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ALLENS PAY TUB PENALTY FATHER AND SON PAY EXTREME PENALTY FOR MURDER. x Eleventh-Hour Appeals to Lieutenant Governor Stopped when Gov. Mann Returns. Richmond, Va., March 28.?Mumbling a prayer and crying half audibly that he was ready to go, Floyd Allen, lawless product of the Virgini la mountains, whose refusal to ac cept a short prison term for a minor offence led to the wholesale Court murder in Hillsville, one year ago, limped to the death chair in the State penitentiary here to-day eleven minutes ahead of Claude Swanson Al* len, his son. .? ' The sentence of the Court, held up ^ lor six hours while desperate and dramatic efforts were being made to save \ the condemned men by eleventh hour appeals to the Lieutenant Governor, was speedily ordered to proceed when I Governor Mann hastened back to Virginia soil to take charge of the situa \ tion which was sensational and exciting to a degree. The prison superintendent, acting entirely within the law, agreed at 2 o'clock this morning to defer the execution, giving Attorney General Wil* liams an opportunity in the mean if while to pass upon the constitutional right of Lieutenant Governor Elysson tc interfere. But the young son of Governor ? Mann reached his father in Philadelphia by 'phone less than an hour after the delay had been ordered, and hv K n VI nek to-dav the Governor was " > " - ~ ? ? again on Virginia soil. Hastens Back to Richmond. Incensed, as it afterward develop> ed, by the unexpected effort to take advantage of his temporary absence, "when he had repeatedly refused clemency, the Governor boarded an early r morning train, arriving in Richmond at 11.30 o'clock. On the way he telegraphed the Secretary of the Commonwealth that he would be in Virginia by 8 o'clock, this information suddenly checking the plan of Allen sympathizers in further urging the Lieutenant Governor to ? interfere. While every proceeding had halted pending the Governor's arrival, word reached police headquarters that a crowd had assembled at the station, patrolmen, detectives and plain clothes men being hurried there ;o prevent any demonstration. When the governor stepped on the platform he was quickly surrounded by officers y who escorted him to a taxicab which took him quickly to the Capitol. In his office at the State prison Sjperintendent Wood was pacing ihe floor nervously as he awaited develops ^ ments. The situation there had be come more intense. Precisely at nocn the superintendent was called to the telephone. . -- * Notified of the Governor's Return. "The Governor of Virginia is at his desk," was the message he received 'from the Capitol, and instantly preparations were made to obey the mandate of the Court. The witnesses who had assembled at 7 o'clock, the hour announced for the execution, had left 1 1 the prison with instructions to return L'* , ^ , , at i o ciock. Just after sunrise the Aliens practically collapsed when informed that a half-day respite had been granted by a combination of legal and technical circumstances as strange as any that had ever been presented to a Court of * . justice. ? 'Claude Allen, who had retained his nerve throughout the trying ordeal in his behalf, gasped and trembled, but he regained his composure as he noted the hopeless and dejected appearance of his aged father in the cell across the corridor. As the morning hours passed they sat with their spiritual advisers, but they v nerved themselves again for the end when they heard that Governor Mann * / ' had returned to Virginia. Men prominent in official circles of the State, who waited in the Capitol for a final plea to the Governor, were turned away as his secretary handed out this statement from the Executive.: Doesn't Doubt Their Guilt. "Hearing at five minutes to 3 o'clock this morning of the action taken in the Allen case, after I left the city, I considered it my duty to hurry back. I simply desire to repeat that after the most careful examination of the evidence in this case, I have not the slightest doubt of the eniiit. of Flovd and Clar.de Allen, and . . 