The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-04-20
ALMOST A RIOT.


nut NeD00y seriously. Hart.
From the Sanford. IournaLJ -.ss-er-
Our little town came near being the scene Of
bloody riot on Tuesday. but we are glad 10 say
that all 10 quiet DOW and nobody Is seriously
hurt. Itoccurred in this wise:
Last Monday, the 9th instant, being the close
| or the working month for the hands on the rail-
road, on Tuesday afternoon they came in, t0tbe
| number Of 140, and gathering around the rail
road Office, where Mr.. p. Shriner, paymastcr,
had their accounts made out and was busily en-
gagged In paying them of There was some OBJ
lection to the accounts rs there always will be
| In large company of colored men, and one
large negro, none the better for the liquor he
had drank, became very noisy and threatening,
| and used very abusive language 10 Mr.. 6hriner,
who, IN The excitement of The mohieHi, displayed
| a revolver and threatened him with it. This
seemed to excite others, and in a few moments
| there was very loud and riOtous talking Mr.
Cross, town marshal, attempted TO arrest some
OF the leaders, but found II impossible. Finally
the crowd surged up town, many of them badly
| under the Influence OF liquor, and became very
threatening, nearly all arming themselves with
clubs and pieces Of boards. They followed Mr.
! door, where an encounter took place, BEr. DHuI-
] Ter with q big pole doing effective service, and
| the marshal, with his deputy, Chris Attek, firing
several shots to intimidate them. Nobody was
shot that We have been able to hear Of, but the
| cry was raised among the wildly excited crowd
that several had been shot, and their excitement
increased. None of the citizens were armed, the
the affair occurring SO suddenly, and for a time
| 1t looked serious Mr.. Cross escaped, and, by
advice, left town, as their spite seemed 10 point
| toward him. Mr. G. A. Lever, young man
employed IN the Journal Office. was mistaken for
one Of those whom they supposed had fred a
pistol, and q break was made for him, but by
streak Of good fortune he escaped falling into
| their clutches.
Shortly after this, partial quiet was restored,
and all the citizens went about preparing them
selves to protect their property and quiet the
| maddened crowd Arms of various kinds were
hunted up and prepared for action, and by nine
o'clock at Right, by the addition of number OF
| armed white people from the country, all felt
quite safe. Some of the colored men had gone
over toward Mellonville, while the others, being
| alarmed, had scattered around and become quiet.
Mayor A. H. Fleming, feeling the town authOri-
ties inadequate 10 preserve peace in case of a
| determined attack on property, asked assistance
of Judge William Archer Cooke, who sent il in
| the shape of hastily-organized posse under!com-
mand OF DR.. King Wylly, as captain, and E. 3.
White, as lieutenant, who, about midnight, pro
ceeded 10 make arrests, and by morning had
| twenty of the ring-ieaders in the calabOose.
The prisoners were brought before A. NJ.
Thrasher, Justice of the Peace, on Wednesday
| afternoon, and q hearing commenced, which
| will be continued to-day. Judge Price is coun-
sci for the prisoners. Most all who were not ar
rested have gone to work again, and there Is no
| apprehension of any further trouble.
From the Ocala Bannerl -raf
Thursday morning the colored voters of the
| Ocala precinct met at the Howard Academy, in
town. after considerable part of il had been spent
| on the streets In discussing the prospects of
| Chandler or Long delegation to their nominating
convention which meets Monday. Both Senator
| Long, the present Senator from this county, and
| H. W. Chandler, who came here about three
| years ago from Maine and is now the teacher at
| the coloTed academy, are rivals for the Senate
| nomination by the Republicans of this county.
The delegation from this precinct generally has
the balance Of power In the convention, and this
was the battle ground for these redoubtable foes
| The question of who should be chairman of the
meeting came up and proved TO be the match
| that was TO ignite Republican powder there
housed in considerable quantities. But there
| was an interim when full -blooded Republicanlsm
could be talked, and SO q recent Republican i'm
| pOrtation from the State of Maine called for the
attention Of his pCttsical brethren He was dis
| coursing very swSetly about the rowdyism oil
Democracy; that he could not belong to such
party because they were such blOOdthirsiy set
| when a quarrel which had been going on in
| subdued way for some time eliminated. Two
or three blows, propelled by angry fists, set the
bail in motion. Birch Gibson was Knocked down
and beaten. Alfred Tooley sprawled TO the floor
Burrell Dawkins faterfered and was hammered
and then the row was general. Out of the
seminary into the streets with the yell of infuri
ated demons the masses of Republican voters,
from the least important to the big leaders of the
| party, carried on the most vigorous warfare with
sticks, knives. razoTs and bludgeOns that we ever
| witnessed. Pistols were drawn bat none were
| fired but the knife and bludgeOn did heavy
| work. The cOlored women from neighbOring
houses came out and Joined in the riot. One
| was perfectly furious, and cried for dagger
| with which TO stab the col0red Senator Long 10
the heart. The fight ragged for over an hour
| now quieting down o little, then breaking out
with ten-fold fury until 1t stretched its line of
combatants from the academy to Jones' shop
Democrats, of course, had nothing 10 do with
this terrible riot. They stood with hands off
because it was none Of theirs But it was i'm
possible tor one TO feel that such crazy set had
any moral right TO dictate legislation for law
abiding people. No effort was made by the
town authorities to Quel the riot until the crowd
began TO surge towards the heart of the town,
then Mayor Gary rode up to the fighters and Or
| dered them to come no further. About this time
the 6ghing element began TO give out and in a
| short time hostiities ceased. We do not know
| how many were hurt, but no less than forty of
them were badly beaten, bruised and cnt They
could be seen here and there after the riot with
/ bleeding heads and faces, and otherwise bunged
up persons. The leaders finally got matters
quieted 80 as 70 proceed with the business of the
meeting, bat Ii was in vain that they tried TO get
| many of them back into the house. Most of
Longs supporters left him, as we understand,
and went home, having got toomuch Of the fight.
This accounts for his subsequent defeat in the
/ eIecuon OF oelegdte5. There were seventeen
delegates elected and not one of them for Long,
all for Chandler, who certainly shows signs Of
citation over such wonderful victory. We
understand, however that Long told the meeting
that though they whipped him there he would
conquer them Monday tits said by his staunch-
est supporters that he will get the nomination
Monday, although Chandler, from present pros
pects seems sure of 1t. The fight win be an In
teresting one.
But the riot was disgraceful beyond measure
and an outrage upon the peace of our community.
The law cannot let il pass without Furnishing the
parties engaged in y. Nearly every Republican
convention or meeting Is attended With q, degree
Of rowdyism that is disgraceful. The peace Of q
community. Is nothing to them. In this instance
they went further than they have for long time
past. The pasties VINO engaged In the riot
Thursday will be prosecuted for their crime If
our town is 70 be at the mercy Of such infamous
proceedings and all IN the name Of liberty and
negro freedom, we should like to know what
benefit the laws of this State are 10 its peaceful
citizens We call upon the authorities Of the
town ahd county to prepare for putting down
any attempt Monday TO duplicate the scenes of
disorder and riot of Thursday.
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