The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1917-07-06
TOWN is TURNED
into SHAMELESS
$50 Negroes Killed in East
St. Louis Race Riots.
WHITE WOMEN JOIN MASSACRE


Police officers--All Day White Mohs
Burn, Crush, Shoot and Otherwise
Put to Death All Negroes Found.
Negro Quarters Burn.
ST. LOUIS, MO. = That there
are probably $50 dead in the riot and
fire zone is stated by States Attorney
Schaumloeffel of st. Clair county, who
was driven through the district in
company with Inspector Lawrence
Walsh of the st. Louis police depart
ment. Traffic on Eads and the free
bridge was ordered stopped at $3.50
.. 10.
ST. LOUIS, MO. = Fire started
by the rioting mobs in East st. Louis
has been raging fercely through the
negro quarters and attacked the plant
of the International Harvester COM
pany and other valuable buildings, af-
ter having destroyed sixty or more
negro homes, this putting the negro
quarters to the torch being the crown
luS dCL VI luOU flO1CA1SO III q NSSJ S~ASSN
has seen the death of two white men
and from twenty-five to one hundred
negroes and the serious wounding OF
scores of others.
The flames were started by the
mobs which have been surginS
through the streets all day, shouting
for a slogan, run the niggers out or
kill them!"
An appeal for help was made
promptly by the fire chief of East st.
Louis and eight engine companies
were dispatched from this city to aid
in fighting the spread of the flames.
The dead white men are Detective
Sergeant Samuel Coppedge and Will
liam Keyser, a hardware merchant.
Coppedge was killed when he attempt
ed to dispense a mob of $50 negroes
and Keyser was struck by stray bull
let when mob of whites fired at fu-
gitive blacks passing Keyser's place
of business.
Used Negroes Bodies as Targets.
The hospitals are crowded with SER
iously injured blacks, most of whom
were beaten with brick bats and clubs,
but many of whom are also shot. In
some sections it was the practice of
the mobs to thoroughly beat their vic
tins into insensibility and then to
draw off short distance and use the
unconscious bodies for target practice
until an ambulance came along and
carried the blacks off to the hospitals.
In one instance, mob found ne
gro who had been shot in the back and
was paralyzed After preventing a
woman with butcher knife from
cutting his heart out" the other
members of the mob jumped with
their feet on the suffering black until
they were forced to stop by the am
bulance attendants picking up the
helpless body These orderlies tossed
the body into their machine and then
banged the door shut in such a way
that the blacks hand was crushed.
Officers PowerIess.
The police authorities and six COM
panies of Illinois militiamen who ar
rived early in the morning were pow
erless to suppress the rioting. Eight
more companies of troops were order
ed to the city during the afternoon by
Governor Lowden and arrived during
the night A request was made by the
Chamber of Commerce and the mayor
to the governor asking him to have
martial law declared in the city, but
the executive declined to take any ac-
ton until he had a report from the Of
ficer commanding the troops here. In
the middle of the afternoon this Off
Ger still maintained that his troops
were able to handle the situation and
refused to declare martial law.
Negro Mob Starts Trouble.
The rioting began soon after mid
night when a mob of armed negroes,
assembled in the street in response to
the tolling of church bell in the ne.
gro district The police on being in.
formed of this, dispatched an auto
load of officers to the scene, but they
were greeted by vol1ey of rifle and
revolver shots which killed Detective
Sergeant Coppedge and seriously
wounded Detective Frank Wodley. Pa
trolman Earl Hobbs and Harry Walk
er were less seriously shot and will
recover Gus Masserang, an onlooker,
was shot in the leg.
Immediately on report of this ARRAY,
a large squad of police with riot guns
was sent out and succeeded in par
tally dispensing the negroes and keep
ing down the anger of the whites on
the streets during the early hours.
With the coming of daybreak and the
spread of the news of the shooting,
however, the situation got out of their
hands. Whites abandoned their occu-
patton for the day and surged through
the streets, wrecking property of the
blacks and administering severe
beating to all whom they succeeded in
capturing.
nr,o Nonrnae from Cars Kill Thar,