New-York tribune., 1919-09-29
Sheriff Gives Up Man Mob
Sought to Save Lives of
100 Other Prisoners
lmperilled by the Fire
Rioters Slash Hose;
Gun Stores Sacked
One Man Killed, Two Are
Wounded; Many Blacks
Hurt in Street Fights

-
OMAHA, Ncb., Sept. 90 (By The AS
sociated Prcss). - Mayor Edward P.
Smith was hanged to trolley pole
and dangerously injured yesterday
Afternoon by mob, (which later
hanged William Brown, a negro. The
Mayor is in a critical condition early
this morning as d result Of his in
juries. A rope was thrown around tho
Mayors neck and he was pulled off the
ground twice before two police officers
succeeded in cutting the rope and get
ting him into an automobile and away
from the mob.
The Mayor had gone to the court
house and held consultation with
Sheriff Clark. Emerging from the
courthouse he met the mob and began
to make an appeal for law and order
Somebody shouted, Lynch him." and a
member of the mob threw rope
around his neck.
Several men dragged the Mayor half
block and threw the loose end of the
rope over a trolley pole. Twice they
drew the Mayors body from the
ground. Each time two police officers
cut the rope. Following the second
lad
placing the Mayor in police car and
rushed him to a surgeons Office nearby.
The Mayor was bleeding from the
mouth and nose. and after d brief eX-
animation by physicians was taken to
hospital.
Face and Body Bruised
A corps of physicians began working
over him as soon as he was removed to
! the hospital. His face and body were
badly bruised as q result OF his being
dragged by the mob.
The original members Of the mob
were augmented by hundreds Of others,
apparently equally determined to lynch
Brown. They yelled for their pris-
oner and attempted to get into the
courthouse. The few police officers on
duty We're able to keep them from
breaking in the doors for only Il short
while
A colored officer was among those to
report for duty at the Courthouse, but
! his presence only angercd the crowd.
~, -
his life being saved only by the hardest
kind Of tussle by the officers. AS it
was he was badly beaten.
The Sheriff then coupled up three
lines of interior fire hose, and with
his deputies and some police officers
attempted to dspersc the crowd by
turning the water on them. Instead
of having a quieting effect it brought
hail of stones and bricks. In ten min
utes fifty windows had been broken on
the south side of the courthouse and
much other damage done.
From that time on until the negro
was strung up to the pole the vicinity
for many blocks around was bcdlum.
Thousands of Shots Fired
A small crowd of young men, none
Of whom appeared over twenty years
Old then secured a rope, which they
| threw over the ledge Of Il second tory
window. One Of their number mounted
the rope to the window. From there
he pulled up ladder that had been
provided and score or more of his
companions followed. Once inside the
building they were followed by many
more who began working their way to
the upper floors.
The Sheriff's Office is OH the fourth
floor, facing north on Farnum Street,
and from the rear of his Office is Il
stairway and elevator to the Jail.
Nearly all of the men who got inside
were apparently armed. as numerous
shots were fired
That occurred about 4 o'clock, after
the mob had been on the scene for two
hours. From that time OIL panic
reigned with the crowd on the street.
Thousands Of shots were fired The
mob surged around the block on which
the courthouse stands.
Courthouse IL Fired
Finally, about 7 o'clock in the even
ing, after securing kerosene and tar,
they started fire in the Office of the
County Treasurer, which is on the first
floor andiat the northeast corner. The
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