The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, November 21, 1912, Page 9, Image 9
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1 Mont
i Next Door t
A REMARKABLE
Story of the Fight at Ra'w
Break for T
There was a time?and not so very
long ago, either?when Cheyenne,
now the staid and respectable capital
of Wyoming, was famed far and wide
as the wickedest spot in America. It
was a capital of outlawry then.
Homicides were so frequent they
passed almost unnoticed. The sixshooter
was the only code of law
that was enforced. But in all its
days of disrepute and its nights of
terror Cheyenne never endured such
a reign of lawlessness as that which
put its neighbor, Rawlins, on the
map about a week ago.
What happened in Rawlins is
unique in history, West or East.
Briefly, the 350 inmates of the State
prison lynched one of their number,
a negro. He had assaulted a woman
78 years old, who had endeared herself
to the prisoners by her kindness
and her good deeds. The negro prob? ?Viovo
hoon 1 \7nViH if nut.
CL\J LJ rv VU1U uaf V WVU V ?V
siders could have gotten at him, it
is said, so the convicts' swift justice
seemed likely to be unpunished. But
their act, once accomplished, had a
psychological effect on these caged
men.
Prisoned men, like wild beasts in
captivity, are animals of primitive
passion. These convicts at Rawlins
tasted blood when they lynched this
man. Also their act 6howed them an
flmazin? thin?: something thev had
not suspected?that they were more
powerful than their keepers.
A cageful of tigers is kept in subjection
by fear. Once that fear is
gone the man with whip and revolver
is lucky to escape with his life. Nothing
kills fear like blood lust. Therefore
it is no wonder that the 350
convicts in their cage of stone and
iron muttered and plotted all through
the days that immediately followed
the realization of their strength.
They were as furtive and whispering
as tigers creeping auu ciuucuiiig
ready to spring.
The lynching was October 2, the
mutiny started ten days later. Led
by "Butch" Dalton, a murderer and
outlaw, twenty convicts dashed out
of the prison stockade and fled into
the rough hills back of it. They
were pursued ineffectually by some of
the guards. This showed the less
resolute among the remaining prisoners
that escape was more than possible.
Early in the afternoon of Saturday,
October 13, a party of life\
*@@?@??@?@?@?<??<
When a man says he can sell y
he can do so. For there is no
sell just as cheap as the other
what we are going to prove to
ing to Bamberg, and while the
as you know who will sell you
cheaper than the other felloe
stock, expecting a crop like w<
are compelled to raise money 1
mense stock at actual cost. 1
one cent of profit, but just act
will come in and look and mak<
you will come and look. We h;
Coat Suits, Cloaks, Underweaj
If you do not find just what yc
when you come to town to tak
and you will save enough to p;
of goods for you to understam
* 1 I? I mm n m
place ana tnat tne sale runs ir
lay, Novemb
0 Post Office
, PRISON BATTLE:
rlins, When Prisoners Made a
heir Liberty.
termers, led by Antonio Pascuale, a c
1 Mexican, overpowered the cell house c
' - ? - | V
keeper, took his keys and released \
their comrades. Every prisoner will- ^
ing to risk a battle with the guards r
made a rush for the gates. What c
happened inside the prison walls af- ^
ter that is not known, except as to s
general results. Probably it is better
that it should not be printed in de- t
tail. c
Their backs against the gates, a
fighting for their lives, stood a hand- t
ful of guards. They were like the g
trainer in the cage when his wild 1
beasts have tasted blood, but there c
were none with hot irons to prod t
back the ferocious animals. The c
guards had no thought of getting outside
and saving themselves. Three c
of their number lay dead at their r
feet. The living keepers were of the s
stern, cold, fearless type of the old s
West. They stood face to face with t
300 men, most of them armed with c
cleavers, knives and pistols. All that c
the world outside the walls know* of p
that desperate battle that ended in t
driving the convicts, cowed and ter- t
rorized, back to their cells, was what c
they heard?a fusillade of shots, a | l
bedlam of shrieks, and yells of rage | c
and agony that lasted half an hour s
and then diminished until now and r
then the silence was punctuated at r
long intervals by the crack of a re- t
volver. Then the prison was still.
