Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1837-02-28

had convened in front o! the CITY fiaii-
composed, Us we arc assured, of the very
canaMh of the city, and combiding within It.
self all the elements of ourage, rot and rev.
ou;ions. Moses Jacques was selected as
the fitting chairman Of such meeting. But
order was not the. presiding genius en- the
occasion. and the meeting was divided into
various groups, each of which was harang-
ucd by some chosen demagogue. after his
own fashion, and on his own consent.
Conspicuous among the orators was
Alex. Ming, jr., patriot who has several
times been honored as one OF the Jackson
candidates for the office of Register Of the
ciiv.-Ilis discourse, on the present occa'
sion, is represented as having been less ex.
citing and intlamma,ory than were those Of
his fellow orators, as he confined himself to
The currency enforcing the doc.
trines orhis great colleague Of reform, Col.
BenoD, and advising people TO discard bank
notes, and receive nothing but the precious
metals. At the close of tins harangue,
Ming introduced set of resolutions, of,he
character of which we are no futher inform
ed, than that one of them proposed a me.
mortal to the Legislature, praying the pro-
hibon of all bank notes under the deIom.
ination Of one hundred dollars.-The Illus.
trious patriot was then uplfted upon tie
shoulders of the sovereign mob, and borne
proudly alofi to Tammary Hall, the proper
place for all patriots of his own complexion.
There were other speakers, however,
who came directly 10 The business OF the
meeting; and in the most exciting manner,
denounced the landlords, and the holders
of -four, for The prices ofrenis and Proyis-
ions. One Of these orators, in the course.of
his address, after working upon the passions
Of his audience, until they were flied for
the work of spoil and outrage. is reported
to have expressly directed the popular Sen-
geance against Mr.. Eli Hart, who is one
of our most cxtensiie -four dealers, on
commission. "Fellow citizens !" he ex.
claimed: Dir. Hart has now $4,000 bar
rels of -four in his store let us 60 apdotfer
him 8 dollars barrel, and if he does not
take it"-here some person touched the
orator on the shoulder, and lie suddenly
lowered his voice, and finished the sentence
by saying, "we will depart in peace"
The hint was sufficient, and having
carried Ming in triumph to the temple OF
Anarchy, a large body yof The meeting moved
off in the direction of Mr. Harris store. in
Washington, between Dey and Courtland
streets. The store is a very large brick
building, having three wide but strong iron
doors upon the street. Being apprised Of
the approach Of the mob, the clerks secured
the doors g. windows, but not until the middle
door had been forced, and some twenty or
thirty barrels Of -four or more, rolled. into
the street, and the heads STAYED in.o At
this point of time Mr.. Hart arrived himself
on the ground, with posse of; officers
from the police. The officers, were assail-
ed by portion of the mob, in LEY street,
their slaves wres'ed from them, and shiv-
cred to pieces. The numbers of the mob
not being large at this time, the officers suc-
ceeded in entering the store, and for a short
time interrupted the work of destruction.
The mayor next arrived at the scene Of
waste and riot, and attempted to remon.
strate with the infatuated multitude on the
folly of their conduct-but to no purpose:
their numbers were rapidly increasing, and
his honor was assaied with missiles Of all
sorts at hand, and with such fury that he
was compelled to retire. Large reinforce
ments of the rioters having arrived, the off,
GERS were driven from the field. and the
store carried by assault-the first iron door
torn from its hinges, being usedas abatterng
ram against the others. The Destructires
at once rushed in, and the windows and
doors Of the lofts were broken open. And
now again commenced the work ofdestruc-
ton. - II.
Barrels Of -four, by dozens, ffiies and
hundreds, were Nmbled into the street from
the doors, and thrown in rapid succession
from the windows, and the heads Of those
that did not break in falling were instantly
STAYED in. lnterminged with the -four,
were sacks of wheat by the hundred, which
were cast into the streets and their contents
thrown upon the pavement. About one
thousand bushels sof wheat, and four or
or live hundred barrels of flour were thus
wantonly and fooIishly as we'll as we'll wick.
edy destroyed. The most active of the
destructioaists were foreigners-indeed the
greater part OF the assemblage was of exotic
origin: but there were probably five hun-
dred or thousand others, standing by and
abeaing their ncendiary labors. II j 80
Amidst the falling md bursting Of the
barrels and sacks of wheat, numbers Of wo-
men were engaged, like the crones who strip
The dead in battle, filing the boxes and bas.
kets with which they were provided, and
their aprons, with flour, and making OFT
with II. One of the des.ructiyes, a boy,