The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-11-15
THE WILMINGTON RIOT.
Continued from Second Page

a. lit u Nv - SNl'i'tN IIN - -
a man stirred. Then like 4 trumpet I
voice piped ont. Hang him" 1t was
like Il live fire-brand. Pandcmonlum
broke loose. \ roar Of approval
went mp from the crowd. The soldiers.
borne down by the human pillows press
ing upon Them. found themselves unable
to longer protect their prisoner. Some
one threw Il rope over his head and but
for the timely interference Of several
influential citizens GiZzard French would
now be Il corpse.
And after it all one feels like para
phrasing Carlyle. when writing OF
France:
We have reused her. then. We Radicals
nd Eegrophilists: Wilmington is reused.
Long have We been torturing this poor
city. shaking ovcr her your ferulas Of
taunt and threat and insult: it is long
that We have pricked md tillipped and
affrichted her. there as she sat helpless in
the dead ceremcnts of negro rule-nc-
erocs and carpet-hagsers gathering i'll on
her from all sections. with their conSpl-
racies and plottings. their ~invadings and
truculent bullyings:-and 10. now We have
pricked her to the quick. and she IS up
and her blood is up. The dead cerements
are rent into cobwebs. and she fronts YOU
in that terrible strength Of Nature.
which no man has measured. which goes
down to Madness and Tophet: See now
how We will deal with her.
Men will bear much. but mind that
We goad them not too far. For nature
green as she looks, rests everywhere Oh
dread foundations, We're we further
down.
Here is the cause of all the blooshed
in Wilmington. 1t IS an editorial pub
liShed over II month ago in the Daily
Record, Il negro paper edited by Alex
Manly. Il colored man:
I'VE suggest that the whites guard
their women more closely. thus Civ
ing no opportunity for the human
fiend, be he white or black. You
leave Your goods out Of doors, and
then complain because they are
taken away.
Poor white men are careless i'll
tie matter Of protecting their wo-
men. especially on farms. They are
careless of their conduct towards
them. and our experience among the
poor white people in he country
teaches that the women of that
race are not any more particular in
the matter of clandeStine meetings
with colored men than are the white
men with colored women. Meetings
OF tllS KIM 20 on Tor some TIME,
until the woman's i~nfatuation or the
mans holiness brings attention to
them, and the man is lynched.
Every negro lynched is called Il
big. burly, black BRUTE when in
fact many of those who have thus
been dealt with had white men for
their fathers. and We're not only not
black and bGrly, but were sufficient
ly attractive for white girls of Gull
ture and refinement to fall in love
With them, rs is well known to all.
Six dead and three mortally Wounded
have paid for this editorial. The base
! SANDER against the White women Of
North Carolina has been wiped out III
blood. The office in which the libel was
written stands Il charred ruin; the press
upon which it was printed is wrecked
and broken, and the man who penncd til
lying words is an outcaSt upon the face
Of the earth, fleeing from that fate which
his words would bring him in North
Carolina.
They were written two months ago. in
the midst of 4 heated political campaign
i'll which the race question was the Issue.
In some other communities the express
sion of such sentiments would have
caused 4 lynching. but Wilmington PEG
pie are conservative and long-suffcring.
They hided their time.
After the election they said.
The election came Tuesday. Wednes-
day afternoon at 3 O'Clock a largely-at-
tended masS-mecting Of business men
was held III the court house and resolu-
tions were passed making an emphatic
demand that the editor of the Record
leave the city within tWenty-four hours
] and Immediately remove his plant.
! He was given until 1:3O next morning
to Indicate his willingness TO do this, and
Il committee of twenty-five leading citi-
zens. headed by Col. \. NJ. Waddell, was
appointed to see that the provisions of
the resolutions in regard to the removal
of the negro paper We're carried out.
No reply was received next morning
| to Il request to the colored ministers
and others to use their Influence III hay
ing the Record suspended. its fixtures
moved and the editor leave the city.
True to their word the office and fix
lures were destroyed by the committee
and Manly searched for. but not found.
: This maddened the degrees and they
assembled i'll numbers on the street
corners and one Of them fired his pistol
at the white men at they returned home.
The whites returned the fire with dead
ly effect. Two negroes fell dead in
their tracks. and others were injured.
Before the fighting on the street ceas-
ed. three others were killed and more
wounded. Two white men were wound
ed slightly. AS they ran through the
streets one of the negroes shot William
Mayo. a young white man. as he stood
in his door. probably fatally wounding
him.
The negro was followed to his home
and thirteen bullets shot into him. He
llVed. though. till Friday morning. when
ne uled' the sixth victim of the race war
in Wilmington.
FRED. L. MERRITT
IF tbara 81 Lo,o