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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1943)
INDICT THREE FOR BRUTAL ITY TO PRISONERS ued from Page 1) ed, the indictment charges, were Louis James Hatcher, a Negro whj was handcuffed to the bars of his cells and severely beaten with a rubber hose; Ezekial Buchanan. Curnel Jotte Towery, Alvil Lloyd Stevens, Edgar Cullen Bryant, Sr , Edgar Cullen Bryant, Jr„ Lillie May Hendon, James Martin and Robert Lloyd Jr„ all Negroes; and two white men, Readie Glenn Hu guley and Willie Griggs. The case wag presented to the Grand Jury by Edward Burns Par ker. U. S. Attorney for the Mid dle District of Alabama and G. Maynard Smith, Special Assistant to the Attorney General in the Civ il Rights Section of the Criminal Division. f Wendell Berge, Assistant Att a', a 24th AND LAKE STREETS PRESCRIPTIONS —Free Delivery_ WE. 0«50«» PHARMACY i m mi ..■Mill * f HtzTBk{ j Those with tanned-dark skin; 4 externally caused, who want It i lighter, smoother, softer, should A try Dr. FRED Palmer's Skin I Whltanar.U8e7daysaBdlrected. 1 If not satisfied MONEY BACK. 1 25c at druggists. GALENOL, " Box 264. Atlanta. Georgia. , DR. FRED PALMER'S ' SKIN WHITENER orney General in charge of the Criminal Division .commenting on the case, declared: “A brutal killing of a Negro con vict by the High Sheriff of Macon, County .Alabama, was today label ed by a Federal Grand Jury of Al abama citizens as a Feedral crime. The case was presented by an Ala bama laywer. United States Attor ney Edward Burns Parker and a lawyer from the Department G. Maynard Smith, who was formerly City Solicitor of Cairo, Georgia. The grand jury was under the su pervision of another Alabama law yer, the Judge of the eFderal Dis trict Court. Thus, southern jurors and southern lawyers brought this indictment under the Civil Rights Statutes of the United States Code. Upon inquiry, Victor W. Rotnem Chief of the Civil Rights Section, said that the original complaints received by the Criminal Division and the Federal Bureau of Inves tigation were from local law en forcement officers of the State of Alabama who cooperated through out with Alabama Federal offic ials. GOVERNMENT CLEARS TWO IN LYNCHING CASE 3 OTHER FACE CONVICTION (Continued from page 1) iel Shotts, clerk. The remaining three white men who faced penalties of 10 year3‘ imprisonment each and $5,000 fin DON’T BE A HAVE YOUR FARE READY Folks are in a hurry these days—and street cars and buses are crowded with wartime traffic. You can help speed up Omaha and Council Bluffs’ city transportation system if you’ll always have your fare ready to drop in the box, as you get aboard. Help us to keep them rolling! o es (if convicted included Luther Holder, deputy sheriff and jailer in Jones county wnere the lynch ing occurred; Barney Jones, fac tory worker and Allen Pryor, also a factory worker, whose signed confession as to his part in the atrocity was admitted as evidence over the protests of defense coun sel. Pryor is a relative of the white farmer for whose death Wash was convicted. Immediately after Johnson uni Shotts were freed, defense la wye? s moved for directed verdicts of ac quittal for the others on the grounds of [insufficiency of govern ment evidence. Their motion was denied. As the prosecution had completed its case, defense testi mony began. The government gave no testi mony against the two freed men and also failed to Use some of its witnesses including a Negro con vict who was an inmate of the jail when the mob entered. In some cases witnesses showed extreme reluctance to testify against the defendants. Damaging evidence against Pry or and Jones was given by Sheriff J. Press Reddock of Jones county who identified them as members of the mob which forced its way into the jail, and against Holder, the jailer, who failed to follow orders laid down by Reddock in the event a lynching attempt was made. The sheriff, who testified Tues day, told of being summoned to the jil at one a. m. on the day after Wash's conviction last Oct. 14 and of finding a crowd gathered about the locked door. “I didn’t tell Holder to give the keys up,” Reddock testified, "and I was pleading and begging the crowd for their children and fam ilies. I told them about my posi tion as sheriff, how I might