The newspaper did not say much. People all over the country
must have read the short report and felt angry - and yet
satisfied, as if their strong beliefs about the natives had been
proved correct. When natives steal, murder or attack women,
that is the feeling white people have. And then they turned the
page to read something else.
The people who knew the Turners did not turn the page so
quickly. Many must have cut out the report, keeping it perhaps
as a warning. However, they did not discuss the murder. Although
the three people in a position to explain the facts said
nothing, everyone seemed to know by some sixth sense what
had really happened. 'A bad business,' someone remarked each
time the subject was mentioned. 'A very bad business,' came
the reply. And that was all that was said. There seemed to
be general unspoken agreement that the Turner case should be
forgotten as soon as possible.
In this country area, white farming families lived at great
distances from each other and met only occasionally. They were
usually grateful for something to talk about, but the murder was
not discussed. To an outsider it seemed perhaps as if Charles