Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-09-08
MOB VIOLENCE.
POLICE DEPARTMENT HELPLESS TO
MAINTAIN ORDER.
egroes' Lives Endangered by n Crowd of
Infatuated Soldiers From the First
Vermont Regiment Reindeer
Riot in City Court.


ever enacted on the public streets in this
city occurred Saturday afternoon in the
shadow of the City Hall building. A
crowd of soldiers belonging to the Ner-
mont regiment congregatcd at City Court
early Saturday morning to lie in wait for
Charles and John Wallace, the Reindeer
negroes, who were to be taken into court.
Judge Russell, States Attorney II. E.
i Brown and other officials were In doubt
whether the city of Burlington had jurls-
dction over the case 1t was n matter
of doubt on which side of the line be-
tween New York and Vermont the row
occurred. While there is no question but
that q very disgraceful scene took plac
after the Reindeer landed last Thursday
night the Wallace brothers had no part in
the row after the boat came ashore. The
two negroes were charged with ASSAULT
ing stevenson and Blake and as these
men were "laid out" before the boat land
ed it is n question whether the negroes
can be tried here. The steamer Reindeer
went to Providence Island last Friday
evening and remained there until Satur-
day evening. The captain and the pilot
were in demand as the court officials
wished to determine what part Of the lake
the boat was in before the trial Of the
negroes was commenced.
At noon IL was decided to take tho case
W at . o'clock and when that hour came
Il crowd Of soldiers from Company L from
with a large number of curious lockers
on. The City Court room and hallway
were packed and damned to suffoca ton.
1t was one of the largest crowds ever In
the building. There were others on the
stairway and outside of the building who
were unable to gain an entrance. The
nCg rocs had been brought over to court
from the Jail before the crowd had swell
cd into mob The testimony of Lieut.
Fuller. Robert Burns, Frank Watson, Ma
polccn st. George and Private Delormc
was introduced to show what part of the
lake tho boat was in when Blake and
Stevenson were laid out" The tesU-
mony Of the witnesses was mcagrc and
after Il half hours session court ad-
journed until Monday. In default Of
$500 hail. each. the prisoners wcro ordered
returned to the Jail.
1 with the adjournment of court trouble
began to brew and all sorts of rumors
were in Tie air. The soldiers were or
ganiacd and the building was watched by
squads at both entrances, Oe OF the SOL
derS told Free Press reporter that the
negroes would surely be mobbed when
they came out Of the building. The ne
grocs sat in an antc-roOm between the
court room and Clerk Hawking office
trembling. They were afraid to venture
out as the soldiers paced to and fro in
front, waiting to mob them. Men who
were drunk encoura ged them and as time
rolled on the crowd became restless. Po-
lcemcn walked lcisurely around as un-
ccrncd as though 1t were pop concert
crowd.
/ The conduct OF some OF the soldiers and
citizens became so boisterous that Mayor
| Sutton decided to send for Col. Clark and
| n detachment OF soldiers from Camp
! Olympia Before the arrival of the SOL
! diers IL looked as II serious trouble would
! take place. The breach between Mayor
! Sutton and Chief Smith was undoubtedly
! n hindrance to Mt least an effort 10 main
! tain order. The chief sat In his office and
| the mayor paced back and forth trying
| to quiet the ring leaders. lie ordered Po-
! licemen Cosgrovc and Coon to keep the
crowd away from the door Officer Coon
had words with several ana In his en-
! dcavor to make one man stand back he
, pushed him against tho crowd, which re-
sisted. officer Coon seized men right and
left and showed them with all the force
! he could. This angcred the men, whN
/ rushed AT Coon and trouble would have
and Garrow had not intcrfercd. Mayor
! Sutton told Officer Coon to go into the
! building, and from that time he did guard
| duty ut Clerk Hawkins door. About 8
| O'Clock n squac Of Ii soldiers arrived in
! charge of Lieut.. Putnam. Cheer after
cheer went up as they alighted from the
electric car. Cries of shoot the niggers,"
| Take care OF your own soldiers" mob
| them" Remember the Reindeer" and
| other remarks were numerous. Lieut..
! Putnam lined his men up on both sides of
4 the Church street entrance. After this
| was done he addressed his men, saying.
| Take care OF your own men and don't
| interfere with anybody Csc" The licuten-
ant was determined that the soldiers
should not make any trouble. and If they
/ had done so they would probably have
/ Jared worse than II the police had been
ordered to deal with thom. Stevenson,
! one of the soldiers who was injured in
! the Reindeer riot, climbed n telegraph
pole near tho entrance. His head was
bandaGcd with white cloths and his APP
! pcarancc was signal for loud demon
| stration.
! Tho mob swcllcd In size until Church
street was impossible, Everybody ex-
pcctcd that the prisoners would be brought
ont Of the street entrance. but they were
mistaken. Sheriff Reeves sent word over
10 the Jail to he ready ut an instant's no.
iicc to receive the prisoners, a hnckman
was engaged to have his rig on Main
street, near the City Hail building. Orders
were given to him in advance to drive to
the Jail as fast as he could after the men
got in. Word was sent down the front
way that they were coming and the crowd