The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-03

medlately with military ana CIVIL dutl today.
 At a. m. the fires were practically under control of the firemen and the rioters for the most part had dispersed and gone to their homes. In answer to q question as to why the troops on the ground when the trouble developed did not use force to put down the rioting, General Dickson said the purposes for which the soldiers were sent here had been gained without firing shot and that wholesale bloodshed would have been the result of any firing on the part of the troops.
 Five hundred rioters, the ringleaders of the largest mob, I am informed, are now under arrest, said General Dickson This was accomplished by surrounding the rioters and forcing them to submit without shooting or employing the bayo- net"
 General Dickson said after the 300 were taken into custody the disturbance at once took on less serious aspect.
 Another negro district in the south end of the city, known as "Rey- holds Row. was reported burning at 1 !. gro quarte let on fire during the night
 Vast cloue fof smoke rolled across the sky tonight from the burning district. The flames made some of the downtown streets as light as day and now and then a yelling mob rushed down street in pursuit of negro or in search of new excitement. National guardsmen, loaded In automobile trucks, dashed after the mob. The shouting died down occasion-. ally as bewildered people walked up and down the streets wondering where the last outbreak occurred.
 The fires started about o'clock this evening and spread rapidly. Soon flames visible for miles were shooting into the sky. Hundreds of negro women. most of them carrying bundles that held their most precious belongings and leading small children, fled across the bridge to shelter and safety with friends on the Missouri side.
 Telephone wires were cut early in the .-,ening. As telegraph and telephone poles caught fire other wires went down.
 The mobs in East St. Louis were swelled by hundreds of people who early in the evening crossed the river from St. Louis, Mo- This added such menace to the situation that at S:30 o'clock the bridges were closed. This forced hundreds of residents of suburban towns to stay in St. Louis for the night
 As soon as street car traffic ended at { p. m. crowds walked across the bridge into East St. Louis by the thousands.
 The mobs got into a lynching mood tonight. One negro was strung up on a pole but was rescued just in time to save his life. Soldiers rescued still another negro who was being dragged through the streets.
 After military rule had been pro- claimed, the soldiers put more vigor into their attempts to quel the mob.
 Seventv-fve white men attacked ne- gro J. -ront of drug store downtown a~ shot him twice and attempted to drag him to pole. The troops charged with fixed bayonets and the mob scat tered.
 With this show of force the rioters in part quieted down Troops stood guard at all corners and kept the crowds mov- ing. At S:30 o'clock fire broke out in the district known as the Valley This fire came perilously near to the big railroad yards of East St. Louis At o'clock four more negroes were shot At 10 o'clock It appeared as if the Valley district was doomed to destruction. This is the third large area to be burned The property damage will reach many thousands.
 When report came to military au- thorities that negro inhabitants at Brooklyn, H., city entirely popu- lated by negroes, were moving OH a fyl1 nf crl1ar rIs
 (Continuel on Pare .Txxal