Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1849-05-15
The New 4Ork Riot.


=, a. hict mai If last night was hui continuation
was harmless in COMPARISON. we give 'he POI
,,.nla,s in the order o, their occurrence, d"u o.
mos, entirely from our own personal ooseisa"on.
rbe invitation extended 10 Mr.. Nacreauy Wy
a number OF uul most prominent cN'Z7", a..
arceptance thereof, called form secohu sno' -
,he nar, Of those who created The riot on Monuny
n;oht. Eariy Yesterday morning PlacaIus weie
posted up through The city, staling 'nd' ~. ~
Of The British sic mer had threatened Vioien' o.
all who "daTed express their Opinions a. ~, !
ai;sh a ,is,,cra,ic Op.ra House" and calling en-
ain working men 10 "s.and y their a~!u lish's'
In consequence Of this and similar 'nIea's
laree body oil Police Was ordereu 10 auehu a. .'e
Onera House and in case this should MOI oe Su,-
6c,ent 10 preserve order, the TN Rtgiheh' W. To'
Du,yes, ana Two troops OF horse, Cap'alns 70
nnm ami Patterson, J of the Eighth Regiment, un-
ssr command OF General Hail, and tae huzzdis
attached 10 General Motlss Brigade, "eie ~,
m readiness. They formed in wo booies, one u
whicc was stationed in the Park and one al Oeh-
Ire Market q, ,;cl,e,.
In anticipation of riot, The rush lot ueae's
was yely great, and before nign', hohe Wei ~
be had. For some time before Inc uoois o mei'
on,ned. people began 10 collect in Asof riace,
IA n. Police look their stations al The dools
and in me buildings The crowd increased WIN
every moment. and when we came upon 'ne
oround Al halt past seven, the square anu 'ne
s,re.I from Broadway 10 The Bowery were neaiiy
tnl There was such tremendous crush doou'
he .uors, in spite OF notice posea up s'a''us
mai the lickcs were all sold that several VI 'ne
entrances were obliged 10 be closed. Inc fo'ice
used every exeriion 10 preserve order, ana sue
cseded in preventing all attempts 10 force ah GU.
france. Inside, The house was h'ieo ou' NV
crowded, and The amphihealre was MOI uno,e
Than hall full. The general appearance VI ~.
audience was respectable and II was hofeu d! hae'
that there would be no serious al'ehp' d. ISL
nance. We uoliced however, thai the WINDOWS
had been carefully boarded up and the doors oar
ricadrd-,h. object OF which was afterwards
| made manifest.
The first Two scenes passed over with v0cl-
farons welcome 10 Mr.. Clarke as Malcolm. Inc
entrance OF Mr.. Macready, in The 'hi[o act was
| the signal Ci perfect storm Of cneets, eioans
and misses. Tie whole audience rose, ana tne
nine-enlhs OF il who were iTiendlylo MacIeaoy
cneered, waving their hats aud handReIcn'ets'
A large body in the parquel'e, win o1heiS ~ sne
second tier and amphhea're hissea anu gloan.
| ed with equal zeal. The lumult Lasted iol 's"
or fifteen minutes, when an attempt was maue
10 restore order by board being oloush. uPo"
The Stage, upon which was written Inc ilien nv
OF Order will remain Quiel." inns sllenceu a.,
L
| sound of what was said upon Inc stage. MOI
WORD OF the frs, act could be heard by any one
| in the house. The Policemen present dld niue
or nothing, evidently waiting orders Finally
| in The last scene OF the act. Mr. Matsei!, Chie'
| of Police, made his appearance 10 inc pafqac"e
I and. followed by a number oil ms aios, nidieneo
| directly down the aisle 10 The leader OF Inc dls
ken and carried out, the greater part OF The au
| dience applaudlng as they oisa ppeaIed
Before the second act was over, something oil
The play could be heard, and IN the pauses OF The
shouts and yes, The orders OF The Chei aud his
men in different parts Of The house could be heard
as well as the wild upioar OF The mob WITHOUT
Mrs. Coleman Pope, as Lady Macbeth, first pro.
cured little silence, which ended, however, i'm
tDediaely on Mr.. Macreaiy's temperance. The
obnoxious ACTOR went through his part with per-
lect se.!-fossesson, and paid no regard 10 The tu-
| multuous scene before him. As the parQueue
and gallery were cleared OF the noisiesl rioters,
The crowds without grew more violeni, aud stones
! were hurled against The windows on The Astur
| Place side. As one window cracked after ano-
lher, and pieces oil bricks and paving stones rat
! lied in on he terraces and Hobbies, the confusion
| increased, ill The Opera House resembled for
tEess ceseged by an invading army ia her than a
place meant for the peaceful amusement Of a CT.
