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Camoain to Make America Catholic Brings

Texas Ex-Priest Wm. Black Murdered in Cold Blood by Knights of Colum

' ; bus One Knight Killed and Another Fatally Wounded Revival of Ter

rorist Tactics Indicates That Rome Prefers War to Peace

THE new of the tragedy

about which The Menace

U going to apeak wn given

to the worM on the morning of

tho 4th instant by the Associated

IYesa in about the following

fashion i

Mtnbn, Tts-, Feb. I Willi

Hlac. trawling WUW, a ad Juka

Kogwra, a coatra-tov, era dead asd Joha

Copolaad, eaahler of a bank hero, la not

trapartrd t tiM at result ef a shoot

ing aifrsr here early tonight ta Black

.nM, ia fact, was the dispatch

that attracted the attention of

the writer early Thursday morn

ing, and the dispatch that caused

hi-t to take the first train for

Marshall ia order that the whole

truth in the case might be ascer

tained. The press dispatch quoted

above tella the whole atory ao far

aa the bare facts are con

cerned. Yon can tell from

thia dispatch that two men are

dead and another mortally

wounded. Yon even know who

the men are, and what their oc

cupations are but further than

that a waiting world must be left

in darkness.

Practically every daily news

'paper in the country carried this

dispatch. The managing editor

of every paper that handled the

-disnjirh knew the significance of

it knew the detail but he

da dare give them to his

- i

,ause he is in the same dan

Jghat William Black was in

'wihe went to Marshall. Not

, e he ia in a Roman Cath-

0 ommunity, necessarily, but

1 e Roman Catholics are

t just aa they were, and are,

f.rshall. Mot many, but a

ftnough to bluff, bullyrag,

fctt and intimidate. A half

in Knighta of Columbus can

&e life miserable for a thou

! decent men who want to

h the law and do the right

ing.

.The news of this tragedy was

it on the wire by the Associated

ress (it should bo the assimue

ress), and the minute the tele

graph editor got it he knew that

?" was loaded with dynamite,

he telegraph editor soothed it

and smoothed it and padded it

' . t X . . 11.

iwiia coxion in every conceivaoie

plMr, and raased it over to the

m'naging editor, and when the

naging editor got through

e th it, it read something like

la i:

ci 'William Black, who ia said to

an ex priest, and John Rogers,

'ho is supposed to be a contrac

f r, are both supposed to b

Lad, and John Copeland who ii

1 nrt eV A M AaaniM tf aAinA

iitv mw wm w vacsu vi et'iuc

hyink in the city U alleged to be

tirorUlly wounded, aa a result of

i litue unpleasantness which U

illered to have ocurred in a cer

fain hotel in the city where Black

ia stopping. It is alleged that

Rogers and Copeland are Knights

it.if Columbus, an organization

Whhat only exists in the minds of

i' iiiij i . t . m iwiraiauiA. ii 1 1 ik i m

thoroughly tellTd that Black

bvaa an Ex-Priest and waa de-

4tming the 'holy Catholic reli

Ngion. We are not sure that any

thing happened at all but we be

lieve it did, and ir it did. and if it

is detrimental to the Protestant

people, and likely to boom bni

nee for the 'holy Catholic

'chnreh. and the mvthical mvsterv

if known as the Knights of Colum

bia, we are willing to publish it

and want the world to know

about it"

I didn't quote the above from

any newspaper please bear that

in tnmd but it sounds like

might have come from the aver

age daily. In fact, while it is

my own interpretation, it conveys

just as much information . about

the Marshall tragedy aa yon have

been alia to got from any paper

you take.

Ami I would like to add this:

rhe editor of the ilaily paper

are not to blame for the suMcr

fngrs. Thoy ar victims of

circumstances and conditions,

juat the same as you and 1. They

know the Catholic church. They

tnow that she constitutes only

fourteen per ccut of the poptila-

tion of the country, hut that she

ia concrete, active, alert, d.in

perous and unscrupulous, while

the Trotestant people are asleep.

They know that their lives and

heir jobs depend on their atti

tude toward the beast, and for

that reason you are compelled to

take the soft soap aubterfuge of

the daily press for the truth, and

get the facta aa best you can irom

between the lines.

