The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-08-04
THE ETTS INDINTEI[ICENCER,
BEL AIR MD. AUGUST a, 1899.
N DAYS OF Mob LAW.
TIE STIRRING TIMES THAT SAN FRAN
CISCO SAW IN 1856.

The Vigilance Committee That Re
cnIac Fai,oas For It's Many Dcs-
pcrntc Deeds. bat which Rid the
Town of the Criminal Class.
1t WIS in la36, IN san Francisco, and
law WAS ch,ios mob law WAS supreme
Tho Judges were finally given warning
that unless iary enforced the laws they
would hc slm,H:riir dealt with-that is,
they would III taken ont ard hanged to
the nearest tirc Ii WIS y stirring tii!a.
Tie Vigilance committee of san Fran
cisco in his year was famous for its des-
pcrate deeds. but after its self assumed
reign was over the morals of San Francis
20 increased amazingly. 1t was almost Il
paradise on earth Drunkards. cuithroatS,
lcoundrclS and others Of this ilk gave the
place wide room They knew that if they
were caught they would hc hanged. An
drew J Kellogg of Detroit told of these
days:
The California of 1856 was n terrible
place" began Mr. Kellogg, ut ease with
his pipe You sec, it WAS like this: The
men who rushed to the goldliclds in the
early days never expected to remain i'll the
western country Their purpose was to
make their pile and get out They came
to California, scrambled for gold and paid
40 attention to law and order 1t was
paradise for gamblers, thieves and cut
threats The worst element, it seems,
came TO Frisco, where they were soon in
possession OF the city government anu or
lcrcd millions and millions of dollars
worth of Improvements that were never
made But the contracts were let, in or
der to give hondlcrs IA chance. Vice flour
ished Ike green hay tree 1t was n law
less, violent land. where life wasn't worth
n pinch of snuff
The first few weeks was there things
like this happened The United States
marshal WAS shot i'll cold blood by gam
bier; the gamblers parilmour put up Sl0,-
600 to defend him. and the lawyer was
promised $40, 900 more if he got his pris
onCr of
He had had one trial, but the jury dis
agreed, and in the meantime we took him
out and hung him
This was the state of California jus
ticc
WY, men convicted of murder, arson
and other foul crimes would DC hauled up
before the judge, who after listening to
the damning testimony would say:
THE sentence of this court is that you
pay So fine
"On other occasions, when n murderer
was brought into court. u judge would
say:
There is no need of hearing tho wit,
nesses III this case Tho prisoner is dis
charged
And the ballot box stuifing! We sent
one of the boxes TO the Smithsonian in
I,nl
it labeled, This is specimen of Califor
mia ballot box stuifing.
There was trick the ballot box stuff
ers used to employ to keep the gang in
Office You know, in those days talors
and servants used to have small pot filled
with charcoal, used to heat fatirons.
noticed that in every election booth in GER
tain precincts there was always one Of
these little heaters. The ballot boxes were
supposed to be of inch pine, rough pine
boxes, with little beading around tho
edge. The top was of inch stuff all right
enough, but the bottom was hollow, of
eight inch stuff In this false bottom We're
placed enough votes to win the day for the
gangs candidate When the polls were
closed, the little fire pot was brought into
use and the unfavorablc votes destroyed
The ballot box suffers said that they had
the fire there because the room was so cold
at was such acts of lawlcssness as these
that led to the formation of the famous
California committee of vigilance. 1t con-
sisted of over {, 1000 of the most highly re-
spccted people in the community, whose
sentiments OF justice had been outraged by
the long continued acts of injustice and
crime permitted by the regular judges.
THE first intimation had of the for
nation of the committee was when a
friend said to me one morning:
1" WANT to see some fun?'
"'Ycs.
''Then come down to the Jail
ION arriving was astonishcd to find a
double row of men drawn around the
whole square An assault was about to
be made on the Jail by outraged citizens
They were calling on the jailcr even then
to open tho doors. In the terrible quiet
before tho storm broke l could hear the
leader say:
"'Open the doors!
There was q dcathIike silence
"'Opcn the doors! the ringleater cried
again, 'or we will batter them down
with that he raised his handkerchief
rs signal
when this handkerchief falls he
added in q voice like thunder, III give
orders to fire the cannon She's loaded
with solid shot
There was n cannon before tho door
The man with the blazing torch stood
near by.
You should have seen the hand slowly
fall 1t was a most thrilling sight. Slow
ly the hand futcred, and ut the very last
moment the Jail doors were flung open,
and the populace entered to drag out the
prisoners.
AT first the jailcr refused to give some
of them up.
The two that we took out Of tho Jail
were given fair trial before tho commit
tee of SO, the executive committee, which
heard all the evidence as given. 1t requir
ed unanimous vote OH their part to hang
a man as well as n two-third majority Of
the committee of delegates numbering
$50 members
THAT night San Francisco was in a
fever of excitement. What would happen
next? Where would the revenge of the
populace be shown tomorrow?
Every one stayed indoors that night as
far as possible
"A few days later the judges were
warned They were told to try eases
properly or suffer the penalty-by giving
up their lives
Twenty irresponsible members Of the
community, ringleadcrs in ballot box
stuiiing and murder, were taken TO the
never to come back again OH pain of i'll
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