Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1894-08-02

it carelessly and went on their wa
It was just fifteen minutes OF eleven !,
by the Trinity clock when the armed
force turned into Wall street and five
minutes later it had come to
a halt In front Of the ~sub-treasury
building. The regiment filed all the
space IN the Wall street side and ex-
tended around into Nassau and Broad
streets. The lines were quietly and
quickly but efectually formed and the
s-ub-treasury was, for the time being,
cut off from interference.
We have Ia Police Sergeant McGuire's
account and In Gen. Waterson's report
sufficient data from which to form
some idea of the scene. The sergeant
says: 81 don't think ten minutes had
passed when I found the whole of the
broad steps leading up to the building
covered with soldiers, leaving only a
| space of ten feet in the center, and the
colonel and his staff followed by an
other hundred men were marching up
that alleyway into he building. One
of the patrolmen, who was as much
astonishcd as l was, asked me what the
regiment was going to do in the build
ing, and l mad some careless answer
| There was a black crowd of people
| al oN1S>O ohIL oA LIN
most of the office windows in the
neighborhood were crowded with peo-
pie, but there was no excitement. The
men on the steps looked as if they
were drawn up for u show, but I calcu-
lated that it would take the whole po-
lice force of the city to dislodge them.
The first thing hat gaze me a twinge
was that, after the troops went in,
none of the people who were doing
business inside came out, and the sol
| diers wouldn't let anybody go up. In
| spector Fairchild, who didn't like the
looks of things, turned his badge out,
took two men and insisted on going in
to see what was being done. We
waited over half an hour and they did
not come back, but the of
troops that had gone In had come out,
fallen into line, and another hundred
men had been marched in. Word was
hen SEN to the central office. That
was about twelve o'clock. twas three
quarters of an hour before the super
intendent and another inspector ar
rived. They went at once into the
building, where they were placed I'M
der guard. We We're then ordered
back, outside of the lines, by one of
the captains"
From Gen. Waterson's account we
learned that there were about fifty
people in the building and they were
taken completely by surprise. but SO
admirably pre-arranged was the plan
that they had no opportunity to give
alarm and were all shut up in one room
and a guard placed over them, after
which the invaders had the building to
themselves. Everything was done with
the utmost expedition and the incest
pervision, and at two o'clock the regi-
ment was in possession of two million
dollars in coin. 1t was ten minutes
past two when the column was set in
motion, and at hat time there was5the
most confused notion in official circles
as to what was going Oh. The idea
that an armed regiment had taken pos
session of the United States deposits
In the heart of the city IN the middle OF
the day appeared to be too incredible
at first to be alarming. It was there
fore two-thirty o'clock before the first
attempt was made at police lea
quarters to take summary action and
call upon the reserves. The rumor
spread like wildfre through Wall street
and Printing House square, and when
the regiment moved, Wall street, Mas
san street and broadway were cho'1ed
with people. But Gen. Waterson
handled his men with admirable skill
and the solid column was not likely to
suffer any serious interruption from
merely angry or suspicious crowds. BY
the time the newspaper bulletins got
the first waveo of intelligence, the regi
ment was at the foot of Courtlanc
street. 1t had marched through that
- -
tactical adaptation to circumstance
that was amazing. 1t marched in force
through the two ferry gates: took pos
session of two boats; put everybody of
but the pilots, and the vessels started
just as the first division of the reserves
marched into West street, three block
: away.
At this point the state line, which
was no embarrassment to the soldiers
i~nterposed an invisible barrier to thu
E authorities.
: New York stared across the river IL
bewildered establishment and then re
: sorted to the telegraph and the utter1,
o futile police boat.
Hendricks close calculation of tim.
was again shown here. His agents ar
: rived in Jersey City with fifteen min
utes margin. and that was enough t.
enable them to take possession of
: train of ten cars on the Pennsylvani,
= road and get in motion before the or
der had arrived to hold all trains.
On the ferryboat Gen. Waterson an,
: his officers encountered q number o
passengers with large portmanteaus
They were there by prearrangemen
and brought the change of garment
' with them. When the BOA arrived q
y the New Jersey dock the officers wer
= in different apparel and were protest
ing most bitterly against the inpu
dence and insolence of the soldiers
: The general and two of his aides ar,
n known to have got back to New Yor
$ on a returning boat. At least one huE
f dred men had gone. out of their uni
d forms while on the water. This wa
d easily enough accomplished seeing tina
# they had but to take off shirt, trouser
e and hat. These articles of clothin
were weighted with their arms, tic
# to the empty and open knapsacl,
d and flung into the Hudson. On the a.
II rival of the boat they followed tn
n troops with the crowd and were unol
e served. Half an hour later when the
e were looked for they had disappeared
e most of them returning to New Yor
e by various routes.
Gen. Waterson, we know by his ow
It account, put up at an obscure down
town hotel where he registered {
!e John Fielding, of Newark, and thu
d same night reached an uptown rel
devious where he freed himself fro
the gold and then gave himself wit
If curious zest to watching the course {
events and of public opinion In til
II city.
"