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Show 13 RIOTERS OF BLACK INFANTRY DIE GIBBET Soldiers Found Guilty of Complicity in Massacre at Houston, Texas, Pay the Penalty. FORTY-ONE GIVEN LIFE IMPRISONMENT Condemned Men Step on the Traps Singing Hymn While Waiting for Contrivance Con-trivance to Be Sprung. SAN ANTOXIO, Texas, Dec. 11. Thirteen Thir-teen negroes, soldiers of the Twenty-fourth Twenty-fourth United .States infantry, were hanged to death simultaneously at dawn loday In expiation of their murder of Houston citizens last August, when members mem-bers of that regiment engaged in mutinous mu-tinous rioting in the city's streets. In i he dark of the night army motor truoks conveyed the lumber for the scaffolds to :i little clearing in a lonely mosquito i lilcket on the big government reaerva-tion, reaerva-tion, where the negroes, convicted by court martial, were to die. And there, by the light of bonfires, army engineers creeled the death traps, in which, at 5 o'clock in the morning, other motor trucks hurried the condemned negroes and the officers and men of the military guard. It was the army motor i ruck, the only incident which made this Military execution different from previous ones, that enabled the officers in charge m keep secret the time and the place of the hanging. And it was the army truck1 ! hat so quickly obliterated all traces of the execution and carried the dead bodies io a place near by, which is as indis-i indis-i inguishable as the execution site, before official announcement had been made of how the order of the court martial had been carried out and that the following men had paid the ultimate penally: List of Executed. The men who paid the penalty of death were: Sergeant William C. NesWtt. Corporal Ujirnon J. Brown. Corporal James TVheatley. Corporal Jesse- Moore. Corporal Charles W, Baltimore. Private William Braokenrtdge. Private Thomas C. Hawkins. Private Carlos Snod grass. Private Ira B. Davis. ' Private James Dlvins. Private Frank Johnson. Privato Rislev W. Young. Private Pat MoAVhorter. The bonfire illumination for the hanging hang-ing just as the sky was streaking with 'Ainy through the morning clouds, the bleak landscape of dull gray and bronze, i ins which the new timbers of the 1 1 ugh scaffold stood out; the khaki-clad military guard . officers with coat col-U col-U is upturned against the cold all made in unforgettable picture. But, now one might tramp for hours over 1 he brush -covered acres of the military reservation it hout finding either execution site or burial place. Outwardly Stoical. The condemned negroes had known of iheir fate since Sunday. Twelve of them ought spiritual consolation of army Y. M. A. workers. Outwardly all of the ne-u ne-u roes were stoical. They did not know Die date of the execution, but hist night tiiey were taken from the cavalry guardhouse, guard-house, wheer they have been prisoners more, than a month, and placed in sep-:i sep-:i ra te barracks. Aside from a dozen officers of the southern depart nienl and t he sheriff of :vxar county, no on1 in the city or the rm' camps knew of Mie execution date "i- place. The other negro defendants were ignorant of the fate of their companions com-panions until after the formal announcement announce-ment had been made. The condemned men were aroused this Mutrning a few minutes before regular Tiny reveille r:o( o'clock. The military -;unrd had been summoned silently and 10 sound was heard in the camp, where arlv 40.0UO men were sleeping, except : he purring of the army truck motors 1 waiting their loads. The negroes were h cssed in their regular uniforms as care-'ully care-'ully as if fur inspection. The negroes executed displayed neither ravado nor fear." They rode to the exe-11 exe-11 ion singing a hymn, but t he singing i.is that of soldiers on the march. Ar- rived at tiir- -baring the .'-inir.ir stopped. ruwi. i-mackN-d. v.-n; h-lped from f' trucks to the scaffold and s.-att-d on chairs. A low "Cnod-hv, bovs." address-d . tn members of tin-!,- mi lis :u inward. ui:. had been in charm of tin- negroes sin-.! lu.y were brought , here from Port ;iits. : was tin: only expression from any of the! negroes. 1 Tie- men's iV-et were pha--kb-d. An army 1 chaplain offered prayer. An off-o-r call, d "A 1 1 !! t ion," ami. as on parade, thp :;e- trro.-M stood i'i L, Thev stood u i.-t ! " j while caps and no..--.-s v.-.to adjustc I arm l!i--n stepper! 011 tne traps. T'.:- m.j"'-r in, charge of the execution gave a signal and i soiiirs sprang the traps. j Tiie negroes plunged nine feel to instant deatl). j News Suppressed. ! Kven after the eve.