Evening star., 1923-01-12
HOODED BAND MEN
NAMED BY MAYOR
r. L. Dade of Mer Rouge
Identifies Four Who Held
Up and Disarmed Citizens.
He WORE BLACK MASK
Capt. Skipwith, Cyclops of Klan,
Asks for Conference With At
torney General Coco.
HE WORE BLACK MASK
BY the Associated Press.


!. K. Skipwith, Kelly Harp and Ed
Ivey as members of a Flu KluX Khan
band which held up and disarmed
Watt Daniel, w. 9. Andrews and
Harry Neelis, Mer Rouge citizens,
near the village of Gallon. La, sew
eral months prior to- the kidnapping
and murder of Daniel and Thomas +.
Richard last August.
Previously, state attorneys an
nounced that Capt. Skipwith, exalted
cyclops of the Morehouse Parish khan,
had requested a conference with At
torney General y. Y. Coco and his as
sistants in connection with the
hooded band atrocities in this parish.
Capt. Skipwith is said TO have re-
quested the conference in order TO
go into the full details of the opera
tion Of the Morehouse khan since it's
organization and at the same time to
establish that the operations of the
black hooded band was not under the
supervision of the khan.
Assistant Attorney General Guion
said thar the klansman's request would
ne granted. No date was fixed for
the conference, it was said. 1t is
probable it will be held Immediately.
Wore Black Mask.
Dade testified that on one Ku Nlux
Khan raid in which he participated
he wore black mask. He declared
all the other members of the party
wore white hoods.
Dade had admitted previously that
he was member of the khan band.
Can you say whether j. d. Hig-
genbotham was with the band ."
Attorney Guion asked.
II am not positive" Dade replied.
What was the purpose of the trip"
we started up TO investigate a re
port that a negro was running a gam
bling house in which white persons were
permitted to gamble with negroes"
did you find that condition to exist >"
NO, the house was dark"
Bringing his narrative TO the holding
up of the three men, Dade continued:
Neells, Daniel and Andrews had stop
ped their automobile up the road and
were sitting in the car. Some of the
men approached and asked them who
they We're"
''Were they whipped"
Saved From whipping.
mo. there was no violence, but their
guns We're taken away from them"
Was there anything else contemplat-
ed or suggested?" was asked
There was some talk of giving them
whipping, but / said: Fellows. that
will not do. l have known those boys
all the time, and 1 cannot stand for
that?"
Dade said the men were lectured
Capt. Skipwith."
What kind of lecturer"
"A moral one, about drinking and
gambling"
Did Kelly Harp have anything to
say?"
"He spoke his mind. He said they
were his friends and did not want to
see them punished"
How was the party organized to
go on this gambling crusader"
in nf ho
bank in Mer Rouge. They asked me
to go with them. They were in three
automobiles"
Where did you get your hood and
gown?"
Edward Ivy gave it to me- He
used to live in Bastrop. He had an
extra gown in this car. There were
some men in the cars L did not know.
Laurie calhoun was there l believe"
Did they pick up anybody else in
Mer Rouge?"
Yes, sir. DR.. McKoin."
HE provided himself with nlask?"
Yes, sir"
All Wore Masks.
AN OF you were masked?"
"Yes"
What color were those masks?"
Mine was black one"
Were there any other black ones?"
II believe l had the only one"
Was that the first affair of the
sort you had taken part in?"
YES, sir
Where did you get your khan re-
gala, your white hood and white
cloak?"
MY wife made it,"
Had you ever participated in any
parade -
"Once, in Monroe"
Repeat as nearly as you can as
TO what these men said TO Daniel.
Andrews and Neelis about giving
Tuhi IN
ITO the best Of my knowledge they
accused them of following them.
Some one said they should give them
a thrashing. L said Nthat would not
do. They were my friends. 1 told
Capt Skipwith that, too"
who suggested the thrashfng
ED Ivy"
stopped Making Whisky.
Did the three boys have anything
TO say?"
yes. Watt did some talking about
making whisky. He said he had quit
and had not made any in a certain
length of time"
Nothing of the kind of an alterca-
tion between the three boys and
klans?"
Did you quit the klan?'
Yes, sir; i was only in it two
months. My friends accused me Of
being an informant, which resulted in
TdluS On II negro STOC6Ty. f1OOueu men
In daylight came into Mer Rouge and
staged this raid. They told the negro
TO quit letting white men gamble in
his store"
you received two letters after the
kidnapping and final disappearance of
Richard and Daniel?'
"Yes, sir; they came through the
mails"
Two letters were handed to the
clerk for Identification, but not to be
used as evidence.
Assistant Attorney General Warren
again read the letters because the
witness did not have his glasses and
could not identify them as the ones
he had received:
Threats in Letter.
One letter read:
"You are wallowing in a cesspool Of
corruption and lawlessness that has
become a menace to the entire parish
and surrounding country. You are
shielding within your gates a num-
ber who live in open concubinage
with negro women, who manufacture
and sell whisky, who formulate plots
to assassinate good citizens in the
night time, and who are deluging
the good, law-abiding citizens of
your parish with written and oral
threats against their lives. This con-
dition of affairs must be rectif1ed at
once, or we will swoop down upon
YOUR town and wipe out the organi-
cation that is responsible for these
conditions, and which are pleased to
call themselves the Anti-Ku Klux
Khan.
1--WE know every one of the men
who formulated and attempted to
execute the plot to assassinate Dr.
McKoin. Two of them have passed
into obscurity, and the balance will
soon follow unless they read between
these lines and leave your community
while leaving is good"
The latter was Sieped asp a0nJarzU