The _Public Ledger_ is one of the oldest evening daily papers in Memphis,
and this telegram shows that the intentions of the mob were well known
long before they were executed. The personnel of the mob is given by the
_Memphis Appeal-Avalanche_. It says, "At first it seemed as if a crowd of
roughs were the principals, but as it increased in size, men in all walks
of life figured as leaders, although the majority were young men."

This was the punishment meted out to a Negro, charged, not with rape, but
attempted assault, and without any proof as to his guilt, for the women
were not given a chance to identify him. It was only a little less
horrible than the burning alive of Henry Smith, at Paris, Texas, February
1, 1893, or that of Edward Coy, in Texarkana, Texas, February 20, 1892.
Both were charged with assault on white women, and both were tied to the
stake and burned while yet alive, in the presence of ten thousand persons.
In the case of Coy, the white woman in the case applied the match, even
while the victim protested his innocence.

The cut which is here given is the exact reproduction of the photograph
taken at the scene of the lynching at Clanton, Alabama, August, 1891. The
cause for which the man was hanged is given in the words of the mob which
were written on the back of the photograph, and they are also given. This
photograph was sent to Judge A.W. Tourgee, of Mayville, N.Y.

In some of these cases the mob affects to believe in the Negro's guilt.
The world is told that the white woman in the case identifies him, or the
prisoner "confesses." But in the lynching which took place in Barnwell
County, South Carolina, April 24, 1893, the mob's victim, John Peterson,
escaped and placed himself under Governor Tillman's protection; not only
did he declare his innocence, but offered to prove an alibi, by white
witnesses. Before his witnesses could be brought, the mob arrived at the