Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-09-09
THE CHINESE NdSSACRE,
A Bloody Crusade Caused by an Infu
of ChRan Chinese Labor

bloody Crusade Caused by an Influx
of Cheap Chinese Labor.
Rock SPRINGS, Wyo., Sept. 4.-Yes-
terday for the first time in many
years, there was not Chinaman in
Rock Spring streets-except the dead
and wounded. The 500 or 600 who
were at work in the mines here have
been driven out, and nothing but
heaps of smoking ruins mark the spot
where Chinatown stood. The feeling
against the Chinese has been growing
stronger all summer. The fact that
the white men had been turned off the
sections, and hundreds of white men
were seeking in vain for work, while
the Chinese were being shipped in by
the carload and given work, strength
ened the feeling against them.
1t needed but little to incite
this feeling into an active crusade
against the Chinese, and precipitate
the little battle of Wednesday at No.
mine, about one mile north of town.
Through some misunderstanding, two
Cinnamon took a room in the mine,
belonging to two white men. When
the white men came they ordered them
out. They would not go, and fight
ensued which was participated IL by
nearly all the whites and Cinnamon in
the mines. The Cinnamon were WOrsted
in the fight, and four OF them were
badly WOunded-One has since died.
The white miners then came out, Sc
cured fire arms and notified the men
in the other three mines to come out in
the afternoon.
Meantime all was excitement in
Chinatown. The flag was hoisted as
a warming, and the Chinese working in
different parts of the camp fled to
their quarters. After dinner the
saloons closed, and no liquor has been
sold since then. The miners gathered
on the front streets, about 100 of them
armed with guns, revolvers, hatchets
and knives, and proceeded toward
Chinatown. Before reaching there they
sent committee of three warning the
Cinnamon to leave in an hour. This
they agreed to do, and started to pack
up; butin about halfan hour the white
men grew impatient, and advanced
upon the Chinese quarters, shouting
and firing their guns into the air. With
out offering resistance, the Chinese fled
to the hills about mile east Of the
town with whatever they could snatch
up, the miners firing at them as they
went. Soon black smoke was seen
issuing from the peak of a house in
Hong Kong; then from another; and
very soon eight or ten or the largest
houses were in flames. Half choked
with fire and smoke, numbers of China
men came rushing from the burning
buildings, with blankets and bed
quilts over their heads to protect
themselves from stray rifle shots. They
followed their retreating brothers into
the hills at the top of their speed. A
laundry IN town was next visited, and
the inoffensive inmates shot dead. All
the employees of the coal department
of the railroad were ordered to leave
town, which they did on the evening
train. During the night all of the
Chinese houses ia town, numbering
nearly fifty, were burned to the
ground. A number of Cinnamon who
were hiding, fled from the burning
buildings.
The light of Thursday morning re-
vealed some terrible sights. In the
smoking cellar of two Chinese houses
the
BLACKENED BODIES
of six Cinnamon were seen. Three
others were in the cellar of another,
and four more bodies were found near
by. From the position Of some it
would seem as though they had begun
to dig holes in the earth to hide them
selves, but the fire overlook them,
burning their extremities to a crisp
and leaving the upper portion of their
bodies untouched. At the east end of
Chinatown another body was found
charred by the flames and mutilated
by hogs. The smell that arose from
the smoking ruins was horribly sug-
gestive of burning flesh. Further east
were the bodies Of four more Cinnamon
shot down in their flight A number
were found seriously wounded, and
how many more may still be wounded
out in the hills is unknown. Large
numbers of Chinese have been picked
up by the trains going west, and
quantity of provisions has been sent
out for them.
It is rumored that the Mormon
miners in camp are to be ordered out,
but no action III this direction has yet
been taken. The miners here are en-
tirely unorganized in the crusade, and,
although a large number of them are
Knights of Labor, the move was not
made under their direction. The
mines have not been working since
Wednesday, and business is almost
entirely suspended. Everything is
quiet, however.
A coroner's jury, after viewing the
remains of the dead Cinnamon, re-
turned a verdict that eleven of the
victims had been burned to death and
five shot by parties unknown to the
Jury