! yized community. Sometimes heavy stones
would dash in The boards which had been nailed
up as protection, and a number OF policemen
were Constantly occupied in mailing up and Sc
curing he deiences. The attack was sometimes
on ono side and sometimes on The oiter, bul
seemed to be most yio;en, on Eighth street, where
there was continual yoiley OF stones and other
missiles The retiring looms we're closed, and
The lobbes so ''Iaked" by the mob outside thai
the only :a.e places were the boxes and par.
quote stone, thrown through an upper VIM
n al.nI II,
splendid chandelier.
The tcurh and fifth acts wee given in COM
para!ivc quiet, 50 lar as Inc audience were con.
ccInet, "A large number of whom assembled 10
the lobby, no egress from the building being pos
sible. Al these words OF MACBETH:
81 will not be afraid of death and bane
'Illl BiTnam ToREsr come TO Dunsinans,"
An attempt was made o get up lumuIt, but
Jailed. The phrase,
- "Our castles strength
WIZ laugh siege to scorn,'
was also loudly applauded. But in spite of The
constant ctashing and thumcing OF stones. and
The terrible yeli> II The crowd in The street the
Tragedy ltoo truly tragedy TO many,) was play
ca 10 an end, and The curtain fell. Macready
was, OF course, called out and cheered, as was
Mr.. Clarke. Cheers were also given for The Pc.
lice, and Tor many oher things which we did |
mol hear in the general ,umull.
Towards the Close, violen! attack was made
by the mob on one of the doors which was part, |
ly forced. A body OF Policemen. armed with |
their sho! CLUBS, sailed from il, and secured |
number OF The leaders, who were brought in and |
placed IN large room under the parqueue, with |
those VINO had been previously arrested. These
lio'efs, 10 Inc number oilhir;y or forty, battered |
down the paIlition Of The room with their Iee,.
and attempted 10 crawl out at the bottom by The |
holes so made. A strong guard was therefore !
placed to watch Hem, and no one, We believe
10 making his escape. From The con.
fusion occasiohed by the continued attack ON
Inc house. We were unable 10 learn the names OF
any Of them.
Alter the play was over, the noise being appa
reutly diminished somewhat, the audience we're
allowed 10 go out quietly by the door neares,
Broadway. The crowd was moi dense in The
middle OF the street, body OF troops having lust
passed along; but The sidewalks, fences, and all
o'her available positions, were thTonged, and a
shower oil stones was Kept up against the win.
lows. As se reached Broadway a comoany OF
he GreYs came round from Eighth street and
ooK iheir posi- ion 10 front Of the Opera House.
Two cordons OF Police in Eighth street KEEP, the
street vacant before The building but The sha,ter-
I'd doors and windows showed how furious had
oeen The attack on that side. We learned from
nose IN the crowd that troops Of foot and one OF
,otse had arrived about half an hour previous
md passed entirely around the tulling partially
iIspersiOs The mob. They had been assailed
win stones, II was stated, one ot The DRAGONS
Knocked 'rNm bis horse, and another carried off
WIN o'oken leg, from The TALL Of his horse.
up 10 this lime we did DOT learn that any pro.
iamaton had been made 10 the rioters. After
PASSING The Gfeys at the corner OF Broadway we
vent into Elsh'h street and were on The return,
n Df Unn hFaa
oliey was fired by the troops, Inc quick scauer.
os flashes throwing sudden CLEAN over The
rowd the gas-lghts in The streets having a II been
ziuguished. Fastening into Astor-piace, we :
'und Inc troops drawn up before the house, and /
lie crowd beginning 10 disperse in front of them :
was generally believed lha, they fired blank I
arlridses, and large number of persons, who +,
ere mere iookers-on did not pay much attention i
II. We passed into Latayete-place, and t!.ere !
Nv the bodies OF two or three persons dead or =
ounced borne away.
The crowd seemed taken hy snrnrise &C ,n.