Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-08-24
TUCKER IN HAMPTON
Brought from Norfolk Last
"@ .... Night. ."..: Ky.
ARMED WITH RIFLES
Letter from the First Maryland Regiment
Expressing Regret OF Account of
." Tnsstay Nights De- "
..".... cur,r.nses.

go. Tucker the Phocb,ls saloon keep
efat whose place the dis-racaf,i ,a,
Mnsh niNe been Witnessed in thai
town since last Sunday aftcr,,o,, ha
San, was brought back from Enrrn,L
~ . " clock last evening aud t1r,a.l
over 70 sheriff Curtis. The saloon ka,,,-
:, "@s NOT IN Il communicative mocd
re SPOKE To a few friends rs he walk
~ rom the steamer To the jail accom-
ilt'led by officer Diestil. bat beyond
- eN,h'nEe OF pleasant salutatorles
ne hau nothing to say. 1t is known
however. that he still vigorously denias
INA he is in any way to blame for I'VE
ratd made upon his saloon sunday AZ
terno"n. Eu his statement is 1noSt Va
ieinentty repudiated by men who say
,!d theS Know that the saloon was
open ana that Tucker was serving
drinks until the crowd became too largo
70 be handled with safety, when he b.
gan turning applicants away.
SHORTY before the arrival of Tucker,
Il detail from Fort Monroe arrived for
the purpose IF compelling any soldiers
iouhu IN the town to return to camp
Aoo.i, me same time Major futile. o
me Maryland regiment. rode up to the
Courthouse and introduced himself tn
Sierlft Curtis. A few minutes lata,. he
Two gentlemen repaired to the office of
.ommonwealth's Attorney Collier
Mhcre. after being joined BY Mr.. col
llef' they conVersed privately for s3nle
time. The major, While ax,ren,.lx
courteous and polite toward the civil
oiiice's, was evidently disinclined AT
irst l" accept the view that the volun-
tsers We're wholly Responsible 70, IN
riot OF Monday night. He began the
conversation by asking the sheriff
ap"at a telegram that had Jees /,
: ihaa Secretary Of w @ Nlou1a.u
informing him Of t,uo7y puv elleNs
Phocbus and suggest na.,rolpsp a3e0s
issued to the comma 80. ,.eneIt
requiring that ofiicia S ~ Gus.
untee:s within came. ,ub,,c,, 20 req
lultle said .ih3i he understood that tn
telegram stated that nine men had bapn
s,'"t while attempting to break opei
~ Jall n release a number of SOL
TIERS Who had been locked up far dis
orderly conduct. Sheriff Curtis made
a detailed statement of the occurrences
OF Monday night to Major Tut:Ie and
after some further conversation ha
% his horse and rode away. Be
iore gong ne said that he deeply re-
GREETED that the Maryland men had in
fu.Eeu themselves in so unfortunfte an
affair. "'eee d
DurlnS the afternoon Colonel Lane
received q message from the Secral,,y
OF war. but the nature OF jts content.
could only he judged by the fact INA
oetaiiS We're at once sem to Phoebus
alu tlls city and soldiers found on III.
streets were ordered to return To caynn
1t was reported that a military eIInrd
Would be sent to guard the Uan,nto,
jail IN winch Tucker is q prisoner bur
the rumor was without foundation IT,
secure the safety Of the prisoner ana
PROVIDE gains disorderly demonstra-
,'ois II. any other direction. Whether
= ~ at Phoebus. twenty-five men.
actlnE as special constables, were arm
cd With Winchester rifles. This pre-
caution, however, was partly due 70 I've
lact mat Il shortage of 125 Sprinr6eld
fiiles had been discovered in the bat
TALON ut the Pines battery. a run,o.
became current during the closing
hours of the day that the guns had
been hidden away for use at niaht
htH inns report reached the ears Of
Colonel Lane he ut once ordered ,he
battalion to Fort Monroe. " -
The Maryland volunteers say that
among the deputies that fired on then,
IN the skirmish at the Jail were a num-
per o. negroes and claim that but for
the fact that cnlored deputies were.
sworn in there would have been ma
troupie. by way of explanation Of
thslr position they have written the fol-
lowing letter.:
10 the people of Hampton: - .
we, The soldiers of the First Mary
.ailu volunteer regiment. regret tina,
suen IL disturbance as that which oe-
CURED at Phoebus Monday nirht
should have taken place be; ween rha
peoPie ana the soldiers, but had the
SHelin SHOWN better Judgment. or his
aep'lS SHOWN better judgment. thar 70
".put'"e negroes to shoot ut white men
thefe would have been no trouble FL,
IL makes no difference what The men
u.ae ne insy VIII not allow Il negro 10
sAoot at them as though he was sI,oo,-
ll.s a dog. II the deputy sheriff is n
Dame he Should be discharged. and if
tie Sherlff is to blame he should ba wei,
~ uozon whit" men of the proper class
y dozen white ,llen 0 fthe proper class
could nave ubdue all the soldiers who
were m Phoebns that night; and is a
Moro oi arhln n not as a threat 10
she sheriff. let him not put negro police
inen on duty in the future to trv and
unrest or shoot at soldiers, for. as Se
an Know. there is a limit to all Times
ana as a genera! thing the men OF he
flrst Maryland are quiet and behave &c
gentlemen should behave. The mart
me negro took in Monday nights dis
tu'p'hce VIII not be forgotten by the
men of the First Maryland.
We have had so many pleasant
times in Hampton that we do nor like
TO see them marred by such disturb
ances; n another thing that a good
many of the people do not know. the
soldier was not the aggressor, as the
cause of the trouble Hoping that the
editor of the paper will publish this
and do the soldier justice. I am,
yours respectfully,
"a SOLDIER OF THE FIRST MD"
accompanying the foregoing letter
was the following by Mr.. Collier:
Editor Daily Press: Is
Kindly publish this with the state
ment that our friend has been misin-
formed regarding the calling out of ne
gro deputies. There was not a negro at
Phoebus jail when the difficulty took
place in Tepelling the attack upon the
iail nnl tha -bari e. l.naut 49, ~ - =