Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1884-04-01

before. On Sycamore street, below Court,
Law four or five dead bodies of drunken or
yentursome men, who, in spite OF the
policemen's warning, had gone beyond the
limit permitted by the militia. When they
fell under the fire Of the militia no one
dared go take them away until the mob
had dispersed and the streets were clear.
1t was the gallant work of Col. Freman's
Fourteenth Regiment that finally cleared
the streets and gave the authorities control
Of the entire space about the Courthouse.
and Jail. Colonel Hawkins had evidently
misunderstood the motives of the mob.
He thought the prisoners in the Jail their
objective point; whereas, if they had any
purpose at all, it was to take revenge on
the military for the previous nights reck-
less firing. Col. Hawkins therefore had
given his whole attention to the protection
of the jail and prisoners. His opportunity
for knowing the exact situation was not
good, and he had reason to expect assist
ance earlier from outside troops.
The united testimony of men who had
an opportunity for observation was that
from 200 to 300 men composed the bulk of
the violent, active rioters, and that they
were not fully armed. They were stimu-
lated by the cheers and presence of others,
but the general opinion is that a very little
amount Of generalship would nave been
sufficient to put them to flight. This was
strikingly proven when the attack was
made on Powell's gun store about mid
night. The first man entering was shot
dead; the second shared the same fate. and
the third was severely wounded. An effort
was then made to burn the building, but
the proprietor fired from an upper win
dow. The fire was a we'll directed shot,
and the effort was given up. 1t was shown
also when another portion of the mob got
the cannon from Music Hall and were met
and overcome by a squad of 80 policemen,
who captured the cannon and took it up to
the Jail, and turned their attention to the
militia inside the Jail. The mob at no
time made an impression on any part OF
the building. The prisoners were locked
in their cells, trembling with fear, and no
one slept through the night.
The mob fired a volley, killing one and
wounding the nephew Of the proprietor
of the store. One ball struck the iron
facing of the door, and rebounding,
went through the glass door near the head
of the proprietor, who was using the tele-
phone at the time.
Passing to the north side of Court at
Walnut street, q sickening spectacle was
here presented. Apparently the wounded
had taken shelter of the protecting build
ing, or perhaps the fatally wounded had
crawled there to die. Pool after pool Of blood
dyed the ground along the street. Blood
was visible in a hallway three-quarters of
a mile distant. On Main street a floor was
smeared with blood, where some unfortu-
nate had crawled to die of his wounds.
The burning of the Courthouse was wholly
aimless and malicious, except that one
might find an excuse in the feeling that
the crowd was angered at the place where
they failed to do justice. It did not aid
at all in getting at the prisoners nor in
doing harm to the militia. 1t
WAS purely wanton. Nor was there
any excuse for the failure to pro-
tect this property. The crowd was
permitted to go through the windows and
break them in, and when the opportunity
offered some devilish communist, who
gloried in destruction, suggested to cast
''some light on the subject" This was the
trivial nj in which he talked. 'This
will be the Paris of America, sure enough"
said another. With this leadership and
with these motives chairs, carpets and
desks were broken and piled in heaps in
the Treasurer's Office and matches applied.
AS Lulb Wdb uOu0 Dlllloys q uIunhC1 hOOu-
lum in the crowd, yelled: Burn the
damn militia out" Just here occurred
one of the most melancholy events of the
He had been appraised Of the purpose to
burn the Courthouse at night and was sent
with a squad of militia to put out the fire.
The mob fred on him and a ball crushed
through his head. At the same time,
Private Mcclure was shot and fatally
hurt. Desmond was a young lawyer Of
much promise, a fine soldier at the head of
| his regiment, and whose loss Is deeply de-
plored. There was no use now in trying
to stop the incendiaries. They went from
Office to Office starting fires and in a few
minutes, with the windows all broken out,
the inside of the Courthouse glowed like q
furnace. The fire engines were powerless,
because the fremen refused to go out
without an escort Of troops; and second,
because the crowds could easily have cut
the hose and prevented the using of the
engines. So the fire had its own way.
Office after Office was reached by the
flames. AS the floors crashed and fell the
crowd cheered. The bad management of
Sheriff Hawkins has been again and again
commented on to-day with reference to the
loss OF this building. An immense YER
anda. with stone columns reach
ing from the top of the first story to the
roof and commanding Main and Court
streets, formed a place in which 20 men, in
safety, could have cleared the whole space
with two volleys, and could have offered
certain death to men coming within
range. Moreover, after the wreck of the
| Treasurer's Office had been made il would
have been the work Of a minute to send
three-times 90 men to man the windows of
the Courthouse building and to drive the
mob away, instead Of poor Desmond, with
a mere squad being detailed for the SER
vice. All the railroads are giving military
trains the precedence. Berner has been
resting quietly in prison all day. The
gates had to be closed against the public
for chapel service. owing to the multitude
of curiosity-gazers that appeared. Col.
Hawkins has extended his lines by barri-
cading all the streets leading to the Court
house for the distance of q square, and the
opportunity for seeing is not good; still,
there was a lack of desire to crowd about
the place. Deep feeling against the mill
tia was manifested all the time, and even
now and then during the forenoon stones
were thrown at them whenever the oppor-
tunity offered. This became so annoying
that, as far as practicable, the police we're
| placed near the people. Epithets were