Newspaper Reports Exaggerated, Says Mayor, 1909

“Exaggerated Reports,” from The Farmer and Mechanic newspaper published in Raleigh, N.C., Dec. 28, 1909

By the Associated Press
Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 25—Mayor Geo. W. Tiedman of Savannah takes exception to the accounts of the recent triple murder in that city, as sent out by Savannah correspondents of out-of-town papers. He claims that the stories of the excitement the night of the murder, while the hunt for the slayer was in progress, were greatly exaggerated. He declares that there were only four arrests for the crime, that three of these were white men, that no heavily armed men assisted the police, that no hand bills were printed describing the murderer that no negroes asked to be locked up for protection, that no innocent men were attacked, that no doors were broken open or fences leveled, that he as mayor never suppressed or attempted to suppress an edition of a paper. The mayor adds:

“These statements do a grave injustice to the citizens of Savannah, who displayed a regard for law and order under the extraordinary circumstances that reflected credit upon the community.”