be sued on my bond, how 1 was liable to lose my job. They said that it I lost my job they would get me another.” Reddock said that Pryor, carry ing a pick-axe, but not <in a threat ening manner, laid his hand “gen tly on my shoulder” and assured him “I’m not going to strike you. Just don’t be a damned fool; give us the keys.” He testified that after the lynch ing he made a “thorough investi gation” but did not arrest Pryor because he couldn’t find him. No state indictments were returned. Reddock said he surrendered his rifle to a deputy who came from the jail to receive St when “some body” in the crowd asked him to give it up because “they” wanted to talk to him. The defense, in J cross examination, endeavored to 1 establish that the reason Deputy 1 Sheriff Holder didn’t lock himself jin the jail, behind the steel door, j was that he was afraid of an at | tack in a vestibule from his office | to the door. The jail, it appeared was in darkness during the attack. Not a shot was fired, the sher iff conceded, nor did he observe anyone was armed. He said, in effect, he didn’t see the prisoner taken from the jail but estimated he must have been removed an hour or more after his arrival on the scene. The next time he saw Wash, Reddock said, he was hang ing from a bridge. He identified a picture of it. JACKSON 0288 FIDELITY STORAGE & VAN CO. Local and Long Distance MOVING 1107 Howard, W. W. Koller, Mgr. HELP US! HEL** THE POOR CALL— THE '■'Ot.UNTEERS OF AMERICA JAckson 2290 15th & Chicago KISMET LETTER KLUB Est. 1935. Membership only $1.00. Soldiers, men, women, all ages. A dime brings info. P. O. Box 602, Los Angeles, California TtaTESTIMONYof THOUSANDS: It’* the HOTEL THERESA When Im NEW YORK any saasaa af tbayaar 7th A»«. at 125th St —in the Heart of Harlem tOO apacioua, all outaida roomai hixunoua auitea. The beautiful Orchid Room for dining; cocktail lounge and bar; tha loraly Ilea canine for relaxation. Ideal atmoa* Share far raat, atudj, And comfort. large room* win private bail •2.00 SkfH-*2.50 MM Mt« Without private bath •U0Me*—*200 Mh Mt 1 WALTER W. SCOTT. Maaager HOTEL THERESA l» An. at 1250 SL,HwV«fc CRj One section of Wake and Midway Halls, new Government dormitories for Negro women war workers is shown a few days before completion by Samuel Plato, Negro contractor for the million-dollar job. Plato is the namesake of Samuel Carter, famous Negro slave-builder in the old South. Carter left his tools to one of his apprentices, James Plato, the father of the Negro contractor. otficuu. owi photo sr *oe«x smith. Another early witness, Circuit Judge Burkett Collins, who presid ed at the Wash trial for murder, testified that Reddock telephoned him that a mob had surrounded the jail. The juge, who said he hadn't anticipated trouble although the prisoner had been confined for safe keeping at a jail in Jackson, Msis., prior to the trial, said he urged the sheriff not to permit the mob to get the keys and that he telephoned Gov. Paul B. Johnson for aid, which was sent at once in form of national guardsmen who arrived too late. Judge Collins, telling of appris ing the governor of the lynch mob, said that Gov. Johnson, in promis ing aid, said: “For God's sake don’t jlet that happen.” Pryor’s signed statement admit ting he was a member of the mob which stormed the jail and took Wash and then rode in the car to a nearby bridge where he was hanged, was presented during the testimony of John L. Sullivan, special agent of the Federal Bur eau of Investigation. Mr. Sulli \ran, ace G-man of the Mississippi office, was corrobated by Otis Bras hier of the New Orleans office, in his testimony that Pryor gave th“ statement voluntarily and without promise of reward. In the staement .dated Nov. 25, 1942, Pryor admitted going to Lau rel from his hom near town the night of the lynching “to see what was going to happen to Wash.” This was prior to the lynching, but earlier 'in the same night when the victim was taken from the jail. “I figured that sometihng was going to happen,” the statement recited. Pryor’s statenant asserted he returned to his home near Shady Grove and found about 50 men at a nearby store. He said he recog nized fHillard H. Welborn, brother of the slain white farmer, in the group, and that they agreed to meet near the Jones county