The Wilmington morning star., 1947-05-27
OFFICERS GUARD
BUSH'S STORY
How Negro Escaped Mob
Untold; Other Assault
Cases Cited

wild escape story of Goodwin CBud
dy) Bush contained closely-gardee
information today on which authori
ties hoped to track down quickly
the armed white men who seized
the young Negro from the Jack
son Jail.
The 24-year-old sawmill worker,
who gave up voluntarily yesterday
after boiling from the mob outside
the Jail early Friday, relaxed
safely in the most tightly guarded
block of central prison here.
Warden Hugh Wilson said Bush
was glad to be alive" and "grate-
full to be in a safe place" after
his flight from the mob with a bull
let singing over his head.
Meanwhile, quick action by Of
ficers in two other Carolina towns
averted possible mob action
against Negroes charged with
criminally ~assaulting white wom-
en-.
Only six hours after Bush was
brought here, another young Ne
gro, Bill Simmons, was rushed to
the prison for safekeeping. He
was arrested early today at Gin
ton, on charges of criminally at
lacking a 45yearold white wom-
an, Mrs. S. P. Wise.
Sheriff T. B. Lockerman at Gin
ton said he didn't want to take
any chances" on possible mob
violence.
In South Carolina, where % mem
bers of a self-confessed lynch mob
were acquitted last week, a a.
year-old Negro was taken to the
state penitentiary at Columbia for
s~afekeeping after a crowd began
to form around the Jail at Oar
lington, South Carolina.
Police said the Negro, Willie
Pooler, had confessed attacking a
67-yeaer-old white woman and taey
feared mob action when aroused
citizens gathered in the jailyard.
There were unofficial hints of an
early break in the Bush case as
state and federal investigators
pushed their search for the yc,lne
Negroes abductors.
Solicitor Ernest r. Tyler and
State and Federal Bureau of In.
gestigation agents remained tight
Tipped on their progress and would
not reveal details of how Bush es.
lcaped from the mob.
1t was learned u~nofficially. how
ever, that Bush had named two OF
his abductors.
Gov. Gregg Cherry, anxious to
keep up North Cardinals recent
record of prosecuting would-be
lynchers, said the mob would be
fully prosecuted if caught. The
State Bureau of Investigation was
ordered to stay on the case until
the mobsters were arrested.
Attorney General Harry McMul-
Ian said Bush'c abductors could be
charged with breaking and enter.
ing a Jail with intent to injure a
prisoner. Convictions would carry
maximum two to Is year prison
terms.
Bush was seized only four hours
after his arrest for attempted cri.
minal attack on a pretty young
white woman at Rich Square.
It was at first believed the mob
had lynched him. Later a Negro
woman told Tyler she had seen a
man running from the group out
side the Jail and saw one pistol Shot
fired at him. A newspaper report
er found the bullet.
Bush fled to the woods and hid
for 48 hours without food as Off
GERS combed the county in n of
the sections biggest manhunts.
Early yesterday he crept carefully
to the home of friends three miles
from Jackson.
They fed him and hid him and a
Negro preacher relayed the mes
sage to Tyler that Bush would sur
render If his safety were assured.
The young Negro gave up yester-
day afternoon to FBI agents and
Tyler and will be kept in the prison
until his trial.