The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-11-28
THE MOB IN BEAUFORT.
The State Constables Assaulted by an
Angry Negro Mob-Che Town Au.
thorities are Powerless and the
Police Inefilcient,

thorities are PowerIess and the
Police Inefficient,
Special to The News and Courier.
BEAUFORT, November 22.-For two
hours last night this town was in the
hands OF lawless, violent mob OF
negroes. Upon the arrival OF the
steamer Alpha from Savannah the
negroes boarded the steamer, on which
were known to be two of the, States
constables, Messrs. Swan and Strobel,
who had gone to Port Royal to inter-
cept the landing of q barrel of whiskey
alleged to be on board and consigned
to beaufort. BY some means or other
1T had been ascertained that search
warrant had been issued during the
day and that the officers would be up
with the Alpha on her arrival at Beau
fort at o'clock.
The town authorities and marshal
and policemen were powerless to pre-
vent the surging crowd from reaching
the dock, and BY the time the goods
were being landed there must have
been, from all accounts, three or four
hundred negroes who had forced their
way and who commenced to guy and
to abuse the constabulary and to put
obstacles in the way of getting the
object of their search away. 1t turn
ed out to be a barrel of beer instead of
whiskey as described in the warrant.
The constables had a hard time
getting the barrel rolled from the
steamer up the dock to the street,
wagon to take it to some designated
place. They offered to pay ten dollars
to some of the bowling mob to assist
them in rolling. it away. This was
Indignantly declined with curses and
abuses from the mob of men, half
grown boys and urchins, who even
kicked and cuffed the constables hav-
ing charge of tho barrel between them.
From $25 to 800 was .jeeringly de-
manded by the hackmen for a wagon.
Finally, when gotten near the street.
q brickbat or some missile was hurled
and struck Constable Swan over the
right eye, breaking his nose and in
tlicting a terrible cut in the eye, which
bled profusely. He was knocked al
most senseless and staggered with
pain.
During the whole progress of their
attempt to get the barrel secured they
were pelted with rotten eggs and other
Objectionable. missiles. The barrel
was placed in the hands of the sheriff
and was given to two negro men to be
carried to the jail, as he could not
hire wagon for love or money. Dur
along the street they let it drop and
the contents rolled out and some
smashed and then such scramble
commenced that all that was left of
the contents when it. reached the jail
was six bottles.
The captain of the Alpha had at
first refused to allow the barrel to be
taken, as the warrant called tor bar
rel of whiskey, and this was a barrel
of beer. He finally consented to it's re-
moval upon requiring the constablcs to
give him Il receipt for barrel of
whiskey, and the sheriff receipted to
them for the same.
The scene as described beggars
description and was simply disgrace
full and is a commentary upon the
helplessness Of our town authorities to
enforce order. The police system is
weak in the extreme, both in its moral
and physical attributes. Our former
town marshal. John Green, q big,
burly, black negro, who heretofore, on
account of his over-awing presence,
could always dispcrsc negro crowd,
was displaced by the present town ad-
ministration, and there are few that
can take his place upon such an emer-
gency, SO the town must continue to
suffer for the inetficiency of an ad-
ministration and Il police force that has
no backbone to it.
No law-abiding citizen but must
look npon such scenes of lawlessness
and violence with disfavor, and there
is but one expression, that of cOndem-
nation of the occurrence. Some wit
nesses of the riot describe it as a
good-natured crowd, at first bent only
upon guying and badgering the
constables, until the hurling of the
brick into the very eye of the consta.
BILE, when things looked serious. The
constables at one time placed theil
hands to their hip pockets, and a
dozen negro voices cried out, Don't
you pull that out ~ "We got some
too ~ and such like expressions, and, il
is said, a bloody riot might have beer
precipitated had they done So Others
regarded the appearance of things as
serious from the beginning and were
apprehensive of terrible consequences
To the most thoughtful it inspires re
Elections of the danger of such prece
dents being established as the resis
tance by force of any law upon oul
statute books.
The constables after having don,
what they could retired to their apart
mcnts, and left this morning for Co
lumbia.