Evening star., 1946-08-02
Victorious Veterans
Restore Quiet After
I ennessee Vote Riot
18 Hurt in Fighting;
Machine Comedies
As Jail Is Captured
BY the ASscc;oted Press

partisan group of veterans, their
election to McMinn County Of
fees conceded by a leader of the
opposition, brought quiet to bull
let-ridden Athens today after a
bloody six-hour gun battle
around a now battered Jail.
At least IS persons were injured,
six seriously, in the election day
strife which began Yesterday AFTER
noon and continued until am,
when score or more deputized Of
ficers surrendered their hold on the
two-story brick prison building.
Before complete order could be
restored, several automobiles were
overturned or stripped and fighting
swept over this town of 1000. sud-
denly bereft of formal law enforce
ment from county agencies.
A mobilization of State Guards
men was cancelled and a spokesman
for the forces of the former GIs said
they would maintain order until
mass meeting Monday, when it was
hoped some provision for filling
country Offices would be made.
Clark Orders Inquiry.
In Washington Attorney General
Clark ordered an investigation today
Of the gun battle The Civil Rights
Section of the Justice Department
was directed to determine whether
Federal laws were violated
The battle of the Jail. pocked and
battered from bullets and home
made bombs tossed by GI sympa-
thizers. was a direct outgroWth of
the bitter political campaign waged
by the veterans TO oVerturn the
Democrat organization of State
Senator Paul Cantrell, in power
for decade.
Armed sheriff's deputies moved
two ballot boxes to the jail Thurs
day afternoon, shortly after the
polls closed at 4 pm. and trouble,
long brewing, burst into the open,
A group of the GIs disarmed
seven of the deputized officers, beat
them and showed them into auto
mobiles for swift ride out of town.
Crowd Moves on Jail.
At 9 pm. a crowd, estimated at
800 and now armed with pistols and
light rifles. moved on the jail, oc-
cupied by the force of deputies.
Ralph Duggan. a former lieu
tenant commander and a leader OF
the CT forces, said the crowd was
met by gunfire" and because they
had promised that the ballots
would be counted as cast" they had
no choice but to meet fire with
fire"
s The exchange of fire, sporadic for
six hours. ended after the jail was
rocked by four blasts of explosives
and one of the deputies shouted
down for halt because we are
dying in here"
One report. telephoned from with
in the jail during the night. said
two men inside had been killed but
it proved false.
Deputies March Out.
The deputies, hands high in air,
marched out of the building. were
searched and 81 returned to the
Jail under GI guards. One officer,
identified by onlookers as Deputy
Windy Wise, was manhandled by a
group which s,lrged about him but
apparently was not seriously
harmed
Mr.. Cantrells whereabou we're
not known. Sheriff Pat Mansfield,
shirt-sleeved and without his badge.
was seen in the company of a
physician after the surrender. He
apparently was unharmed but news
men could not reach him for a
statement.
George Woods, county election
commissioner and high in the Can
trell organization. had agreed to
certify the CT slate of candidates
as winners of the election, Mr.. Dug
gan said. The latter added that we
had to use guns to win this election
out We promise the next one Will be
peaceful
Ballot Boxes Recovered.
The ballot boxes, torn open with
their contents strewn about Jail
office, were recovered by the CT
forces.
Mr.. Duggan called the mass meet
ing for Monday and said it was
planned to have winners formally
indicted as interim officials. Their
terms normally would start Septem-
Der /.
Dr. w. E. Force of the Force Hos
pital listed six persons he said were
seriously hurt. They are:
j. w. Neal, 10, .bystander, leg
wounds
Constable Bryan Sharpe. whose
tSee RIOT, Page A-5D