Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-30

jail is reached by winding stone stair +
way leading down to an area - feet be- |
low the sidewalk.
THE MOB's ATTACK.
Here was the beginning of the attack |
last night. The crowd could surge up to /
the very doors of the JaiIer's residence /
and could fill the area in front of the 1
lower door, which they battered open I
with heavy sawed beam obtained from |
new building near by. The same beam /
and half a dozen more were carried into /
/ the jail to-day and used as props to secure I
all outer doors. They are long enough to /
reach back to the solid wall and the work I
of battering down the doors would now |
be exceedingly difficult. The Jail Office /
| and iailOr's residence have scarcely an /
unbrOken article in them. Even the large /
heating stove was wrecked.
RALLYING THE MILITARY.
Sheriff Hawkins has acted all day as |
though he expected a renewal of the at |
tack tonight with increased violence. |
He has called for troops as elsewhere |
stated, and has called out his own CON-
mand, a veteran regiment composed of
soldiers of the late war. Col. Hunt has |
also mustered as many of his regiment !
as could be brought out and the /
Jail has all the appearance of !
a fortress except heavy guns. That most |
fearful street engine of destruction,
!
I force is also on duty.
BARRICADING THE sTREETs
| Late this evening the police and sol
4 diers were busy under Sheriff Hawkins |
4 direction, barricading the streets in every
/ direction at distance of 100 yards from
! the jail. Heavy transfer wagons were
/ upturned in the street, and building ma
! terial, wood, stone and iron from neigh
boring buildings were appropriated to
construct strong defense for the pur-
/ pose of preventing a rush of people to the
/ vicinity of the Jail. The mob tonight
will have to first storm these barricades
/ before getting in reach of the Jail. These
! thorough preparations, added to the fact
| that more troops are coming, may hold
/ the mob in check.
NATURE OF THE MOB.
! The fact is that no organized mob ex- |
/ lists. That of last night was not premed- /
| itated; it was spontaneous, growing not /
/ out of incendiary speeches and resOlu- /
| tiOns at the meeting, for these were all con- /
/ servatiye, but out Of the fact that great |
/ body Of men were together on the street 1
with a common feeling OF intense indig- /
nation at>the criminal farce played by the /
Berner jury and the general slackness of /
/ the administration Of justice to murder |
ers. The mOb-spirit grew by degrees, and /
has not resulted in settled plan.
/ To-day a circular has been distributed I
| calling for the organization of vigilance /
/ committees, to consist of 800 members, in I
each ward. 1t is anonymous, and seems |
/ to have no respectable backing,
THE COUNTY TREAsURER's OFFICE
BURNED.
! CINCINNATI, March %, 10:3O P. NJ
/ The mob has again gathered IN the neigh /
| bOrhOOd of the Jail in greater, numbers /
I than last night, and is full OF drunken I
men. Some lighted inflammable substance |
was thrown into the County Treasurer's |
office in the court house, setting it on |
fire, and there is no prospect of saving |
! the books and papers. The entire build |
ing is very likely to be destroyed.
POURING BULLETS INTO THE MOB.
The troops at first fired blank cartridges, /
but when the imtlammable substance was /
thrown into the Treasurers's office fired |
| ball and drove the mob back to Vine |
! street. Many are wounded and possibly |
many killed. ArmOry Hall in Court |
street, near the court house, is on fire. |
! Capt. DemOnd, of the First Regiment, was
/ killed, and Sergeant Malone seriously /
wounded, as was also Private McBrair. /
The crowd is threatening to destroy
Hunts Hotel, on Vine street, near Fourth, /
owned by the Colonel Of the regiment de- /
Tending the Jail. The guests are now
moving from the place. Troops from Co
lumbus are mOmentariIy expected, when I
the trouble must be worse.
Private advices from Columbus say
that Berner was safely deposited in the /
penitentIary there about $3.50 O'Clock to- |
night.
THE SHERIFF'S REAR LEFT UNGUARDED. |
While Sheriff Hawkins carefully pro-
/ tected his front and TANKS by barricades,
as already described, he neglected to pro-
| tect his rear, which was the court house
/ front, looking west, on Main street. This
/ was the mOb's opportunity, and the Treas
! urer's office was fired, the large plate
/ glass windows being smashed for that
! purpose.
| WARNING THE ENEMIES OF SOCIETY.
The following handbill was given wide
! circulation through the city to-day:
/ Public safety demands immediate action.
i Organize vigilance Committees in every
ward. Heal the sores by purifying the body.
! Serve notice to criminals, criminal lawyers,
| gamblers and prostitutes to leave Hamilton
county within three days and remain away
/ forever or suffer the penalty. AS long as the
present clique OF criminal lawyers that infest
4 the city are permitted to remain and corrupt
| iuries, outrage justice and shield criminals,
| just that long will our citizens be murdered,
| our property destroyed and protection by law
| be denied Make one clean sweep while we
are at it. A vigilance Committee Of three
| hundred in each ward composed of the best
! citizens, can by earnest work cleanse the
moral atmosphere in three days Organize
| at once and serve notice to all disreputable
| characters in the ward to leave and never re-
/ turn. Inc reputation oil JnlS city Qemanu5
change or wickedness will reign supreme.
THE MOB REPORTED TO HAVE CAPTURED
THE GATLING GUN.
CINCINNATI, March %, IL P. Mt is
rumOred that the mob has captured the
Gatling gun from the police. Powell's
gun store has been broken into, and the
mob are getting all available arms and
ammunition. The fire is still raging at
! the court house and it seems impossible
to save the structure.
THE COURT HOUSE TOTALLY DESTROYED.
CINCINNATI, March so, l A. M-The
court house is totally destroyed.
100 KILLED AND THE MOB RUNNING.
The Fourteenth Regiment National
! Guards fought its way from Little Miami
depot to the court house. They charged
1 the mob, firing upon them with the
| Gatling gun, killing over one hundred.
/ The dead are lying in the streets on all
! sides of the court house. The crowd are
! running in all directions.
DEATH DEALT FOR BLOCKS.
i CINCINNATI, March 80, 1:15 A. Nit is
/ impossible to ascertain the true situation.
/ Men have been killed several squares
| from the scene of the riot. Que man was
shot in Fountain square, six blocks from
the court house. The fire was started by
rolling in barrel of coal OIL, setting
it on fire and keeping everybody out.
LIEUTENANT SHOT DEAD.
! Lieutenant Desmond entered to subdue |
the flames, and was instantly killed. The |
flames had their own way because the |
mob would not let the tiremen use the en-
| gines. The fire proceeded unchecked, |
though slowly, as the great structure was
strongly built at a cost of probably
quarter of a million of dollars, and was
made to Withstand fire as far as possible. |
IRREPARABLE LOSSES.
The destruction of the building means
an irreparabe loss in valuable records, |
some of them of great historical interest !
and value. In the present chaotic condi- !
tion Of affairs there is nothing to prevent /
untold loss from fire, except the lack of |
material to give it a start. When the |
mob had robbed PowelPs gun store it was
fired.
FIREMEN FIRED-UPON