The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-10
A BRIGHT DIAMOND.
The Constable Withstood a
Mob of Negroes.
HIS FINGERS ALMOST EATEN OFF
Constable Diamonds Version of the
Newcastle Fight-salty Sentences
for His Assailants.

The account given by Constable Diamond of
the disturbance at Newcastle on Wednesday
afternoon, In which he shot James Pagan in the
arm, puts very different face on the matter
from that given by Robert Powell. He told the
story as follows TO q PosT-INTELLIGEScER re-
porter:
civilian franklin and man named Walker
began row in the saloon and continued 1t on
the street, surrounded by thirty-five or forty
other colored men. went up and toll them to
keep the peace. G. L. jeffrey came up to me
and said:
"'what haveyou got to do with ftp
81 said: was not speaking to you in par
ticular'
"Then he said you can't arrest anybody
here We are members of the Limekiln Club
That's club they have up there which holds
mock trials aud fines the prisoners bucket of
beer and watermelon. He continued to argue
and told him If he did not keep quiet would
arrest him. finally told him to consider him.
sell under arrest, and seized hold OF him. He
resisted, and in the scuffie he got the two first
fingers of my right hand In his mouth and be-
gan chewing them. / tried to get my gun with
the other hand, but Matt Puryear tried to take
1t out OF my pocket grabbed him round the
waist and held him close to me so that he could
not hit me. jeffrey was biting my fingers all
the time and was chewing right down into my
hand between them. He finally fell backwards
to the ground, still holding my fingers tight be-
tween his teeth he had death grip on them,
and pulled me down by them, and pulled Pur-
year down with me. said to him:
Leave my fingers Loose But he still kept
chewing at them. so said:
We'll, then, eat em off,
CAT last II. c. Rice came up and choked JEFF
frey until he loosed my fingers and all three got
up. Then told him to come to the Justices
Office with me, but he said he was not going
10 ri her aid no dp' hav IN md
shouted: why don't you shoot him?'
"Then Puryear went for his gun--a 44-calibre
Remington revolver-and stood around flourish
ing it, while the crowd closed around me.
told them to get back, but they wouldn't and
cooked my revolver and backed away until ran
against man standing behind me. He said,
'Giye me that gun, and grabbed at it, knocking
my arm up. was holding it with my injured
fingers, which ! had no power ov.r, and they
moved without my knowing it and pulled the
trigger. The ball hit Pagan, who had taken no
part in the fight, but was talking and making
threats.
81 did not intend to shoe: him, but could not
control the movement of my injured fingers. II
had intended to shoot should have shot the
man who had chewed my fingers, not a man
who had only talked"
Jeffrey and puryear were ultimately arrested
by Diamond with the assistance OF Richard Ro-
man, and Justice Cousins, who had before been
rather lenient with the disorderly element
among the negroes, made an example of them.
Jeffrey was sentenced to ninety nine days In Jail
in default of fines on three charges-resisting
arrest, melting riot and mayhem. Puryear
was given sixty days on three cbarges-interfer-
ing with an officer, assault and battery and car
rying concealed weapons.
As soon as Diamond heard that a warrant was
out for him on a charge of assault with deadly
weapon, he went before Justice Maggie and gave
himself up. He was held in $500 bonds for
hearing on october II, when 1t is expected that
Pagan will have sufficiently recovered to testify.
The riot of Wednesday was the elimination
OF the unruly spirit which has prevailed among
the negroes since they came here. Constable
Diamond, who is tall, muscular man, combin-
ing GOODNESS with courage, has been exerting
himself to bring the negroes under the restraints
of law and disarm them. The latter, having be-
come accustomed to much latitude when they
needed arms for self-defense, are loath to have
this license abridged, and resent his efforts.
They have a mistaken notion that this is wild,
uncivilized country, where random shooting is
the order of the day, and they are only gradu-
ally being convinced of their mistake. During
the last two days Diamond has taken three re-
volvers from Newcastle negroes, and he is by de-
grees instilling a wholesome respect for law into
them.