The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-31
SATURDAY NIGHTS CONFLICT.
Scenes in the Vicinity of the Jail-The Dead
and Dying-DesmOnd's Fate.

scenes IN the vicinity OF the Ja1l-IHe Dead
and Dying-DesmOnd's Fate.
CINCINNATI, March 30-At daylight this morn
ing an Associated Press reporter walked through
the quarter of the city where the stormy scenes
of the night previous had been enacted. The
dawning was as peaceful and brilliant as ever
seen Against an exquisitely tinted sky in the
east the broken walls OF the burning Courthouse
were distinctly defined, with its crumbled win
dow openings looking like rude wounds Over
the ruins of the treasurers office in the northern
part of the building the ruddy glow of the fire is
still visible while from other portions thin
white colored smoke and steam were rising as the
water thrown by the engines fell into the burn
ing contents. Last night when the sun went
down the occupants of the treasurer's office
sitting at the open plate glass windows
smoking cigars and reading accounts of the pre-
vious nights attempts on the jail 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. The 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 We're to be seen. Only one hour before on
Sycamore street. below Court lay four or five dead
bodies of drunken or venturesome men, who, in
spite of the policemen's warning, had gone be-
yond 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 3 A. NJ, when small
crowd gathered at the drug store at Court and
Walnut streets, one 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 voley, killing one and woundng
the nephew of the proprietor of the store One
ball struck the iron facing of the door, and re-
bounding, crashed through the glass door near
the head of the proprietor, who was using the
telephone at the time. Passing to the north side
of Court, ON Walnut a sickening scene was pre-
sented Here apparently, the wounded had
taken shelter behind a protecting building, or
perhaps here the fatally wounded had erawled
to die. Pool after pool of blood dyed the ground
all along the curbstone. All along the
street signs of blood were visible, and
in hallway three squares distant
on Main street, the floor smeared where
some unfortunate had crawled to dress his
wounds or die.
DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE OF JUSTICE.
The burning of the Courthouse was wholly
aimess and malicious. except one might find an
excuse in the feeling that the crowd was angered
at the place where the failure to do Justice had
been so marked. 1t did not aid at all in getting
at the prisoners. in doing harm to the militia.
1t was purely wanton Nor was there any ex
cuse for the failure to protect this property The
crowd was permitted to go to the very windows
and break them in without resistance,
and when opportunity offered. some
pure destruction, suggested to cast some
light on the subject. This was the trivial man
ner in which he talked This will be the Paris
Of America, enough" said another With
this leadership and with these motives chairs,
carpets and desks We're broken and piled in
heaps in the treasurers office and match APP
piled As this was done, silly headed or drunken
hoodlums in the crowd cheered and yelled Burn
the -- militia out just here occurred one
of the most melancholy events of the night, the
killing of Captain John J. Desmond. He had
been apprised of the purpose to burn the Court
house and was sent with squad of militia to
try and put out the fire. The mob fred on him
and ball crashed through his head. At the
same time private Mcclure was shot
through the breast and fatally hurt