The History of the Tragedy

For the last aeveral months

William Black has been lecturing

under the auspices of the Amer

ican Federation of Patriotic So

cieties in lows, Minnesota, Wis

consin and other northern states.

From what I can learn Black had

never been in the South before.

He didn't know, or hadn't

thought, about the case of the

illustrious William C. Brann

the literary genius of the age who

made the mistake of starting the

Iconoclast in Waco, Texas a

six-shooter locality, and in a

six-shooter age.

lie rtidn t know that he was

operating in a atate where, until

a few years ago at least, a man 'a

standing, credulity and reputa

tion waa estimated by the num

ber of notches on hia trusty

Colts. And this isn't said in the

spirit of criticism for the atate

of Texas. Texas can answer for

the conditions that prevail there

and ahe can answer nobly and

I am not going to dwell on them.

I am going to speak of the facts

in this particular ease the facta

in this tragedy the facts in this

campaign to make America

Catholic, manned at the present

time by Joseph Patrick Tumulty,

secretary to President Wilson

and chief adviser of the admin

istration the man who ordered

the recent prosecutions of The

Menace in the Federal Courts at

loplin; the man who muaged

the defeat of the Immigration

Bill; the man who cracks the

whip over Con gross as you and I

would wield the lash over a yoke

of docile oxen.

But I had started to speak of

Black, the man.

Whenever an individual steps

forth from the inconsequential

crowd to play an aggressive part

in the drama of the world a do

inga the man of action and

achievement, whose importance

is measured by his initiative; a

man who does things and proves

his potency he invariably in

spires curiosity in the human

mind concerning his personality.

This is not pruriency or im

pertinence, but a logical and

legitimate interest, normal and

wholesome. It is the expression

of an intelligent recognition of

the intimate influence of human

conduct upon human character.

Wherefore William Black de

aerves a little description and a

little introduction to the people

who read thia narrative

Black could not be referred to

as being either big, little, eld or

young, tie waa the averace me

diocre man, physically, broad of

shoulder and lean of loin, about

45 years of age, lithe and pliant

as a panther, with the spring and

balance of an athlete. There

was grace in hia gesture, like the

rythm of a perfect poem. His

manner waa suggestive of the

well-trained scholar, somewhst

military, nothing . more. . This

suggestion, without robbing him

oi sny naturalness and grace.

gave to his movements a certain

ty and precision that was very

satisfying, while hi ahruptest

adioiia had a seeming of deliber

ation calculated to deceive the

moat acute observer.

Black's life and personal hah

ita are under aurveillance of

course. If the Komaa Catholic

Mack guard press is capable of

anything in the world it ia cap

able of villainy. If expedient for

ita purpose it would attempt to

turn the fiVeey ermine or Jesua

Christ an inky black.

The papista have never failed

when manufactured evidence was

needed.

They have never failed when

perjury was the only alternative.

THEY HAVE NEVER FAILED

WHEN' Mt'RDER WAS THE

BEST EXPEDIENT 1

Lying t

Look at Marshall!

Of course we are not lying I

We started in to narrate the

details of thia awful tragedy.

What are the facta in the caaet

Here they are:

William Black went to Mar-

shall on the afternoon of Febru

ary 2nd. 1 he county court house

was secured, and on Tuesday

night he gsve a lecture on Ro

manism the very kind of a lec

ture, no doubt,, that you have

heard the kit l'of a lecture that

1 would give, or that any other

man would give that knew what

he was talking about

He advertised that he would

lecture Wednesday night.

He supposed that he would lec

ture Wednesday night.

He presumed that the Consti

tution of tho United States

means what it says when it em

ploys this language: "Congress

shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion, or pro

hibiting the free exercise thereof ;

or abridging the freedom ox

speech, or the press; or the right

of the people peaceably to as

semble, and to petition the gov

ernment for a redress of gtiev.

aaces."

And he had no reason to be

lieve thst the people of Marshall,

Texas, would violate the Consti

tution of the United States.

And the real people of Mar

hall have no desire to do this,

for be it understood that with

he exception of the few Roman

Catholic thugs that inhabit the

place it is a clean town a good

town one of the best in the

country.

Anyway, on Wednesdav even

ing Mr. Black, Mr. C. F. Hall

and Miss Sadie Black, adopted

daughter of William Black, went

out for a short walk about town.

