The San Francisco call., 1899-08-16
lnfuriated Mob Fires
MitchelFs House.
AFTERMATH OF THE KILLING
PROPERTY OF THE CoLoRED
-. PEOPLE RAZFD.
In the. Dead of Night Band of In
.>*< cendiaries. Descend Upon the
p. =: +. .@....:.. H.. Land of the Sus- - =.
T. !. i. r. II. = poets. :@:

!. O.. The death of JOseph@J. Imsand. the hog
ranchetHwho was mur .ered in Colma early
Monday morning. has been. avenged. The
feud =eXistlng between the Mitchells and
the lmsands, productive of so much tur-
nlOh and desperate deeds, has passed over
the bounds of family warning and has te-
come. a"country town affair In the dead
Of darkness very early yesterday morning
q band"ot fnfuI .ated ranchers and farm
ers in the neig borhood of Colma set ire
: 10 the buildui IS on Mitchelrs land and
razed them to the ground.
The three ALitcheAs-N llliam, David and
William Jr.-are now incarcerated in the
Colma Jail under uspicion OF the murder
of Joseph Imsand. The brutality OF the
crime, the ott-repeated threats Of the
negroes and past transgressions on their
part aroused the small population Of
Colma 10 state Of frenzy on Monday
night and everything pointed 10 a violent
outcome. Throughout the entire Colma
ranching section there is but one family
OF colored people, the Mitchells. All the
others are Of various nationalities and
have come together from time TO time in
a social way. The Mitcheils were eX-
cluded from these gatherings being left
10 themselves. William Mitchell. the
head OF the house, is man OF the most
pugnacious temperament, and he antag-
oniZed every other Tancher in the district
a cloud of mystery hangs over the burl4-
Ing OF MitChelPs home and outhOuSes.
Shortly after y o'clock yesterday morn
. ing blaze was noticed in the direction
O1 Mitchell mouse DN OOlSIdDle NeN.llC.
who was standing in front OF the Gonna
White House, a half-mile away. The
heavens were soon lighted by the tire
and before the Constable could reach the
scene the tinderlike buildings of Mitchell
were in ashes. No one in Colma will
speak Of the nfiagration or divulge the
names OF the inCendiaries, yet il is COM
monty said there were some thirty CT
forty men who participated in the mid
night rush upon Mitchelrs land
Frequent threats were made in C'ulrna
Monday afternoon by the enraged ranch
ers. lmsand was very popular member
Of the Swiss colony about that town and
his murder was considered a blow to al
The incendiaries moved in body UP the
creek. and when they reached MITCHELL 3
vent the fire from spreading. Imsand' 3
widow and children live in small white
house adjacent, and this was protected
from possible conflagration before the
c0lOred mans property was fired When
constable Neville arrived upon the scene
no one was in sight and save for the
cracking embers there was an utter ab-
serce Of noise. Mitchel's chickens. ducks
and hogs had been driven out of their
pens and there was a general scattering
Of fowl and pork over the four ends Of
the county.
Sheriff Mansfield arrived in CoIma dur
ing the afternoon, and in conjunction with
Constable Neville held an investigation Of
the aftermath of the murder. Arrests NAV
he made at any moment. but a general
secrecy and retiCenCe involve the entire
affair.
The loss suffered by Mitchell is variously
estimated. $500 being set as a low figure
%jtJo as the maximum limit.