The Delta independent., 1896-02-19


o'clock for the platoon of mounted
police that was to precede thcm. Gen.
Watcrson, the colonel comma rding.
communicated with the sergeant of
The squad through his adjutant They
had been invited, he said, to visit Wall
street and the sub-trcasury They
were then to march to Gen. Grants
tomb for battalion cvolutions.
1t does not appear that any suspl-
cions up to this time were awakened
in the police, who regarded the con-
spicuous cartridge belts of the men as
piece Of western military nonsense,
and it was not within their line Of duty
to question the visit of the officers to
the sub-treasury. If the sub-treasury
did not want their western visitors
they would shut the doors in their
faces.
1t was twenty minutes past nine
when the regiment, preceded by the
police, and with the colonel and his
staff, dismounted, left the park and it
was ten o'clock when it wheeled into
broadway at Eighth street, making =
solid and formidable appearance in its
homely uniforms and soldierly bear
ing.
Nothing occurred along the route of
consequence to interfere with its prog
ress. The inhabitants looked upon it
as part of the constantly recurring
show of that highway; careless re-
marks were here and there made about
the cheap get-up. but the crowds eyed
it carelcssly and went on their way.
1t 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 on the Wall street side and ex-
tended around into Nassau and Broad
streets. The lines were quietly and
quickly but effectually formed and the
sub-treasury was, for the time being,
cut off from interference.
Wehave in Police Sergeant McGuirc'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 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 the building. One
of the patrolmen, who was rs much
astonished as was, asked me what the
regiment was going to do in the build
ing, and made some careless answer
There was black crowd of people
dowli'il Broad street looking on and
most of the Office windows in tie
neighborhood were crowded with peo-
pie, but there was no excitement. The
men on the steps looked as ii they
were drawn up for show, but calcu
lated that it would take the whole po-
lice force of the city to dislodgc them
The first thing that gavc Elc 4 twingc
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 company OF
troops that had gone in had come out,
fallen into line, and another hundred
men had been marched in. Word was
then sent to the central Office. That
was about twelve o'clock. twas three
quarters OF an hour before the super
intcudcnt and another inspector err
rived. They went at once into the
building, where they were placed un-
der guard. We were 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 We're
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 guard placed over them, after
which the invaders had the building to
themselves. Everything was done with
the utmost expedition and the incest
porvision, 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 that time there was the
most confused notion in official circles
us to what was going on. 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. 1t was there
fore two-thirty o'clock before the first
attempt was made at police head
quarters to take summary action and
call upon the reserves. The runors
spread like wildfire through Wall street
and Printing House square, and when
the regiment moved, Wall street. Mas
sau street and Broadway were choked
with people. But Gen. Watcrson
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 wave of.intelligence. the regi-
ment was at the foot of Courtland
street. 1t had marched through that
usually chokcd thoroughfnrc with a