The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-10-25
THE ST. CROIX INSURREC-
TION.
A City Partially Burned and Over Fifty
Estates Destroyed.

A City Partially Burned and Over Fifty
Estates Destroyed.
NEW York Oct ga correspondent of
the Herald, writing from st. Thomas on the
9th of October, gives the following account OF
the recent outbreak in the DANISH lsiahd' St.
Croix:
The first of October is the day on which the
labor contracts are at an end. On that DAY the
negroes are at liberty and go from estate 10 es'
tate to form new engagements OF uocA lnso tue
towns of Cbristiausted Commonly KnoW9 as
Bassin) and Fredicksted always called west
End. On Tuesday, October l, it was noticed
that a large number of laborers were IN West
End and the people now say they hau sur'y,
determiped air about them. The town re]olced
in the possession of nine pollcehen anu 'nree
soldiers. ,L ...:
drunk, began SO make row, ana on Delng met
by two policemen they resisted ana tney naa 10
run for the fort Here they armed themselves
and, coming out, ordered the mop' t ms con-
sistiug of about fifty, to dispense. The mob
jeered and threw some stones, when a couple
of blank shots were fired from the fort. The
mob rushed on the police, who, firing again
with bullets, wounded few. About tnis time
one Mr. Fontaine, planter, arrived iIoln .ne
the crowd, he was hemmed IN, ana then at.
tempted TO draw his revolver. AT TINS one OF
the mob struck him over the temple with a
large bar, telling him senseless 10 tue GROUND.
One or two white men rushed in, and the mob
allowed the insensible body to be removed to
the house OF one MIR. John Moore. 1t was now
getting toward dusk, and the mob was rushing
from place to place stealing rum LIZ was evil
dent they felt they had complete charge Oh the
town.
About o'clock in the evening some one
cried out Burn! burp!" This was the signal
and the mob scattered over the town and be-
gan their work. Kerosene was used to help
a no 10 y,rnr
Mr. Fontaine, still alive, but, as the doctor had
declared, unable to recover, was in the house
of Mr. John Moore. AT about eleven at night
his house caught fire, and Mr.. Moore, unable TO
get aid, carried Mr.. Fontains to the garden,
and there, with pillow under his head, left
him. Mr.. Moore himself had narrow escape.
He was seen, but lodged away and, getting to
the beach, he remained in the water up to his
chin till morning, when he got to the fort;
! Many families had also entered tae t9rt, ana
the Protestant parson, were used as places OF
| refuge. Too much praise cannot be gwen 10
| Mr.. Dubois. Throughout the night he was
here and there, using his influence Tor pesce'
| The answer to his efforts invariably was:
go way parson; We won't hurt you, but
| you can't stop u.s.
Mr.. Dubois managed to save the apothe cary
shop, which was next to his residenc-. as when
the torch was put to it he rUshed out and called
their attention to their promise not to harm
him, and that the burning OF the apothecary
shop would set fire to his house. They imme-
diately put out the fire. The Catholic priest is
said to have done much good also. The mob
cried out to many of the colored shopkeepers,
1--WE no burn you,'' but unfortunately the rum
stored in the adjacent buildings left no chance
| of safety to them. By morning not store nor
shop remained. Atte npts were made to get
aid from Basin, but it was only at o'clock Of
the morning of Wednesla the "a, that tne
news reached there.
Immediately Lieutenant Ostermaun with
twenty-five soldiers left for West End. On
arriving on the outskirts of the place Oster-
mann sent the two carriages which had
brought him down, in charge of the two
soldiers, with instructions either to drive
back to Basin or go to neighboring estate.
They chose the latter, and drove to Carleton.
where the mob, driven from West End, en-
countered then, and they were murdered ana IN
twenty-five men then attacked the rioters.
numbering some 1000 At first they showed
fight, bat they had no firearms, and bullets
and cold steel soon carried the day. Many
were shot, and Ostermann and his little force
charged through them and relieved the fort,
the inner gate of which had withstood the
the attack of the rioters. The mob now
retreated to the country and began regular
systematic burning of the estates Mean
while the ammunition had given out in West
End, and had the mob returned 10 force it
could have murdered every one
The bark Carib was at West End, and the
captain went ashore toward morning. right
opposite the fort. With his men armed with
revovers and be armed with Winchester
repeating rifle, he kept the mob at bay while
they transported the women and children on
board.
The next morning, the governor issued a
proclaim alton putting the island IN state OF
| siege The Bcitish steamer Arno and the
French steamer Desirable were placed at tn e
service Of the government, aud the English,
French and American consuls telegraphed fol
war vessels. The British ship Tourmaline
arrived on thu 4th, and the French ship La
Bourdounais the same day. The United
States slip Plymouth was sent dowa fro N
Portland.
Meanwhile. on the I'd, the Arno had pre-
ceeded to Basin, and was followed by the
Desirable. and troops were sent out after the
rioters, who were burning the estates 10 the
country. 1t was only on the 4th that the mob
was completely broken up.
The damage anu losses cannot be over
estimated. Along the north of the island
runs range of hills. The estatas the
north side of these hills are the poorest in the
island, and they, some twelve or fifteen IN
number have escaped. To the south, run-
ming from east to west, are what are called
the centre liea estates. and farther south still,
the ~ouSn side estates. OF the centre line and
I south side estates, out Of some sixty or seventy
not more than ten are unb1rned. These
estates, particularly those in the centre line,
are the finest in the island. Strange to say,
invariably the negro huts on the estates have
been left untouched. The great house, the
managers house and the works are entirely
| gone. The canes are uninjured
| La West End alone the damages are esti-
mated at over $4,000
On the 9TH proclamatious was issued raising
the siege and calling together court martial to
try the rioters.
The only people killed are the two soldiers
mentioned aud the planter, Fontaine. About
two hundred rioters have been shot ia the
country by the soldiers and volunteers.
The labor act has been great Cause of dis
satisfaction. By it no planter could engage a
laborer for over certain sum, say ten cents
per day. This act, though it came to an end on
the Both of September. was still practically en-
forced. The msfortunes of the central factory
which was startee this year. ad led to the dis
content, for this factory labor was engaged at
FROM 35 cents up to IS cents per day The fac
tory became bankrupt, stopped, and the Ne
groes there employed spread themselves over
| the country, aid dem anded from the planters
the factory wages. These they could not afford
to give nor could they legally if they wished.
Again, many estates broke up their works and
sent their canes to the factory. The Latter be.
coming bankrupt, was unable to pay for the
canes, and the planters, in turn, unable to pay
the laborers. A rumor is current, moreover,
thatmaDy of the English n groes had demand
ed either higher wages or permission to leave
the island. Il is stated, and on good authority,
that in order to prevent their leaving the island
the government charged the laborers IS for
passports, the legal price being 80 cents The
excuse given is that there was no vessel to take
the people away and that they had no money.
and coming over to st. Thomas in numbers,
| would have become burden on the communl-
ty, The authorities therefore REQUIRED each to