They returned to the Hotel

Marshall, on the southeast cor

ner or tne aquare, about six

o'clock flve-flfty-flve, to be ex

actand took the elevator for

their rooms on the second floor

of the hotel rooms 103, 104 and

105.

The evidence which has al

ready been developed in the pre

liminary hearing, and which we

have a right to print, ahowa that

aa they started down the hall of

the hotel to their rooms they ob

served two men talking; that

further down .the hall they

passed two other men, talking,

and that on Bearing the room one

of the men in the hall intercepted

Mr. Black, who was in front, snd

said: "Is this Mr. Blackt"

The answer, "Yes."

"Can we aee you in your

room?

"Yes."

At this all parties went into

the room.

Mr. Blsck sat down on a stool

near the center of the room and

John Rogers opened the conver

sation with this language:

"Mr. Black, you have been

giving anti-Catholio lectures

here!"

Blact-"Yea."

WILLIAM BLACK

Roeers "Well, you are not

going to apeak tonight, and you

are going to leave town.

Black, attempting to rise from

his sest, ssid: "1 am going to

speak tonight, and 1 am not go

ing to leave town."

At this juncture Rogers took

hold of Black, Copeland shot him

through the heart and it is be

1 1 - .J . U a Pi'.M li htm in Ih,

sbdomen. At the aame time that!

Black was shot, C. F. Hall,

Black's traveling companion,

shot Rogers through the heed and

killed him, and also shot Cope

land three times, one bullet tak

ing effect iu the abdomen, one in

the shoulder and one in the arm.

The doctors consider that he is

mortally wounded.

The evidence shows that the ag

gnssors in the affair were John

Rogera, John Copeland. George

Ryan, George Tier and Harry

Winn, all Roman Catholics and

Knights of Columbus in good

standing, and all armed with

automatic pistols.

Personnel of the Terrorists

Marshall ia a town of thirteen

thousand inhabitants a good

town, too and has a real live

daily paper the Marshall Mee

seuger. This is what the Messen

ger bad to say about John Rog

ers, the Knight of Columbus ter

rorist who was killed by Mr. Hall,

companion of Mr. Black:

Vr. Sogers was bora in Lrnhunrt,

New Jray, Sfay S, and would

tint aava beta. 37 ytara of ag next

May. After -rarelving his eduratioa la

kis borne taws 'and working there for

aareral yaasa ha joined his uncle, James

niggiM, ia taa contracting buaineaa

kara fourUea raars ago, aad faar yrara

a entarsd lato a partoership with

Frank Moos, the Ann doing aeveral

large building jobs, la thia seetloa, tha

laat big local oa tract having been tha

liotal Marshall la whkh ha lost his life.

Mr. Rogers, after coming to Mar

shall, married Miss Orara ODeaaell,

and t tkeaa fli children ha been

bora, all af whoa are Mving. Ea also

leaves three brothers aad two sisters,

all residents of Ljukurat, N. J. Mr.

Rogers waa a saoaiber of tka Catholic

church aad had always conducted him

self aa a good aiticen would have been

expected to do, and his business deal

ing were aeeordiag to the accepted

ethics among barjnees nen.

Very little information was ob

tained about 'the other mem

bers of the mob, George Ryan

was born and raised in Marshall,'

ia about twenty-four years of

age, single, and engaged in the

practice of law.

John Copeland has lived in

Marshall practically all his life

and was cashier of the State

Bank of Marshall, an institution

which is doniinantly Roman

Catholic, but which waa not

known as sueH until after the

tragedy. . : , r

George .Tier ; and Harry Winn

are iron moulders and very little

information could be secured as

to their past history. It is eufH

cient to know that they, together

with Rogers, Copeland and Ryan

belonged to the local lodge of the

Knights of Columbus, numbering

About Sad

bont fifty in membership,

located at -Ol'i: E. Austin St.,

Marslisll.

Wl.ile the country is shocked

wiih the awfulueas of this trag

edy snd the eyes of tho world are

nn'Marahall, it ia well to remem

ber that the good people of Mar

shall the Christiau citirnship

do not condone thia affair and

are not in sympathy with the tac

tics and methods of Roman

Catholic terroriala who attempted

to permanently auppresa free

epecch in that locality by the

murder of William Black.

