The Washington times., 1923-01-14

WHEN the masked band Of thirty
M five hooded like the Ku Klux
Khan dragged their five victims
from an automobile late in the afternoon
of that August day last Summer near
Bastrop, la, they felt that they were
secure from any possible danger.
Their plans were well laid, but in their
overconidence in their complete security
they did one careless thing.
But even this piece of imprudence
would have been of no serious conse-
guence if most unexpected, uncanny oc-
currence had not happened later on, which
to their CONSERVATION completely upset
their last final step to cover their tracks.
As the readers of the newspapers have
by this time learned, the Ku Klux Khan. is
so thoroughly entrenched in Bastrop and
the neighboring town of Mer Rouge and
in many counties in Louisiana, that it
felt no fear of trouble from the local
authorities. It is asserted that sheriffs,
deputy sheriffs, local town police, mayors,
jailers and the prosecuting attorneys are
members of the Klan.
In fact, when the Governor of the State
undertook to make the local authorities
move toward the punishment of the hood
ed knights, he found that he was blocked
at every turn and he put on his hat, got
on train. went to Washington and told
the President of the United States that
here was community so thoroughly in
the hands of masked outlaws that only
the strong arm of Federal troops and Fed
eral detectives could prevail.
SO it is not surprising that those thirty
five masked men, with the knowledge that
most of all important machinery of the
law was bound by secret oath in brother
hood, made one careless blunder when
they held up passing farmer and set
him to work bringing few pals of water
from a neighboring well for the masked
men to drink on that hot August after
noon.
Barry Milestone brought the water,
pailful after pailfuI And as the hooded
Efknights" lifted their masks to drink
MILESTONE recognized one after another
of them, and the memory of those faces
was burned into his mind at that moment
for the future use of the Attorney-Gen-
eral of the State, who will prosecute the
alleged murderers.
. But it would have been of no conse-
quence, that piece of carelessness in press
ing into service witness who is not a
Klansman, if the other links in the chain
of their security had held fast.
Of the five men snatched out of that
of the neighboring woods, three were
more or less tortured anl finally turned
loose. The Klansmen were said to be
seeking information as to who had had the
audacity to make an attack upon one of
the Klan. The Mayor of Mer Rouge, DR..
McKoin, had reported that he had been
lured away from his house one night on a
bogus medical call and had been shot at
as he returned home in his automobile.
To dispute the authority of the Khan or
to attempt any violence on the life of a
Klansman was intolerable The Khan de-
termined to find out who fired those al
legged shots at Dr.. McKoin, it is said.
After three of the, party which had
been seized in the auto had been torment
81 and threatened without gaining any
Information, they were let go and the
hooded group devoted their attention ia
the two remaining captives, Major Watt
Daniels and Thomas F. Richayds.
Further on into the woods the masked
men led these two unfortunate captives
and just what happened after that is not
now permissible to print. But exactly
and precisely what happened in the minut.
est detail is now known to the Federal
and State authorities of Louisiana. Every
thing that was said and done by those
thiry-five men in hoods, and the name OF
every one of them has been put in the
form of sworn affidavits and corroborated
by several witnesses. There is nothing
that is not known about that raidine
party, and this detailed, explicit evidence
will be produced in abundance when the
murder trial begins.
). The raiders, some of them boastfu
= their feeling of security, had told tbs