The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-11-16

:, FOR A TIME, HOLD THE PUBLIC
STREETs-UNPRoYoKEDsat at MURDER
AGAIN Observation-Disclosures
s.. UoNDuCr OF PART OF THE POLICE
THE UNITED STATES TROOPS CALLED
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES EFFECT OF THEIR
q APPEARANCE UPON THE RIOTERS
:, The CASUALTIES, &c.
The. scenes which were witnessed in
the streets of Charleston last evening
could only have occurred under govern
ment such as has existed here since 1858.
The riot was the direct consequence of
imbecility and want of responsibility on
the part of those who are charged with
theJhigh duty of watching over, the. pub
Lie peace. Imbecility because no ade-
qnate preparations were taken to prevent
it's occurrence, and want of responsible
ty because no public officers not absolute
ly independent of their constituency
would have dared to degrade the police
force by using it for the purposes to
which that Of this city has lately been
pnt. The police force, while it contains
some excellent material, includes also
some of the most bitter and notorious
partisans in the Republican party. Many
of them symyathize openly with the
crowd of roughs and bullies comprising
the Republican campaign clubs, and
some of them are members and officers OF
these organizations. Only. the day be-
fore the riot three of the most obnoxious
of the whole body were allowed to act, in
citizens clothes, as rallyers in the cleo
ton in which the Mayor and Alderman
Mackey were candidates, and these raj
lyers were taken back on the force on
the following day. While this sort of
triAing with the peace and good order of
the city goes oa, it is useless for the city
authorities to expect to have, in any de-
gree, efficiency in the police or confidence
from the community. .aa
During the entire forenoon of yester-;
day the bulletin board at the office Of
The News and Courier was surrounded by
g. crowd i of : anxious citizens eagerly
awaiting additional news about theIN
tional and State elections. As each dis
patch came in and was bulletined, they
would give round of cheers, and when
it finally became tolerably certain that
Hampton had carried the State, despite
the negro repeating in Charleston, their
enthusiasm was unbounded. i In the
meantime the, ex-deputy sherifs and
Hunkidori bullies had assembled to the
number of about 800 or 400 at the Court
house.. They seemed to be respondent
over the news, until about o'clock,
when .;Worthington, Mackey and Buttz
gave out dispatch saying that Hayes
and wheeler were elected, and that
Chamberlain had carried the State by
10000 majority. Then they fired up and
seemed to be ready for row.
. THE OUTBREAK.
About half-past o'clock there was a
disturbance in Meeting street opposite the
Charleston Hotel, caused by the insolence
of negro. to white man.. A squad of
policemen were at once dispatched to the
scene and succeeded in restoring quiet.
BY this time the Courthouse mob had, so
to say, become red-hot. They were evi-
IDENTIFY mad at the election returns which
had been received at The Ne,os and Cou-
rier Office, and which their leaders knew
meant ego home" for the carpet-baggers
and back seats for renegade Carolinians.
About 4 O'Clock, Mr.. E. w. N. Mackey
came down to The -Netcs and .Conrier bull
letin board and began to boast about the
election of Hayes and Chamberlain: This
provoked a discussion which finally led
to a quarrel and. ended in a riot. Mr..
Mackey states that the row was brought
on by a white Democrat shooting at him.
This is denied by q dozen witnesses, who
saw that while it Is true that white man
did make at him, no shot was fired at
him, and that young man fired his pis-
tol accidentally in the air, the shot not
going near. him. a negro Immediately
rushed down to the ex7-deputy sheriffs at
the Courthouse, nearly all Of whom were
armed, both with pistols and the blud-
geons which they used 80 freely at the
polls on Tuesday, aud announced that
Mackey had been shot. The crowd i'm
lnediately raised q yell and rushed down
Broad street in the direction of The Ne,cs
and Courier Office. The whites stood
their ground and received the attack
firmly. Another shot was fred, aud then
dozen in rapid succession. The black
mob stampeded and retreated in the di-
rection of Church street, where they were
met by squad of policemen who had
been sent to the scene upon the first re-
port The rioters emptied their revolv-
ers while running, and then those who
did not have their bludgeons with them
tore down tree-b boxes and paling fences
and armed themselves at once. The
police force with their Winchester rifles
for the most part discharged their duty
as we'll as they could under the circum-
stances. They brought in a number of
prisoners and several of the wounded,
but in order to do so they had to brand
ish their pistols and rifles. Very few Of
them fred. When the crowd reached
the corner of Broad and Meeting streets
the negroes were much excited. Some
of them rushed to the places where they
had their arms concealed. Others went
home. A large number of the Hunkido-
ri rowdies made dash at the main en-
trance of the Stationhouse and tried to
force their way in, shouting
"GIvE Us GUNS p
Chief Hendricks had taken the precau-
ton, however, of. stationing a couple of
men at the doergwho with their bayonets
managed to keep the crowd back. In
the meanWnDe piStoi was ureu NY
negro at q white man, and this was the
signal for general volley. The few
white men who were in the vicinity, as
soon US the negroes. began firing, drew
their revolvers and returned the fire. The
police were utterly powerless to stop the
disturbance. Every negro fired his pistol
at every white n1ahahe saw, and after he
had emptied his weapon retreated to re-
load. It was in this fight that Mr.. E. 81.
Walter was killed and Mr.. Geo. H. Wal
ter, one of the oldest and most respectable
merchants of Charleston, was painfully
wounded. These gentlemen, father and
SON, were walking down Broad street
quietly on their way to their, place Of
Business on Adger's north wharf, and
hadreached the western end of the court
house, when the row started afresh at the