The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-11-04
A RED SHIRT RALLY.
HOW TAR HEELS WORK To Sh-
CURE WHITE SUPREMACY

CURE WHITE SUPREMACY
| How the Washington Post STAFF Cor
| respondent Views the Campaign I'm
the He'd shirt Df~trfet-Wh ite Men
Make no secret Of their Deter NINA
ton to Control the Affairs of the
State-A Pitched Battle With n Negro
Washington Post)
Laurinburg. y. c., November l.
The red shirt rally at Laurinburg to-
day was ushered in by a tragedy. a
negro who had threatened 10 Kill a
young white man and who had declared
his purpose OF burning the town was
waited upon last night by a delegation
of armed white men, who proposed TO
advise him to leave this locality. He
did o wait to receive the delegation,
but opened fire from the windows of
his cabin. His firing was promptly re-
turned, and when the battle ended he
had emptied his Winchester, both bar
rels of his shotgun, and nearly all the
chambers OF his revolver, while thirty
eight bullets from the white mems
rifles had pierced him through and
through. His house looked as If it had
been through a bombardment- The
negro was said to be a vicious charac-
ter. and certainly there has been no
concealment here today of the gratii-
cation felt at his sudden and tragic
end.
1t is hardly necessary 10 remark
that this has scarcely Greeted a ripple
in the town. The episode did not in
terfere with the success Of the red
shirt rally This demonstration was,
indeed, a novel and picturesque spec
tacle. Early this morning men began
to appear upon the streets attiIed in
their lurid costumes, and were natuI-
ally the object of considerable curios-
ity on the part of the negroes congre-
gated on the sunny side OF the main
street. By 10 O'Clock numerous dele
| cations of farmers from the surround
ing country had gathered, riding up the
main street with noisy yells, and their
red shirts and white caps glowing in
the sunshine. 1t was net long before
the street was as brilliant as a western
sunset or a bed of scarlet peoples. The
demonstration was not confined TO
men. There were many boys, some
wearing red shirts. and others being
ornamented with ribbons of the same
faring color on their coats. The shirts
were all homemade, the wives and
daughters of the men having bought
the necessary flannel at the country
stores. Some of the shirts were quite
elaborate, with blue and white braid,
but the majority Of them were of the
one solid color.
The leading citizens Of the town
were arrayed like the farmers, the
cashier of the local bank being con-
s~picious. Another red shirter was
MaXey l.. John, a leading lawyer and
a university graduate, whose gold
spectales and serious features made
him appear like a divinity student.
There is no Disgusting the fact"
said Mr.. John, in his quiet, determin-
ed way, that We propose to have the
white men rule, and that is what the
red shirt means"
THE RED SHIRT PROCESSION.
A remarkable procession through
the county, for the purpose Of showing
to the negro that the white mcn
meant business preceded the mass
meeting and occupied the early part
of the day. At frequent intervals the
air ~resounded with the loud discharge
of a cannon, lovingly named "Zeb
Vance," and a relic of the days of 1876,
when in this state and just across the
border in South Carolina the negroes
were disfranchised by methods more
forcible than polite.
Curiously enough the point selected
for assembling was a church. The
contrast between the earnest, determin
ed throng and the little edifice could
not have been greater. In a grove,
across the grassy sward of which the
peaceful belfry threw its pointed
shadow. the red shirts gathered, near
ly one thousand in number. All were
on horseback or muleback, many rid
ing without saddles, except about two
hundred who followed behind in all
manne of vehicles. There was an odd
combination of modern appliances
with oldtime southern ideas, for some
Of the red shutters came on bicycles and
the telephone was used to hasten
backward delegations. In the olden
days when the negro was just as much
an Irritating problem as he is To-Day,
the KukluX had no telephones and
wheels.
Out upon the sandy roads the men
acing procession moved. 1t strung
! out for nearly two miles and the bril-
liant shifting was visible for a long
distance. For fear. however, that its
progress might fail to attract atten-
ton, the southerners yelled at frequent
intervals and the sound of their defiant
shouts echoed to the horizon. At every
crossroad, and especially when the
procession reached the highway, which
. led from the neighboring town of Max
ton, little rivulets Of red shirted men
Joined the moving stream. The Dad
selected for the route led through vast
cotton fields. where the negroes paus-
ed in their work 10 gaze in snllen 81