Omaha daily bee., 1884-03-31
THE RuDDY GLOW OF THE FIRE

was still visible, while from other portions
thin, white colored smoke and steam was ris.
ing, as the water thrawn by the engines fell
into the burning contents. Last night when
the sun went down the occupants of the
treasurer's office were sitting at the open plate
glass windows smoking cigars and reading
the accounts IF the previous nights attempts
on the Jail. There was no Thought that il
six hours those windows would be broken anC
the accumulated wealth of the contents o.
that great building in ruins. But this build
ing, great as its loss, was merely property
Other losses in that locality were Of human
life.
ONLY POOLS OF BLOOD,
the brick sidewalks, were to be seen. Only
On hour before, on Sycamore street, below
Court, lay four or five dead bodies of drunken
or venturesome men, who, in spite of the po
licemen's warning, had gone beyond the limit
permitted by the militia. When they fell un
der the fire Of the militia, no one dared to &c
and take them away until the mob had dis
persed and the streets were clear. Only two
hours before, at 8 a. M, when a small crowd
gathered at the drug store at the corner OF
Court and Walnut, q square west of the court
house, to see the patrol wagon take away a
dead man, the militia, mistaking this for a
renewal of the mob,
FIRED A voLLEY,
killing one and wounding n 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 proprietnr, who was using the tele-
phone at the time. Passing from the north
side of Court ON Walnut q sickenlng scene
was presented. Here, apparently, the
wounded had taken shelter behind a protect.
ing building, or perhaps the fatally wounded
had crawled to die. Pool after pool of blood
dyed the ground along the curbstone. Along
the street
sIGNso 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 aimless and malicious, ex.
cept that one might find excuse in the feeling
that the crowd was angered at the place
where a failure to do justice had been 81
marked. 1t did not aid at all in getting al
the prisoners nor doing harm to the militia
IL was purely wanton. Nor was there an.
excuse for u failure to protect this property
The crowd was permitted to go to the yer!
windows and break them in without resist
ance when opportunity offered
soME DEvILIsH COMMUNIST,
who gloried in pure destruction, suggested t
East some light on the subject. This was tn
trivial manner in which he talked: ''Thi
will be the Paris of America sure enough.
With this leadership and with these metive 81
chairs, carpets and desks were broken an
piled in heaps in the treasurer's Office and I'll
match applied. AS this was done the sill
headed or drunken hoodlums in the crow
cheered and yelled
''BURN THE DID MILITIA OUT
Just here occurred one of the most melal
choly events of the night, the killing Of Cap
John Desmond. He had been apprised
the purpose to burn the court hous
and was sent with q squad OF mil
tia to try and put out the tr
The mob fired on him and a ball crasie
through his head. At the same time PriSa'
Continued on i'm page)