The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-11-18
WILMINGTON QUIET
THE CORONEK'S INQUEST HELD
OVER THE DEAD

Mayor addeII and the Citizens' Conn
mittee Frown Down Further Expul-
sion of Objectionable People Ex-
Mayor Wright the Last Man TO Go.
why Violence was Avoided on the
Day of the EIecfion-Words Of SYM
pathy from North, Soath and West
charleston News and Courier.)
Wilmington. n. c., November r.
Special: Few outward and visible
signs of Thursdays rioting could be
seen here today. The charred tim
hers Of The Record office still stood
as a monumen to the braZen folly Of
the negro editor. Manly; several un-
p~retentious funeral professions in the
negro quarters were reminders OF the
deadly work of the Winchesters, and
once in a while you might see a citizen
with a gun, who still chung to his spe-
cial policem&n's badge. These were the
last vestiges of the disturbance. Up at
the city hall Mayor Waddell and the
board OF aldermen were hard at WORK
STRENGTHENING out municipal aHalrs.
Much of their time was occupied IN ap-
pointing and organizing a competent
notice force, but for the most part the
affairs attended to were OF strictly
routine nature.
Over at the county court house Cor
oner Jacobs was holding an inquest
over the remains Of the dead negroes.
Won NAV form some idea of how COM
DleteIy the excitement has died out
from the fact that there were only
three men, besides the coroner, jurors
and special~ witnesses, present at the IN
quest. The coroner is a negro by the
name of David Jacobs. He had sum-
moned as a jury four prominent white
men and two leading negroes. Inc
witnesses were some eight or ten IN
lumber and without exception their
Testimony was cOuched in profoundly
vague terms. They sWOre that they
knew no one who had fired a ShOt.
Several of them did swear that the
negroes started the shooting, but their
accounts of the incidents Of Thursday
were invariably devoid of details. NO
names we're mentioned. The verdict
which the jury subsequently found was
amply justified by the evidence before
it.
NO MORE Explosions ALLOWED.
Last night and today some effort has
been made by a party of irresponsible
young men to drum more people out or
town, but the movement has been
promptly sat down upon by the cltl-
Zens' committee. EX-MayOr >. r.
Wright, who was advised to leave the
city yesterday morning, did SO last
night. He was not escorted through
the streets, as were Bunting and Mel
ton. He was waited on by citizens ana
told hat it would be better for him
to go. He cried bitterly and asked
that he be given until today to collect
his effects. He made his arrangement
more quickly than he had anticipated
doing and quietly slipped GU of the
town last night. He promised never to
return.
After Wright's departure the citi-
Zens' committee called a halt on the eX-
pulsiOn business. Those who wished
to carry it further were notified that
they had gone far enough. There was
. some grumbling among them, but they
had sense enough to realize that II
would have been fOolishness for them
to rebel. The citizens IS
.all-powerful still, and while Outwardly
it is taking little part in affalrs, IN
reality it is standing squarely behind
Mayor Waddell and will continue to
do so until the last echo Of the riot
has died out and the course Of mun1ci-
pal affairs resumes the even tenor OF
it's ways again.
THE BARROOMS CLOSED.
An officer of the United States volun-
teers. who was, [ think, sent here to
make an official investigation, remark
ed to me today that he had never heard
of such a revolution being conducted
with so little violence. He referred to
the good order which prevailed as soon
as the shooting stopped on Thursday.
7 attribute the circumstance to the fact
that by order of the citizens commit
tee all of the barrooms were closed
two DAYS prior to the election, n
have remained closed ever since. |
have not seen a drunken man on the
street since | have been here. There
is an abundance of whiskey and wine
in private houses, and at the clubs, OF
course. but none is to be had at the
saloons. When the citizens were pa
trolling the streets they held up every
negro who passed and conlscated all
arms and liquor on them. Had the
barrooms been open Thursday there IS
no telling how much trouble would
have followed. AS long as they were
sober the rough riders could be con-
trolled easily enough, but had they had
access to an unlimited amount OF
liquor there would have been many
more bodies for the c%oroner's jury to
sit on this morning.
IT WAS ALL PLANED IN ADVANCE.