The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-06-11
MOB BURNS
AN AMPHITHEATER
Advertised Bull-Fight Failed to
Take Place.
SEVERAL PERSONS INJURED
Several Thousand Men and Boys At
tack House In which Richard
Norris, ii Fight rTumot-
err, Is Harricaded,

Ot. LOUIS, June o.-lhH QUIZ hAAN
which was advertised 10 take place
near the Worlds fair grounds Sunday
afternoon was prevented by officers Of
st. Louis county, who placed the man
ager, H. A, Tullidge, under arrest.
When the disappointed patrons found
that the fight would not be permitted
they stormed the office of the COM
rany, breaking all he S,udows, and
then set fire TO the large amphitheater,
burning it to- the ground, A majority
of the several thousand people who
had paid the admission price OF 81
formed the angry mob which did the
work Of destruction.
Richard Norris, the promoter Of the
bull fight, and his employees. are said
to have left the Office in disguise, talk
iLg The gate :eoc}rts VITA them, after
the infuriated mob began to demolish
the windows and loudly demand the
return OF the admission fee. An at
| tempt to arrest one Of the men who was
seen throwing a rock throug a window
precipitalea a riot, in which there were
dozens of reoylyers drawn. Several
officers stood together, however. and
after Clubbing some Of the men with
their revolvers and threatening 10
shoot the G%isturbers down the crowd
dispersed
n%uIldings Set ON Fire.
A riot call was turned in to the st.
Louis police department, and a message
was sent tn Sheriff Hencken at Clayton
In the meantime, the building had been
hred, ard the fire was beyond control,
and the fry of the people seemed to
have been appeased. This was about
seven o'clock, and the peoPle stood
| about watching the flames shoot up
| from the pine structure. The few fire.
men sent out from the Worlds fair
grounds busted themselves saving fur
niture and several small stands and
| houses adjacent to the arena. The cost
Of the arena, including the amphithe-
alter, 1t is said, was nearly 10000.
At two O'Clock, the time announced
for the opening Of the show, the seats
were nearly all taken. Deputy Sheriff
! John p. Ossenfort. of Clayton, with
Deputies J. VIII Andrae and Henry
Hyde. from the sheriff's Office, and Ro-
zier G. Meigs, of the Humane society,
with six st. Louis detectives, occupied
seats near the entrance to the ring.
Mrs. Mary w. Calkins, Mrs. Emma
BARLEY, Mrs. Belle Nation and Mrs.
s, JAMarks, all Humane society work.
ers. occupied q box next to the officers.
For a curtain-raiser the management
introduced an aggregation Of wild west
performers. The show began about
three o'clock, and for two hours the
people were entertained with q cred
table display of riding, shooting and
roping. But the crowd was impatient,
and from every corne came calls for
the bull. SO loud and persistent we're
these that the management explained
the bull fight would take place imme-
diately after the preliminary perform
ance This announcement vas greeted
with wild yells and vigorous hand
Clapping,
wanted to See the Fight.
Just before the managers were ready
to introduce the bull and the toreadors
the people loudly renewed their calls
for the bull fight, and when the an
nouncer attempted to state that the
fight was the next number on the pro-
gramme he was compelled by the jeera
and yells to retire to the background.
From different parts Of the audience
came requests for the treasurer OF the
company.
After a~bandoing efforts to address
the people, the management gave the
word which caused the gates to open,
and two horses, with riders costumed
In flaming red jackets, followed by six
Spanish toreadors, entered, They went
20 the center Of the arena, where the
manager stood. Then the order to
bring in the bull was given, but Dep
uty Sheriff 0ssenfort stepped out with
three other officers and read the war
rant to Mr.. Tullidge, The members OF
the humane society cheefed, the duu-
fence Kissed, and the manager become
frantic. Mr.. Norris stepped up, how
ever, and, after saying a few words to
his manager, the latter accompanied
the officers out Of the ring.
In the meantime some OF the men
had stolen a dozen bales Of hay from a
nearby camp and set the pile on fire
under the northwest corner OF the
structure. The officers made every 1T
tempt to ~extinguish the flames, but
were prevented. A m %stenosra-
pher in the Office Of MIR Norris rushed
in and made an attempt 10 put out the
flames, but she was pushed away by
the crowd with rough hands.