Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1877-07-28

nI"h ioil"" i'@ lhrin as rdvIdiy rs possible.
After reaching the north side, the troops
scattered, and IN tins way the mob was
dIVIttd iut" very small bodies
la The mcallImc the cry was in state of
ANARCHY. Thousands who had not oined in
tie pursuit "f the iicciu. troops. gathered
about ihc burning hHI!,ug and trains, and
assisted M spTr:,din@ he h1urs BY O'Clock
the iiir had extended from Melville station
! To- 1wcntieih street. and cnvelopcd hundreds
I Of cars, the extensive machine shops, two
round houses, and dcpots and offices Of the
I Union Transfer company, blacksmith shops,
! siorehouscs. and numerous other buildings,
/ breaking mp the terminal facilities of this
| mammoth corporation. la round houses were
one hundred and twenty-five first class
! locomotives which had been housed in conse-
/ quence OF the strike, these were totally
destroyed. Bat even the immense loss which
Will be sustained IN this item is but uiile in
! the aggregate damage done
he SCENES transpiring on Liberty street,
/ along the line of which the tracks of the rail-
roaG run, SIMPLY be9gar description. While
hundreds were engaged in firing the cars and
making certain of the destruction Of the
valuable buildings at the outer depot, thou>
sands Of meh, women and children were en-
gagged in pilagin- the cars Men armed with
heavy sed.es would break open the cars and
then the contents would be thrown out and
carried ot by those ben; on protitlng by the
reign oi terror existing. The street was
almost completely bIockadcd by persons
labonng TO carry OFT the plumber they had
gathered together. In Eundre is of instances
wagons Were pressed into service TO enable
thieves 10 get away with ,heir goods.
Mayor Mel arthy early in the day en-
deavorcd TO stop pillage, but the handful of
men a, his command were unable 10 conirol
the crowd, who were disposed III their Anxiety
to secure the goods. The pillage was checked,
but the mob fired the cars. and then proceed
ed with the work Of destruction. /. is inn
possible to form any idea OF the amount Of
goods stolen, but hundreds Of thousands will
not cover the loss. Some scenes, notwth-
standing the terror y hich seemed 10 paralyze
reaccable and orderly citizens, were udicrous
IA Tie highest degree, ard 10 one seemed TO
ENJOY them with greater zest than those out,
ragged. There brawny woman could have
been seen hurrylns away with pairs Of Kid
slippers under her arms another, carrying an
infant, would be rolling barrel Of flour along
the sidewalk. usn. her feet a, the propcllmg
: I
loaded with white lead bags; others hurried
through the crowds with large sized family
bibles as their share of the plumber, while |
scores Of females utilized aprons and dresses
to carry -four eggs. dry goods, ETC.: bundles
Of umbrellas, fancy parasOls, hams, bacon, |
leaf lard, calico, blankets, laces and -four
were mixed together in the arms of robust
men, or carried on hastily constructed hand- |
Burrows.
AT II o'clock in the morning il became ap- |
parent something must he done to check the |
mob, and number of citizens hurriedly pro-
posed notice OF calling mass meeting of |
citizens a; the old City Hall, to take measures |
to prevent further destruction of property. |
The meeting was held at noon, and CONS |
mitee appointed. \ Committee to wait on
the rioters, failed to induce them 10 refrain |
from further destruction of property, and the |
railroad authorities could not lie found from |
the time the military fled.
Up to 3 pm, no efforts had been made to |
check the not, other than the meeting of |
citizens referred to. The mob worked very
quietly, and it was noticeable fact that few
of the railroad employers were engaged in
the work of destruction; here and there
man who had been discharged might have
ringleaders were men who had never been
employed on any railroad. Many halEgrown
boys were foremost in tie work of devas,a.
ton.
At $50 burning car was sent down the
era, under sheds surrounding the Union
Depot. Up TO this time, il was hoped that
the building would escape but the mass of
pine lumber used in shedding over the track
r I.
raging here the mob piaged ,lle freight depot
of z. {. and ST Loals raiIroad, which is in
close vicinity. Boxes cf freight received fr
shipment were broken open and valuable
contents carried off Alter plunderlng the
depot an hour, aud when all Kind, of pr:
visions had been carried away. the torch was
applied and soon the vast depot and the
COMPANIES general officers atJInins were a
mass of flames. The Union Drro, was
large four story building. II had frontage
on Liberty street, about 40 feet, and extended
back about 200 feet. The lower door was
used as waiting room, ticket offices, and the
companys Offices the upper floor was
occupied by The Keystone Hotel Company,
end was one of the finest houses in tins CITY.
The whole building was the modern style of
architecture, and was considered one of the
best arranged dcpots in the country, and was
finished about seven years since. In the rear
of the depot and standing back 500 feet,
were lines of neat pine sheds covering the
different tracks to protect passenger cars from
the weather. Ii was under these the burning
car was run. The freight depot of the
Pennsylvania Central and ST. LOUIS railroad
was large shed, built fronting on Grant
street, extending from Washington to Seventh
Avenue. The Companys General Offices
were in four-story brick building, fronting
on 9TH Avenue. These were totally destroyed,
as was also the depot of the Adams Express
Company. The books and valuable papers
had been removed from the Union Depot
offices, as well as from the other buildings
before the fire reached them. The Fire De-
partment was on duty from the first alarm,
but was not allowed to ave railroad nrnnerfv. |