Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-14
THE R1CmmOND RIOT.

Il 0A0LAS cCCs
I'm addition to the telegram from Rich
city on Thursday, we gather the following
particulars of the affair from our exchang-
es. The disturbance arose at the scene of
the trial of the fire engine of the visiting
TcompRHy from Wilmipgtqn, .DelawaTe'
Sagaihst those ot4Riehn0nd. This trial. /
which took place at the canal basin, adja-
cent to the Petersburg railroad depot, at
fracted an immense crowtlsof colofed men |
and boys, cheering occasionally and laugh |
ing good humoredly whenever a awayward |
stream of water went flying over their
heads, The Wilmington engine, from
Which great things were expected, Was,l apr |
,paTentlyute the delight of the negroes, nm
able to compete in capacity and etfeetlYer
ness with the fire engines OF, RichmondiTr
! 3Thes w Wilmington men put on the utmost
samQunt t0fI steana,i until the safety OF the
lboilerf9 f9migh be considered endangered; :;
but all their forts fell short of,rivaling the
display made, by their Richmond rivals
The Herald gives the following exciting
narrative of what ensued: 81 igiefrsQ vd]
81 In font of the jet of ,waterthe eolored
crowd were, assembled, sending up every
few. moments derisiye cheers at the abor-
tive, attempt of the Wilmington engine to
eclipse the Richmond One.e 1t was evident
to an observer. that the visitors from Dela-
ware felt irritable, and more especially 1n-
censed against the -darkies, who felt and
expressed a. pride in the triumph of their
local engine, Ropes we're drawn around the
space; Where. the testing operations were
carried on. At five O'Clock this evening,
after the q Wilmington engine had made
some half dozen trials, a acolored man
standing near the ropes exclaimed, !" Hur+
rah for Richniond! She can peat VIII vi
ware men standing by, mortified at this re-
mark, struck the negro. and knocked him
down, The negro was on his feet at once,
and returned the blow. D@is
, 7al When the negro struck back ne was assail-
ed by another. Delaware fireman, and a
crowd of coloreds men gathered around
during the brief scuff1e which ensued
while considerable confusion prevailed.
Two policemen came up at this juncture,
one of whom arrested. the negro and the
other the white man. The colored crowd
surrounded the policeman with the object
OF effecting rescue. The policeman hay
ing the Delaware man in charge let him go.
and proceeded to the aid of the officer hav-
ing the cclored man in custody. The epris-
oner was taken up Eighth street to Main,
q colored crowd following at his heels. Ar
irving as Seventh street, rescue was at
tempted, the negroes surging round the
officers and handling them in rough mani
ner. The prisoner was finally liberated,
Z after which he ran up Seventh street to-
& wards Main, the officers in hot pursuit, and
an excited mass of dark stained humanity
. in their wake Al policeman standing on
: the corner of street on the route of the
p ifieeinos darkey. rushed out and endeavored
q to stem the torrent He was quickly over
powered, Knocked down and run over. 9
n y Near Broad street the escaping negro was
Z again captured, and when fairly on his way
: to the station-hoHse a strange and exciting
feature was witnessed in the approach
from an opposite quarter of an immen nse
Il crowdOf negroes, half of them bareheaded,
z yelling like devils, Houfishing sticks and
+ other missiles, and making the most bois-
ferrous demonstrations. Both crowds met,
Il in the midst of which the two devoted po-
q licemen were crushed, struck with bricks,
3 their revolyers wrenehed from them, and
the prisoner once more set at liberty The
policemen were badly hurt, and lett pow
'erless to attempt another capture. The
negro was carried away by his brethren
amid shouts of triumph. --2a1ii ii-iLI ~. (
~ But the attention of the police, still nm
remitting, was directed to the prisoner for
another and last time. Two other mem
bers of the force came on the scene and by
q dextrous and rapid move secured the
slippery darkey, and got him as far as the
door of the station house. A scene OF con-
fusion then occurred which beggars gde-
scription. The police had orders not to fire
their revolvers, and being only few III num-
Der at this particular point, were quickly
overpowered and forced to surrender their
milnight-is still at large. q t8A 4
The negroes seemed to spring up out OF
the earth so rapidly and in such immense
force did they concentrate, that every one
was astonished. A colored barber, While
the crowd was rushing along Broad street,
ran out of his shop, wrenched his pole from
its position, and exclaimed in wild tone
ofsVoice, g Freedmen to the rescue Save
your nation J" 1900,
: In the meantime, while these proceedings
were going en-, the white citizens were
hooikiug from all quarters. w omen, pale
and agitated, stood on their doorsteps, or
& looking out the windows with evident ap-
sprehension of riot and bloodshed.' A sim
gle pistol-shot fired while the excitement
was at its height, would have precipitated
q riot before which that of New Orleans
9 would pale into insigniicance. The whites
were indignant at the defiant and demon
-stratiYe -demeanOr of the blacks, While the
latter were enraged at what they consider
ed the one-sided conduct of the police.
After the prisoner was finally rescued,
he was taken by his black friends, amid
the most extraordinary clamor of victory,
along Broad street, and spirited away to
some place of refuge.
The Mayor Thought it advisable to issue
orders for the concentration OF all the po-
lice in the city at the station-house on Mar
shall street. General Schofield was noti-
fed, and shortly after made his appearance,
3 in company with General Brown, OF the
Freedmen's' Bureau, driving in a wagon,
and cheered Justify by a motley crowd OF
blacks. The General, the Chief of Police
and Mayor Mayo held a consultation, the
nature of which failed to transpire. 81
While they were consulting, a compan y
s,of the Eleventh United States Infantry
marched UP Broad street with fixed bayo-
nets, and took up a position facing the new
Richmond theater. An immense crowd OF
darkies, in large and small groups. talking
and gesticulating vehemently, extended
along the roadway and sidewalks. The
officer in charge of the soldiers bid them 60
to their homes. This advice was responded
to by cheers and a sort of undecided shuf-
fling from one side of the street to. the
other The soldiers were told, off into
squads, and orders given them to clear the
street of whites and blacks alike. Quite
lively time ensued; some of the soldiers,
in the excess of their zeal, chasing some
poor sambo and tickling his anatomy with
a bayonet. After nine o'clock this evening
order was restored.
GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN says our modern
marriage service should read thus: Cler-
gyman-Will you take, this brown stone.
this carriage aud span, these diamonds, for
thy welded husband Yes. VIII you take
this unpaid milliner's bill, this high water
tall of foreign hair, these affectation accom-
plishments and feeble constitution for thy
welded wife? Yes, Then, what man has
joined together let the next best man run
away with, so that the divorce court may
tear them asunder. J gat ri
THAD. STEVENS talks about "G mild con-
fscGtion.' Said an Irishman holding his
hand before the muzzle of gun about
to be fired, ''pull. it of aisy.2-LouisUtIIe
Journal. ~ .e184 tE ot ul.
THE oil and bone taken by three whale
ships which arrived at New Bedford this