Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-08-07
RIOT AT PETROLEUM CENTER
A. Raid on the BaSnOis-TWO of the
Rioters ShOt-HOuseS Demolished
Women Stripped and Stanalsede(i..
[From the Titu,vllls Herald, Augu.. /

From the Titusvills Herald August II
A disgraceful and destructive riot oc
CURED at Petroleum Center on Mondar
: night, resulting in the wounding of ty,
: men, complete demolition of one house
the cleaning out of another, and the los
of thousands of dollars worth of proper
ty by indiscriminate pillage. -
i About half past ten o'clock on Monday
9 night gang of bullies and bruisers col.
, lected in front Of the House of Madam
Wood, an establishment on Washington
street, where the ''pretty waiter girls5 OF
the Free-and- Easys are lodged and board
ed. The ball was opened with discharge
of vulgar and profane explosives, which
were quickly followed by volleyt of
stones, thrown at the windows and dokrs.
This lasted about ten minutes, whei a
missile thrown through one of the Windows
struck lamp, which fell to the floor, Ind
set the interior in blaze.
The crowd then rushed forward sead
burst open the door, entered the house
and drove out the inmates. No further
offensive demonstrations were made, the
crowd appearing satisfied with their work.
The house was little injured.
After retiring from the premises, the
mob, as if by common impulse, or by
pTeconcerted arrangement, made their
way to the residence of Miss Lucy Hart,
also on Washington street. 1t was
handsome, conspicuous dwelling, two
stories in height,twenty feet frontand fifty
feet deep.
On reaching their destination several of
the men demanded that everybody should
leave the house. The woman was called
to the door and asked how much time she
required to get ready to leave the town.
She replied twenty-four hours. After
some consultation among the leaders there
seemed to be disposition to retire, when
some party in the house supposed to be
the bar-tender) discharged a pistol at the
crowd from one of the windows. Shots
were also fired from the second story by
parties unknown.
Two men in the crowd were wounded |
by the shots-James Leonard receiving |
bullet in his right arm, and Peter Cos
grove similar token in his right thigh. |
The wounded men were removed to a drug |
store for surgical treatment, and the |
crowd, greatly exasperated stormed the
building en- naSSe. Tho windows and |
doors were shiyered in every part of the
house, and the raiders entered at every
aperture in front, flank and rear.
Once within the walls, the rioters pro-
ceeded to commit every imaginable ex-
travagance. Some of them rushed up
stairs and commenced to ransack and pill
lage. Trunks and closets were broken
open and their contents thrown about
the floor or stuffed into sacks and pillow
cases and carried of, If the building
had been on fire, and the multitude were
intent on emptying it in the quickest time
on record, they could not have evinced
greater energy and determination.
One spectator counted seven hair cloth
sofas which were taken or thrown out of
the house and instantly carried off. Four
or five handicapped tables were thrown |
out of the windows. Trunks, Brussel
carpets, mattresses and clothes, chairs,
and every species of furniture and crock
cry shared the same fate. The rioters
walked off deliberately with their plum
der in every direction, and seemed to en-
icy the havoc and depredations as the
most innocent of pastimes. Wanton de-
struction and pillage seemed to be the
main object of the demonstration. The
partitions were all demolished. Some of
the women were stripped of their cloth !
ing and brutally outraged. There were
six IN the house, and after their escape : :
they sought shelter in every direction. !
Wherever they were found by the rioters
.he house was threatened, and they were
to seek other hiding places.
Our reporter found three of them in ne !
gro shanty, who informed him that they I I
stayed all night in a stable, the hotels
having refused to accommodate them for
fear of being mobbed.
Many of the rioters became intoxicated !
md paraded the streets in the women's !
clothing stolen from the house. Scarcely
anything of value, excepting stair-car- q
BETS, was left in the house. 1t was the
of Mr.. Adder. He had given
he occupants notice to quit but had been
Inable to eject them.
Lucy Hart, the proprietOress of the es-
is resident of Washington, a
D. c., where she maintains similar in u
titution on a much grander scale. She
s reputed to be worth $l5O,OOO, which u
vas accumulated in this profession. Be- Il
ides the loss of her household furniture
N this occasion, her entire wardrobe and II
liamond jewelry shared the same ca ?
amity. d
She started for Franklin yesterday a
morning. alleging that she had the names
# the ringleaders, and several of the
PARTIES who stole her furniture, and she
would bring them to time.