The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-22
Louisiana Troops Continue to Drag Lake and Protect Divers Seeking Bodies
 of Slain Men
Br Associated Pres,

MER ROUGE. La, Dee. 2i.--Biv- ouaced tonight on the shores of Morehonse parish lakes, a company of Louisiana national guard bent upon mission probably unparalleled in the history of this nation, faced the prospect or spending the Christ mas holidays dragging the waters and affording protection to profess sional divers, in an effort to recover the remains Of two prominent ci.- izens of Mer Rouge. who were be- heVed to have been murdered by masked and white-robed men of three states
 Two days of effort oh the part of the military and some 75 men and boys of the parish have been fruit less Unsuccessful in it's efforts to recover the bodies in Lakes Cooper and LaFouehe, their search will be extended to other lakes in the viz cinity.
 Drag Every Lnke
 We will drag every lake in the parish until We find them" Capt W. ", Cooper, commanding officer of the company, declared today.
 Machine guns were planted at strategetic points on the lake shores today as preeaution against the possibilities of snipng on the part of those aligned with the mob that swooped down upon five Mer Rouge citizens last August. while they were returning from a celebration. and carried them off to a punishment ground where they were severely handled. Watt Daniels and Thomas Ricards have been missing since that night.
 ha ell sff.or f.f was not premeditated Is conceded by all interested. Young Daniels re- sented the merciiess flogglng ad- miiistercd his 1o-year- old father and tore the mask off of the man. and recognizing him called out his name. which was heard by Richards and both men were slain in the flgh. that ensued. according to story credited to members of their families.
 Know Identity of Men
 The bodies were then believed to have been weighted down wi.h wagon wheels and thrown into one Of the elose-Dy lakes.
 Department of justice men. work ing on the case for many months, are said to know the identity of many of the members of the band an upon the recovery of the bodies. which will establish that a murder has been committed. wholesale nr- rests will follow and court will be established at Bastrop. the parish seat. where open hearings under di- rection of Governor Parker and other state officials will be established
 Soundings of professional divers made at LaFourche ferry landing to- day. where investigators had charted the most probable location of the bodies, revealed the fact the depth of the lake at that point was 300 feet which makes successful opera ticns there almost an impossibility.
 A plan to drain Cooper lake of it's water was also abandoned late today and instead soldiers and parish cit- fzens waded through the shallow waters but without results.
 Mer Rouge Armed Camp
 Mer Rouge has been an armed camp for more thas four months A ma jority of the citizens here have open ly expressed opposition to the activ- ities of the hooded band responsible for the Kidnapping Of Daniels and Richards, the beating of Daniels TO- year-old father and ". C. Andre WIS by the masked men and threats against other citizens eminating
 This situation caused large num- Der of citizens of Mer Rouge to organ ize and arm themselves. For weeks a large number of citizens of the town have kept rifles and shotguns loaded and ready for instant use in their places of business ana residences. These firearms were in evidence throughout Mer Rouge today in dif- ferent places of business.