The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-09
JAIL DELIVERY AT TAMPA.
NEGRO CAVALRYMEN RESCUE 4
COMRADE.

] JuiiOr Forced to Give Up the fFtHoh-
err Under Penalty of Death IL He
Refuscd-Strong Suspicion That
white Officers of the Regiment
Winked at the AUTHORIZATIONS
of Citizens Arrive at Jail Just Too
Late to Frustrate the Attack.
Tampa. Fla, Aug. 8.-The Ninth Caval-
! r-y raided the county jail at Tampa Satui-
/ day night and took prisoner from the
jailor
/ This was the GROWING act Of the disor-
/ DERBY conduct of the soldiers as they were
/ leaving the city.
/ Apparently this work was done with the
1 sanction Of the officers Of the regiment,
/ who are white men. There was no effort
/ on their part to restrain the men in their
/ lawless action at all
/ When the train arrived at Tampa from
Port Tampa City the men disembarked,
and a large body Of them armed with tLeir
pistols and carbines, marched 10 the CEN
tran police station.
There they demanded Of stadonkeeper
Johnson chat ne surrender to them their
( comrlde who was being held for a law
less act committed at St. Petersburg IN
the early part Of the week The officer told
them that he did not have the prisoner
who had committed a state offense, and
lie only had city prisoners.
The large body of negroes then marched
to The county jail, and made the same de
mand OF Jailor Blount, and under threat
! of his life the negro was delivered 10
them
In the meantime the alarm had been
given, and quite a large posse Of armed
men had started from the city to the
jail bur when they arrived there the work
had been done and the men had left.
After the man had been secured from
the jail, they started to return to the de
pot, but found that their train had pulled
out. They intercepted it at Morgan street
and with their carbnes forced the en-
gineer to stop while they got aboard. Be
fore getting on the train each soldier fired
his carbine into the air as a warning to
all parties who might interfere to let
them alone.
The train then pulled away from the
city, and never once did one of the So
called officers of the regiment show up or
make the slightest effort to stop the law
| less outrage that the several hundred men
We're perpetrating.
The citizens generally express the great
est wonder that the officers in command
OF the Ninth Cavalry should have allowed
such conduct.
They hear rumors on every side that
the entire work was done under the sane
! ton of the captain in command, and they
do not know what to say.
Sheriff Spencer notified Gov. Bloxham
yesterday morning, while the train was
still within the boundaries of the state
and asked that he take some steps to Sc
cure the rescued man. The governor wired
! back that under the circumstances moth
ing could be done.
Sheriff Spencer then sent deputy to
Gen. Coppingers headquarters and the
matter was reported to his adjutant. He
| requested that the matter be reduced to
writing and submitted to him for refer
| ence 10 Gen. Coppinger.
AS the train would pass out of the state
| in the meantime the sheriff declined to
| make a formal complaint. What he want
| ed was prompt action, and finding that
! he could not get this he nursed his wrath
one of the first things the sheriff did
| locally was to discharge Tailor Blount.
| The sheriff took the position that his men
| surrendered 10 the demand of the mob too
| readily; that if he had resisted for only a
few minutes he would have gained time
enough for the posse of citizens to arrive
| at the jail
! Some people criticize the sheriff for his
| summary action toward the jailor, claim
| ing that Mr.. BEount was taken at a disad-
! vantage. 1t is stated and known to be a
| fact that the jailor's wife and three OF his
! children were quite i'll in the living apart
| ment of the jail.
Besides this, the jailor had been i'll, and
| Saturday was the first day he had been on
! duty since his illness.
An this his friends claim, are eXtenuat-
! ing circumstances.
But the sheriff says that the situation
| was critical one, and the jailor shou'd
| have made some resistance, as he was no
| titled that the mob was coming, and had
! all the advantages in the way of being in
| mob-prOof jail
| 1t developed yesterday that large num-
| Der of negroes of the city knew as early
as O'Clock Saturday afternoon that the
negro soldiers were going to make an at
tack upon the jail, but they never breath
| ed a word of it.
This negro soldier was arrested for
! shooting among a lot of colOred women,
! and it was entirely for the protection of
| that race and they knew it, Yet they never
| gave the slightest warning to the white
! People about what was going to be done.
RAID ON TANPA'S JAIL.