The Chicago whip. (Chicago, Ill.) 1919-19??, 1921-05-14
l..E LOVE
AFFAIR AROUSES
WRATH OF TEXANS
Results In Seizure of Houston Doctor, Who Is Brutay
Handled By Masked Mob.
BY a Staff CORRESPONDENT

BY a Staff Correspondent
Houston, Texas, May l4.-One of
the most brazen and hellish acts re-
corded in the annals of American bar
barism occurred here Sunday morning
OF last week, when DR.. ]. l.. Cockrell,
dentist with offices at 409H Milan
street, was set upon by a mob of
whites, taken into the country on the
outskirts OF the city, and unsexed.
DIR. Cockrell was recently arrested
and fined $1,000 on a charge involving
him with a we'll known white woman.
After his release upon payment of
the fine, the maximum under the law
in Texas for such an offense, the dem
tist resumed his practice. He enjoyed
very lucrative practice, having pa
tients of both races.
:. = es Gangsters Halt Car
Sunday morning, May l. while EN-
route to church with his family and
brother, DIR. w. II. Cochrell of Bren-
ham, Texas. an automobile containing
a crowd of whites, including several
Italians and licensed physician, drove
up besides the doctors car and com
manded his wife, who was at the steer
ing wheel, to stop the car. When the
dentist replied that they had no time
to stop, a number of these 'mysteri-
Gus" mobocrats leaped upon the run
ming board of his car and with drawn
revolverS ordered the dentist out,
while the others felled his visiting
brother with atSlow from behind.
Attemp,; Resistance
In reaching for his pistol, which ap-
parently was in the auto pocket, the
dentist failed to grasp it in time to
shoot his attackers, and after they had
forcibly thrown him into their car
and sped away the weapon was found
lying on the ground beside the car.
Rendered Sterile
The carload OF gangsters, composed
of some OF the leading citizens of the
community was met in the country by
two additional cars. according to DR..
CockrelrS statement, and he was car
ried to Pearland, in an adjacent coun-
ty, where ether was administered to
him and an operation performed to
render him sterile. After performing
their diabolical operation they left him
in a little old shack and phoned to
Houston for an ambulance to come
and get him. He was brought back to
the city and placed in the St. Joseph
Inhrmary but his family spiEited him
away and placed him in safe hands.
The physicians at the inhrmary state
that the brutal operation was failure.
while reports reaching the ear of The
Whip representative state that he is
getting along nicely.
Race Riots, Feared
When news of the abduction
reached the ears OF the people, the
whites got alarmed and rushed for
stores. charging that the
colored people were going to raise
hell"
As soon as the kidnapping occurred
the police and constabulary depart
ments were notified, but no earnest
efforts wer-~;-ut forward to even try
to ascertain the identity of the gang
sters.
Mayor Oscar \Iolcombe, recently
inducted into office, issued a strong
proclamation appealing for law and
order and stated that if the present
police department did not break up
such lawless bands he would FIRE" the
entire force and get new one.
Refuse to Offer Reward
He also suggested the offering of a
$500 reward for each OF the perpetra
tors of the horrible crime, but City
Commissioners Anderson and Halver
ton objected to such rewards, stating
that it would be AN admission that the
law had completely broken down.
This was the fourth kidnapping of
its kind to occur in Houston in the
last few months. the first three victims
being white men. The white citizens
are split into three distinct camps
those who oppose openly such prac-
tices, those who endeavor to compro-
mise the issue, and those who favor
it and practice it. In the meantime
the city continues to sit upon dyna-
mite.