Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-01-11
q mfl!he Atnnttatet.
FRIDAY MORNING. JAN. H. 1919: Z
THE GREAT sQUIB REBELLION
1878.

AOcal
THE GREAT sQUIB REBELLION.
ANOTHER CHICKEN IN THE PUMP Hooo-
HE GETS PRETTY WELL PICKED-lhA
CHARACTER OF THE CITY vINDICAT
NOBODY BEEN MOBBED AND NO rNo
PERTY THREATENED-A BIGGER FlHo'1
BITTEN OFF THAN COULD BE CHA"HD'
&C. &C., sc.
The investigation by Councilmen =.
Cochran (chairman), W. Fl. Weller anu
Isaac Witt into various matters conneo'o.
with the police and others. commenceo VI
last Friday evening in the Council Chau-
Der. The matter for investigation Was
found in the following preamble and reso-
luton, offered by Mr.. J. b. Evans a'
meeting of the Council:
WHEREAS, On the nights of the Ath and ZoIm 1; -
December 1871 the police fource q ae ess Of the
City to be wantony volated-Life and prope; ~ T
posed to Observation-Disclosures and premcaltattn Citv
d aana af ther pTat edeces te
official acts with no effort on the part Oh te nnrteG
to the proper authorities showing want Of dspost
ton to the high and responsible duties Il e If
u Resolved. That Messrs Cochran. WITT and wei
lei be and are hereby appointed special nnlg
er to send for persons and papers and aitef IT,, q
thorough and rigid investigation to report W sa
City Council whether duty sworn has Deen hesihSot
ted, Laws or Ordinances orders violated, Wna ~
means if any were taken to discover and Dfing ~
luther to make inquiry in regard to .3tb the
general efficiency OF the police fource and ia.iSl
gagged in OF giving aid to the awnessness on the th
and 18th nsts. with suggestion for the renlaai az
ton of the Council.
At O'Clock the committee assembled
Mr.. Cochran in the chair, and MI. Evans,
the patron of the resolution, being present,
and taking an active interest IN the eA-
animation. To understand the matter,
which the reader is not likely to do from
Mr.. Evans preamble and resolutions, ne
should know that motion was introduced
in the Council to suspend the ordinance
prohibiting firing squibs, &C., for Christ
mas day, and Messrs. Weller, Cochran
Evans and Bledsoe voted against the sus-
pension, whereupon a crowd of men ana
boys went around to the residences OF three
of them, and to the business place of MI.
Bedsoe (the National Valley Bank, and
gave them serenade of pop-crackers and
tin horns, the serenaders being composed
! in large part of the friends of the serena
ded, and there being no malice in the al
fair that anybody has heard of. We give
below the evidence taken by the COM
mittee.
STATEMENT OF THE MAYOR.
Hon. VIM. L. Balthis, Mayor, being ex-
amined, stated that he thought the police
could have stopped the crowd at the bank,
| if they had known in time that they were
there. Did not hear of the burning of
barrels at the Wesleyan Female School I'M
til next morning. Heard the beating of
drums at night. Thought Chief of Police
| Crowder's absence from the bank scene
was explained by the fact that at thath hour
he was watching disorderly crowd in an
other quarter. Officers Newman and
Fletcher reported that they went to the
bank as soon as they heard the firing, but
| by the time they got there the noise had
about ceased. Had not heard of any per-
sons being arrested and discharged by the
Chief of Police. Thought the police had
been attending to their duties very well
lately and were improving constantly. If
he suspected they were not doing their
| duty he would have had their conduct in
vestigated at once. The present Chief of
Police had been as particular about ask
ing for leave of absence as any other
Chief he knew of. Was satisfied that the
police were ignorant Of crowd being at
any particular point, or of who were going
around annoying any of the citizens Of the
town. AT the time fixed as that of the
serenade to Mr.. Bledsoe, witness heard
crowd singing loudly and went to hunt a
policeman to stop them. Walked from there
to the Mayors Office and back to Richard
/ sons corner, hunting one. Could notat that
time distinguish anything unusual going
on at the bank corner. Up and down Main
! street was a fusilade of pop-crackers, but
apparently not more at one place than an
| other.
The COMMITTEE after examining Mayor
Balthis adjourned until Monday Sfght.
FAIR SHOW TO BE Grs EN-
On Monday night several spectators
dropped in and among them Messrs. B. T
Bagby and J. T. Ryers members Of the.
Council and Mr. w. N. Bumpus, who were
summoned as witnesses. 1t was also sta
ted that Rev. W. @ Hullihen had been
summoned to testify. After Mr.. Witt, the
last member to arrive had come in, in COM
pany with Mr.. Evans, the Committee re-
sumed it's session. Chief of Police T. J.
Crouder who was present asked Of the
Committee, as the official character of the
members of the force was at stake, the
privilege of having witnesses and counsel.
Mr.. Witt opposed having counsel On the
ground that too much time would be con-
sumed and cited the case of the water
works investigation to sustain his posi-
ton.
Messrs. Cochran and Weller said the
charges brought against the police in the
preamble and resolution referred to the
Committee by the Council were of the
gravest character, and they thought the
police were entitled to have any means
granted them by which the fullest investi-
CATION could be had They should vote to
allow the presence of counsel
1t was then decided that other witnesses
would not be examined until Tuesday
night when counsel for the police, and City
Attorney Elder should be present to con-.
duct the examination; after which the.
committee adjourned to Tuesday night.
MR.. JOHN d. EVANS sTAEMENT.
On Tuesday night the committee reas-
sembled, except Mr.. Witt who, On being