The Washington herald., 1917-07-03
25O NEGROES KILLED
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stationed here on guard duty. Six
,,,ora cornpanies are on the way.
There are many signs, however. that
M matter what is done by the troops
tbs trouble will not be ended perIna-
nently. 1t is deep-rooted. Flight ana
denortation Of negroes, of whom
there are 10000 in East st. Louis, al
readv Ia on. Motor trucks crammed
with blacks and guarded by soldiers.
have been crossing the Mississippi
to the Missouri side all day. some
went. of their own accord; others were
removed by Col Trip. Armour * CO.
lent a feet OF motor trucks Tor the
exodus.
Girls Beat NeEresses-
An ex,mpIe of what the Guardsmen
are encountering is the beating OF
negresses by young factory girls. That
sort of thing has become common.
Late this afternoon it resulted in the
death of a negro. Six girls had been
pursuing q negress around the main
railway station, termed locally the
Relay Depot" A mob formed behind
the girls, who were screaming frantic
epithets at the terrified black girl.
SthQ lllcIu bdNh " AAAlSaf nm
them ALL" Lynch them" shouted the
young women
Suddenly the crowd swept from the
trail OF the negress.
There arose a Yell
There's one. A negro man was walk
ing on the railroad tracks. Before
he realized his peril he was killed.
Half a dozen pistols cooked and the
man dropped without chance to run.
Two white girls, neither more than
II years old. were cherred when they
dragged a negro girl from a street
car, removed her slippers and beat
her senseless with the sharp wooden
heels.
Following the conference between
Col. Trip and the chamber of COM
merce. Mayor Mollman ordered all
saloons closed at 2 O'Clock. The mayor
also ordered all places of business.
including theaters and candy stores,
to close their places at s O'Clock. By
executive direction the street cars
ceased to operate at O'Clock.
The fire department was busy
fighting flames in the negro quar-
ter, and every few minutes reports
were arriving that dead negroes
were lying in alleys or in black
belt dwellings.
While the firemen fought the first
big blaze at Main and Railroad
streets with 200 soldiers holding
the mob back. a second fire broke
out two blocks away. Additional
fire apparatus arrived but it had
no sooner unlimbered than the mob
made a dash and began sIashing the
hose.
The mobs are bold and show no
fear of the police or the soldiers.
Half of today's killings took place
down town.
Cause of Trouble.
The present condition is a con-
tinUatiOn of the situation that de-
veloped May IS and 20 when sew
eral negroes and whites were
wounded in riots consequent upon
the efforts Of white workmen 70
drive out negroes who, they said.
had been imported from the South.
The excuse for today's savagery is
the murder last night of Detective
Coppedge. Three other policemen
and two citizens were shot at the
same time. Coppedge and his
squad. seeing themselves hopelessly
outnumbered. were trying to back
away peacefully from 200 armed
negroes who had assembled for
some mysterious purpose by the
midnight tolling of a church bell
when the negroes shot them down.
Roy Alberton, a newspaper re-
porter, was the only one of the
group to escape a bullet. He
CrOuched on the running hoard of
the police automobile, and was out
Of range of the fusillade.
The second white man to be killed
was William Kanser, so, a hard
ware merchant. He was standing
in front Of his store In CoIIinsville
avenue. the main business thorough
fare Of East st. Louis, when the
mob was shooting at a negro. A
stray bullet penetrated his breast.