New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-27
Negro Shot Dead in Rum
ming Fight with Police
and Aids
Razors, Bullets
And Bricks Used
Many Injured in Fight
Lasting Hour and a Halt;
Five Arrests

San Juan Hill broke loose last n'gh'
:, has not since the blacks BARR
c.acd themselves in their strongho'u
Ten wears ago and defed the whoie 10,
H. Denartment. Bullets, bricks sho
- The accustomed weapons oil the
nocroes in that militant warren lie"
,r;,b all the oldtime lack OF precision
"a while some policemen and home
n.sorco League members were among
The injured, those most seriously nun .
were bystanders.
One negro was shot and killed D!
o,;oor,an two others were MT
s.. bullets. but not seriously wounded
,a.,olman had g finger almost CUT
"a 10 razor. a member Of the Home
Defence League, learning the duties o.
. noIiceman. stopped a brick with MS
80 and a dozen others, blacks and
,rh;,es were patched up by ambulance
surgeons. Many more, negroes ior ,ne
rost part, are nursing their injuries
!, the Businesses of their tenement
citadels. .Aod
Four negroes were arrested charged
-. ;rc;tinc a riot. and another, Ben
;amin Hamilton. who is said TO nave
hoon the innocent cause Of 1t ALL Is
charged with assault.
Rattle Lasts Hour and Hall
y, u,os 2 o'clock when the stoop-gos-
shining. sordid looking streets OF 'he
noichborbood that slope from Amster-
An, Avenue to the Hudson, suddenly
nonred forth a horde OF frantic black
- whose sole mission was TO hi''
s,osb or shoot a white man. Lign's
stll shone yellow in the afterglow' 'ne
,eichborhood had not yet taken on 'ne
sinister aspect that comes with DARK
moss and the outbreak was the more
aopalling for that reason.
Not until $3.50 when the reserves
from three stations, Home Defence
I.caouers, who went on post through
out the city yesterday for the first
time. and detectives from the attn
Branch. had fought for an hour and
half. did the police dare TO hope that
the trouble was quelled. At that hour
notice automobile mounting a search
light patrolled the streets Of San Juan
Hill. throwing suspicious beams at
bousetops. where snipers might be
posted with piles OF bricks culled from
convenient chimneys. u found no sign
Of trouble.
Two lemon and settlers which were
never drunk started the whole AFFAIR.
They were ordered by Benjamin HAM
iton. who was out to show white
. TREND the sights of San Juan HILL.
The trouble was that Benjamin, IN the
exubcrance of his hospitality, forgot
that he had passed the unmarked
limits Of the black belt when he en-
tered a saloon at Sixty-ffth Street and
Amsterdam Avenue.
The bartender. who remembered
where the black belt ended If Benjamin
did not, eyed the negro with frosty
aloofness as he and his friend put So
ciable feet on the brass rail.
How the Trouble Started
"ltll be a quarter drink" said he
in chilling accents when they ordered
their modest refreshments, and there
was that in his eye which reminded
BENJAMIN of the black belt frontier. 1t
was a reminder which would have been
unwelcome at any time, and was in
tensely so when he had a white friend
a.. 10 olboy Rpniamln smoke back
right sharply. ~
The bartender retorted. White
loungers in the barroom slouched to
points of vantage. Benjamin, on his
mettle. hurled the ineifable insult.
The bartender reached beneath the
counter. Benjamin. il is alleged, took
time by the forelock and the bartender
bv the ear. The next instant a dozen
indignant feet, all white or born to
that estate, propelled Benjamin with
violence from the front door of the
saloon. The crowd followed, yelling.
BENJAMIN lit running, and he kept
right on. The frontier that he had
passed unnoticed now doomed ahead
like sanctuary, bare two blocks to
the south.
Gabrielle Gilotti. member of the
Home Defence League. had been an
amazed witness OF Benjamin's projec-
zion from the saloon. The crowd which
followed pell-mel on the negro's heels
with wells Of vengeance which might
easily be taken for cries of stop,
thief" convinced him that his duty
confronted him.
Answering wells came from the
crowded streets Of San Juan Hill;