jail in Laurel “before taking Wash out of the jail.” Pryor said he did not remember with whom he drove to Laurel. ‘‘We surrounded the jaSl about 11:30 pm.,” the statedment said. “Sheriff J. Press Reddock of Jon es county arrived at the jail about 1 11:45 pm. There were about 100 men around the jail at this time. “I helped pull the screen off the window located on the right side of the door to the front entrance of the jail,” Pryor’s statement con tinued. “I said to the men that the jailer’s (Holder) wife and child ren may be in this room so let’s try some other entrance. “I pulled the screen open with a pi ckaxe that leads into the main entrance of the jail. About 15 men came in ^ith me. I don’t remem ber how the jail door was opentd leading into the prisoner’s quar ters on the second floor. I went up the stairs to the cell where Wash was a prisoner and with several other men whose names I can’t recall, took Wash out of this jail. “We placed him (Wash) in a *ar I don’t know whose car. I drove In the car that Wash was in. Wash was sitting in the front seat and 1 was sitting in the back seat. ‘‘We drove out to Welborn’s bridge located about four miles north of Shady Grove on the Moss ViHe road. “We arrived at the bridge be tween 12:30 and 1:00 am. and park ed the car on the far side of the bridge. I did not put the rope a round Wash's neck nor heave him over the bridge. I don’t know who did the actual hanging. Some one said “It’s all over.” So I caught a ride and came home. I don’t know wtth whom I rode.” Pryor’s statement contradicted earlier testimony of the two depu ty sheriffs in the jail the night of the lynching with Deputy Sheriff Holder that members of the mob were armed. “I saw no guns in thSs crowd at this jail at any time,” Pryor's statement declared. “The only gun there was held by Sheriff Red dock and it was a .22 calibre rifle.” Only one Negro witness was used by the government before the jury of native Misiisaippians, although several had been called. This N • gro had been a prisoner in the cell next to Wash’s at the time of che lynching. It was, it developed, “as dark as midnight in the dung eon” and the witness, Mack Lewis, was prostrate in his cell. He did not know “who the gentlemen were” who stormed the jail but, he testified, he heard someone ask Wash if he was “sorry” he did and he said “yes.” Lewis testiflied that Wash was then asked by the mob if he want ed to say anything. “He said ‘no’ but he had a dollar and he wanted someone to give that to his babies.” Then barefooted and bareheaded, after the mob had informed Wash he didn’t nee shoes, he was taken away, aceoring to Lewis’ testi mony. The government succeeded in es tablishing through testimony of Louis L. Welch (chief deputy sher iff of Jones county ,and Laurel po lice .that it had been agreed that if a mob came for Wash. Ja/iJer Holder would lock the big steel “mob-proof” door from the inside, locking himself in, and had bor rowed a tear gas gun from the po lice department. As is known, such precautions were disregarded. Welch said that even before Wash’s one-day trial three mens asked him to surrender the prison er but he refused. He claimed he didn’t know who they were and on cross examination said he deemed them jocular. But on his direct examination he testified he inform ed Holder of their request with the result the plan was agreed on. He didn’t know why, he said, it wasn’t carried out. The defense, on cross examination, drew from 'the deputy the statement that the “dictates of humanity” might pre clude use of the tear gas gun be cause it might affect the prisoners in jail. The police officers were used to confirm the lending of the tear gas gun to Holder and to point out that its affects are temporary and Us ually confined to the direction in which the shell is discharged. Two special deputies, in the jafol with Holder when the mob arrived, add ed details to previous accounts of the scene. Both said the crowd thrust pistols against Holder in, demanding entrance, although Pry or’s statement to the FBI was to the effect, he observed no weapons. The government contends ,jn ef fect, the jailer afforded tacit con nivance an dwas persuaded to re lease the prisoner. 