The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-11-08

what the Rfchmond Times Represent.
alive Sees at a Gathering Of Leading
Business Men-The Red Shirt Parade
Seen Through the Warrington Posts
3 Glasaes


The staff correspondent Of The Rich
mond Times telegraphs his paper as
follows from Wilmington:
Last night 1 witnessed a sight /
have never seen before. In the parlors
of a leading citizen of the city there
were assembled fourteen gentlemen.
They all had families and owned prop
erty. They were the captains Of one
ward. These people meant business.
1t was not a gathering for a frolic.
Reports were called for. This is a
sample of those given:
In my block I have thirty-two men
we'll armed. We have IS rifles, 10 SHOT
gun and some 20 pistols. My men can
be depended upon to to any
call. Not a single white man in my
block is a traitor to his race II the
worst must come We are ead TO DO
our duty"
And so it went on until all had re-
ported.
These are business ~men-those who
own the property here and who can
not be called politicians. There were
in that gathering confederate veterans,
men who were at Manassas, Chancel-
louisville, Gettysburg and Sharpsburg,
One said he had not fired a gun since
the civil war, but he would do so now
if necessary.
Without a violation of confidence, /
think / can say that the white men OF
Wilmington have every detail arrans
ed. They are not seeking trouble, but
if it must come they are prepared to
meet it at a moments warning. After
the alarm shall have been given it
will require only two minutes for ev-
cry block upon which there are white
residents to be guarded by armed men.
Provision has been made for protecting
the sick.
READY FOR THE FRAY.
Trouble is expected at any time. The
whites have reliable Information that
the negroes nave been advised from
the pulpit to resist the whites. This is
the storm centre. To tell the truth,
the whites, or some of them, would
welcome a little "unpleasantness."
They are prepared for it. Sometimes
it requires an electric storm to purify
the atmosphere. This is true Of Will
mington when applied to the race
question. This city has the most
worthless police / have ever seen or
heard Of. They are the products of
the fusion party. 1 could pick out half
a dozen in Richmond who could come
here and catch every thief in town.
Yet, in Wilmington houses are robbed
nigh after night, stores are broken
open OF the principal streets under arc
lights and robbers are never appre-
hended. The negroes terrOrize the
place. The negro women parade the
streets and insult men and ladies.
To lose this election would mean that
Wilmington would be turned over abb
solutely to the negroes. The whites
would have to leave here. Property
owners realize this. They will win,
but not by secret cheating. What they
do will be done openly. They have de-
cided that they will rule, and the vic
tory will be gained before a ballot is
deposited. Peaceful methods are now
being pursued to show the negro that
he cannot I'll the government. If
these should fail, then it will be neces-
sary to use force and it will be done.
The Washington Post staff CORE
spondent has the following to say in
yesterdays issue of that paper:
The red shirts paraded in Whining
ton today. During the progress OF the
procession through the city very few
shots were fired, but as soon as the
outskirts were reached revOlvers were
fourished and discharged in a perfect
fusillade. Nearly every man prOduc-
I'd a pistol from his hip pocket, pointe.
it in the air, and pulled the trigger.
The air was blue with smoke and the
rapidly echoing shots reminded one of
the Fourth of July. The enthusiasm
of the crowd having been manifested
in this warlike way, a number of
speeches n a barbecue followed.
The hero of the day was a white man
named Bullock, who was shot in the
riot at Ashpole, a few miles up the
railroad from Wilmington, last week.
If he had charged up San Juan Hill in
the battle of Santiago he could not
have been more petted. He proudly
displayed the hole in his neck which
the bullet from a negroes rifle a
pierced. He wore the same hat which
was on his head at the time of the &C.
currence, and he was introduced to
everybody with more glory to himself
than if he had been Joe Wheeler.
Finally, he was escorted to the plat
form, greeted with shouts, and COM
PEELED to relate to the admiring throng
the details of his narrow escape from
death.
The demonstration of the red shirts
| was the outward and visible sign of
the determination here to prevent the
negroes-frOm voting. 1t was a marked
contrast to the secret meetings which
are held here in private residences al
most nightly, when the solid and sub
stantial men of the city gather together
| and report through the captains of
each block as to the umb of men
<i I'M "A&Ai c1ANA an
This organization, by the way, is absO-
lutely complete, the nightly guards
I; around the cotton warehouses and tur-
pentine wharveS nave been Quadrupled,
and every arrangement has been made
for the prompt assembling Of armed
men within a few minutes after an
alarm has been given. There is, doubt
less, not another city in the country
where business men, lawyers, doctors,
and ven preachers retire at night with
Winchester rifles at their bedSideS and
loaded revolvers within cas- reach.
There is certainly no other city where
every white man has been carefully
polled and his fighting capacity and
his armament carefully c~anvassed. 1t
should be emphasized, too, that this is
not an organization of hOt-headed
boys, but embraces the most prominent
men in the city, who have resolved
that there shall be nc further negro
rule.