Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-09-27
MOB KILLS NEGROES.
SCORE OF BLACKS ARE SLAIN IN
ATLANTA.
Beaten and shot to Death in the
Streets by Infatuated White Men
Police Prove PoyerIess and
Troops Are Called Out.

troops Are Called Out.
Deadly race riots following attacks
by negroes on four white women with
in the city limits of Atlanta, Ca. Sat
urday afternoon and evening broke out
early Sunday night Twenty negroes
are known to be dead and two white
men are reported killed. \ score CT
wounded negroes. five Of whom will die.
are in the hospital
The police and fire departments were
powerleSs to cope with the situation
and at midnight Governor Terrell is
sued an order calling out eight COM
Panies of the Fifth Infantry and one
battery of light artillery.
From 1900 to 2O.O00 white men and
boys armed with rifles, revolvers and
clubs surged through the streets fire.
quented by negroes searching for
blacks. The county Jail, in which sew
eral negroes held on charges of attack
ing white women are confined, was
threatened and terror reigned through
out Atlanta generally.
The attacks ON women Saturday fol-
lowed two others of Il similar nature
within the week and ut least half &
dozen others within the last two months
and brought Il climax Sunday night
The mob began its work early in the
evening. pulling negroes from street
cars and beating them with clubs.
bricks and stones. Negro men and
women riding to their homes after the
work Of the day We're torn from The
cars or attacked on the streets. In a
few cases negroes retaliated during the
early part Of the night, but after 10
O'Clock they were scarce in public
places. The fire department was called
out to dispense the mob on Decatur
street, Il street most ffequented by ne
groes, and for time seemed to hold
the crowd at bay.
The disturbance soon took the form
of an active and bitter race war. The
incidents of the day. which were given
in numerous extras by the local papers
early Sunday evening, added immensely
to the usual Saturday night crowds on
the streets. \ negro walking along
Whitehall street, the principal shop
ping section, was attacked about
O'Clock, beaten and escaped with few
clothes. The news of this attack spread
rapidly and within Il few moments the
appearance of a negro was the signal
for riot. The negroes scattered from
the streets, going to their homes by
back alleys or ttocked to Decatur street,
the home of the tougher negro element.
Soon street cars were attacked and
negroes going to their homes We're
taken from the cars and beaten. stamp
ed upon and in many cases fatally hurt.
The barber shops where negroes were
employed next became objects of at
tack. One of the hardest fights of the
night took place about the postofice 4
negro barber shop across the street was
the object Of attack. and in less time
than it takes to tell it the shop was
wrecked and the negroes were beaten.
one to death. the other proprietors cs-
Gaping by aid of the police
On Peters street, near the terminal
railroad station, hard fight took place.
This was started by Il negro shooting
at the crowd from Second-stOry Win
dow. \ brick hit him and he fell back
and died in 2 few moments. One negro
who was found with a pistol in his
hand was beaten to death on the For
Sythe street yiaduct, in the center of
the city.
Certain it is that Atlanta expert
enced the widest night in her history.
Not one of the negroes killed, press
dispatch says, had anything to do with
the attacks on white women which set
the lynching spirit afiame. Nearly a
score of attacks on white women by
negroes in two months, three of them
Saturday night, had put the whites in
such a state of mind that the question
OF Il negros innocence was not consid-
cred. He was Il negro, and the cry was
kill him."
Sunday night Atlanta was in the
hands of soldiers, seventeen companies
of militia from all over the State being
in control of the streets
Seven negroes and white man were
killed in Memphis, Tenn, within TWEEN
ty-four hours as the result of fights.