0 I will not interfere. The law must lV take its course." I What brought forth the greatest indignation from the Governor was the reported fact that the plan to appeal to the Lieutenant Governor was agreed upon a week ago. While there was no intimation * from Lieutenant Governor Ellyson that he would interfere, his willingness last night to await a written opinion from the Attorney General, who had already ruled verbally that he was without authority, was accepted outside to mean that the life of Claude Allen might be spared. Monn Vi nn-ovor Ollt tVlH \jikj y . .uaiui, uvhv.v*, ? wv0~ maze of uncertainty and doubt by hastening home. The jury, which, under the law, is required to witness all executions, assembled outside the penitentiary gates shortly before 1 o'clock, mingling there with the crowd. The programme as originally announced was carried out without change. While two ministers, who have been unfaltering in their loyalty to the condemned men, were telling them good-bye, the prison superintendent stepped into the corridor, which separated the cells of father and son, and read the death warrant. riow They Met Death. Floyd Allen, still limping from the wounds he received in the Hillsville Court battle, said the last tearful farewell to his boy and went with the prison guards to the death chamber. A groan escaped him as he sat in the chair, while the straps and electrodes were being fastened about him. The current was turned on at 1.22 o'clock and in four minutes the surgeon mo tioned to the superintendent that he was dead. The body was speedily removed. Again the chair war tested, while Claude Swanson Allen, namesake of a United States Senator, was being led through the corridor to the chamber door. Though a trifle pale, he marched with measured stride, his head held high, his wonderful nerve with him to the end. As he took his seat he moved hisarmsto assist the guards who were adjusting the straps, and like his father he went silently and unafraid. When the autopsy had been performed the bodies were given over to Victor Allen, Floyd's son. by whom they were taken to the mountains of c- xi _x tr: OUU til W t??>l Vllglilid 1U1 uunai. History of the Case. The execution of Floyd Allen and his son, Claude Swanson Allen, marks the first blow of justice upon the notorious Allen clansmen, whose lawlessness for years held the natives of the Virginia mountains in terror and culminated early last year in the L-hootir.g up of the Carroll County Court, when five persons lost their lives. The news of the crime sent a thrill of horror throughout the nation, and the shocked Virginia au ihorities moved expeditiously to bring the criminals to justice. On the morning of March 14 Floyd Allen stood before the bar of the Carroll County Court House, at Hillsville, to receive sentence for his part in aiding the escape of another mountaineer from the custody of the sheriff. A crowd packed the little court room, for the character of the prisoner was well known. Members of the Allen family were known to be in Court and trouble was thought imminent. The Murders. The jury having announced a verdict of guilty, Judge Thornton L. Massie sentenced the prisoners to one year at hard labor. With the last word of the sentence a crash of firearms broke from the spectators' benches. Floyd Allen, the prisoner, with a smoking revolver in his hand, leaped from the prisoner's dock and joined the rush of the gang toward the door. When the court room was cleared the body of Judge Massie, riddled with bullets, was found lying over his desk; Commonwealth Attorney William M. Foster and Sheriff L. F. Webb lay dead on the floor; Augustus Fowler, a juror, and Elizabeth Avers, a spectator, were bleeding from wounds which proved fatal the next day, and Dexter Goad, clerk of the Court, lay shot through the neck. Goad was one of the principal witnesses for the State at the conviction of the prisoners. When the court room was examined later it was found that more than 200 shots had been fired. Twentyseven shots took effect upon those killed or wounded. Search Begun for Fugitives. An army of detectives and newspaper correspondents soon was scouring the muddy roads of the mountains in search for the prisoners. Floyd Allen, the cause of the shooting, who had been wounded by Sheriff Webb in the Court room, was taken the day of the crime, together with his son, Victor Allen, and his nephew, Bird Marion. Oi'rlnn TTMn-orrlc a nonViow r>? tVio kjiuua UU?U1UW, M, ilVJ/WV ?f v L Allen brothers, was captured in a hut in the mountains, March 23. Edwards, who is lame, had eaten nothing for several days and was very weak when found. Claud Swnnson Allen* another son of Floyd Allen, walked up to a posse in the mountains and surrendered himself on March 28. The next day Friel Al1? j. 1~ leii, .vuuxigesL meuiuei LH me was taken at his father's home. Floyd Allen, charged specifically with the killing of Commonwealth MAIL DELIVERY AT BLACKVILLE Experimental System Obtained by Representative Byrnes. Aiken, March 29.?Congressman Byrnes has received a letter from the first assistant Postmaster General in 3 KAAn iormmg 111x11 uiueis nc^vc issued establishing experimental mail delivery service at I^lackville, S. C., effective April 