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diff --git a/14976.txt b/14976.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8e30ba --- /dev/null +++ b/14976.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2593 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Mob Rule in New Orleans, by Ida B. Wells-Barnett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mob Rule in New Orleans + Robert Charles and His Fight to Death, the Story of His Life, Burning + Human Beings Alive, Other Lynching Statistics + + +Author: Ida B. Wells-Barnett + +Release Date: February 8, 2005 [EBook #14976] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOB RULE IN NEW ORLEANS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgpd.net. + + + + + + + + +MOB RULE IN NEW ORLEANS: +ROBERT CHARLES AND HIS FIGHT TO DEATH, +THE STORY OF HIS LIFE, +BURNING HUMAN BEINGS ALIVE, +OTHER LYNCHING STATISTICS + +BY + +IDA B. WELLS-BARNETT + +1900 + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: This pamphlet was first published in 1900 but was +subsequently reprinted. It's not apparent if the curiosities in spelling +date back to the original or were introduced later; they have been +retained as found, and the reader is left to decide. Please verify with +another source before quoting this material. Of special note are the names +Cantrell/Cantrelle, Porteous/Porteus, and Ziegel/Zeigel.] + + + + ++INTRODUCTION+ + +Immediately after the awful barbarism which disgraced the State of Georgia +in April of last year, during which time more than a dozen colored people +were put to death with unspeakable barbarity, I published a full report +showing that Sam Hose, who was burned to death during that time, never +committed a criminal assault, and that he killed his employer in +self-defense. + +Since that time I have been engaged on a work not yet finished, which I +interrupt now to tell the story of the mob in New Orleans, which, +despising all law, roamed the streets day and night, searching for colored +men and women, whom they beat, shot and killed at will. + +In the account of the New Orleans mob I have used freely the graphic +reports of the _New Orleans Times-Democrat_ and the _New Orleans +Picayune_. Both papers gave the most minute details of the week's +disorder. In their editorial comment they were at all times most urgent in +their defense of law and in the strongest terms they condemned the +infamous work of the mob. + +It is no doubt owing to the determined stand for law and order taken by +these great dailies and the courageous action taken by the best citizens +of New Orleans, who rallied to the support of the civic authorities, that +prevented a massacre of colored people awful to contemplate. + +For the accounts and illustrations taken from the above-named journals, +sincere thanks are hereby expressed. + +[Illustration] + +The publisher hereof does not attempt to moralize over the deplorable +condition of affairs shown in this publication, but simply presents the +facts in a plain, unvarnished, connected way, so that he who runs may +read. We do not believe that the American people who have encouraged such +scenes by their indifference will read unmoved these accounts of +brutality, injustice and oppression. We do not believe that the moral +conscience of the nation--that which is highest and best among us--will +always remain silent in face of such outrages, for God is not dead, and +His Spirit is not entirely driven from men's hearts. + +When this conscience wakes and speaks out in thunder tones, as it must, it +will need facts to use as a weapon against injustice, barbarism and wrong. +It is for this reason that I carefully compile, print and send forth these +facts. If the reader can do no more, he can pass this pamphlet on to +another, or send to the bureau addresses of those to whom he can order +copies mailed. + +Besides the New Orleans case, a history of burnings in this country is +given, together with a table of lynchings for the past eighteen years. +Those who would like to assist in the work of disseminating these facts, +can do so by ordering copies, which are furnished at greatly reduced +rates for gratuitous distribution. The bureau has no funds and is entirely +dependent upon contributions from friends and members in carrying on the +work. + +Ida B. Wells-Barnett +Chicago, Sept. 1, 1900 + + + + +MOB RULE IN NEW ORLEANS + + + + + ++SHOT AN OFFICER+ + +The bloodiest week which New Orleans has known since the massacre of the +Italians in 1892 was ushered in Monday, July 24, by the inexcusable and +unprovoked assault upon two colored men by police officers of New Orleans. +Fortified by the assurance born of long experience in the New Orleans +service, three policemen, Sergeant Aucoin, Officer Mora and Officer +Cantrelle, observing two colored men sitting on doorsteps on Dryades +street, between Washington Avenue and 6th Streets, determined, without a +shadow of authority, to arrest them. One of the colored men