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SHORE LYNCH JURY
TO CALL MENCKEN
Foreman Insists Editorial
Staffs Of Sunpapers Also
Be Subpoenaed
LATEST STEP IN PROBE
Summons Plan Follows Articles
Stating Members Of Williams
Mob Are Known
[Special Dispatch to The Sun] Salisbury, Md„ Dec. 19—H. L. Mencken and members of the editorial staffs of The Sun and The Evening Sun are to be summoned as witnesses before the coroner's jury which is to fix responsibility for the lynching of Matthew Williams, confessed murderer, it was said here today.
W. Arthur Kennerly, former Mayor and foreman of the coroner's jury, declared today he would insist that Mencken and the editors be subpoenaed. State's Attorney Levin C. Bailey said Mr. Kennerly had discussed the matter with him and that he had informed him that he or any other member of the jury could summon any witness they desired.
New Step In Probe -The coroner's jury action is contemplated as another step in the investigation, it was explained, following an editorial in The Sun Thursday morning stating the members of the mob are known and because of the statements made by Mr. Mencken in a copyrighted article in The Evening Sun last Monday, when he said in part:
"Every schoolboy in Salisbury knows who was in the mob. The names of those who dragged the victim from the hospital, blind and helpless, are known and so is the name of the hero who made off with the souvenir toes. The leaders are on public display at this moment, bathed in moron admiration."
Lane Probe Sweeping
All facilities of the offices of Attorney-General William P. Lane, Jr., and State's Attorney Bailey have combined in an investigation of the lynching and its perpetrators. Mr. Lane and his assistant, G. C. A. Anderson, with two members of his office personnel, left here for Baltimore at 4.30 P. M. following a two-day interrogation of witnesses. Every spectator whose name is known is being questioned, and a stenographic record taken of the statement each makes.
Thirty or more statements have been taken, according to Mr. Bailey, and among these were several made by Negro spectators of the hanging. The nature of all testimony is held in confidence, as are the names of those who have been called. In order to obtain all possible clues, some of the witnesses have been grilled by the officials for more than an hour.
City, state and county officers known to have been in the vicinity of the lynching have been called in and questioned further. These, it is understood, were asked to give a detailed account of their movements while the mob was in action.
Attorney-General Lane did not announce his plans for the coming week, but has stated that the investigation will be continued even through the Christmas holidays, if necessary.
Governor And Lane
Refuse To Comment
Governor Ritchie was asked last night if he indorsed the action proposed by the foreman of the coroner's jury. He refused to discuss the situation in any way.
Upon his arrival in Baltimore last night, William Preston Lane, Jr., Attorney-General of Maryland, was asked, "Do you approve of this method of subpoenaeing outsiders who were not on the scene and have no first-hand evidence?"
"I'll be darned if I want to comment on that," Mr. Lane said. "It all depends upon the individual facts of each case."
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