Dectective Denies His Death

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, W. Va.
Tuesday, April 2, 1912

DETECTIVE FELTS DENIES STORY OF HIS DEATH

Neither He Nor Detective Belk Killed by Allen Outlaws, He Tells Reporter.

IS SURE OF CATCHING TWO OF GAND STILL AT LARGE

Relates Some Interesting Experiences He Has Had With Newspaper Cor- respondents Who Have Been Hav- Ing Hard Time Getting the News.

ONLY ASSOCIATED PRESS AND TWO PAPERS NOW REPRESENTED

Yesterday the city was flooded with rumors and April first stories telling of the tragic and fatal shooting of T. L. Felts and Walter Balk, in the mountains near Hillsville. The stories were not credited by people who knew, and to set the minds of the doubters at rest last night, T. L. Felts himself arrived in the city on Train No. 3. A hundred or more people stopped him on the street, shook hands with him and congratulated him on being alive, while several hundred others looked at him as though he was a ghost arisen from the dead. Mr. Belk is still at Hillsville and did not meet with any injury yesterday.

Last night Mr. Felts talked about the Hillsville affair, but said there was little news to give out. Two of the Allens are still in the mountains, he said, and "if they stay there we are sure to catch them; and, if they leave the mountains we are sure to get them." In order to make more certain the capture of the two remaining outlaws bloodhounds and a trainer from the Virginia state farm have been sent to Hillsville. These bloodhounds gained a national reputation because of their work in the Beattie case at Richmond. Mr. Felts said the plan which has been outlined calls for the putting of the bloodhounds on the track of either of the men as soon as a real trace of them is found and in this way it is believed the zone in which the officers must work will be narrowed down.

Men and horses go into the mountains during the day in search of the outlaws and here and there many are dropped at night to watch for signs of the outlaws. In this way three of the men have been picked up; and the other two men located on several occasions. Mr. Felts told a number of hardships and privations which he and his men have had to endure while out on the mountainsides and spoke in complimentary terms of the work of H. H. Lucas, a Bluefielder, to whom Claude Swanson Allen surrendered. He said it already has been established that the Allens lived for over a week on a sack of crackers and some butter and sugar purchased at country store the day following the Hillsville tragedy. During the entire week they scarcely left the shelf rock under which they were hiding and from which they saw the officers as they worked toward the hidden outlaws, until on one occasion the officers were within a hundred yards of the men, unknown to themselves. It would have been possible for the outlaws to have picked off the entire posse but they feared they might also be killed in the fight.

Mr. Felts is certain the men will be captured within a short time if they should leave the shelter of the shelf rocks on the south side of the Blue Ridge. These shelf rocks offer them a safe haven as long as they remain in them. In order to approach the shelves, which cannot be seen many times until the officers are within a few feet of them, it is necessary to crawl through laurel thickets and mountain growth, carrying a gun ahead. The work is of an extremely dangerous nature and is only made possible by the fact that the Allens are not dead shots, but must wait until the officers get near them in order to fire with any degree of certainty of getting their man.

Describing the south side of the Blue Ridge, Mr. Felts said he does not know of any region in this section to which it might be compared. One of his men in describing it said he did not mind climbing straight up a mountainside but he did object to climbing a mountain which sloped out, as it was worse than straight climbing. For two miles the mountain is a sheer cliff, replete with shrubs and everything else which could possibly be present in a thicket. The men above can clearly see what is going on below if they choose points of vantage and they have done this. Following the capture of Claude and Friel Allen, the officers went to one shelf rock where the men had been in hiding and found they had left there but a short time previously, and, tracks of their footprints could be seen in the earth, showing where they had leaped from point to point in order to escape the officers who were seen approaching them. Mr. Felts is now certain any man he has got could arrest the two Allens if they would dare to come out in the open simply because on the only opportunity they have had to fight they took the chance to run and escape the officers, instead of standing out and fighting like it has been said they would.

Mr. Felts tells of some interesting experiences he has had with the newspaper correspondents, who are always after news. They are having as hard a time getting news, apparently, as the officers are having in getting the Allens. There are only three newspaper correspondents at Hillsville now, the dozen or more who were there having left for their homes. Night and day these men are on the job looking for something to happen. They while away time taking photographs of the country and waiting for something to turn up. They are anxious to have the Allens caught so they can get back to New York and tell of their experiences. The Associated Press, the New York World and the New York Herald are still represented at Hillsville.

Mr. Felts does not put much credence in the reports that Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards will commit suicide rather than be captured, but believes they will submit to arrest if they are cornered, although it must be recognized that these men know the state has a case against them. Mr. Felts said he cannot tell whether there was a conspiracy on foot to kill the entire court or not, but he is reasonably certain a conspiracy did exist, as the men went to the courthouse in a body and left in a body. He did not seem to care to talk on this point, making it appear that the attorney general may have evidence of value which will come out at the trial.

A. H. Baldwin left last night for Hillsville under special instructions and will report for duty there today.