The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-21

were gwen any newspaper pu
 Dr. DooIing's experience ms related by himself seems Inconceivabie Ia . community such ns Birmingham. About o'clock Wednesday night someone knocked on the steps Of the front porch hHt did not come m to the door. Dr. Bowling went te the door and the man called and asked If he wonid come out nnd give first aid fo n man who had been injured. He said they had sent for an ambu- iapce but the man needed immediate attention.
 Although only partially dressed and with shoes united Dr. Bowling fol- lowed the man out to a seven-pas- senger automobile standing in front of the house. He was told to get In, that the injured man was on the back seat.
 His first inttmation that anything kns wrong wms when n pistol barrel was placed against his head. Almost immediately he was struck terrific blow nn the forehead with the butt end of a pistol, which tore the skin 1 open and exposed the skull. He was then quickly blfndfoided, ! ARt BbN HNA0AE ht hho HttB ttsAs AA[s V were either four or five men in the car. Ii was so dark that he had been npahic to see any of ,hoir fncer. The car nj once put on rpeed and passed out through Norwood, and i about five miles out the Pinson road | it was joined by another large auto | mobile. The cars proceeded out the ! Pinson road for nbout ten miles and I then turned off down n side road. Here Dr. Bowling was taken out and placed with his face against tree. ! He was not tied, hut, with pistol against his side, was told to hug the tree.
 others then began the whipping which continued for some time. pune tuated at intervals by warnings to leave town and thnt any publicity would mean his Heath. When he was almost completely exhausted the whipping stopped. the men jumped in their automobiles and drove away and left him. ~ Sometime during the trip Dr. Dovvi- ing had lost one of his shoes, neither of which had been fastened when he went to the door of his home 50 hurriediy.
 the wound on hts forehead, he stag
  reached the home of Dr. l.. w. Hub- bard in Tarrant City. about 1 o'clock. This friend carried him back to his home In Roebuck.
 As late as Friday afternoon pr. Dowling's injuries were further ex- amined by members of the board of health.
 Legs Badly Lacerated At that time his legs were mass 1.1 nr7A leg was badly lacerated where the skin had been torn by the blows. The bruises extended from the ankles al- most to his waist though the wounds and abrasions were worst just above 1 the knees.
 The wounds were not only on the rear of his legs. but extended clear around in front
 pr. Bowling feels that had he been less fleshy the bones of his legE would undoubtedly have been bro- ken by the force of the blows, This he tried to avoid during the whip ping by pressing his legs tightly against the tree.
 Dr. Dowling's first act was to re- rort the occurrence to the members of the Jefferson county board of health.
 Seeking AsssfIants
 Steps were at once taken looking to the capture of those guilty of the outrage pr. Bowling placed ths matter in the hands of the board of health and offered to be guided by their advice.
 Dr. Bowling had been scheduled to attend the National Medical as- seeiation convention in St. Louis dur ing the coming week and as his aeaanfiql in the in- vestigations being made here he was advised to arrange to go ahead and fill the St Louis engagement.
 The treatment accorded Dr. Dowi- ing will come as. one of the greatest shocks Birmingham has ever had. lie Is one Of the leaders of the entire country in health work. He not only directs the health system Of Bir- mingham and Jefferson county, but also holds commission from the U. s. public health service, so that the mistreatment given him becomes federal offense and is subject to action in the federal courts.
 Tn his work here he has had the entire indorsement of the medical so- ciety and of the board of health by whom he is appointed, though his salary is paid by the city and county.
 Some Recent Measures
 It Is well known that some or nfs measures in behalf of public health here have aroused resentment in some circles but it had not been dreamed that this resentment would take the form of making ,ilimsthe vic- tim of such an attack as that of Wednesday night,
 Dr. Bowling himself was at loss as to the direction his suspicious of the guilty should take. The only clue tho whippers gave was that his
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