-iitinn and the re- I turn of the guard to camp news of what had occurred did not spread through the camp r through the jty until announced by the newspapers. It erea:-d some dem- 1 oris t ration among negroes who ha d fol - j lowed the progre.-s of tiie trial in the na- i lure of "mournings" at a few negro 1 churches. Crowds at those, however, were small. i No announcement has been made when' l he forly-onc mgroe flefendants given, lifo sentences by tiie court martial will j lie taken to Fort leaven worth, j H' the otliers, four were sentenced to! dishonorable discharge from the army, 'forfeiture of all pay and allowances due, and prison terms of two years and two years and six months. Five were admitted and sent to -join their commands. In spile of the executions and a n-nouncement n-nouncement of the other sentences ibis morning, the riot at Houston is not a closed incident. Investigation is still in progress and it is expected additional courts martial will follow". The announcement from headquarters was as follows: "The proceedings, findings and sen-tences sen-tences of the general eourt martial which tried sixty-three members of the Twentv-fourth Twentv-fourth infantry for their im plica t ion in t he riots at 1 fouston, Texari, August '2?,, 1!I7. were approved by tiie commanding general, southern depart men t, December iO, 1917." Official Statement. After giving the names of the men hanged the statement gives sentences imposed im-posed in other eases as follows: "!n the cases of Cook William Frazier. Cook Nathan Humphries. Jr.. Privates First Class John M. Hudson, Jr., James S. Johnson, Ben McDaniels and Stewart J W. Phillips, all of I companv; Privates ' Douglas T. Bolden, Fred Brown, Robert I Brown field, Harrison Capers, Ben Cecil. Gerald Dixon, Henry Green, James R. Hawkins. George Hobbs, Normal D. Holland, Hol-land, Richard I.,ewis. l.eroy Pinkett. Joseph Jo-seph Wardlow, William S. Kane, Harry Richardson, Luther Rucker. Roy Tvler. Joseph "Williams, Jr., all of -I company; Privates Km est Adams. John Adams, Wash Adams, Douglass K. Lumpkins,' Richard Brown, all of K companv; Pri- j vales Allte C. Butler. Abner Davis and I George H. Parham, of L company; Bugler I Rueben W. Baster, M company; Privates' Walter Burkett. .Ta.mes Coker. Callie i Glenn, William .T. Hough. Thomas Jack- j son, Walter T. Johnson. Dean New, Jess j Sullivan, of M company, all of the Twenty-fourth United States infantry, in each event to be dishonorably discharged from the service, to forfeit all pay and allowances allow-ances due and to be confined at hard labor, at such place as the reviewing authority au-thority may direct, for the term of his natural life. Dishonorably Discharged. "In the case of Private Oliver Fletcher, M company, Twenty-fourth United States infantry, to be dishonorably discharged from the service, to forfeit all pay and allowances and to he confined at" hard labor at such place as the reviewing authority may direct for two- years and six months. "In the cases of Private Henrv T. Walls, T company. Private First Class Alvin Pugh, I company, and Private Walter B. Tucker, I company, all of the Twentv-fourth Twentv-fourth United States infantry, and each-of each-of them, to he dishonorably discharged from the service, to forfeit all pav and allowances due and to be confined at hard labor at such place as the reviewing- authority au-thority may direct for two vears, "To be acquitted: Privates William B. Beacoat, Grover Burns, I company; Grant II- Meins,. K company: Bursh L. Smith, Ij company, and Terry Smith. M companv, all of the Twenty-fourth United States infantry. "The forty-sixth article of war authorises author-ises department commanders in time of war to carry into execution sentences of death without reference to higher authority. au-thority. ' Formal Announcement Made. ''Those named above as sentenced to death were hanged on the military reservation reser-vation at Fort Sam Houston at 7:17 o'clock a. m.,' December 11, 1017. '"The execution was carried out under charge of a guard furnished by the troops at Fort Sam Houston. "The remains were interred near the place of execution. "Those named above sentenced to confinement con-finement for a number of years will be sent to the United .States disciplinary barracks bar-racks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. "Those acquitted will be released from confinement and cent to join their regimen regi-men L" |