As stated I fore, Marshall ia a

town of about 13,000 inhabitants,

the county seat of Hsrrison Coun

ty, and while the scene of many

tragedies it is not a typical fron

tier community where a man 'a

standing is estimated by the num

ber of men he has murdered.

Practically every Pr6teatant

denomination ia represented in

the city, and it should be borne

in mind that there is only one

Catholic church in the town and

that the Roman Catholio voting

population does not exceed 150.

This fact alone is significant in

thst it shows how a very small

of poison can coiUami

nate the whole loaf.

One would naturally think that

the safest place in the world to

deliver an address in which, crit

icism of thia organization waa in

volved would be in a place where

ninety-nine per cent of the people

were of a different faith. Bat not

sol The spirit of the Inquisition

ao dominates every man who ia

steeped in the principles and

teachings of this pagan creed, and

it matters not whst his environ

ment may be or how good the in

fluence of the community, his

prejudice is so surchsrged with

dynamic hate that when the

torch of reason is spplied the ex

plosion is inevitable, and the re

sults, be they ever ao serioua, are

not taken into consideration.

Marshall, however, ia no dif

ferent from any other town or

community which happens to be

infested with this class of citi

zens. The fact thst it is unfor

tunate in this regard is no more

unusual than the fact that many

other communities are likewise

unfortunate. It will be remem

bered that Marshall is one of the

oldest towns in the state, that it

has been noted for its activity in

the interests of education, reli

gion, civic pride and everything

that tends to constitute a clean,

honorable, upright and law-abid

ing community. At the present

time it is adorned with beautiful

church buildings, school build

ings, libraries, etc., and has fur

nished at least two governors, one

lieutenant governor, one United

States senator and for a long time

haa had the reputation of main

taining the ablest bar in the slate

of Texas,

The newspaper reports of this

tragedy convey a meager idea of

the chagrin and humiliation

which the citizens of Marshall

feel over this unfortunate affair.

We realize that while many of

our readers will have read an ac-

. 4i.: 4V..

VUUll, VL IUIS II BCUJ IU 144V tlCIIIJl

press they will feci more deeply

concerned over what The Menace

has to say about the matter than

any other paper, and for that rea

son it is our earnest desire to im

press upon them the fact that

while thia place appears to be the

Lexington of what threatens to be

another American revolution, the

town itself and the citizens of the

community surrounding should

not be held responsible for the

seeming lswless conduct of this

papist clique, the wanton, modern

defendants of their orthodox in

stitution, the bloody inquisition.

The personsl facts attaching to

an affair of this kind are always

interesting, and for that reason

we might state that while v the

writer did not arrive on the scene

Tragedy at

until after the preliminary hear-jing

iof in thrt case had been held,

and the body of Mr. Black had

been ahipped, h did meet the

surviving participants in ine

tragedy and had an opportunity

:o form an opinion baaed on per

sonal contact.

All manner of rumors sre rife

concerning the character of Wil

liam Black, aa well aa that of Mr.

Hall and Sadie Black, tho adopted

daughter.

The Catholic press will attempt

to show that Black was not only

not an ex-priest, but thst he waa a

man of questionsble character,

and bore a shady reputation. The

Menaoe does not feel called upon

to defend a dead man, but it

wishes to eountersot in advance

the falsehood and abuse that will

be heaped upon the man by stat

ing briefly that it ia in possession

of the facts, and if it appears nec

essary we can produce his rec

ord and show conclusively that

it is unblemished.

Mr. Black was born and reared

in Virginia, educated for the

priesthood by Catholio parents

snd served in thst cspscity, after

reaching his majority, for three

years and seven months. Like

hundreds of other honest men, he

became disgusted with the pro

fession and renounced his affilia

tions. After leaving the priest

hood- he married and located in

Bellaire, Ohio, and for the last

aeveral months has been lecturing

under the auspices of the Amer

ican Federation of Patriotio So

cieties whose headquarters are in

Minneapolis, Minn.

