Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1866-08-17
my heart thrill with admiration for
brave man, although he was black as ink.

brave man, although he was black as ink.
heard Union man in the midst of
OF Rebel rioters, who were pound
ing negro and shouting for JEFF Davis,
swear at them and call them traitors, and
and every epithet of ignominy that his
tongue could command. Strange to say
they allowed him to escape unhurt.
An old grey headed Irishman, member
oil the Convention, named Haynes, did
the same thing while passing through the
crowd under guard, although they had
ropes ready to hang him. He defed
them to do their worst and threatened to
haunt them "wid his ghost" if they
harmed hair of his head.
When Fish, the first member that +
saw arrested, was passing down Canal st.,
ruffian mounted piece of scaffolding in
front of new building and attempted to
throw rope over his head. Another hit
him in the back with brick bat, whereup-
on he turned around and defed them in
language more remarkable for its abusiye-
ness than politeness.
saw negro draymen and other colored
men, pursuing their regular business avo-
cations, pass through the crowd of rioters
unframed. One old colored man attract
ed my attention particularly. He walked
through the mob on the sidewalk with q
bundle under his arm and an iron bar in
his hand. His chin was firmly set and
his eyes looked daggers. No one dared
to molest him. w
Yesterday morning everything about
the building was scrupulously clean. At
night it was blood stained and smeared
with clots of human gore from one end of
it torthe other. The stairway, the halls,
the offices, in fact every apartment shows
conclusive evidence Of the desperation of
the mob and the cruel violence of their
slaughter. Tangled and bloody knots of
hair and crisp wool show how whites and
blacks died together, struggling against
infnriated and implacable enemies. The
sidewalk in front Of the Institute and on
both sides of The street along the whole
block is also bcspattered with blood and
brains, and the fences and even the sides
of some ofthe dweiling-houses are in the
same condition. A refreshing shower
which fell this morning washed away
some of the marks but enough remains
TO shock even the casual passer BY. The
| chairs and furniture in the Hall are bro
ken in peices, ard the window-panes
are shivered and shattered from the per-
| feet rain Of bricks. The building stands
new, smoking under the hot rays of the
sun which has followed the rain, monu-
ment of disgrace to the city, the State and
the country in which such scenes can be
enacted,
The affair commenced at l2.45, and
lasting three hours, ending at 3.45. It
| did not end until every negro or white
man in the Institute had been either kill
ed or wounded and captured, with the ex-
ceptia of three or four whites. As there
were about 100 men of both classes in the
building, and about so wounded outside,
the total casualties will amount to 1875, Of
whom so we're killed or have since died
from their wounds. This estimate is mod
crate.
The military force was encamped at
Camp jackson, five miles from the scene
of the riot, and in the morning were told
to be ready for any emergency. They did
not arrive until quiet had been restored,
and it was only restored when there was
nothing to kill or main. 1t is certain
that somebody was very derelict in order
! ing the troops into town. Gen. Sheridan
was not in town, and Gen. Baird had
command. understand that one Of his
staff reported everything quiet when, at
the time he was making his report, the
massacre had begun and progressed for a
quarter of an hour. His dereliction
should be investigated.
lhe ponce impressed the baggage wag-
gons Of an express firm in this city to car
ry off the dead; one load, consisting Of
eight or ten bodies, had two living men
at the bottom. They were wounded, and
perhaps would have died; but they had
life enough left in them to struggle for
air. An eyewitness, whose name can
furnish, says that policeman mounted
the cart, and showing his revolver down
between two bodies on top, killed the poor
fellows, with one shot for each. The
fendish thirst for blood which seemed to
possess some of the rioters were too bru-
tai for even the imagination of a savage.
Their eyes cleaned with it, and rolled in
their sockets their tongues protruded
from their mouths, parched and shriveled
almost, and their voices grew husky from
demoniac yells. have no doubt but that