Negro Begins to Serve Sentence: Speedy Justice of Tuscaloosa Courts Demonstrated in This Case of Attempted Rape.

NEGRO BEGINS TO SERVE SENTENCE: Speedy Justice of Tuscaloosa Courts Demonstrated in This Case of Attempted Rape,
John Hatcher, alias Hatchett, the negro who was convicted last week for assault with intent to ravish, was carried to the state penitentiary at Wetumpka yesterday to begin serving his sentence of 20 years, the maximum punishment for the crime. The case of Hatcher is a remarkable demonstration of the efficiency of the courts of Tuscaloosa county and shows the speedy manner in which justice is dispensed here. On the fifth of December Hatcher assaulted and attempted to ravish Mrs. Ida Spurgeon a short distance from her home near Kellerman. The negro escaped but was captured by Tuscaloosa county officials in the northern part of the state and was landed in the county jail here on December 14. Judge H. B. Foster called a special grand jury of the county court and the negro was indicted on the charge of assault with intent to ravish and assault with intent to murder on December 17. The trial was set for December 22, and on that date the negro was tried and convicted. The maximum penalty, 20 years in the penitentiary, was imposed on him on that date by Judge Foster, On December 30 he ‘was carried to the state penitentiary and began serving his sentence. The case attracted considerable attention and has been pointed to as the best method of preventing lawlessness and lynchings. Within the past few years, Tuscaloosa has established a record for the speedy manner in which murder trials and cases of this kind are disposed of.