The Topeka state journal., 1922-12-20
National Guards Called to
Louisiana Town.
Mystery Surrounds MObiIiza-
ton of Soldiers.
TWO men ARE MISSING
Mer Rouge kidnapping Case
Was a Sensation.
Ku KluX Khan Organizations
Were Involved in Deal.

Monroe, La, Dec. accompany @.
Louisiana National Guard of Monroe.
which moved out of here for More
house parish yesterday afternoon. was
in camp at Mer Rouge at deybreak
this morning and will remain there
for several days, according to a mes
sage received here from Captain w.
w. Cooper, the commander.
Captain Cooper said he was unpre-
pared to mention the purpose for
which the soldiers were sent to Mer
Rouge and had no information other
than orders to go into camp.
The military company. composed of
60 men and three officers, are en-
camped in the center of the town.
which has a population of about 1900.
Il am beginning to believe that all
this talk about the company coming
to Mer Rouge is a hoax" Mayor Dade
of Mer Rouge said. Sheriff Fred Car
penter of Bastrop also could give no
information as to the troops I'm
my opinion there is nobody in More
house parish that knows a single
thing about this troop movement,
which is as mysterious as the Mer
Rouge kidnapping" he said.
The Mer Rouge kidnapping case.
which for four months has inefrec-
tually taxed all of the legal machinery
of the state, originated, accord .ng to
well informed observers. as a result OF
feud between rival factions OF
Morehouse parish.
The Ku Klux Klan organizations OF
Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississ ppf
have been charged with implication.
Conservative citizens believe the case
is more or less racial and rivals, in
many respects, the celebrated feuds OF
the Cumberland mountains of Ken
lucky, Tennessee and Virginia.
Altho the feudal fight was said TO
have been brewing for quarter OF a
century, involving some of the leading
famil es of Mer Rouge and other parts
of Morehouse parish, a climax was
reached on August "a. when J.. L.
Daniels. 30 years old, former promi-
nent Mer Rouge merchant; Watt
Daniels. his son; Thomas f. Richards:
Watt Davenport, scion of a leading
Louisiana family, and w. C. Andrews,
a planter. were kidnapped by forty or
fifty masked men.
Watt Davenport was released within
an hour and the rumor became cur
rent that the masked men were mis-
taken as to his identity" The day
following the elder Daniels and An
drews were home, in a serious condi-
ton.
Their stories gave little information
as to their experience. They admitted.
however, that they had been kidnapped
by masked men and severely beaten.
Two Still Missing.
Young Danie;. and Richards have
not since Deen neard OF ana apparent b
ly every effort to solve the mystery Of
their dtsap 5earalce has been blocked.
Governor Parker recently was In
Washington and reports of his visit
were to the effect that he sought fed
eral aid and the protection of the ma
tional army in his effort to discover
and prosecute those responsible for
the lawless esca pade.
The visit was vigorously ttccked in
the house of Representatives at the
time by various members of the
Louisiana delegation as an effort to
besmirch the fair name of the state,
Il cannot tell thing now any more
than l could the night of the kidnau-
ing or the day after" said Daniels. in
discussing the case yesterday. I'VE
were blindfolded and taken to the
woods and beaten and my son ana
Richards were taken away from US
and we have not heard a word from
them since.''
Following the kidnapping a grand
jury at Bastrop, the parish seat, made
a thoro Investigation but no fndfct-
were examined. but IT was claimed
many people in a position to testify
were afraid to submit testimony.
Report of Finding Bodies.
For the past three months there
nave been detectives in Morehouse
parish. interrogating citizens and max
ing searches for the bodies of Richards
and Daniels. which, according to some
persons, were believed to have been
cast into lake in the vicinity OF Mer
Rouge.
That the bodies of both of the miss
ing men have been located is the re-
port current In east Louisiana, the
finding is said to have been the cause
for the sending of the national guard
into Morehouse parish.
Unconfirmed reports here declare
detectives to have discovered the
bodies, bound down by heavy wagon
wheels, in one of the lakes near Mer
Rouge.