Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1870-11-10
THE SIXTH WARD RIOTS
BIoodshed and Probable Loss of Life.
Further Violence Threatened.

Every good citizen deplores the scenes of riot
which disgraoed our streets yesterday, and yet
in looking back IL seems impossible to see how
some rioting could have been avoided, and what
there was, has resulted much less seriously than
any one could reasonably have hoped.
The Democratic leaders and the Democratic
newspapers have been for years pandering to-,
and infmaing the mean prejudices of the
most disorderly and violent classes of the COM
munity against black men, and the consequence
has been that there has seldom, if ever, been a
Democratic procession in this city which did not
perpeetrate some outrage on unohfending colored
people or their property. The colored people
have borne these wrongs with wonderful pa
tience, until their prosecutors had come to think
them arrant towards, too mean-spirited to do
anything but run, and this belief had, in accord
ance with the well-known disposition of bullies,
only made them the more keen in their persecu-
tons.
The granting at last to the colored men Of the
right Of suffrage, of which they have for 80
long so unjustly and 80 unreasonably been de-
appeals to the prejudices of low white men by
all the democratic papers and speakers, and
this just measure being held up to them as a
giant wrong, the already dangerous feeling
amongst them was increased, while the great
act of Acknowledgement, which clothed the col
ored men with the rights, duties, and RESPONSE
bilities of full citizenship, added to their self
respect, and made them less disposed to submit
to injury and insult from those whose only
claims to superiority over them rested on not
over clean cuticles. Every fair man will rather
admire than condemn the growth of such a
spirit
In this state of insecurity and lack Of prepara-
ton. on the eve of the election a crowd of
hood of the "Old church" commenced hostlities
by going out of their way to attack peaceful
meeting of colored Republicans. To their sur
prise they found the old spirit of submission to
insult and injury gone and the colored men,
to flight.
AN of yesterdays rioting ,oas but a continuation
of The fight then begun. These same men who
had begun the fight, indiscreetly, to use a mild
term, appeared at the polls in uniform and thus
became conspicuous as a united body, and there
met the men who had put them to fight the
night before Under the circumstances fight
was almost inevitable and about noon, as has
already been stated, it came Off and again it
resulted to the advantage of the colored men.
Now amongst the colored men, there was
crowd pretty drunk by this time, and just as
disorderly and reckless as the white roughs, and
they, encouraged by their previous success, and
influenced by anger and whisky, were "spoiling
for fight" all the afternoon. The more respect
able colored men demonstrated with them, but
to no avail, and from our own observations and
Inquiries, we are led to believe that though the
colored men had not previously been the agrees
sors, the last and most serious riot was brought
on partly by these drunken ones.
This riot broke out about half past five, after
the polls had closed, bricks and stones were
thrown by both parties, and pistol shots were
fired by volleys. Persons there as spectators,
rapidly vacated the place, and for time it was
impossible for anybody to preserve order After
the melee was over, three men were lying on the
ground, two white an one black. Two of them
whose names we have thus far been unable to
learn, we're not seriously wounded; the other
Richard POINTER silver platter, whose shop and
dwelling are on French street above Second, was
very seriously and probably, fatally wounded.
There are numerous stories of the occurrence
but the one that appears to be best authenticated
is that Mr.. Poynter and Sheriff Richardson when
there was an apparent lull in the fighting went
to pick up man lying on the ground, when by
sudden rush of the colored half of the same
toward them, they both found themselves in the
very thick of the fight Poynter was knocked
down and badly cut and bruised about the head
and face, one wound in the forehead being very
serious one. He was taken to his home and sur
gical aid at once summoned. The Sheriff also
was attacked, and savage lunge at him
with razor cut through his coat and came near
the skin. He was almost immediately recogni-
zed, however, and some of the colored men
cried out his name and not to touch him as he
was not one of those fighting them. After this
last and.most desperate struggle the police once
more got the parties separated, and the colored
people We're induced to so to their homes
and stay there. Nearly the whole meager police
| force of the city was ordered to the Sixth Ward
polls, and the whole neghborhood was patroled.
| The police also went to the colored Headquarters
and got all congregated there to dispense excep}
| few who remained on guard to sound the
| alarm If it was attacked. II was darkened,
| however, and all noise there ceased, so that hy
dark all appeared perfectly peaceful in the riot
ing district and scarcely colored man was to be
| found in the streets.
| There was no lack, however, sf drunken and
Market street until long after midnight venting
alternate cheers and groans as their drunken
fancy dictated, but, except some fighting
amongst themselves, there was no more serious
disorder,
The wounded &C far as we can ascertain, in
the several actions yesterday, were as follows
hchard poynter, spectator ianggreHsly. =
sEfsef eH nsnsi eAAIaas, ils AI!ls. 81 B