Evening star., 1924-02-09
MILITIA CONTROLS
HERR|N, ILL, AFTER
WET AND DRY RIOTS
Hospital Fired on When JUS
tice, at Anti-KIan Meeting,
! Is Slain in Raid by Police.
ARMED KLANSMEN RULE
j BEFORE TROOPS ARRIVE
Patients Panic-Stricken During
Battle, When Mayor and Wound
/ ed Deputy Seek Refuge.
Dy the Associated Press.

GU OCputy 0c0A AsSAo6S'
By the Associated Press.
HERRIN, ILL.,, February 9.-Herrin,
scene Of the miners riot of 1922. was
taken over by state troops today as
a result of a near riot last night be-
tween "wets'' and "drys" in which
a deputy sheriff was killed and
deputy sheriff wounded seriously.
The trouble is a result Of whole
sale dry raids which have been con-
Quoted in this (williamson) county
recently by reputed members of the
Ku Klux Klan led by S. Glen Young,
paid employe of the khan. A meeting
of the Knights of the Flaming Cir
Gle, an anti-klan organization, was in
session when a crowd stormed the
hall. The shooting followed.
Justice Is Killed.
Caesar eagle, a justice who had
been issuing the warrants on which
the "drys" conducted the raids, was
shot dead John Layman, deputy
sheriff, who with Sheriff George CAL
ligan went to the anti-klan meeting,
to plead with the .conferees to dis
perse and go to their homes in the
interest of peace, was shot. He was
taken to local hospital by Mayor c.
z. Anderson and Ora Thomas, an an
ti-klansman, and the trio is being
guarded at the hospital by national
guardsmen.
Immediately a crowd gathered out
side the hospital and began firing
into the institution. Persons inside
the hospital responded to the fire and
a miniature battle waged for a short
while.
The first guardsmen arrived from
Carbondale at am. and the "drys''
then established headquarters at the
city hail. several blocks from the
hospital. The guardsmen are pa
trolling the hospital to protect the
mayor. Layman and Thomas.
Policemen Are Rescued.
Five companies of.troops have ar
rived this forenoon. The crowd
which visited the meeting hall Of the
anti Klansmen was headed by three
Of the four policemen of Herrin, and
when shouts of Lynch them
String 'em upr' were heard Sheriff
Galligan commandeered an automo-
bile and rushed the trio to Murphys-
boro to protect them. The three are
Chief of Police John Ford and
Policemen Harold Grain and Sim
Stephens.
Before the arrival of the troops, the
raiders. armed with revolvers and shot
guns, patrolled the streets of Herrln,
allowing no one they considered ''sus-
picious" to pass. Those unable to
give the Khan password We're searched
fer weapons.
Before attacking the hospital the mob
shot out the street lights, SO those
within the institution could not see
where to aim.
Patients Panic-Stricken.
A number of the patients in the hos
pital became panic-stricken, and were
reported as highly nervous today.
A number of windows in the hospital
were shot out, and the building showed
other battle scars" such as bullet
punctured drain pipes and wainscoting
Just as the trouble in Herrin was at
its height, Leonard Stearns, deputy cir
cult clerk, and son of Cyclops Sam
Stearns, was fired on as he was riding
in an automobile in Marion, the county
seat.
not injured seriously. He is the Klan
candidate for circuit clerk. An automo-
bile owned by John Whiteside, also. an
admitted member of the Klan, was
iired on at the same time.
Vow to Ayenge Death.
At an undertaking establishment,
where eagles body lay, a crowd to-
day took a solemn oath to avenge
the death. eagle was shot in the
back and side.
sherifr Galligan explained he had
been tipped" that the Flaming Circle
trouble. attended the meeting with
Layman to exhort the members to
shortly after the meeting got
''Klansmen are coming" and he and
layman went to the door and were
met by the mob, the sheriff stated
Lnyman Ii Wounded.
The sheriff said he grabbed Grain.
and Layman got hold Of Ford. Sew
eral shots were fired. and Layman
cried: "They got mel"
The sheriff then placed Ford Under
arrest and just outside the hall took
Stephens in custody.
Cries of "Yynch themo' then went
UP, and the sheriff commandeered a
passing automobile, drove to Marion,
where he telephoned the adjutant
general for troops, and then took the
three prisoners to Murphysboro, in
jackson county.
At noon there were no apparent in
dications of a renewal of the trouble
Sheriff Galligan, en- route from
Murphys boro- ITO Herrin, was placed
under arrest at Carbondale in con-
neetion with eagles death.
q. S. READY WITH AID.