News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-04-24
FAMOUS RIOTS OF THE PAST.
The AstOr Place Difficulty and the San.
culinary Struggle of '63.

New York City has been rich in riots.
The first outbreak was negro uprising
in 1712. Since then there was a NEGRO
riot in 1741, which was dangerous one
as the proportion of slaves to whites was
very great. After that came the stamn-
act mot OF 1865, 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 riot of 1884, which ended in q
victory for the rioters by the peaceful
ballot, at the announcement of which
result Daniel Webster made a speech to
10000 people. The abolition riots fol.
lowed closely, being in turn followed by
the flour riot, senseless uprising, re-
sulting only in the destruction of a lot of
flour when that necessa1 product was
very scarce.
None of these riots were extensive
either in destruction of property or life
and it was not until 1849. 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
reported that when Forrest was in LON
don 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 1S49 and
made an engagement at the Astor
Place Opera House. At the same time
Forrest was at the Broadway Theatre.
Their rival placards adorned the same
billboards. 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
misses. From this arose the riot of a
few days later in which twenty-five men
were killed and thirty wounded in and
around Astor Place.
In 1857 there were three separate out
breaks-the police riot, between Mayor
Fernando Woods police and the Met
ropolitan police, the Dead Rabbits riot
and the bread riot. The most serious
was the fight between the Dead Rabbits
eNhiNA OhS DC"OAJ DOyS, Ill WHICH e1gnG
men were killed and thirty wounded.
The riots of 1868 were the most des-
perate ever known in the city. These
were occasioned by the draft and were
put down by the police force after
weeks hard work. These riots were sup
posed by some to be the result of deep
laid conspiracy on the part of those op-
posed to the war. But from the manner
of its beginning and its 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 draft in 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 200. |
There was no direct way of getting at |
the exact number, but the excess of |
Deaths for that month, July, exceeded |
the number for either the preceding or |
The subsequent month by that figure.
The Orange riot of 1870 was the pro-
genitor of the big Orange riot of 1871
such recent history as to be well known.
Two of the police and military were
killed and twenty-four wounded; while |
If the rioters thirty-one were killed and |
'ixty-seven wounded, making in all 1914 |
7ictims. This is the latest riot to date,
he railroad war of 1874 having spared |
he metropolis. York Journal.