was named +Robert Charles, the other was a lad of nineteen named Leonard Pierce. The +colored men had left their homes, a few blocks distant, about an hour +prior, and had been sitting upon the doorsteps for a short time talking +together. They had not broken the peace in any way whatever, no warrant +was in the policemen's hands justifying their arrest, and no crime had +been committed of which they were the suspects. The policemen, however, +secure in the firm belief that they could do anything to a Negro that they +wished, approached the two men, and in less than three minutes from the +time they accosted them attempted to put both colored men under arrest. +The younger of the two men, Pierce, submitted to arrest, for the officer, +Cantrelle, who accosted him, put his gun in the young man's face ready to +blow his brains out if he moved. The other colored man, Charles, was made +the victim of a savage attack by Officer Mora, who used a billet and then +drew a gun and tried to kill Charles. Charles drew his gun nearly as +quickly as the policeman, and began a duel in the street, in which both +participants were shot. The policeman got the worst of the duel, and fell +helpless to the sidewalk. Charles made his escape. Cantrelle took Pierce, +his captive, to the police station, to which place Mora, the wounded +officer, was also taken, and a man hunt at once instituted for Charles, +the wounded fugitive. + +In any law-abiding community Charles would have been justified in +delivering himself up immediately to the properly constituted authorities +and asking a trial by a jury of his peers. He could have been certain that +in resisting an unwarranted arrest he had a right to defend his life, even +to the point of taking one in that defense, but Charles knew that his +arrest in New Orleans, even for defending his life, meant nothing short of +a long term in the penitentiary, and still more probable death by lynching +at the hands of a cowardly mob. He very bravely determined to protect his +life as long as he had breath in his body and strength to draw a hair +trigger on his would-be murderers. How well he was justified in that +belief is well shown by the newspaper accounts which were given of this +transaction. Without a single line of evidence to justify the assertion, +the New Orleans daily papers at once declared that both Pierce and Charles +were desperadoes, that they were contemplating a burglary and that they +began the assault upon the policemen. It is interesting to note how the +two leading papers of New Orleans, the _Picayune_ and the +_Times-Democrat_, exert themselves to justify the policemen in the +absolutely unprovoked attack upon the two colored men. As these two papers +did all in their power to give an excuse for the action of the policemen, +it is interesting to note their versions. The _Times-Democrat_ of Tuesday +morning, the twenty-fifth, says: + + Two blacks, who are desperate men, and no doubt will be proven burglars, + made it interesting and dangerous for three bluecoats on Dryades street, + between Washington Avenue and Sixth Street, the Negroes using pistols + first and dropping Patrolman Mora. But the desperate darkies did not go + free, for the taller of the two, Robinson, is badly wounded and under + cover, while Leonard Pierce is in jail. + + For a long time that particular neighborhood has been troubled with bad + Negroes, and the neighbors were complaining to the Sixth Precinct police + about them. But of late Pierce and Robinson had been camping on a door + step on the street, and the people regarded their actions as suspicious. + It got to such a point that some of the residents were afraid to go to + bed, and last night this was told Sergeant Aucoin, who was rounding up + his men. He had just picked up Officers Mora and Cantrell, on Washington + Avenue and Dryades Street, and catching a glimpse of the blacks on the + steps, he said he would go over and warn the men to get away from the + street. So the patrolmen followed, and Sergeant Aucoin asked the smaller + fellow, Pierce, if he lived there. The answer was short and impertinent, + the black saying he did not, and with that both Pierce and Robinson drew + up to their full height. + + For the moment the sergeant did not think that the Negroes meant fight, + and he was on the point of ordering them away when Robinson slipped his + pistol from his pocket. Pierce had his revolver out, too, and he fired + twice, point blank at the sergeant, and just then Robinson began + shooting at the patrolmen. In a second or so the policemen and blacks + were fighting with their revolvers, the sergeant having a duel with + Pierce, while Cantrell and Mora drew their line of fire on Robinson, who + was working his revolver for all he was worth. One of his shots took + Mora in the right hip, another caught his index finger on the right + hand, and a third struck the small finger of the left hand. Poor Mora + was done for; he could not fight any more, but