The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-07

turned to the door and went out on the
porch Four men with drawn revovers were
running toward him. Raising his hands
above his head he begged them not to
shoot him. Four pistols cracked in tie same
instant and Ferguson fell dead on the door
step of the little home.
The four men picked him up and carried
him back to the spot where the other men
had fallen and his body was thrown among
the heap Of dead in the street Other men,
bers of the party who had run to cover had
been found. and their bodies were in the
street too.
physician started to go to the side sof
the fallen men. He saw a score of rcvolvers
and rifles leveled at him, and he turned
away.
Mayor w. o. Porter of williamson learned
of the shooting and hurried to the town on
a train. He found mob of blood crazed
men raging through the dim and unghted
streets and firing at intervals at the bodies
OF the seven men, Trains were dashing
through the town without stopping. and
conductors warned the passengers to conceal
themselves from the windows Of the coaches.
Mayor Porter stopped one Of the trains three
hours after the shooting and lifting the
bodies from the street. placed them in a
baggage coach and took them to Williamson.
Sheriff Makes No Arrests.
Matewan that night and did not make any
arrests. Members of the state constabulary
under orders Of Gov. Cornwell rushed to
the scene. "Sid" Hatfield went boldly among
them according TO the testimony that was
later given to a grand jury. and boasted OF
his part In the fatal shooting
Judge James Damron of Afingo county.
who himself was once the object of an
attempted assassination in the streets of
Williamson. Immediately Summoned a grand
jury and demanded the indictment of the
men involved in the shooting. Fifteen armed
guards were placed around the door of the
Grand Jury room Each witness was
searched for arms before he entered the
room
The guards were placed there to prevent
the witnesses from getting into a gun fight
among themselves" said a member of the
Grand Jury, with a nervous laugh.
Judge Damron in addressing the grand
jurors arraigned in singing fashion the
lawnessness in the border country He re-
ferred to the unhappy conditions prevailing
for more than a generation on the river
and aggravated at the present time, he said
by the fact that politics had entered into the
situation. lie referred to the reports Of IL
legal voting in Mingo county in the State
primary on May %, and Of the alleged
frauds i'm connection with tho counting of
the ballots.
Nineteen indictments were returned by
the Grand Jury, including two against sid"
TTatheld--one on the charge of murder and
the other on the charge Of taking 500 from
the body Of Albert Felts while in the street
after tho shooting. All OF the indicted men
were released on bonds OF $40 900 each. ana
signed by Sheriff Blankenship and other Of
fcials of Mingo county.
Fourteen days after the death OF Mayor
FISHERMAN his widow was married TO sid"
Hatfield in Huntington.
The source OF the shot that killed Tester
man has never been ascertained. Hatfield
was standing within three or four feet of
him when he fell 70 the ground.
The trial Of Hatfield and his associates
will come in January Gov. Cornwen has
been asked to provide armed guards from
outside OF Mingo county for the court room
while the trials are In progress.
The shooting at Matewan was the signal
for new reign OF terror In the border coun-
try. Old time feudists, who had been work.
ing in the mines and were on strike, took
to the hills and mountains with their rifles