The beasts had been driven back into t
their cages. Victory in every battle, c
little or big, hangs in the balance for \
a moment. One side or the other c
falters. If the convicts had the cour- s
age to grasp their chance the mo- a
ment it presented itself they might l
have left the prison tenantless except j
for its dead. But they were stunned
for a moment with the prospect of \
liberty, and in the end the old in- a
ctinot nf nhedienee asserted itself. t
But bitter ad was the battle inside c
the walls, the ferocity of those who i
escaped and dashed into the streets a
of the little town was almost beyond a
picturing. Rawlins is a place of a
about 4,000 population. The prin- c
cipal thoroughfare faces the railway v
station and runs parallel with the e
tracks. Hills and rolling prairie are e
i round about Rawlins, and the foot- t
hills of the Continental Divide form 1
the rim of the bowl that touches the t
horizon. t
The twenty convicts who escaped c
I A *. ?
ou cheaper than the other fel
one that is going to sell you |
fellow, unless he can show yc
you right here. We have ms
re we made good use of our t
the cheapest in your town, sc
r because we know exactly \
3 had last year, and therefore
- - ^?? ? ? ??? A M J 4-1^ /% -C vin4> /N -C
jeiweeii now aiiu me mst ui
Ve are not going to sell to s?
ual cost. We will offer you;
3 us a reasonable offer we wil
ave anything needed in the li
ty Overcoats, and in fact ever
iu want you will find somethi
e in the big circus on the 271
ay for your ticket. We are i
i unless you can see them, sc
om
er 25th, ti
D
X
n the first day's outbreak fled mostly
o the hills. Some, weaker spirited,
>r with the habits of long confinenent
overpowering them, sought
mrrows in the town. Seven of these
vho were captured were found in
:ellars and outbuildings, and the
ughth was run down while fleting
ireathlessly afoot across the prairie,
fhe other twelve, fully armed, were
lot heard from except in the way
>f distant firing later in the day,
rhen they attacked a ranch aid
tole some horses.
The second score that broke out
he day following, led by the Mexian
outlaw, were bolder and better
.rmed. Together they dashed down
;he main street brandishing their
:uns and knives. They knew exacty
where they were going. A few
itizens tried half-heartedly to stop
hem, as men on the sidewalk rush
iut and wave their arms at a runavay
horse. The convicts did not
leign to pay attention to these, but
nade straight for the largest livery <
table in tne place, a western livery
table runs more to saddle horses
han to docile carriage animals. The
onvicts left a huge negro on guard
mtside. They rushed in and over>owered
the owner of the barn. A
>arber, Charles Stressner by name,
leard the commotion. Though his
iccupation was peaceful to a degree,
le had a heart that was big with
ourage. He came running down the
treet, shotgun in hand. He saw the
legro, but before he could fire the
tegro shot him through the head and
le fell headlong, dead.
Inside the barn the convicts had
ieen busy grabbing up saddles and
:inching them on the horses that
rere nearest at hand. At the sound
if the negro's shot they swarmed out
ide, some leading horses and some
ifoot. The owner of the stable, folowed
them out, and Pascuale, the
Jexiean, turned and stabbed him.
The mounted men fled toward the
lills, but those who had been le^t
ifoot, fourteen in number, rushed to
he railroad yards, where 100 freight
ars were standing. In a few minites
armed citizens, deputy sheriffs
md penitentiary guards came up and
ittacked them. They shot to kill,
ind Pascuale, the blood not yet dried
in his knife, was killed with the first
-olley. Other convicts were wound>ri
and the little band numbered only
ileven when it made a break from
he box cars and rushed to the rocky
lills to the south of town. There
hey separated, striving to escape ino
the almost impassable stretch of
:ountry toward the Colorado line.
?@?@?@?@??@???i
low you will not believe him u:
joods at less than cost, and yoi
)u where he can buy cheaper th
ide New York our home for a nime
by getting on to where to b
), therefore, we are better pi
vhere to go to buy them. We
> we have more goods than we k
January and are, therefore, c
ill to you at less than cost, and1
anything in our store, it mattei
1 trade mighty quick. We ha
ne of Dry Goods, Notions, 3h
ything carried in a first-class
ng just as good that will take
h, and if you have any goods t<
lot attempting to quote prices,<
? pnmp a.nH rpp a/nrl Wfi will dc
f VVlAiiV VVAAV% WWW j WMVk ?v w w? ?
) Tuesday,
ES
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. i
Then the most desperate man mint
in the history of the West was on.
All this outside the prison walls j
took in its happenings but little more ;
minutes than it does to read it here.
When it was over, the people of
Rawlin6 were terror-stricken. They
knew the desperate character of the
men who had escaped. The wildest
rumors flew from house to house.