Cantrell kept up his + fire, being answered by the big black. Pierce's revolver broke down, the + cartridges snapping, and he threw up his hands, begging for quarter. + + The sergeant lowered his pistol and some citizens ran over to where the + shooting was going on. One of the bullets that went at Robinson caught + him in the breast and he began running, turning out Sixth Street, with + Cantrell behind him, shooting every few steps. He was loading his + revolver again, but did not use it after the start he took, and in a + little while Officer Cantrell lost the man in the darkness. + + Pierce was made a prisoner and hurried to the Sixth Precinct police + station, where he was charged with shooting and wounding. The sergeant + sent for an ambulance, and Mora was taken to the hospital, the wound in + the hip being serious. + + A search was made for Robinson, but he could not be found, and even at 2 + o'clock this morning Captain Day, with Sergeant Aucoin and Corporals + Perrier and Trenchard, with a good squad of men, were beating the weeds + for the black. + +The _New Orleans Picayune_ of the same date described the occurrence, and +from its account one would think it was an entirely different affair. Both +of the two accounts cannot be true, and the unquestioned fact is that +neither of them sets out the facts as they occurred. Both accounts attempt +to fix the beginning of hostilities upon the colored men, but both were +compelled to admit that the colored men were sitting on the doorsteps +quietly conversing with one another when the three policemen went up and +accosted them. The _Times-Democrat_ unguardedly states that one of the two +colored men tried to run away; that Mora seized him and then drew his +billy and struck him on the head; that Charles broke away from him and +started to run, after which the shooting began. The _Picayune_, however, +declares that Pierce began the firing and that his two shots point blank +at Aucoin were the first shots of the fight. As a matter of fact, Pierce +never fired a single shot before he was covered by Aucoin's revolver. +Charles and the officers did all the shooting. The _Picayune_'s account is +as follows: + + Patrolman Mora was shot in the right hip and dangerously wounded last + night at 11:30 o'clock in Dryades Street, between Washington and Sixth, + by two Negroes, who were sitting on a door step in the neighborhood. + + The shooting of Patrolman Mora brings to memory the fact that he was one + of the partners of Patrolman Trimp, who was shot by a Negro soldier of + the United States government during the progress of the Spanish-American + war. The shooting of Mora by the Negro last night is a very simple + story. At the hour mentioned, three Negro women noticed two suspicious + men sitting on a door step in the above locality. The women saw the two + men making an apparent inspection of the building. As they told the + story, they saw the men look over the fence and examine the window + blinds, and they paid particular attention to the make-up of the + building, which was a two-story affair. About that time Sergeant J.C. + Aucoin and Officers Mora and J.D. Cantrell hove in sight. The women + hailed them and described to them the suspicious actions of the two + Negroes, who were still sitting on the step. The trio of bluecoats, on + hearing the facts, at once crossed the street and accosted the men. The + latter answered that they were waiting for a friend whom they were + expecting. Not satisfied with this answer, the sergeant asked them where + they lived, and they replied "down town," but could not designate the + locality. To other questions put by the officers the larger of the two + Negroes replied that they had been in town just three days. + + As this reply was made, the larger man sprang to his feet, and Patrolman + Mora, seeing that he was about to run away, seized him. The Negro took a + firm hold on the officer, and a scuffle ensued. Mora, noting that he was + not being assisted by his brother officers, drew his billy and struck + the Negro on the head. The blow had but little effect upon the man, for + he broke away and started down the street. When about ten feet away, the + Negro drew his revolver and opened fire on the officer, firing three or + four shots. The third shot struck Mora in the right hip, and was + subsequently found to have taken an upward course. Although badly + wounded, Mora drew his pistol and returned the fire. At his third shot + the Negro was noticed to stagger, but he did not fall. He continued his + flight. At this moment Sergeant Aucoin seized the other Negro, who + proved to be a youth, Leon Pierce. As soon as Officer Mora was shot he + sank to the sidewalk, and the other officer ran to the nearest + telephone, and sent in a call for the ambulance. Upon its arrival the + wounded officer was placed in it and conveyed to the hospital. An + examination by the house surgeon revealed the fact that the bullet had + taken an upward course. In