1 One of the special deputies, John Hilton, said he was so excited when the mob rushed in an ante room that he gave the keys to Hoi der because “I didn't want them.” He was vague about what happen ed after that but he said the mob played flashlights on them, grabb ed them both, jammed pistols into Holder’s side and pushed him in front of them. He didn’t see what happened when the crowd arrived at the steel doors. “They called ‘All right, stay where you are. We’ve got you.' ” Hilton said, “and there was noth ing friendly about it. I w-as excit ed and scared.” “The other special deputy who was in the jail, I. O. Fowler, testi fied Holder unlocked the steel door after the mob threatened him with pistols and later went to the up stairs cells, where the Negroes were kept, and told the other pris oners to “lay still.” aidding Wash, “they have come after you.” WILLIAM PICKENS IN TOIR FOR WAR BOND SALE Jefferson Clity, Mo., April 28 (A NP)William Pickens of the inter racial section of the national or ganiaztion division of the war sav ngs staff at Washington, has just completed a tour of southeast Mis souri, for promoting the sale of the leading high schools in that section and to Lincoln university, located in this city. It is noted that Missouri Negro es representing every walk of lifs, are doing their best toward mak ing this war bond effort a success. The following are reported: ’Negroes of the economically un derprivileged southeast cotton sec tion of Missouri purchased $12,000 in bonds. In St. Louis a Negro union bought $125,000 In war bonds, the Brotherhood of Pullman porters, $50,000; while persons in defense p’aats, schools, and the YMCA in vest 10 percent or more in war bonds. Outstanding in Kansas City is the school participation. Echo >1 children in this city are payng 12 percent of the cost of a $175,000 bomber while teachers contributed regularly through the teachers’ credit union. Lincoln univers'ty now Is in the r>id?t of a war bond drive in an effort to aid in reaching its war bond goal. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Real Shoe Man— FONTENELLE SHOE REPAIR Cash and Carry CLEANER 1410 North 24th St. _CARL CRIVEK/n King Yuen Cafe CHOP SUEY 2010^. N. 24th St. JAckson 8575 Open from 2 p. m. until 3 a. m American & Chinese Dishes Fertilizer & Chick teed Our 22nd Year at 24th and Cuming— Selling Sure to Grow Bulk Garden and Grass Seeds. Come in and Select Your Victory Garden Seed while stock is complete. home Landscape Service 920 NORTH 24th ST. JA-5115 BIBLE PASSAGES FOR EVERY NEED (BY MRS. H. R. GREENFIELD) When in sorrow, read St. Johns 14th. When men fail you, read Psalms 27. When you have sinned, read Psa lms 51. When you worry .read Mtt. 6-10. 34. "P2! Before church services, read Psalms 84. When you are in danger, read Psalms 91. When God seems far away, read Psalm 139. When you are discouraged, read Isaiah 40. When doubts come upon you try John 7-17. For Jesus idea of a Christian, read Matt. 5. When you feel down and out, read Romans 8:31-39. When you want courage fcr your task, read Joshua 1. When you want happiness, eol. 3:12-17. When you become bitter or crit ical, read 1 Cor. 13. When you want to get along with men, read Romans 12. Why Not follow Psalm 119:11 and hide some of these in your memor ies? "NOT I, BUT CHRIST.” (BY MRS. H. R. GREENFIELD) ‘‘Not I, but Christ”, I could not brave the storms that rise: I would but faint with fear: Before the anger of the skies. “Not I, but Christ” I could not face the future days, \flith confidence and joy; Alone I could not sing one note of praise, I Not I, but Christ” T’is, He my blessed Lord who gives me grace to go. With radiant face along the shadowed way Don't Gamble SflSSS? Cuts, Scratches, Burns Be wiae.Guard against infections which may “lay you up.” Cleanse wound instantly. Then apply effective, inhibitory antiseptic OIL-O-SOL.Used for over 40 years in thousands of factories, garages, industrial first aid stations, fire depart ments and homes. Pleasant to use. Combats infection; quickly helps relieve pain. Only 50c at your druggist's. Must satisfy you or your money back. Get Mosso’s OIL-O-SOL today. I ’•> ex. for INS. READ Negro Digest “A Magazine of Negro Comment” Current Issue Features: — Will the South Secede7 —by Carrol Kilpatrick The American Negro Press, —by W. 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