The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-05-10
TROOPS RULE
after TEXANS
LYNCH negro
Courthouse Is Burned to
Ground, Guards Hurt
by Rioters.
HACK FIREMEN'S LINES
Body of Man Charged With
ASsauIting Woman Is
Cut From Tree.

i SHERMAN, Tex, May 10.-Conly
pal alive quiet was restored here to-
!! day when militia reInforcements
4 from Dallas and FIT. Worth arrived
to subdue rioters who Tor fifteen
i hours terror4zed the town after
burning Inc Grayson county court
i mouse as d final resort IN lyncning a
i Negro.
4 Inc town virtually was under
i martial law as 300 national guards
i men patrolled the streets.
i Two members of the mob were in
hospitals and four guardsmen were
injured.
Twelve men we're lodged in the
county jail today, charged with in
cendiarism and instigating mob vio-
Ience. All are under Is years of age.
Body Dragged Through Streets
The burned body of George
Hughes, object of the lynching, who
was SuffOcated in vault where he
was locked for safe keeping, was cut
down from cottonwood tree today.
It was strung up after the mob had
removered it from the vault and
dragged it through the Negro resi-
Dental district, and a fire tsarted
under it.
Hughes, 41-year-o1d Negro, was
charged with asSaulting Mrs. Drew
Farlow. Not content with the des-
truction of the courthouse in which
; Hughes died, and with driving other
Negroes from town, the mob spent
it's enegries attacking and harassing
the guardSmen.
The guardsmen were ttacked
shortly after dusk, when they were
ordered to march to the courthouse
2 to recover the body of Hughes. Ring
Y leaders of the rioting, unconvinced
: Hughes was dead, recognized the
move as an indication that Hughes
was alive ad that the troopers were
: going to rescue him.
Guardsmen Are Driven Back
< Unable to reach the vault-buried
;. deep in the smoking ruins-the riot
: ers attacked the guardsmen, driving
them back two block to the county
JAIL where they sought refuge.
After midnight the mob obtained
the body of the Negro and dragged
it through city streets, ending their
!. CHASTITY march in the Negro district,
where it was tossed on pile OF
burning timbers. While it burned
the rioters fired other buildings in
the neighborhood.
Conditions became serious early
Friday afternoon when Hughes trial
: opened. The Negro was guarded by
f the redoubtable Captain Frank
Hamer, two-f1sted, two-gun Texas
! ranger, who is known as the official
mob buster" of the state, and four
! other rangers. They spirited him
into the courthouse before the
crowd was ware of their actions.
f Ambulance Excites Crowd
The presence of the ambulance,
bringing Mrs. Farlow to the court
house and the sight of the injured
woman being borne into the build
ing on a Stretcher, excited the
crowd. Instantly, the rioters started
| JIuOW11IS 4OGho d4AQ OOANh0 OAAA O0SAA
the courtroom windows and later
attacked the officers.
Sheriff Arthur Vaughn said an
unidentified woman started the rush
for the basement Of the building
which resulted in the firing Of the
courtho, sc. The flames, fed by
: gasoline and kerosene, soon were
J. beN1nd control and it seemed for a
f minute the county judge and at
: torney would be burned. They
0 escaped down ladders which f1ren1en
g hoisted to them. Roast him!
n Roast him! Roast him! Burn him
!. alive! Burn him alive" They
chanted.
Hose Lines Are Slashed
Firemen, summoned to the scene,
# were stopped by rioters who de-
stroyed their apparatus and hacked
their hose lines to pieces.
h Arrival of the guardsmen was be
q lieved by many to have caused the
I outbreak of hoStilities.
1.-THE trouble had quoted down
some after the building had been
~ destroyed" said Karl Shock, man
I ager of the Bell Telephone Com
pany at Sherman. But arrival OF
guardsmen started new hostilitles.
The mob showed open resentment to
interference by the militia ana
turned on the troops"
: During the fighting four guards
men were injured, one seriously.
: Two of the mob were treated at the
! hospital.
Mob Led by Woman
The mob split into two crowds
after the troops had taken shelter
:, in the pail The majority return
|, ing to the courthouse.
1.-THE mot was led by some woman
! I've never seen around town, SAID
. Mary Mitchell, employed as
cashier in a drug store across the
! street from the courthouse, but for
the most part young men and even
bows seemed to be the ones who
stirred UP all the trouble. They
were armed with clubs and stones
from $50 o'clock until after mid
: night"
, Shortly after midnight a deep
! throated roar rose from the rioters
|. crowded Pbout the courthouse. They
: har Succeeded in removing Hughes
body from the vault and had tied
: rope around it. It was dragged down
a he street in fro7 md
i finally through