The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1936-02-06
20 Negro CONFLICTS
Roasted In Prison
Truck In Alabama
Ignited Can OF Gasoline Burns Men
Beyond Recognition; Two Of
COnvicts May Survive

Ala, Friday when State convict
transfer truck cage was converted
into flaming death trap, as one of
the prisoners sought to warm his
hands over piece of burning paper
and set fire to drum Of gasoline.
Two white guards snatched two of
the burning convicts from the in
ferno and rolled them in the snow
to extinguish their clothing, but the
two negroes were desperately
burned.
The two surviving convicts, Paul
Dawson, serving three to four years
for grand larceny, and John Stokes,
under sentence of four to 10 years
for burglary, were removed to the
convict hospital.
Physicians said both had good
chances to recover unless complica-
tions set in. Both were questioned
by the board of investigations Sat-
urday.
Guards Also Burned
Middlebrook and WATSON were
burned on the hands and face as
they snatched the two prisoners
from the fire and rolled them in
the snow beside the ice-glazed
highway.
The guards were riding in the cab
of the transfer truck and flames en-
veloped the machine before they
could reach the locked door at the
rear.
Dawson, scared from head to
foot, gave an account of the trag-
edy, which he said resulted from
the effort of a fellow prisoner to
warm his hands by lighting piece
of paper.
Two containers of gasoline were
in the cage, he said, large drum
and a small can.
Claws AT Rear Door
81 looked down and saw the
blaze, and ran up the floor" Daw-
son said. 'The other boys crowded
to the front, away from the gaso-
line, but Stokes and I clawed at
the door.
''Mr. Middlebrook stopped the
truck quickly and flung open the
door. Me and Stokes jumped out
and they rolled us in the snow,
calling for the others to jump out. "
The gasoline famed and explod-
ed, throwing the burning fluid over
the panic-stricken prisoners and
cutting off escape. Their frantic
pleas for help rose above the roar
of flames.
Middlebrook said the truck had
been making slow progress because
of the hazardous condition of the
highway.
Gasoline SlOshes
He said it's slipping and sliding
along the rough road apparently
caused some of the gasoline to slosh
out on the floor.
''The first time we knew anything
was wrong was when we heard the
negroes shrieking in terror" Mid
die brook saiS.
GAS soon as I could stop the
truck, I dashed to the rear and I'M
locked the door and attempted to
pull them out. Two near the door
we could save, but both were bad
ly burned. The rest could not be
reached"
The blackened remnants of the
truck with the charred bodies in
side was towed back to the camp.
AS it moved into the high, barbed
wire enclosure, officials comment
was not forthcoming.
Dawson and other witnesses said
the prisoners were not manacled, as
the steel superstructure and locked
door of the truck made such pre-
caution unnecessary.
Most prisoners used on the roads
are transported to and from work
in open trucks, sitting on the edges
of the body in good weather, and
crouching behind the sides in cold
to protect themselves from wind
and cold.
It is not unusual to see a group
of convicts strung along main high
ways for 200 to 800 yards, with a
single guard at each end of the
group. Other convicts assigned to
road camps drive the trucks with
out guards, frequently having help
ers with them. Captain Frank Bos-