The age-herald., 1902-05-18
EIGHT MEN KILLED W
 ATLANTA RACE RIOT
CIVIC FEDERATION MAY
 YET TRY TO END STRIKE
Ralph M' EasIeN Secretary Holds Long Conference With John Mitchell, But Would Make No State ent at
 Conclusion of the Interview

1 formed him of what had transpired here l during the past week He said MT. Mitchell had no plans to submit to the federation and that he carried no mes sage back to Senator Hanna or any other member of the Civic Federation. It is un- derstood that the district presidents of the three anthracite districts are in com munication with the presidents of the bituminious districts for the purpose of getting two of them to make up five necessary to call special national con- vention to consider the advisabiity of calling out the soft coal miners. It is thought the West Virginia and Michigan districts will agree to the assembling of such a convention.
 Reports received at strike headquar- ters today were to the effect that the or der to strike was being carried out to the letter.
 least, were armed, surrounded the burn ing area. Soon from the mouth of the sewer Milton Risby, a negro, was seen to emerge. A shout went up, and the flee ing negro, who struck out over a vacant lot for liberty, was being pursued. Shot after shot rang out, and in a minute he ANAA NS1d. IHC pursuing party QulChly surrounded him and filled his body with lead. He. was literally shot to pieces.
 The crowd of enraged citizens had scarcely finished this work when another negro was seen coming out of the sewer. He, too, made a run for life and managed to get into the back yard of one of the neighboring houses, where, surrounded by cattle and hogs, he was shot to fragments.
 RIock of RiiIdin1e p,.rnad
 The fire which had been Started by the attacking party spread rapidly and soon the entire block of buildings, composed entirely of negro huts, was destroyed. The police were busy arresting the few negroes to be found in the vicinity. Two of them, Steve Nisbet and Jim Singleton. believed to be members of Richardsons s gang, were arrested The police had great difficulty in getting out of the crowd of enraged people with their col ored men, A mob of 200O men surged around the patrol wagon and cried for the life of the men under arrest. The officers throwing their men into the bot tom of the wagon, drew their revolvers and giving the driver orders to drive as fast as he could, forced their way through the crowds and twenty minutes later lodged their prisoners in safety in the Fulton county jail on Butler street In less than an hour the block of wooden houses was burned to the ground and a search of the ruins was at once en- tered upon.
 Negro's Skull Found. In a woodshed in the rear of Richard sons store was found a skull, and near it the steel barrel of a rifle. It Is be- lieved the skull represented all that was left of the negro that did the shooting.
 The police believe they have arrested all the negroes directly concerned in the shooting, but have been given orders by the chief to bring fin all suspicious char acters found in the neighborhood.
 The riotlng caused the utmost excite ment not only in the little suburb of Pittsburg, where it occurred, but all over the city. The trolley lines running to that part of the city have been crowded with people since o'clock going to the scene.
 The Atlanta police force has in the past four years lost three of Its members who were killed, presumably by negroes, and the fact that nobody was convicted of any of these murders was made the sub ject of caustic message to the City Council sometime ago by Mayor Mlms. Twenty arrests of negroes, charged
  ed by the police as late as midnight.
 In some instances the officers experienced considerable difficulty in protecting their prisoners from the excited crowds. One negro was severely injured.
 Perfect order was restored after mid night.
 First of Its Kind. This is the first affray of the kind that has ever occurred in Atlanta. It was not in any sense race riot, but was the re- suit of a negro defying the law. The ne- groes who set upon former Policeman Kerlin last night, as well as those con- cerned In today's shooting, were mem- bers of that deporable majority of the race known alike to blacks and whites as mo account negroes" and who evil dently cherished a grudge against Kerlin for something he had done while on the police force.
 Notwithstanding that the entire city was much wrought up over the killing of the officers, order was restored with won derful promptness and the passions of an enraged people were remarkably restrain ed.
 Fifty enlisted men of state militia will do patrol duty tonight in the disturbed neighborhood and the police doing duty in that part of the city have been rein forced.
 There was some talk of closing all sa- looms at O clock tonight but Mayer Mims said that after a consultation with the chief of police it was not thought neces- sary. If any such precaution Is deemed necessary before the regular closing hour, 10 D. m Mayor Mims instructed Chief Ball to issue the order and enforce it.