The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-08-02
AVERTED A MASSACRE.
Effect of IL Four Inch Hose and :
Stream Ok lev Wutcr.

Stream OK ley Water.
Il sec by the papers, said Il farmer
resident OF the west, that the French
police qucllel mob the other day by
turning the hose on them. saw the
same thing tried under very dramatic
circumstances out i'll Denver i'll the
early eighties. There was 4 strong
feeling against the Chinese all through
the west ut the time, growing out OF
Denis Kcarney's sand lot campaign
in Frisco, and it needed next to moth
ing to start Il demonstration. One day
q. few Denver hoodlums set the ball
rolling by wrccking 4 laundry, and in
less than an hour q full grown riot was
in progress. The mob swept down
upon the Chinese section like q prairie
fire, and 4 horrible massacre was ap-
parcntly inevitable, when proceedings
were momentarily checked by an cX-
traordinary incident.
..It seemed that 4 gambler named
Tim Moon had dropped in at one Of the
laundries for his weekly supply Of
boiled shirts, and the ChinamSl had
some difficulty in finding the right bun
die. While he was searching his
shelves the vanguard OF rioters sud-
denly appeared and were about to razc
the frail little shanty to the ground,
when Moon lcaped out of the front
door with Il cooked revolver in each
hand. Hold on, boys" he yelled.
you've got to wait until l get my
shirts
"Thcrc were at least 1000 people in
the mob, but Moon was a noted despcr-
ado, and nobody dared make the first
move The dense throng stopped i'll al
most Il straight line, like Il river
checked by an invisible barrier.
""Tcll him to hurry. Jim somebody
shouted from the crowd.
"'AIake haste, John called Moon
through the door. These gentlemen
want to hang YOU
'Thc sally raised q laugh, and for a
| moment there was q gust OF rough
badinagc, but it was evident that the
crisis could not bc prolonged many sec
onds more. And that brings me to the
water episode, from which I have
slightly wandered
"While Moon was holding the crowd
at bay" continued the story teller, "a
company Of militia had been rushed to
the scene, but hesitated to fire. You
see, public sentiment was so generally
with the rioters that nobody cared to
take the responsibility Of ordering q
yrliey. Just then Captain Dave Cook.
who was ut the time chief Of the Rocky
mountain police, came galloping up on
horseback, leading the way for 4 steam
fire engine, and before anybody real
lied his purpose q four inch stream of
| icy water was turned on the thick of
the throng.
"Thc effect was simply miraculous.
1t was very cold day, and the horde
Of infuriatel wcsterners, who would
surely have stood their ground against
q fusillade Of rifles, simply turned tail
and ran. In their frantic efforts to get
out Of the way Of the water, scores OF
people were knocked down and tram.
pled on. 1t was complete rout, and
in two minutes the street was as empty
as drum. What is more, the thing
prevented any reassembling at other
points, for the fellows who had been
chased by the hose were so chagrined
at the absurd figure they cut that they
Immediately sneaked Off home, and BY
the time they secured dry clothes hao
lost all interest in the Chinese ques
tion. Thus riot was turned into 8
good joke, and for long time after
ward the happy expedient that won thu
day was referred to as Dave Cooks
water cure warranted to relieve an!
case of municipal congestion.
"Jim Moon, by the way, met with
tragic death little later on. He wa:
shot and killed by Clay Wilson, s
sporting man, who hailed originally
from New Orleans. When the Denver
papers printed the story, they display
ed some characteristic frontier humol
In their headlines, Blood on the Moon
and "A Lunar Eclipse were two / re
call."-New Orleans Times -Democ