Page "Paris, Texas" Paragraph 12

There he was captured and brought back to Paris by train, where a mob of an estimated 10, 000 whites placed him on a carnival float and carried him through town and out into a prairie.

There, he was placed upon a scaffold and tortured for fifty minutes by members of the girl's family, who thrust hot iron brands into his flesh, starting with his feet and legs and working upward to his head.

The family members involved included Myrtle's father, uncles, and twelve-year-old brother.

A February 2, 1893 article in the New York Sun stated that, " Every groan from the fiend, every contortion of his body was cheered by the thickly packed crowd.

" Eventually, the hot irons were thrust into his eye sockets and down his throat.

Afterwards, finding he was still breathing, the crowd poured oil on him and set him on fire.

The crowd then fought over the hot ashes to collect his bones and teeth as souvenirs.