroes named
by Eli Persons in his confession just
before a mob burned him at the stake
today. were released tonight. Thousands
Of persons who had gathered early in
the evening in the expectation Of seeing
Ford and Armstrong share the fate Of
Persons went quietly to their homes.
Both negroes convinced a committee
Of public safety" formed by the mob
leaders that they knew nothing of the
murder OF Is year old Antoinette Rappal.
for whose staying Persons was lynched
The police and deputy sheriTs were pa
trolling the negro sections OF Memphis
tonight, fearing serious outbreaks Ru-
mors that the negroes were calling mass
meetings caused many white men and
women TO arm
The mob that took Persons stay from
officers and burned him is beyond con-
troll Of either city or county authorities.
-Four men in an automobile drove through
thickly populated negro section this
afternoon and tossed half a leg and the
charred skull Of the negro Persons at a
group OF negroes, shouting, This is our
compliments"
Jury Pleads Ignorance.
A coroner's jury late this afternoon
! found that Persons came to his death
from causes unknown to the Jury.
While more than 1000 persons looked
on, Persons was burned TO death by the
mob OF Unmasked men.
The lynchinC took place in a steel age
specially constructed for the burning Of
the negro, on the exact spot where the
murder was committed.
Several hundred women and girls stood
by and watched the death agony Of the
negro who had confessed chopping OF
the head Of the young school girl and
then assaulting her dead body.
The burning of the negro was DELAYED
for several hours pending the arrival
from Mississippi for a crowd OF citizens
who had sent word ahead that they de-
sired to witness the ceremony The city
OF Memphis was agog with excitement
Many business houses failed to open their
doors. and the newspapers closed their
edition early so that employees could
go to the scene OF the lynching.
Persons had been captured from a
sheriffs party last night near Holly
Springs. Miss. His arrival in Memphis
was delayed by a storm which made the
roads nearly impossible
Once inside the steel cage. Persons was
lashed fast to a stake. The faggots
saturated with gasoline. were piled so
as to surround his legs. and while the
gathered thousands cheered. the match
was applied to the pyre.
As the flames leaped into the air the
negro's screams could be heard for half
n mile.
Howl Like Mad Men.
The flames burned slowly. and it was
several seconds before the form OF the
negro was hidden by the blaze As the
fire Ieaped about him the negro could
be seen to pray, but his words were lost
In the craCkle OF the flames and the
shoutings of the mob
The men who had led in the capture Of
Persons leaped about the fire and howlcd
like mad men. They permitted the fire
to burn until the last remnant OF flesh
fell from the negro's charred bones.
A COlored automobile driver named Burt
Ingram. close to the pyre, unbalanced bv
the excitement. caught up an American
flag as the last OF the flames died down.
and waving it above his head shouted:
We're all through here, boys Let's
Join the Germans
He tore the flag to shreds and was i'm
mediately grabbed by a crowd Of white
men who attempted to rush him TO the
dying blaze where Persons skeleton still
hung. Five policemen rescued him. He
will be turned over to the Federal au-
thorities.
A sign was nailed on a barn near the
scene of the Iynching just as the fire was
started in the lynching cage. 1t read:
The South today has avenged the
death OF a red-blooded Southern girl
who gave her life to satisfy the fiend sh
desire OF black man We have burne /"
While Persons was being burned a
member OF the mob caught up a IO-ye u
old negro boy and compelled him to sit
on log close to the burning lynching
pyre all the while Persons was dying
That's a living example OF what viii
happen to you and other negroes who
outrage white women" he was told,