The Washington herald., 1921-06-02
Fire Losses Estimated at
Over Four Million
After Riots.
SHOOTING KEPT UP
DURING AFTERNOON
State Troops End Inferno
Of White and Black
Armed Clashes.

TULSA. Okla. June Martial
law prevailed in buliet-swept Tulsa
tonight with order restored under
the grim threat Of four companies
Of state troops. Twenty hours Of
desperate race rioting had destroyed
t4.oOo.oo0 worth of property and
rszed the entire negro section.
The city. blood -drenched ana
blackened by incendiary fires. was
beginning 70 take care Of it's dead.
believed to be at least 100. Nine
whites were shot TO death. Sixty
fve negroes are known 10 be dead.
Maj Charles W. Daley. Of the
police force. this evening estimated
the dead at I75. He believes a
number Of negroes were burned 20
death when their homes were swept
by fire.
Flee from City.
Two Thousand negroes have fed
from the city as a result Of nerce
race riotinE. which held the city
in its grip late last night and
through the early hours this morn
ing.
Dawn broke in Tulsa this morn
ing with the city an inferno Of race
hatred. A night of terror. marked
by the rush of armed men through
the streets and frequent clashes by
frenzied whites and negroes.
brought a steadily mounting death
list and increased violence.
Martial law was declared at noon.
Gov. Robertson issued the order ~
telephone from Oklahoma City. TIE
armed bands which have been row
ing through the city have been or
dered dispersed. All persons not
deputized as special officers were
ordered TO disarm by Mayor T. D.
Evans
Firing Keeps Up.
While comparative quiet reigned
this morning after the frenzy OF the
early hours had been cooled. there
70 sporadic hring. Scattered firing
was heard in various parts OF the
| city late this afternoon.
The FIRE which ragged in the negro
section all morning was confined TO
that district. although white resi-
dence sections were imperiled By
the flames.
The negro section Of Tulsa. lying
in the northeast part of the city.
roughly forms a letter Il" extend
ing quarter Of a mile long east
and west. and from a half mile TO
a mile north and south. IL s esti-
mated that about 10000 Of the Ia
GOO negroes in the city live in tins
area
State Troops Arrive.
State troops under Adj. Gen Bar
rett arrived this morning and imme-
distely strong cordons were thrown
out in the affected dis S-ts and the
work OF rounding up ~<e negroes
was begun. The troops were aided
by armed white men
Col Nention hall was being used
as a stocksde and more than 2.ae0
negroes were confined there -1nder
strong guard. The Jail. baseball
park and other places also are be-
ing turned into prison camps.
The race war broke out last
night. following the arrest late yes
terday OF a negro for an alleged al b.
tack on a white girl.
The negro was taken to the court
house and later placed IN Jail. which
is on the upper floor Of the county
building. Seven distinct engage
ments marked the progress Of the
race war from its outbreak last
night until noon today, when IN.
last engagement Was reported.
First shot Fired.
The first shot was freed at 10
o'clock Tuesday night in the street
at the corner Of Sikh and Boulder.
when 200 armed negroes who hSd
been parsding the streets on foot
and in motor cars for an hour. and
a great crowd Of whites gathered
about the courthouse steps. nearly
all Of whom were unsrmed. The
negroes had psraded past the court
house repeatedly apparently in the
! belief that the whites Intended 20
lynch the negro accused OF the at
tack
As the minutes passed the white
men obtained few guns and be-
gan to assume a belligerent zttt-
tude themselves.
Finally a verbal alteration be-
tween the factions began Sudden
ly shot rung out and instantly tb-
firing became general and 5.as
crowd scattered in asste while the
armed negroes began training their
guns on the fleeing rorms.
The attack this morning shifted
to the BLACK belt" where tue
screams Of terror-stricken negroes
were heard above the sounds OF the
firing and the shouts OF the mob.
Negroes In Terror.
Frenzied bands Of whites were
cleaning negroes out Of the section
They were fleeing in terror or sur
rendering by the score before the
advance of the whites and condi-
tions were growing more serious
hourly
Houses were entered. one at
time. The women were ordered into
the streets and the men who failed
to surrender Immediately were
shot down
The hre. started by mobs Of row
ing whites. destroyed almost the
entire negro settlement OF IsO3
homes. The city Ere department
which responded when the FIRE hrst
broke out. was said 10 have been
driven away by mobs CT whites The
rioters assisted soldiers and deputy
sherifs in an effort TO save the
white residential district.
A touch of modern warfare svss
lent by the appersnce Of half
dozen sirpisnes overhead. II vzs.
reported that some OF them we're
- r~.yfru rIfro alycerfue homhx <urn