Clarence F. Hall, companion of

Mr. Black is thirty-six years of!

age and was born in Deepsteep,

Ga. ne is a member of the

Knights of Luther, Knights Pa

triot Military Fraternity, and is

unmarried. He has resided in

Minneapolis, Minn., for the last

few years and joined Mr. Black

at Little Rock, Ark., early in

January. It will be remembered

that Hall is held under 9?,500

bond for the shooting of John

Rogers, who is dead, and of John

Copeland who is thought to be

mortally wounded. It is a signifi

cant fact to be remembered that

in setting the bonds in this case

Hall was only required to give a

twenty-five hundred dollar bond.

while the aggressors in the case

were given bonds of five and ten

thousand dollars each. Another

thing that indicates the atate of

nublio opinion in Marshall la the

fact that Hall e bond has been

signed by practically every lead -

Who Are the Trouble Makers?

For several months the Knights'

of Columbus have been parading

an alleged grievance before the

public. They have denounced

what they allege to be a spurious

oath, and they have published

what they allege to be the gen

uine obligation assumed by their

membership.

At the same time they have

fiercely assailed the patriotio press,

. t,A Via

""i.u ..j "

opposition to the activities of Ro-

man uatnouc organuauona in

American politica is a strife and

trouble maker calculated to create

ill will between Protestants and

Catholics who otherwise would

live happily together in peace and

amity.

They have been so vehement in

their demand for peace as to in

sist that The Menace ahould be

excluded from the maila aa the

only means of attaining so desir

able an end. With xeal unparal

leled they have carried their fight

for peace into Congress, and

have demanded the equivalent of

a censorship over the entire press

of the nation as a mesne or quiet

tag that- small fraction of the

Marshall,

business man in the eity and'

is worth several hundred tLae ita

face.

The grand jury which had just

cloaed a ss.uion previous to tho

Marahall tragedy haa been recon

vened and is in session as these

lines are written. What the ro

suits of their findings will be. of

course, ia not known, but if Hall

is indicted, which is not likely, ha

will be ably defended and fur

nished ample protection while in

Marshall for trial. Us has re

tained M. M. O'Banioa, a reput

able attorney of Marshall who

haa practiced law in the city sine

1910 and was formerly assistant

prosecuting attorney.

It developed in tho onliniinarft

hearing that Sadie Black, tho

young lady who was traveling

with Mr. Black and in the room

at the time this tragedy occurred.

was an adopted daughter. The

writer interviewed Miss black at

length and ascertained all tho

facta connected with her legal

adoption to Mr. Black aa well aa

a brief history of her life. Her

name previous to the adoption

waa Sadie Allison, bne was seven

teen years of age and waa born

at Pine Bluff, Ark.

It waa developed in the testi

mony at the preliminary hearing

that Miss Black was placed in tho

House of the Good Shepherd at

Hot Springs, Ark., on July 8,

1914, and owing to the fact that

conditions there were unbearable

she made her escape on the night

of November 2. It appears that

she was hiding among friends in

Hot Springs when Mr. Black ap

peared there for a aeries of lec

tures. It seems that she was at

tracted by these lectures and an

nealed to Mr. Black for protec

tion and adviee and waa legally

adopted by him on tho 29th day

of January this year; the adop

tion papers, in faot, ware on Mr.

Black a person when ho was shol

and were penetrated by the bul

let which caused his death. Mr.

Black had already made arrange

ments to send the young lady to

his wife at Bellaire, Ohio, aa soon

as he had finished bis Texas en

gagements. Another evidence of tho Texai

spirit was shown in the fact that

the day following the' tragedy;

leading church and society

women all over the eity called

Miss Black by telephone and vis

ited her in person, expressing

their sympathy, and many of

them leaving beautiful Coral of

jferings.

press thai; opposes the politica

program of Rome.

They have induced Protestant

clergymen to join in the cry and

pretense of persecution; and

when Washington Gladden took

the cue from their suggestion,

saying that "We Protestants and

Catholica must learn , to live to

gether" the aentiment was pub

lished far and wide aa a rebuke

to the "nasty Missouri sheet"

which they would have known aa

the chief sinner which haa -done

everything that it should not

have done, and has left undone

everything that it ahould havo

done.

And now, with all these preach

ments in behalf of peace upon

their tongues, and with all their

protestations of fealty to law and

order, members of this same or

der, the Knights of Columbus,

follow William Black, a peaceful

lecturer against Romanism, into

his room in a hotel at Marshall,

Texas, and murder him in eold

blood.

Do these Knights of Columbus

imagine that such deeds ss that

will make for peace t Can they

think that a series of mobbing

(Continued on page 2, Column 2.)

-s -'-

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