the opinion of the surgeon the wound was a + dangerous one. + +But the best proof of the fact that the officers accosted the two colored +men and without any warrant or other justification attempted to arrest +them, and did actually seize and begin to club one of them, is shown by +Officer Mora's own statement. The officer was wounded and had every reason +in the world to make his side of the story as good as possible. His +statement was made to a _Picayune_ reporter and the same was published on +the twenty-fifth inst., and is as follows: + + I was in the neighborhood of Dryades and Washington Streets, with + Sergeant Aucoin and Officer Cantrell, when three Negro women came up and + told us that there were two suspicious-looking Negroes sitting on a step + on Dryades Street, between Washington and Sixth. We went to the place + indicated and found two Negroes. We interrogated them as to who they + were, what they were doing and how long they had been here. They replied + that they were working for some one and had been in town three days. At + about this stage the larger of the two Negroes got up and I grabbed him. + The Negro pulled, but I held fast, and he finally pulled me into the + street. Here I began using my billet, and the Negro jerked from my grasp + and ran. He then pulled a gun and fired. I pulled my gun and returned + the fire, each of us firing about three shots. I saw the Negro stumble + several times, and I thought I had shot him, but he ran away and I don't + know whether any of my shots took effect. Sergeant Aucoin in the + meantime held the other man fast. The man was about ten feet from me + when he fired, and the three Negresses who told us about the men stood + away about twenty-five feet from the shooting. + +Thus far in the proceeding the Monday night episode results in Officer +Mora lying in the station wounded in the hip; Leonard Pierce, one of the +colored men, locked up in the station, and Robert Charles, the other +colored man, a fugitive, wounded in the leg and sought for by the entire +police force of New Orleans. Not sought for, however, to be placed under +arrest and given a fair trial and punished if found guilty according to +the law of the land, but sought for by a host of enraged, vindictive and +fearless officers, who were coolly ordered to kill him on sight. This +order is shown by the _Picayune_ of the twenty-sixth inst., in which the +following statement appears: + + In talking to the sergeant about the case, the captain asked about the + Negro's fighting ability, and the sergeant answered that Charles, though + he called him Robinson then, was a desperate man, and it would be best + to shoot him before he was given a chance to draw his pistol upon any of + the officers. + +This instruction was given before anybody had been killed, and the only +evidence that Charles was a desperate man lay in the fact that he had +refused to be beaten over the head by Officer Mora for sitting on a step +quietly conversing with a friend. Charles resisted an absolutely unlawful +attack, and a gun fight followed. Both Mora and Charles were shot, but +because Mora was white and Charles was black, Charles was at once declared +to be a desperado, made an outlaw, and subsequently a price put upon his +head and the mob authorized to shoot him like a dog, on sight. + +The New Orleans _Picayune_ of Wednesday morning said: + + But he has gone, perhaps to the swamps, and the disappointment of the + bluecoats in not getting the murderer is expressed in their curses, each + man swearing that the signal to halt that will be offered Charles will + be a shot. + +In that same column of the _Picayune_ it was said: + + Hundreds of policemen were about; each corner was guarded by a squad, + commanded either by a sergeant or a corporal, and every man had the word + to shoot the Negro as soon as he was sighted. He was a desperate black + and would be given no chance to take more life. + +Legal sanction was given to the mob or any man of the mob to kill Charles +at sight by the Mayor of New Orleans, who publicly proclaimed a reward of +two hundred and fifty dollars, not for the arrest of Charles, not at all, +but the reward was offered for Charles's body, "dead or alive." The +advertisement was as follows: + + +$250 REWARD+ + + Under the authority vested in me by law, I hereby offer, in the name of + the city of New Orleans, $250 reward for the capture and delivery, dead + or alive, to the authorities of the city, the body of the Negro + murderer, + + +ROBERT CHARLES+, + + who, on Tuesday morning, July 24, shot and killed + + Police Captain John T. Day and Patrolman Peter J. Lamb, and wounded + + Patrolman August T. Mora. + + PAUL CAPDEVIELLE, Mayor + +This authority, given by the sergeant to kill Charles on sight, would have +been no news to Charles, nor to any colored man in New Orleans, who, for +any purpose whatever, even to save his life, raised his hand against a +white man. It is now, even as it was in the days