15, 1913. In his letter Mr. Roper states: "The amount appropriated for this purpose will permit of a trial of the poririnn o* o limitod mimhpr r?f nflflPPS otl ? ivt U L U XiilllbUU U <W V* wa. V ... only, and the department is desirous of instituting the service at different offices throughout the country, with a view to making the experiment as general and complete as possible, and inasmuch as, when the service at Blackville becomes effective, village delivery will be in operation at that office, and at Branchville, Lancaster and Woodruff, it is doubtful if it will be practicable to try the service at additional offices in South Carolina." Congressman Byrnes has been very anxious to have the experiment made at one point in his district, and made special efforts to have Blackville selected in addition to the three towns first named. High Buildings That Rock. By day or mgnt a moaern city is never wholly at rest. A hundred disturbing factors are constantly setting up curious vibrations which travel in every direction. The tracing out of these vibrations and their accurate measurements is a new problem among builders, which has* a peculiar interest for the layman as well. This problem of feeling the pulse of buildings is not limited to great cities, but often arises in comparatively small towns throughout the country. Let a train rush past the foundations of a high building, or even a low one, or a powerful wind storm beat against its wans, ana tne enure siruuiuie may vibrate like a giant tuning fork. Incidentally, the problem is so well understood that accidents from excessive vibration are practically unheard of. The cradle may rock, but it never falls. The measurement of the pulse-like vibrations is made much the same as that of an earthquake, and almost as accurately. The marvellously delicate instruments which are depended upon for these records trace curious pulsing lines, which show at a glance just how wide an arc the building swings through and how regular is the recurrence of the movement. These readings are accepted in Court as absolutely conclusive, and it is not uncommon for damage suits involving immense sums of money to be de cided by these delicate tracings. Public opinion is all wrong, Or nearly so, as to the amplitude of the vibrations of buildings both large or small. Every one has felt such vibrations, but one's sensations are apt to be very misleading. It is a surprise to many that the most violent vibrations are not felt in the extremely high buildings, as is commonly supposed, but in the comparatively low office buildings, and as a rule those of solid' construction. A vibration of three sixteenths of an inch is extremely violent, for a movement of one hundreth of an inch is readily noticeable. As the records show, there is a peculiar method of rythm in these movements, the buildings swaying back and forth through a given arc with the regularity of a penu^lum.?Christian Herald. Lp-to-aate line or siauunery ju&i received at Herald Book Store. Attorney Foster, was found guilty of first degree murder on May 17, and sentenced to death. Claude Allen, his son, was tried on a charge of killing Judge Massie, and convicted of murder in the second degree. The jury recommended a sentence of fifteen years in the penitentiary. The State demanded a new trial and a verdict of guilty in the first degree was returned on July 27 and he was sentenced to death. Three Pleaded Guilty. Friel Allen pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree, and on August 14 was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. Three days later Sidna Edwards pleaded guilty to a like charge and was given a sentence of fifteen years. Victor Allen was acquitted of a charge of .laving, participated in the murders. Sidna Allen, brother of Floyd Allen, and recognized leader 01 the clan, and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, eluded pursuit for rnanv weeks, and eventually escaped out of the Virginia mountains and made their way West, rney were capturen at Des Moines, la., September 14, as the result of a love affair of young Edwards. A letter from him was lost by Maude Iroler, of Mount Airy, N. C., and detectives followed its information and captured the two men. Sidna Allen was placed on trial November 11 at Wytheville, Va., charged with the murder 'of Judge Massie, convicted and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison. i | We Want Your Trade j I ^ And if prompt, polite service, the best | H X j of everything in our lines at the lowest X t J prices will cause you to give it to us we X /?! are sure to be the lucky ones. 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