Arriving here at 12 o'clock the train was met by a surging mass of
humanity 10,000 strong. The negro was placed upon a carnival float in
mockery of a king upon his throne, and, followed by an immense crowd, was
escorted through the city so that all might see the most inhuman monster
known in current history. The line of march was up Main Street to the
square, around the square down Clarksville street to Church Street, thence
to the open prairies about 300 yards from the Texas & Pacific depot. Here
Smith was placed upon a scaffold, six feet square and ten feet high,
securely bound, within the view of all beholders. Here the victim was
tortured for fifty minutes by red-hot iron brands thrust against his
quivering body. Commencing at the feet the brands were placed against him
inch by inch until they were thrust against the face. Then, being
apparently dead, kerosene was poured upon him, cottonseed hulls placed
beneath him and set on fire. In less time than it takes to relate it, the
tortured man was wafted beyond the grave to another fire, hotter and more
terrible than the one just experienced.

Curiosity seekers have carried away already all that was left of the
memorable event, even to pieces of charcoal. The cause of the crime was
that Henry Vance when a deputy policeman, in the course of his duty was
called to arrest Henry Smith for being drunk and disorderly. The Negro was
unruly, and Vance was forced to use his club. The Negro swore vengeance,
and several times assaulted Vance. In his greed for revenge, last
Thursday, he grabbed up the little girl and committed the crime. The
father is prostrated with grief and the mother now lies at death's door,
but she has lived to see the slayer of her innocent babe suffer the most
horrible death that could be conceived.