of slavery, an +unpardonable sin for a Negro to resist a white man, no matter how unjust +or unprovoked the white man's attack may be. Charles knew this, and +knowing to be captured meant to be killed, he resolved to sell his life as +dearly as possible. + +The next step in the terrible tragedy occurred between 2:30 and 5 o'clock +Tuesday morning, about four hours after the affair on Dryades Street. The +man hunt, which had been inaugurated soon after Officer Mora had been +carried to the station, succeeded in running down Robert Charles, the +wounded fugitive, and located him at 2023 4th Street. It was nearly 2 +o'clock in the morning when a large detail of police surrounded the block +with the intent to kill Charles on sight. Capt. Day had charge of the +squad of police. Charles, the wounded man, was in his house when the +police arrived, fully prepared, as results afterward showed, to die in his +own home. Capt. Day started for Charles's room. As soon as Charles got +sight of him there was a flash, a report, and Day fell dead in his tracks. +In another instant Charles was standing in the door, and seeing Patrolman +Peter J. Lamb, he drew his gun, and Lamb fell dead. Two other officers, +Sergeant Aucoin and Officer Trenchard, who were in the squad, seeing their +comrades, Day and Lamb, fall dead, concluded to raise the siege, and both +disappeared into an adjoining house, where they blew out their lights so +that their cowardly carcasses could be safe from Charles's deadly aim. The +calibre of their courage is well shown by the fact that they concluded to +save themselves from any harm by remaining prisoners in that dark room +until daybreak, out of reach of Charles's deadly rifle. Sergeant Aucoin, +who had been so brave a few hours before when seeing the two colored men +sitting on the steps, talking together on Dryades Street, and supposing +that neither was armed, now showed his true calibre. Now he knew that +Charles had a gun and was brave enough to use it, so he hid himself in a +room two hours while Charles deliberately walked out of his room and into +the street after killing both Lamb and Day. It is also shown, as further +evidence of the bravery of some of New Orleans' "finest," that one of +them, seeing Capt. Day fall, ran seven blocks before he stopped, +afterwards giving the excuse that he was hunting for a patrol box. + +At daybreak the officers felt safe to renew the attack upon Charles, so +they broke into his room, only to find that--what they probably very well +knew--he had gone. It appears that he made his escape by crawling through +a hole in the ceiling to a little attic in his house. Here he found that +he could not escape except by a window which led into an alley, which had +no opening on 4th Street. He scaled the fence and was soon out of reach. + +It was now 5 o'clock Tuesday morning, and a general alarm was given. +Sergeant Aucoin and Corporal Trenchard, having received a new supply of +courage by returning daylight, renewed their effort to capture the man +that they had allowed to escape in the darkness. Citizens were called upon +to participate in the man hunt and New Orleans was soon the scene of +terrible excitement. Officers were present everywhere, and colored men +were arrested on all sides upon the pretext that they were impertinent and +"game niggers." An instance is mentioned in the _Times-Democrat_ of the +twenty-fifth and shows the treatment which unoffending colored men +received at the hands of some of the officers. This instance shows +Corporal Trenchard, who displayed such remarkable bravery on Monday night +in dodging Charles's revolver, in his true light. It shows how brave a +white man is when he has a gun attacking a Negro who is a helpless +prisoner. The account is as follows: + + The police made some arrests in the neighborhood of the killing of the + two officers. Mobs of young darkies gathered everywhere. These Negroes + talked and joked about the affair, and many of them were for starting a + race war on the spot. It was not until several of these little gangs + amalgamated and started demonstrations that the police commenced to + act. Nearly a dozen arrests were made within an hour, and everybody in + the vicinity was in a tremor of excitement. + + It was about 1 o'clock that the Negroes on Fourth Street became very + noisy, and George Meyers, who lives on Sixth Street, near Rampart, + appeared to be one of the prime movers in a little riot that was rapidly + developing. Policeman Exnicios and Sheridan placed him under arrest, and + owing to the fact that the patrol wagon had just left with a number of + prisoners, they walked him toward St. Charles Avenue in order to get a + conveyance to take him to the Sixth Precinct station. + + A huge crowd of Negroes followed the officers and their prisoners. + Between Dryades and Baronne, on Sixth, Corporal Trenchard met the trio. + He had his pistol in his hand and he came on them running. The Negroes + in the wake of the