The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-04-10
RIOT AND BLOODSHED.

! the Jail Brings Them in Conflict With the
Militia, Resulting in the Killing and
! WUundtng of Several Citizens-The Mob
Arming-EscaPe of the Murderer, Ber-
ner.
| CINCINNATI O., March %.
The most exciting night ever known in
Cincinnati has just closed, and the city
this morning is in a stunned and dazed
condition, people asking each other with
batcd breath and blanched cheek, ''When
is all this to end?'
Tue deep feeling of indignation which
has possessed all minds at the pusillani-
nous action of our courts in a
general shielding of murderers
from the penalties due to their
crimes was multiplied and intensified by
the shameless verdict of Imprisonment
for limited term of the red-handed muir
derer Berner, indicted for and clearly
proven guilty of the deliberate and brutal
murder of VIM. Il. Kirk.
A meeting was called by some of the
best citizens to protest against the action
| of the Jury, and by seven O'Clock Music
Hall was well filed with a constantly
| increasing crowd. Long before the
meeting was called to order ten thousand
people crowded in the hall and
surged about the corridors and filed
the space in front of the building. The
| looks of the people were Ominous of evil.
| Those who called the meeting soon saw
! that they had raised a storm that might
end in a whirlwind, but it was too late to
back out. They organized with long
| list of Vice-PreSidents and the usual
officers. They intended to counsel together
| and advise as to the best means of
Kidding Cincinnati of the stain that was
| on her. The more moderate the better,
E r~rTr,v
| The people were aroused-it was not a
mob of the lower classes, but an angry
gathering of the best citizens, indignant
! beyOnd CONTROL smouldCring fire that
only needed a breath to fan it into roar
INC fame.
DR.. Kemper, a respected citizen, was
made chairman, and made a conservative
speech cOunselling moderation and dis
| closing how to correct the abuses of
criminal procedure and jury trial. An
aIlusiOn to the Berner jury was met by
cries of chang Them" chang them ALL"
'Iynch 'em." One man called out: 81
thought we came here to organize Wig
lance committee; if so, let US go to
work" Shouts of eyes, yes," mingled
with a few feeble noes greeted the sug-
gcstiOn.
Order was partially restored and the
speaker introduced General Hickenloopcr,
| who spoke in the same strain, with fre-
quent Interruptions of the same sort.
Then Judge Carter comes forward and
addresses them, giving his long expert
ence on the bench, and saying
he had not heard of such an out
rage on law in all his life before.
If the jury was believed to have been
dishonest in this matter they should
be allowed to leave the country, for
they were not lit to live in a civilized
country.
Campbell, the great criminal Iawyer?"
"If he is as dishonest as you seem to
think he is, let him 60, too" replied the
judge.
The answering cheers almost lifted the
roof.
big hrawny fellow in an upper gal
lery let down a rope i'll the signt of all.
1t was suggestive, and in a minute score
more of ropes were in sight, and shouts
Of "Hang 'em all;' ''gut the jail;"
'shoot them down on sight," etc, were
heard on all sides.
Resolutions strong and sharp were
brought in and passed with a whirl. A
friend of Campbell, Benners Laymer,
tried to amend them, but the crowd
would have none of it. They became
more and more bOisterous; their blood
was getting hotter; the tiger in mems
| bOsOmS was awakened. The leader saw
they must, if possible, avert mischief and
as quickly as possible adjourned at As,
and in five minutes the hall was empty.
Mayor Stevens was sick in bed and the
whole duty of preserving the peace rested
upon the Sheriff.
At five minutes of ten the fire bells
struck G21, the number of She Court
house. Instantly the city was in cOmmO-
tion. Everybody knew what it meant.
Crowds filed the jail. Fifteen thousand
people were there in fifteen minutes.
The first overt act was by some boys who
began to stone the jail. Very soon a
crowd gathered. 1t was soon reinforced
from the Music Hall meeting. In a short
time all the windows of the Jail were
broken.
The crowd lad ropes They broke into
a carriage factory across the street and
took out a huge beam sledge-hammer, &C.
A dozen men ran with the beam as bat
teTing ram againstthe Jail door and forced
it opeu.
The police upon arriving in the vicinity
of the Jail commanded the crowd to move
not being obeyed, they fired, but as no
one was hurt it was presumed the police
fred in the air--they being deeply in sym
pathy with the movement. to condemn
the outrageous Berner verdict. A shot or
two was fired from the Jail, but the crowd
refused to move.
Inside the Sheriff, Jailer and Deputies
kept themselves as calm possible.
The mob found Berner gone. They
tried to find the Burkers and to batter
down the cell door of one of them. By
this time the police were thick about
them. They got possession of the jail
and restored order in a slight degree
but they did not dare to make any ar
rests; the mob would not allow it. They
| filed the house and roamed about un-
checked seeking some luckless criminal
on whom to wrcak vengeance. There
- H. - : \
! only from the mob firing in the air.
The First Regiment of the o. n. G. were
drilling in their armory a couple of squares
away from the Jail. Sheriff Hawkins
brought over a detachment and intro
duCed them into the jail through the Gel
lar. The mob filled the corridors. They
were ordered to withdraw, but refused,
and the militia opened fire, shooting,
perhaps, sixty rounds. The corridors
were filled with smoke, the gas went out
and pandemOnium reigned, but the mob
was driven out.
What the effect of the shooting was on
the mob is not at this hour (midnight)
known. Two policemen were shot bJ
the rioters, one militiaman, one ciYu
ian and one boy, the last badly hurt.
The mob remained outside bowling,
yelling and threatening vengeance.
They gathered up material and
made bonfire against the
strong, thick stone walls of the Jail.
The flames made a great light and a yc5l
was raised that the Jail had been fired. 1t
looked as though the mob had deter
mined on a wholesale holocaust. An
alarm was turned on and the engines
came to the scene, but could not get near
the place for the crowd, and seeing what
it was, went back again. There was no
, danger there of fire. The mob kept pres
ent howlirg as very demons, but doing
nothing.