New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-04-06
Heads of Mob That H.a. I
Alleged Insulter of Pr..;
dent Known
Authorities Condem,
Action of Mine,
Victim Was Radical soc;.,
list, but Had Often a.
hrmed His Loyalty

coLLINsvILLE, H., April s.s..
NAL investigation of the death ~ w V
ert P. Prayer, who was hanvaa '0'
night by a mob, which accused him :.
d'sloyalty, will not be made unt;l \
Monday, when Roy A. Lowe, Coro,.' 1
Madison County, will hold an ;nas.
over the body.
No arrests have been made hu
officials, who spent the day in inv
cation, and none is expected r.sI
after the inquest Monday. accord;,.
Coroner Lowe.
Chief Of Police Staten, of co,,;,.
vile, declared to-day that the ;de,s.
of several members of the moh :.
known to the authorities. but thu ,o..
police would not attempt to mako :
rests, because the crime was commit,
outside the city limits. -''''''
State May Intervene
Representatives of the State A,t.,
ney General and the adjutant c .ass
Will be present at the inquest. prenarsi
to carry forward any measures deemss
necessary to apprehend those who ns,.
tlclpated IN the hanging.
Announcement to this effect ma,
made tonight after Governor Lowds,
Attorney General Prundage and IrnitsJ
States District Attorney Knots Nv, :.
Springfield, H., had issued stateme,,
demanding that the guilty parties i,
prosecuted.
Mayor j. II. Siegel of Collinsville 4.
clared he would launch no investie,
ton of his own accord, but that h
stood ready to cooperate with stat
and county officials. In a statemen
issued tonight he asserted he ha
telegraphed to-day to Senator Over
man, chairman of the Senate Judiciar
Committee, urging the immediate psss
age of the law imposing d severe pen
atty on disloyalty. 1t was his opinior
he said. that the violence last niet
was the result of neglect by the Fed
eral government to furnish this pen
atty.
Disloyalty Law Urged
1--WE arrested a man charged viii
disloyalty last Sunday he declaret
but. because of insufficient evident
under the present law, we were unabl
to hold him. The crowd last night ev
IDENTIFY believed that another disloys
list was about 20 escape, and took tn
matter in their own hands. This d.
plorablc act merely emphasizes the nj
cessity for a drastic law to apply
such cases"
SO far as could be learned to-nigh
the action of the mob was precipitou
and no person as yet has stated cor
crete instances of disloyalty by Pr
ger. 1t is known that he registered
an enemy alien at the Office of III
United States marshal in ST. Louis 0
June 27 last. giving his occupation
baker. He asked for permit to en-
ter all barred zones to seek employ
ment. The permit was granted.
1t was also discovered that he regis
tered for the army draft on June
last, and that, in April, 1917, he cause
the arrest Of man on a disloyalt
charge. His friends assert he va
radical in his views on socialism bu
when the United States entered tn
war he declared he was "all for Amer
ica."
Many Foreigners in Mob
The mob idea had its inception,
was said tonight, in a saloon on tn
outskirts of the city where miners fr0I
Maryville and Collinsville gathered
Many of the men were foreigners wh'
understood little English, and IT is Ds
lieved the remarks OF Prayer wef'
magnified, with tragic result. :.
Rumors shat quantities OF powus.
had been boarded in a mine by Prsgs'
and that in his home were found NV
lnerous discriminating maps were denls'
tonight by the authorities.
Prayer was unmarried, and so Tar u
is known had no relatives in this coua
try. He was born in Dresden. Gel
many, and came to the United STATES
1905.
Knceling with his arms crossed
Prayer prayed in German for tnis'
minutes before he was strung up =.
cording to statements to-day by me'
bors OF the lynching party. 80:
Before the rope was placed apous ~ y.
neck Prayer wrote the following n0'
IL German:
"Dear parents: Carl Henry Prsge'
Dresden. Germany must on 'a ais
the fourth day of April. 1918, os
Please pray for me. my dear parens,
This is my last letter and testament
Your dear son and brother.
"ROBERT PAUL PRAGEK.
In Prayers pocket was found lons
"proclamation," IN which he stated o. :.
loyalty TO the United States ana !.
union labor and told of his difficult! u
entering the miners union. :,
Prayer yesterday afternoon pun v
posters at the Maryville mine P's
claiming his loyalty to the govern,,n.ssass.
When the miners left the WORRIES
they were incensed by the procia1'
tions and began to hunt Prayer.