The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-28
DRUNKEN NEGROES
IN BIG ROW
RIOT NARROWLY AVERTED.
THREE OFFICERS HELD UP MORE
THAN a HUNDRED.

There Had Been General Fight
and Officers Secured Their Prison.
ers Despite the Odds Against
Them-PatrOIman Brown Shot
Close to Two Negroes who Had
Escaped to the Roof, and Made
Them Come DOwn-Omcers Were
i'm Close Quarters for a Time.
Only the nerve and GOODNESS of the
officers on the scene prevented a riot
at the bar and dance hall of N. A.
Fountain on the Augusta road early
yesterday morning.
Three patrolmen went into the place
and held up more than a hundred half
ing and drinking all night, and on into
the early Sunday morning hours.
There had been a general fight some
time after 2 o'clock. in which Caesar
Miller had been badly beaten. He was
held prisoner at the place, while the
suaded a friend to slip out and notify
the police.
After the negroes were held up and
while they were all being searched for
concealed weapons, there was a gem
eral rush made to escape. Through
second-story windows, doors, and by
every possible exit the negroes leaped.
The rush of the crowd from the up
stairs broke down the bannisters. and
the negroes piled one over the other
to the floor below.
Jumping from Windows.
Two of the negroes jumped from
second stoy window to the roof of a
nearby shed, but a shot from the re-
Volver of Patrolman J. E. Brown
caused them to stop. Mounted Pa
trolman Eivers, who was on the sec
ond story when the rush to escape
was made, drew his billy and fought
back the entire mob from the win
dows. The blood flowed profusely as
his club played on the line of men.
When the negroes saw they could not
pass the officer they made a rush for
the stairs and it was then that the
bannisters gave way.
The call for police aid reached po-
lice headquarters shortly after
o'clock. Mounted Officer P. T. Eiv-
at headquarters at the time. Patrol
man ]. E. Brown was just reporting
from his division, when the message
came. Eivers mounted his horse, and
Brown and Malphus made the trip in
a cab. Mounted Sergeant ]. A. Woods
also went to the scene as soon as he
learned of the trouble.
Running in Full Blast.
When the officers reached Woods
Vile, the bar was found to be full of
negroes. 1t was open and doing busi-
ness despite the fact that it was Sun
day morning. Malphus and Brown
held the negroes up at the door and
Eivers went to a window and entered.
The negroes were told to point out
the men who had engaged in the fight.
No information was forthcoming at
first, and the officers decided to
search the negroes for concealed
weapons.
Only one negro was found with a
pistol in his pocket, but after the
search was over revolvers were found
concealed all about the place. In the
crowd the negroes were able to hide
their weapons as the officers ap-
preached, and to pass them from one
TO the other. Owing to the small
number of officers on the scene the
searching of every one was impossi-
BILE.
Four Were Arrested.
Four negroes known to have been
engaged in the fight were arrested.
They are James Miller, Ed Rivers,
George Brown and Ceasar Miller. Riv-
ers is also charged with carrying con-
cealed weapons, a pistol having been
found in his pocket. These were the
only four the officers could get any one
to point out as having been in the
fight.
If the officers had had any way to
get the prisoners back to the city they
would have arrested all the negroes
for disorder. The place is outside the
city limits, though it is within the po-
lice jurisdiction.
Thought Miller a SpOtter.
The row is said to have started by
some one pointing Miller out as spot
ter for officers of the law. A number
of the other negroes jumped on him
and beat him numerically because he
was supposed to have furnished Off
GERS with information.
The question of the open bar on Sum
day morning with more than a hun
dred drunken negroes holding high
carnival w&s discussed at police head
quarters. There was talk of putting
Fountain on the docket, but the evil
dence against him will be brought out
in Police Court this morning and the
matter will be looked into then.