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Show KILLED BY OUTLAWS -fe r Judge, Sheriff and Attorney At-torney Shot by Moonshiners Moon-shiners in Virginia Tlillsville, Va., March 14. In a flame of unprecedented outlawry, the entire human fabric pt the Carroll county circuit court, In1 session here today, was wiped out by assassination. assassina-tion. Just as Judge Thornton MaBsle had sentenced Floyd Allen to one year in prison for aiding in the escape of a county prisoner, two of Allen's brothers and several of their friends opened fire with revolvers. Judge Masslo fell dead In his place on the bench on tho first volley. Then the weapons were turned on Commonwealth Com-monwealth Attorney William Foster and he sank- to the floor with several bullets in his brain, death being instantaneous. in-stantaneous. Sheriff Lewis Webb, who made a frantic effort to reach the ringleaders, -was shot dead before he had taken ten steps. Several of the jurors who had tried the case were wounded seriously, J. H. Blaukenshlp probably fatally. The Aliens, including the prisoner and their friends, after the killing of the sheriff, backed slowly out of the room, holding all would-be pursuers In check at the point of revolvers. Once outside they made a dash for the mountains on horseback. A posse of citizens was soon In pursuit, pur-suit, and reports received here said that one of the mountaineers has been wounded In a pitched battle with the posse. Special officers are being rushed Into the county to help in running down the murderers. Governor Mann is holding two companies of militia in readiness in case tho Aliens and their friends 'gather recruits in the mountain fast- Hlllsvlllc Is in a remote quarter. 15 miles from Barren Springs, the nearest near-est railroad station, and outside help will be late in arriving. The scene of the wholesale murder was the quiet little old-fashioned red brick countv court house. Hillsvillo being the se'at of Carroll county. There had been reports that an attempt at-tempt might bo made to rescue Allen, who himsolf had aided a prisoner friend recently to cscapo from the county officers. The trial hal been in progress for several days, however, without any indication becoming public pub-lic or the carofully planned plot of the Allen brothers and their associates. Floyd Allen had been found guilty and had been called for sentoncc today. to-day. The stuffy little court room, with its" coal stove and crude furniture, was crowded Sidney and Jack Allen wero among the first arrivals and were seen to take their places near the rail marking the enclosure for prisoner and counsel engaged in tho case Standing nearby were their associates and friends from tho Blue Ridge mountains. Judge Massle went about the sentencing of the prisoner In the usual matter-of-fact way, but tho words "One year at hard labor" had scarcely pussed his lips when there came the crack of a revolver. In an instant this was followed by a volley of shots and the Judge, who had partly part-ly risen at the first shot, fell dead and bleeding on the banch. Commonwealth Attorney Foster was sitting directly In front of the bench and was next to succumb to tho leaden hall of the outlaws. The Aliens and their friends must havo been well armed, for It seemed to npoctators who escaped from tho bloody court room that fully ono hundred hun-dred shots were fired. The jurors wounded wero struck during tho first fusillade, it Sheriff Webb, whipping out his own gun, made for Floyd, who had Joined In the shooting with an oath nnd a declara- (Contlnued on Pago Seven ) (Continued from Page One.) Hon that ho would never go to JulK Tho officer was stopped by n storm of bullets and crumpled dead in a heap on tho floor. By this tlmo tho shooting shoot-ing In the court room had become general gen-eral and there, was a general rush for windows -and doorc Dexter Goad, clerk of the court, received re-ceived a bullet wound in his neck and jj .'cijiuuloii nurt. His death would mean tho wiping out of the last of- the court officers. , Judge Maeslo was one of the most prominent jurists of the state and recently re-cently was considered for promotion to the Virginia supremo court. He was appointed to tho bench by Governor SwnnBon In 190S, was 4S years old and Is survived by a widow, two sons and a daughter. Commonwealth Attorney. Foster had held his offlco for eight years. He was -40 years of age and known tis a , fearless prosecutor Ho was a Republican Re-publican leader In the county. Shcriif Webb had boen a deputy for lo or 20 years before being elected sheriff last November. Roanoke, Val., March 1 1 Thornton Massle, circuit judge of Carroll county, coun-ty, Sheriff Lewis Webb and Commonwealth Common-wealth Attorney William Foster wcio assassinated today l)y a mob of mountain moun-tain outlaws at Hlllsvllle, tho county seat, after one of their members was to have been tried today on a charge of Illicit distilling, according to meager mea-ger reports which reached here today. A pitched battlo followed the attnek of the mountaineers and several citizens citi-zens arc reported to have been seriously seri-ously wounded, but, after their murderous mur-derous assault on the county offlcerB, tho '"moonshiners ' rode for tho mountains moun-tains and had a good start on tho hastily has-tily organized posse of citizens which la tn nurRiilf. Morn kllllncn nro llltp. A special train has left Roanoke with law officers for Hillsvllle, but part of the journey will have to be made on horseback Floyd Allen, one of a family of three brothers, charged with illicit distilling in the Blue Ridge mountains for years, was the defendant whose case was to have been heard today. Thero had been reports that an attempt at-tempt at rescue would be made, but little attention was paid to them. Allen's Al-len's brothers were at the head of a score of their cohorts from the mountains, moun-tains, armed with rifles. One report is that tho defendant In the case actually ac-tually did the shooting in open court. Roanoke, Va March 14. Dexter Goad, clork of the court, and Juror Douglass, who were wounded during the fighting In tho court room, died late today This makes a total of five dead up to this time. Outlaws Fortified, Cincinnati, March 14. A special from Bristol, Tenn., says that seventeen seven-teen of the mountaineers who made their escape from HIllsvlllo took refuge ref-uge In an old barn In a mountainous spot and prepared to reslBt offorts of the posses. All aro said to be plentifully plen-tifully supplied with ammunition and from the adantageous position of tho barn could withstand a much larger body of men, nn |
