McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-04-03
RIOTING In CINCINNATI.



A riot OF great magnitude, resulting
IN loss OF life and destruction of property,
s nSsan In Cincinnati on the evening OF the
1SIn OF March and was renewed on that of
the 18th Its origin was a verdict of man
slaughter In the case of one Berner, who
Drutaily murdered W. II. Kirk in the lat.
yer stable on the night of December oath
n ast. berner was brought before Judge
Matthews and sentenced to the penitentiary
i ior twenty years, being the full limit of the
Jaw. Ten thousand angry people there
upon gathered at Music Hall on the night of
Sne 18th to take action on the verdict.
oIrong resolutions were adopted, and upon
adjournment Of the meeting the vast crowd
moved directly to the Jail, where they be-
gan an attack. Berner, In the afternoon,
was Was started Tor the penitentiary at Column
Jus, put the mob were determined, il they
euected an entrance to the jail, to lynch
otner murderers confined there. The pris-
oner, en- route to the penitentiary, escaped
rom the cars, but was recaptured next day
ana gladly took refuge in the state prison
10 escape the vengeance Of the mob who
we're looking for him all along the route.
In tne meantime the attack on the Jail at
cincinnati continued and desperate resist.
ance was made by those inside to protect
Ine prison. The riot act was read and the
militia called upon to dispense the crowd.
FIRING TOOK place and several were killed
and wounded.
The following is a list of killed and
wounded; Private Edw ard Muthert, slight;
PrlYate Herman Rose, slight; Private Harry
slight; Policeman Phil. Num-, dead; DR..
arthur Bantillier, arm shattered; Henry
1aeger, slight; John Griffith, fatal; Martin
RAFFERTY,, fatal; c. L. Bartling, serious;
LaWton, slight; Donnelson slight; Mike
Hole, slight; Adolph Busser, slight; Cyrus
Johnson, slighs; Reid, slight; j.. A. Leon
aTa, snght; Jack Bergman, slight; VIM.
MINER, slight; Mary Smith, fatal; Geo.
Miller fatal. A man from Virginia, SER
lously wounded, refused to give name,
CINCINNATI, March 9.-Midnight. Such
night of blood as this has not before dark
ened the history of Cincinnati. 1t is i'm
possible to ascertain the true situation,
Men have been killed several squares from
the scene of the riot. One man has lust
Deen shot on Fountain square, six squares
from the court house. The fire at the court
house was started by rolling in barrels of
coal oil and setting it on fire and keeping
everybody out. Lieut.. Desmond offered
totsuDdue the flames and was instantly
killed. The flames went their own way,
because the mob would not let the firemen
use their engines. The flames went on I'M
checked, though slowly, as the great struc-
ture was strongly built, and cost probably
quarter of million, and made to withstand
nio DO iai as Possiule. 10 lose CnaC means
lrreparable loss In valuable records, some of
them OF great historical interest and value,
and of the second best library in the United
States. A carriage factory near by is also
reported on ire, and in the present chaotic
OF afiairs there is nothing to prevent untold
loss from fire, except lack of material to
give 1t start. When the mob had robbed
Powell's gun store it was fired. A patrol
wagon responded to the alarm and the mob
nred, killing one man and wounding others.
This hre was, however, eXtinguished. The
mob has lost all control and seems bound on
destruction, pure and simple. Burning the
court house gives no aid in the original pur-
pose OF lynching the murderers, and its de-
struction only adds loss to disgrace. The
firing on the mob has been merciless,
whether by the Calling gun or by the SOL
d1ers, cannot now be told, as nothing has
been heard from the inside of the Jail for the
past hour. No one can yet estimate the loss
OF life or injury by wounds.
MARCH 3O.-At daylight this morning an
the quarter of the city where the stormy
scenes OF the previous night had been en-
acted. The dawning was as peaceful and
brilliant as ever seen. Against an eXauis-
itely tinted sky in the east the broken walls
OF the burning conrt house were distinctly
defined, with its crumbled window OPEN
1ngs looking like rude wounds. Over the
ruins of the treasurer's Office, in the north
ern part OF the building, the rudy glow of
the fire was still visible, while from other
portions thin, white colored smoke and
steam were rising, as the water thrown by
the engines fell inth the burning contents.
Last night when the sun went down the &C.
cupants OF the treasurer's Office were sit
ting at the open plate glass windows smok-
ing cigars and reading the accounts of the
previous nights attempts on the iail,
There was no thought that in six hours
those windows would be broken and the
accumulated wealth of the contents of that
great building in ruins. But this building,
great as its loss, was merely property.
Other losses in that locality were of human
life. Only pools Of blood here and there in
the trampled dust or on the brick side
walks, were to be seen. Only an hour be-
fore, on sycamore street. below Court, Law
four or five dead bodies of drunken or ven
turesome men, who, in spite of the police
mems warning, had gone beyond the limit
permitted by the militia. When they fell
under the fire of the militia, no one dared
TO go and take them away until the mob had
dispersed and the streets were clear. Only
two hours before, at a. M, when small
crowd gathered at the drug store at the
of the court house, to see the patrol wagon
take awas dead man, the militia,
installing this for a renewal of the mob,
fired volley, killing one and wounding a
nephew OF the proprietor OF the store. One
ball struck the iron facing of the door, and,
rebounding, crashed through the glass door
near the head of the proprietor, who was
using the telephone at the time. Passing
from the north side Of Court on Walnut a
sickening scene was presented. Here, ap-
parently, the wounded had taken shelter
behind protecting building, or perhaps
the fatally wounded had crawled to die.
Pool after pool Of blood dyed the ground
along the curbstOne Along the street sionS
of blood were visible and in a hallway three
squares distant on Main street the floor
was smeared where some unfortunate had
crawled to dress his wounds or die. The
burning of the court house was wholly aim
less and malicious, except that one might
find excuse in the feeling that the crowd
was angered at the place where failure to
do justice had been SO marked. 1t did not
aid at all in getting at the prisoners nor do
ing harm to the militia. 1t was purely
wanton. Nor was there any excuse for a
failure to protect this property. The crowd