Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-07
FAMOUS RIOTS OF THE PAST.
The Aston Place Difficulty and the San
culinary Struggle of '63.

NeO IOFE morning journal.
New York city has been rich in riots.
| The first outbreak was a negro uprising
in 1712. Since then there was negro riot
In 114l, which was dangerous one, as
| the proportion of slaves to whites was
very great. After that came the stamp
act riot of 1765, patriotic determination
not to use British Government stamps
as ordered by the Crown. Body-snatch-
ing caused riot in 1888, which was only
quelled, by hegira of physicians and
medical students.
Many old citizens remember.the spring
election riots of 1884, which ended in a
| victory for the rioters by the peaceful bal
| lot, at the announcement of which result
Daniel Webster made speech to 10000
people. The abolition riots followed
| closely, being in turn followed by the fIour
riot, a senseless uprising, resulting only
in the destruction of lot of flour when
that necessary product was very scarce.
None of these riots were extensive.
either In destruction of property or life,
and it was not until 1S49, when the Astor-
place difficulty occurred, that the city
was divided against itself. This riot grew
out OF a personal quarrel between two
actors, Forrest and Macready, the two
popular tragedians on either side of the
Atlantic, corresponding to Booth and
Irving of the present day. 1t was re-
ported that when Forrest was in London
Macready went to see him act and publicly
| Missed him. Many Americans awaited
Mr.. Macready's coming in order to make
! things pleasant for him. He came over
in the spring of 1849 and made an engage
ment at the Astor Place Opera House.
At the same time Forrest was at the
Broadway Theatre. Their rival placards
adorned the same bill-bOards NiblO. one
OF the managers of the Opera House, gave
out more tickets than there were seats or
standing room. The result was a crush.
Macready, as Macbeth, was welcomed
with eggs and Kisses. From this arose
the riot of few days later in which
twenty-five men were killed and thirty
wounded in and around AstOr Place
In 1891 there were three separate out
breaks-the police riot, between Mayor
Fernando Woods police and the Metro
politan police, the Dead Rabbits riot and
the bread riot. The most serious was the
fight between the Dead Rabbits and the
Bowery Boys, in which eight men were
killed and thirty wounded.
The riots OF 1868 were the most desperate
ever known in the city. These were occa-
stoned by the draft, and were put down by
the police force after a weeks hard work,
These riots were supposed by some to be
the result OF deep-laid conspiracy on the
part of those opposed to the war, but from
the manner of It's beginning and it's total
absence of leadership it is evident that it
was not the outcome of a general WELL
understood plot. Those who started the
movement desired to break up the draftin
some of the upper districts of the city, and
the movement got too big for them. The
number of killed, directly and indirectly,
was put down by the authorities at 1900
There was no direct way of getting at the
exact number, but the excess of deaths
| for that h-July-exceeded the num-
Der for either the preceding or the subse-
quent month by that figure.
The Orange riot of 1870 was the progeni-
tor of the big Orange riot of 1871-such
recent history as tObe we'll known. Two
of the police and military were killed and
twenty-four wounded, while of the rioters
wounded, making in all 1913 victims.
This is the latest riot to date, the rail
road war of 1874 having spared the me-
trOpOlis.