Mob Hangs 3 in Duluth.

Mob Hangs 3 In Duluth

5,000 Persons Lynch Negroes to Avenge Girl

Storm Jail and Rout Police Force.

BULLETIN

St. Paul, Minn., June 16, 2 a.m. –Two companies of Minnesota National guardsmen left here at 1:30 a.m. today for Duluth under instructions from the state adjutant general who acted on 2 request of Sheriff McGee of Duluth. They were equipped for riot duty.
Duluth., Minn., June 16, 2 a. m.– A mob of 5,000 persons stormed police headquarters here last night took possession of six Negroes held in connection with an attack on a white girl yesterday, and lynched three of them.
The other three were “acquitted” at a “trial” held by the mob leaders in the police station, and were turned back to the police. After the lynching was over, further trouble was not anticipated although national guard troops had been ordered here from Fort Snelling By State Adit. Gen. Rhinow, and a company of local guardsmen ordered mobilized by the same authority.

Not a Shot Fired.

The mob did not fire a shot in the attack on the police station. Bricks and sticks and stones were the only weapons used, until, in the final stages of the fight, they got hold of firehose from the police and firemen who were trying to break up the demonstration and turned streams of water on the officers.
Eight policemen and a newspaper reporter suffered minor injuries in the attack on the police station. They were hit by bricks or other missles, or were swept off their feet and severely bumped in the water fight.
It was reported that three or four trucks and automobiles, loaded with members of the mob, had started at midnight toward Virginia, where it was said four other Negroes had been arrested in connection with the same case.

Other Negroes Diverted.

The Negroes were roustabouts with a circus that appeared here yesterday and the attack on the 17year old white girl took place on the circus grounds last night. The circus was in Virginia yesterday, and it was said eight Negroes were arrested there, but only four held.
One report was that the Virginia authorities and John Murphy Duluth’s chief of police had started back to Duluth with these four suspects before the mob trouble started here but it was understood that the party had been diverted to another city.
The Negroes hanged were Isaac McGhie, Elmer Jackson, and Nate Green all about 22 years old. They were lynched in the order named at 11:30 p. m., 11:38 p. m., and 11:45 p. m., respectively. All professed their innocence.

Mob Gets Busy Early.

First indication the downtown district received of the trouble brewing came at 7 o’clock last evening when trucks loaded with men dashed up and down the principal streets, the men calling for “volunteers to avenge the wrong done the white girl.
There was ready response, and as the mob recruiters met with no marked opposition from the police, the crowd soon numbered 5,000. Then the storming of the jail began.
The police station is located just west of the city hall, between Superior street and Michigan street, with a front entrance on the former street which is Duluth’s main business thoroughfare, and rear basement entrance on Michigan.

Crowd Currounds Jail.

On both streets the mob gathered, surging toward both front rear entrances simultaneously. Word of its coming had reached the police, and preparations had been made to put up a fight with streams of water from fire hose.
The first concerted attack was made on the rear entrance. Near the building was a pile of bricks, used on construction job, and of this the mob took quick advantage. Bricks were sent flying through windows and against the rear door which finally gave in.

Officers Use Fire Hose.

This let the mob into the basement, the police garage, and as it started up the stairs to the first floor Strong spurts of water washed its members back.
Bricks again were brought into play and as the battle waged at the rear of the building other members of the mob obtained a section of firehouse, made a connection at a hydrant and started an attack on the front entrance.
Here, too, the police were prepared to fight back the mob with water, and in the water duel that ensued, neither side had a marked advantage until the mob managed to cut the police hose. This caused a mometary retreat by the police, and the mob began battering down the front door.

Police Finally Give Up.

After entrance had been forced from the front the police offered no further resistance, realizing, they said, that attemps to use firearms would turn the disturbance into a riot of even more serious proportions, and probably cause extensive life loss.
Within the police station the mob faced two heavy steel doors, barring the way to the prisoners’ cells. With a large timber, the steel doors were battered down after an hour’s attack. It took only a few minutes to force open the cages and gain possession of the Negro suspects.

The “Trial” Is Held.

On the second floor of the station a “trial” was held. The three Negroes declared guilty were taken from the building to Second avenue east and First street, about one and a half blocks from the police station.
McGhie was the first to feel the noose. He cried for mercy, declaring be was innocent. Two Catholic priests called upon the crowd to let the law take its course, but their pleas went unheeded.
One priest, Father F. J. Howard climbed fifteen feet up an electric light pole and again pleaded with the mob to turn the Negroes over to courts of law. He was met by hoots and cries of “Remember the girl–lynch them!”

Hanged on Third Attempt.

Twice McGhie was jerked into the air to the shouts of the mom, and each time the rope broke, dropping him to the ground. “God be with them, I am not the right man,” was his last cry as on the third trial he went to his death.
A similar fate quickly was meted to Jackson and Green, who likewise protested their innocence and pleaded for mercy. There was no demonstration after each body soared into the air, and riot attempt was made to mutilate the bodies in any way.
It was declared tonight that inability of the police to cope with the situation was due in part to a stortage of men on the force, which totals about eighty according to available records.
When the mob stormed the police headquarters, it was said about thirty policemen were on duty there and it was early realized that efforts to stop the mob at that stage of the trouble would have been “like pouring old on fire,” as one patrolmen put it.

No Further Trouble Feared.

Although many members of the mob were still in the vicinity of police headquarters at an early hour this morning the authorities do not believe there will be any further trouble, as the “work” of the avengers is completed. It is believed that when the troops now on their way, reach here, they will arrive only to turn around and go back.