Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1918-02-15
LEGAL PUBLICATIONS.

Here is a story from democrat
ic paper, the Randolph Enterprise.
published in Elxins, West Virginia:
+ TARkED AND FEATHERED.
An Elkins Attorney Gets a Heavy
" Dose.
+. H. Keenan, Handled Roughly By
A Mob Last Friday Night.
The whole town'has been excited
this week over an event that took
place last Friday night. A well
known citizen was captured on the
Main business street of the city and
taken out of town and tarred and
feathered and then brought back
and dumped off in front of his
boarding place. The victim was l..
H. Keenan,, who has practiced law
In Elkins. for a quarter OF CEN
fury or niore. His family has been
away the past year and their house
closed up and Mr.. Keenan, boarding
at the private boarding house of
J. G.. Hartman. on Randolph Avenue
next to the old Central hotel. For
some time there had been threats
against keenan, and he had been
warned to leave town as he was al
legged to be a ProGerman and
against the war. Friday night be-
tween ten and eleven o'clock he was
going home to his boarding house
and fell in with Attorney J. Floyd
Strader, who was also on, his way
home. Just below the Enterprise
Office some men were waiting in the
alley Tor him and as he came along
they jumped out and grabbed him
and showed Strader into the street.
keenan, says some one struck him
| and knocked him unconscious He
says he only saw four men at that
time. and they had their faces
BACKED and wore masks. They had
an auto waiting and quickly loaded
him into that and tied his hands be-
hind his back and tied bunch OF
absorbant cotton over his mouth so
he could not hollow or call for help
The auto speeded out Of town to-
ward Beverly and was followed by
| several other autos all loaded with
men. t4it az
Going over Sally Mike Hill" past
the College the mob let of steam
by shooting up" that end Of the
town. This scared the victim SO
badly that he was in a dazed con-
dition and naturally thought his
time had come and that he was
about to be lynched. keenan, says
someone hit him on the other side
of the head. when they threw him
in the auto and that some fellow
showed gun in his face and threat
ened to blow his brains out and de-
ciared that 1t ought to have been
done long ago and that when they
got him to the reception place and
formad the receiving line. some one
else took crack at him and hit
him in the side. The ghost dance
was held about mile out of town
In the road In front of a new and
vacant cottage built on the Stall
maker place. The tar had been
heated before they started and a
lot of chicken feathers collected in
bags When they stopped at the
place and hustled their victim out
and none too gently. they stripped
his clothing off and 1t was very
cold night too and then with a big
paint brush applied tar all over
him. No such job of painting has
been done in this section for a long
time. Then the feathers were
poured over him and stuck on and
enough scattered around for anoth-
er such job The shivering victim
was then told to put on his clothes
and more tar poured inside his coat
and vest and the bucket emptied
over his head. A big piece of can
vas was wrapped around keenan,
and he was placed on the running
board of the auto and two men held
him there. while they sped back to
town. They did not want to get
tar on the auto and so held him out
till they arrived in front of his
boarding place, when without slow
ing up they gave him shove. head
long into the street. Had his head
struck the curb or pole or any
thing hard 1t might have killed him
but as he only plowed up the snow
he escaped with shaking up and
made his way into the house.
Mr.. Hartman was In bed asleep
but the women folks were still up
knitting sweaters for the soldier
boys. keenan, left his shroud out
in the yard and 1t has been hanging
ever since on the mail-boX in front
of Stalnaker's drug store. The old
man evidently took his shoes off and
wanted to keep quiet as possible
about it and got to the bathroom
upstairs and went to work on the
tar and feathers, but 1t was . hard
job to separate himself from it,
After while the women folks smelt
the tar and thought the roof was
on fire. They went out and looked
all around the house, inside and
out, but could discover no sign Of
fire. They then noticed the tar
tracks in the hall and followed them
upstairs to the bathroom door and
found 1t locked and the knob cover
ed with tar. They then aroused
Mr.. Hartman to get up and inves-
tigate. He smelt tar but no fire
and also trailed ii to the bathroom
door and demanded admittance.
which was reluctantly granted He
demanded an explanation of affairs
and Mr.. Keenan, told him that he
had been tarred and feathered and
worked all night in the bath-tub