Dalton, Ga., April 5. (Special). Mr. B. C. Coyle, an old and respected citizen of Dalton, who has been working in the gold mines upon Cohutta mountain, in Murray county, was recently taken at night by twelve masked men and severely beaten. Two women were also taken from the house where he was boarding and were severely whipped–one of them, a young woman, fainting under the severe and brutal treatment.

Mr. Coyle was taken off some distance and stripped of his clothing, and his body was literally gashed from head to foot. After the kuklux had left him he followed and overtook them at a neighboring house, seeking, if he could, to recognize them. He was then taken and whipped again more severely than at first. The reason they gave for whipping him was that he had been reporting upon them for running illicit distilleries, and the women were whipped for the same reason, so alleged. Mr. Coyle, after laying up for some considerable time, was able to get home, but is still suffering, and is under the treatment of a physician. He is a man of excellent character, and is deeply sympathized with by all the people of Dalton.

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