Lillington, Nov. 21—Not one of a score of witnesses examined by Judge Oliver H. Allen in Harnett county superior court today in John Doe proceedings, could throw any light on the personnel of masked and robed groups of men who, it is alleged, have committed a number of outrages against Harnett citizens in the last few weeks.
The investigation was started by the sheriff Monday following alleged threats from members of the mased mobs against Manly Thornton for the flogging of whom Walter West and Leonard Dowjn, well known young farmers of Anderson Creek, have been arrested. Solicitor Walter Siler conducted the inquiry before Judge Allen.
P.A. Cannady, a leading farmer in Anderson Creek community, testified that 19 automobiles loaded with a hundred or more men garbed in white regalia gathered at his home at 5 o’clock Sunday afternoon and went from there to the home of Bob Gainey, across Lower Little river, and flogged him so severely that it was necessary for him to go to a hospital.
Cannady, who is a leader in school work in the community, testified that he was utterly surprised when the masked men gathered at his house. He did not know them, he did not know whence they came, he said. He stated that he begged the men to go away, fearing that the horses of some guests would become frightened at the regalia.
Both Walter West and Leonard Down were examined but neither could furnish the court any information. Virtually all witnesses agreed that bootlegging on a large scale was rampant in that section of the county.
At the end of the hearing Judge Allen delivered an appeal for the enforcement of the prohibition law. He urged the formation of law enforcement leagues, but he condemned the use of masks for such purposes.
From page 2 of the Wilmington Morning Star, Nov. 22, 1922
No comments:
Post a Comment