People were afraid to stay indoors
and equally afraid to go out. Imagination
peopUd every cellar and
every closed room'with'o*1 laws armed
to the teeth. So it was all that
night. It was as if man-eating tigers
were loose. The governor was telegraphed
to and asked to order out
the State troops. He was away on |
an electioneering tour and the message
did not reach him for two hours.
He hurried back to Cheyenne,
telephoning in advance to have the
troops assembled under arms against
his arrival. By the time he reached
the capital the later reports indicated
that the escaped convicts appeared
to be all in the hills and that the
town had little or nothing further to
fear.
By nightfall the more courageous
citizens had got over their panic.
Posses of armed men were formed to 1
ride in all directions. Throughout the
night a rattle of shots in the distance
told of the progress of the man hunt. "
About sunset four convicts were
located in a canyon about a mile
from Rawlins. They had barricaded
the narrow cut in the mountains and o
were ready for battle. The officers 1
decided it would be too dangerous t
to attempt their capture in the dark n
a'nd surrounded their stronghold. At 1
dawn they were surprised and over- o
powered without a shot being fired, t
All that night couriers kept rid- ^
ing into Rawlins telling .of the state t
of terror that existed in all the coun- t
try round there. Every lonely ranch T
house was barred and barricaded as c
it used to be half a century ago when ii
the Indians were on the warpath. v
In the next few days all but seven r
of the forty that had escaped were e
either recaptured or killed. The or- h
ders given to the deputies were to t
bring tlieni back dead or alive, it .
didn't matter much which. The seven
that are still at large probably
never will be caught by the ha*d of
man. Xo doubt most of them will g
perish in the wilderness. The cold v
and snow come early in high alti
tudes, and men who have been long yj
in prison are not likely to be able to v
withstand the rigors of winter, t
Therefore, after the first blizzard the
ranchers will rest easy.?N. Y. Press.
??@??@??@?@??
nless he can show you how
i believe that everyone can
an his competitor. That is
umber of years before comuy
goods the cheapest, just
:epared to sell you goods
> have put in an enormous
mow what to do with. We
inmnplled to offer our im
?re are not going to ask you
rs not what it is, and if you
ve no fears of the result if
oes, Hats, Clothing, Caps,
Mercantile establishment,
the place. Come to see us
0 purchase, buy them of us
is there are too many kinds
1 the rest. Remember the
December
KI
Ba
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; If you grow peas a
| please and pay you.
see our Force-Feed
s| the hopper holds IOC
i cotton and corn see
^ Cotton and Corn I
i beam will not breal
| to the readers of th
| you. Write us for
I STAR PEA IV
1 BENNETTS
Street Car Strike ?t E*d.
Jacksonville, Nov. 16.?The strik >
f the trainmen on the Jacksonville
Yaction company's lines is now pracically
at an end. Sixty of the old
len have already returned to work.
'he remainder of the men who went
ut on a strike have announced to
he company that they will return to
,-ork Monday morning, provided all
he strikebreakers brought here by
he company are dismissed Sunday,
'his. it i? learned, is agreeable to the
ompany, so all lines Monday mornig
will be operated by the old men,
, ho receive an advance in wages but
eturn as non-union men. The genral
threatened sympathetic strike
as been called off and no further
rouble is expected.
NOTICE.
I will file my final accounting as
uardian of Mildred Sledge Copeland
nth G. P. Harmon. Judge of Proate
for Bamberg county, on Saturlay,
November 30th. All presons
laving claims against said estate
rill present same before said day or
ie forever barred.
J. D. COPELAND, JR.,
Guardian.
Bamberg, S. C., Oct. 29, 1912.
iss!
4H
i
24th I
3 N
mberg, S. C. I
x"^^iPw8f
Star Pea Huller will
If you use fertiliser
. Wizard Distributor,
) pounds. If you plow
! the J. M. B. No. 20
'low Stock, the steel
e or bend. Our offer M
is paper will interest ?
circulars and prices. I
1ACHINE CO. 1
8. G. MAYFIELD. W. E. FREE.
MAYFIELD & FREE
Attorneys-at-Law
BAMBERG, S. C.
Practice in all the Courts, both
State and Federal. Corporation
practice and the winding up of estates
a specialty. Business entrustted
to us will be promptly attended
to.
Gr. MOYE DICKINSON I j
INSURANCE AGENT j
Will Write Anything j
Fire, Tornado, Accident, Lia- J
bility, Casualty, in the J
strongest and most re- 9
liable companies. ^
My Motto: "Buy What I Need 9l
in Bamberg, and From Those 9
Who Patronize Me. "
'1^1 < T /\M of nil \fiii I 91
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BAMBERG, S. C. S
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