The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-27
oFvEAUx OFFERED HIS MEN.
LcnntInued from Flrst PACE

continued from First Page)
-, and offered his company 10 the Gov
So 10 assist in quelling the riodng
p8rien-
,,,s Governor had previously placed the
..,.r,,r5 of all military forces under Col
.,.,on and referred the matter to him.
~-s FIRST Regiment had, however, been
.usd OUT and the negro company was not
needed
COW Gambler was in his office several
hours before he began to receive any in
.,rr,adon from the seat Of the trouble.
Nd raWton reported by wire to the Gov
.r,- r1at it would be impossible to re
.,,r. reace and order unless the Delegals
,..-s arrested. The Governor answered
,,st col. Lawton was in command and
,,+l5 do as wisdom and discretion sug
ge=ted.
Messages from Darien, Brunswick, Sa-
y,orah and many other places came rap
.,Iv into the executive office and some of
,fem brought alarming reports.
"Tbe situation in Mcintosh county is eX-
,r4me,y critical and grave" said Gov.
Gambler. The entire First Regiment,
..r,posed of seven companies, is on the
scene and have ordered Companies I and
y of the Fourth Regiment TO report to
4 taelr 5rmories and hold themselves in
4 readiness for a call from Col Lawton.
..Tbe law does not provide that militia
,sn make arrests" continued the Govern
ar but the troops will back up the sher-
IN who is surrounded by a large posse,
l,.,h hos oil he a q
needed"
Tents Sent by Express.
The Governor received a message from
Col. Lawton, asking that tents be shipped
The soldiers, who are now in the western
mart of Mcintosh county.
..It Is expensive to make the shipment by
e,press" said the Governor, but the oc-
c5son demands all possible haste, and
We are doing everything in our power to
esr the arms. ammunition and tents and
t.ltnments on the scene as speedily as
possible
From Savannah the tents will be sent,
and the soldiers will be made as comforta
bic as possible. This Is the first time that
il has been necessary for the soldiers to
20 into the country, to quel rioting, as the
crimes which they have been asked to
prevent in the past, have been in towns,
where there were accommoda atoms.
that not less than 900 negroes were under
arms in the swamps, and that they were
In a position to sustain themselves for
some time. Another message said that
several hundred citizens, acting upon their
own responsibility, left Brunswick this
morning, and were en- route to the scene
OF the crime.
That section of Georgia comprising Nc
Intosh and Liberty counties, where the
outbreak has occurred, is the 'black belt
of the state. The negroes there number
five for one to every white inhabitant
Liberty county is recognized as one of the
most thickly Inhabited negro settlements
In the South, and there are many towns
composed solely of negro families, in which
no white family lives.
The land, which is owned largely by
white people, is tenanted by negroes
Some of the best farms are owned by
the negroes themselves. Ii is known
among the negroes that should a prolong-
Ell difficulty with the whites occur, the
black men would have sufficient food to
sustain them supplied from the farms
either by owners or tenants, who would
appropriate the landlords crop without
conjunction.
The Okeefeenokee swamp, in a portion
of which negroes hide, is probably the
largest in the United States, being in
many parts absolutely impenetrable and
uneXplored. 1t is a low, marshy land, fed
by the sea water and covered with q
heavy growth of vines, tough grasses and
other semi-tropical plants.
Col A. R. Lawton, who is in control
of the militia, commanded the First Geor-
gia Regiment, United States Volunteers,
during the Spanish-American war. He
has the full confidence of the executive
department, and the authority given him
In the present trouble attests to this ef-
feet