The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-12-23
EYE WITNESS
OF HERRlN
MASSACRE
Physician Tells Jury Of
Having Seen S i x
Men Shot Down by
the Mob

of the Herrin cemetery the dae OF
the killings.
Two other witnesses, adr. and
Mrs. George. Nelson. testified they
had seen q crowd of armed men
drive 80 or 80 unarmad prisoners
from the strip" mine. where the
trouble started, past their sfarn
near the mine.
R. C. Greer. former mayor OF
Hefrin, also testified he had seen
the prisoners brought from the
mine and that there were IS in the
group escorted by 25 or 80 armed
men. He said there We're several
hundred spectators about the mine
and he saw automobiles from Mis-
spnri, Indiana, Kentucky and 9th
err states.
DR.. Shipman testified he had
followed the mob and its bleeding,
pleading captives a mile and half
Though the streets of Herrin TO the
cemetery and thar re~o -, = b =
a voliey of shots and that he saw:
the six prisoners urep 70 .lie. -
road.
The. witness testified a man I. he
|could not identify stood over the
prostrats victims and emptied the
aaceHtents Of two revolrers into their
tbodies. He; swore that Joe Carr
snaghi, one, ef the defendants, had
fired into thesthe prastEate body OF
/ Howard. Hoffman. of Huntington.
Ind, one Of the 20 non-union men
killed during the riots and that
blood had spurted into the air
| as the bullet struck. =
eOh, men. men, what are you
doing the witness quoted i5off-
man as saying. 1;.-5 81 -.
..If you have ever said your
prayers. say them now, you,
for yon wont have much longer
Shas.testia .unid dentihed leader
fof, the mob told the. prisoners just
tbefore they were shot down. !
| Asked III he could tell who did
the shooting. DR.. Shipman named
Joe carnaghi;; and, Leya Mann.
two Of the defendants now. on
trial, ind Percy Hall and Jim CAL
laghan, who have been indicted
hut who are not defendants in the
lpresent case,
/ The name Of Peter Hitler, anoth-
Ter of the defendants>who was mar
lried in the Jail tonight to Anna
Campbell. Il 8 years old, OF Mar
| ion, was brought into the evidence
! for the first time today. Hitler was
1.-THE fifth and last defendant wh.,
| has been mentioned in the testi-
mony as having been seen with
guns during the rioting..
! George Nelson was the first wit
ness 20 name Hitler, whom he said
! he had seen among, the crowd at
/ the mine in the, morning, but with
out gun. DR.. Shipnaan TESTIFIED
he had seen Hitler that night with
a gun strapped about his body
and that Hitler had said to him
that some of the prisoners had
gotten away and that he was
bound back to The mine, to search
I, for them. Shipman also said that
he had seen Leva Mann step out
of the mob at the cemetery after
the shooting. wave gun about his
head and declared:
Come on boys. we've got two
more down here"
Under the longest and severest
cross-examinat;on yet given any
lstate's witnesses, DR.. Shipman said
he had represented coal compa-
nies in about 100" claims cases
in the past three years. He denied.
however, he was prejudiced against
the miners and said he had rep
resented three or four miners in
,suits.
| Asked why he did not go to pro-
tect the six prisoners from the
mob, he replied: II did not dare"
DR.. Shipman was then asked
whether he had not told attorneys
for the defense, that he could not
identify the, men at the time, but
remembered their faces. He de-
MED he had told any one that he
had told any one that he was go
was going to seek a $4,000 reward
oirered in connection with the slay-
ings.
Mrs. Nelson testified she had
recognized c.. K, Mcdowell, super
intendent of the strip" mine.
limping painfully along among the
prisoners taken from the mine,
that he was taken down road and
that she later heard shots. She
said the only other person in the
crowd she recognized was Mrs.
Otis Clark, wife OF one Of the de-
PENDANTS. and that Mrs. Clarke said:
They've got old Peg Leg"
Nelson, however. said he had
seen Otis Clark and oscar How
ard, the latter not I defendant in
the present case, with guns lead
Mcdowell away down the road and
had heard shots and found the
mine superintendent's bullet pierc'
ed body.
Mr.. Greer testified he also had
seen Otis Clark fourishing gun
and had heard him say: "I've been
in this fight for five days and l be-
lieve in starting at the head to
!. stop a. thing. l believe in taking
every one out and stopping the
breed
Ollie A. Greer. son of r. O.