The Topeka state journal., 1919-07-29

Seventh regiment. who were beset by
negroes while on their way to their
armory. Corp. w. T. Riggs was shot
in the back, Charles T. Williams was
shot in the side and ]. NJ. Rinkus was
slashed with a razor, Major Fred
Haynes was found probably fatally
beaten, presumably by negroes, an au-
tomobile containing ALjutant General
Dickson was fired on but without in
jury to the occupants.
Both Sides Responsible.
The various affrays owed their ini-
tiative about equally to the two races.
Most of the white rioters were young
men and youths.
The police devoted much of their
negroes, and many of the fatalities re-
suited from the recalcitrancy OF the
blacks against the order to disperse
In one crowd at Thirty-fifth and State
street. whose street car line is known
as the African Central, former Alder
| man De Priest, negro, was with a
crowd of blacks, ordered to scatter.
They refused despite the pleading of
the alderman and two negro police
sergeants' and the officers fired into
the assembly, killing four and barely
missing the former alder IAN.
Blamcs Negro 'Hoodlums."
A police captain in the black belt
| ism of negroes who came to Chicago
during the last two years to make up
the shortage in labor caused by the
war. He said his experience showed
that the older negro residents sanely
refrained from such clashes.
AS the night wore on, hospitals In
the region became filled and doctors
were all overworked caring for the
wounded. A negro body was taken to
the establishment of white under
| taxed and soon crowd threatened
to attack the place. News of this
spread and thereafter dead negroes
! would not be accepted by white NOR
tuaries.
Begin to Scethe at Noon.
Quiet at first Monday, the black
belt began to seethe at noon. At 1880
occurred the first riot when two ne
white trash" From the neighborhood
came a shot. The officer drew his
own revolver. Almost instantly two
hundred white men and negroes were
in a whirling mass.
Bricks flew. Sweating black faces
were clubbed as fifty policemen
rushed into the melee. The mob
broke away. leaving forty or more Sc
riously injured. Thirty-two were
taken direct to hospitals. The num-
Der included black and white men.
Fought Indian Fashion.
from the initial storm center. One
band of negroes. encountering Police
man Brooks of the traffic squad,
| opened fire. Brooks forced his horse
| down to the pavement, and. stretched
| out on the sticky asphalt, fought In
| dian fashion until help arrived
| There were Isolated attacks on both
whites and blacks. In their own dis
! trict groups of colored men and boys
| stopped autoists, wrecked their ma
| chimes, tore the clothing from the
| travellers and let them go with insults.
| The stock yards district with thou
sands of negro residents was an early
storm center. Negroes took possess
sion of elevated railway crossings and
fired into the street or at elevated
| trains few blocks away.
Street Cars Negroes Targets.
J Street cars and elevated trains were
\ favorite targets. As trainmen began
housing their cars in obedience to the
strike edict, traffic thinned and fight
ing was confined to the street.
! Policemen were taken from beats
except those in the black belt and held
p, in reserve. They were armed with re-
volverS. clubs, and rifles, tipped with
| bayonets. Pursuit cars, motorcycles
and horses were used in chasing down
the battlers, black and white.
Police Stations Full.
Police stations were filled with refu-
gees. Many negroes flocked to them
for projections Hundreds more were
picked for participating in street
fights.
Until midnight officers had diff
Guilty IN gaining any sort of control
over affairs. Like a prairie fire. the
riots died in one spot to break forth
with renewed violence in another
] quarter. 1t was l o'clock before the
police finally announced they were in
control and it was decided to hold the
militia in their armOrieS.
Governors Appeal.
Governor Lowden and Mayor
Thompson issued appeals to both
races Lowden was called back from
a trip to the west by news of the riots
and the street car strike. He tele-
graphed the following appeal:
appeal to all citizens, white and
colored, to obey the law. There are
no wrongs committed by either race
that cannot be better redressed thru
the orderly process of law than by
mob violence.
The entire power of the state will
be used to restore order and to pun
ish those guilty of lawlessness It
is time for all good citizens. white
or colored, to aid the authorities in
every way possible to uphold the