Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1930-08-23
Mobists Beyond
Mason andDixon
INDlANA'S KHAN SPIRIT
ELIMINATES IN
LYNCHING OF TWO MEN.

Marion, Ind, Aug. 1S.-(By
The Associated Negro Press. -
With the customary ease and for
the customary reasons, two boys,
Thomas Ship, Is, and Abe Smith,
10, were lynched outside the court
house Friday night by mob SAID
to have contained about 10000
persons.
Despite the presence of the sher-
ifs FORCES and the police strength
of this city of $4,000, the mob
was permitted to enter the jail
and to batter down cell doors with
sledge hammers without the firing
OF a single shot by the police Of
ficers, either to protect the public
property under their care, to save
the hives of the prisoners and
guarantee them fair trial, or to
uphold the majesty of the law.
Shipp and Smith had been ar
e rested in connection with hold
up. 1t was charged that they had
come up Claude Deeter, %, and
his sweetheart, Mary Ball, IS,
both white, parked at a secluded
roadside spot, and that they had
demanded money of Deeter. The
latter is said to have resisted
them, whereupon he was shot
three times, causing his death.
Tn additional charge was made
that after the shooting an at
tempt was made to rape the white
woman, which was only frustrated
by the approach of another car
and her screams.
Notice of the holdup was given
the police, who very shortly ar
rested Shipp on circumstantial
evidence, and the belief of the po-
lice chief that he was "a sort OF
bad guy" Ship was said to have
confessed the holdup and to have
implicated Smith and another boy.
News of the incaceration OF
these boys was the signal for the
klan-spirited citizens of thu
county to assemble and demand
their lives. The mob grew quick
ly from one hundred, who came
to thi city from Deeter's home
town, Fairmount. to several thou
sands.
In spite of the mob threats the
officers of the law did nothing but
argue with the mob leaders and
turn the fire hose on the mob.
When members of the mob bran
dished their guns, the forces of
law and order desisted with the
hose play.
The officers of the law stood by
meekly, after being brushed aside,
as the mob invaded the jail and
searched for the men it wanted.
There were eighteen colored
prisoners in the Jail. The lives
of all were in jeopardy. One boy
was brought out, protesting his
innocence. Only the interference
of the girls uncles and his pleas
saved the lie of this innocent boy.
He was beaten severely before be-
ing returned to the cell.
Shipp was seized and hanged
from an elm tree in the courthouse
yard. Smith was thrown from a
third-hoor window of the Jail with
a moose around his neck and stran-
gled.
After the lynchings, the mob
considered driving the two thou
sand solored residents of Marion
out of the city and burning their
homes. This action was deferred
by the arrival of poice reinforce
ments from adjacent cities.
When an effort was made to get
in touch with Gov. Harry Leslie
to seek the protection of state
troops, he could not be reached.
Members of the state militia
were in camp, $50 miles away in
Kentucky, at the time of the out
burst.
Although Indiana has consid-
cradle colored population, its sym
pathies regarding the Negro, de-
spite its geographical location in
the north, have always been
matter of question. 1t was large
" pro-southern before and after
the Civil War. Since the World
War, it has been a hotbed of Ku
Klux Khan activity association
with this intolerant and un-Amer-
lean organization having been
charged against many Of the most
prominent officials in the state. .
The Negroes of aMrion stayed
quietly in their homes while Shipp
and Smith were being murdered.