officers, and prisoner took to flight immediately. + Some disappeared through gates and some over fences and into yards, for + Trenchard, visibly excited, was waving his revolver in the air and was + threatening to shoot. He joined the officers in their walk toward St. + Charles Street, and the way he acted led the white people who were + witnessing the affair to believe that his prisoner was the wanted Negro. + At every step he would punch him or hit him with the barrel of his + pistol, and the onlookers cried, "Lynch him!" "Kill him!" and other + expressions until the spectators were thoroughly wrought up. At St. + Charles Street Trenchard desisted, and, calling an empty ice wagon, + threw the Negro into the body of the vehicle and ordered Officer + Exnicios to take him to the Sixth Precinct station. + + The ride to the station was a wild one. Exnicios had all he could do to + watch his prisoner. A gang climbed into the wagon and administered a + terrible thrashing to the black en route. It took a half hour to reach + the police station, for the mule that was drawing the wagon was not + overly fast. When the station was reached a mob of nearly 200 howling + white youths was awaiting it. The noise they made was something + terrible. Meyers was howling for mercy before he reached the ground. The + mob dragged him from the wagon, the officer with him. Then began a + torrent of abuse for the unfortunate prisoner. + + The station door was but thirty feet away, but it took Exnicios nearly + five minutes to fight his way through the mob to the door. There were no + other officers present, and the station seemed to be deserted. Neither + the doorman nor the clerk paid any attention to the noise on the + outside. As the result, the maddened crowd wrought their vengeance on + the Negro. He was punched, kicked, bruised and torn. The clothes were + ripped from his back, while his face after that few minutes was + unrecognizable. + +This was the treatment accorded and permitted to a helpless prisoner +because he was black. All day Wednesday the man hunt continued. The +excitement caused by the deaths of Day and Lamb became intense. The +officers of the law knew they were trailing a man whose aim was deadly and +whose courage they had never seen surpassed. Commenting upon the +marksmanship of the man which the paper styled a fiend, the +_Times-Democrat_ of Wednesday said: + + One of the extraordinary features of the tragedy was the marksmanship + displayed by the Negro desperado. His aim was deadly and his coolness + must have been something phenomenal. The two shots that killed Captain + Day and Patrolman Lamb struck their victims in the head, a circumstance + remarkable enough in itself, considering the suddenness and fury of the + onslaught and the darkness that reigned in the alley way. + + Later on Charles fired at Corporal Perrier, who was standing at least + seventy-five yards away. The murderer appeared at the gate, took + lightning aim along the side of the house, and sent a bullet whizzing + past the officer's ear. It was a close shave, and a few inches' + deflection would no doubt have added a fourth victim to the list. + + At the time of the affray there is good reason to believe that Charles + was seriously wounded, and at any event he had lost quantities of blood. + His situation was as critical as it is possible to imagine, yet he shot + like an expert in a target range. The circumstance shows the desperate + character of the fiend, and his terrible dexterity with weapons makes + him one of the most formidable monsters that has ever been loose upon + the community. + +Wednesday New Orleans was in the hands of a mob. Charles, still sought for +and still defending himself, had killed four policemen, and everybody knew +that he intended to die fighting. Unable to vent its vindictiveness and +bloodthirsty vengeance upon Charles, the mob turned its attention to other +colored men who happened to get in the path of its fury. Even colored +women, as has happened many times before, were assaulted and beaten and +killed by the brutal hoodlums who thronged the streets. The reign of +absolute lawlessness began about 8 o'clock Wednesday night. The mob +gathered near the Lee statue and was soon making its way to the place +where the officers had been shot by Charles. Describing the mob, the +_Times-Democrat_ of Thursday morning says: + + The gathering in the square, which numbered about 700, eventually became + in a measure quiet, and a large, lean individual, in poor attire and + with unshaven face, leaped upon a box that had been brought for the + purpose, and in a voice that under no circumstances could be heard at a + very great distance, shouted: "Gentlemen, I am the Mayor of Kenner." He + did not get a chance for some minutes to further declare himself, for + the voice of the rabble swung over his like a huge wave over a sinking + craft. He stood there, however, wildly waving his arms and demanded a + hearing, which was given him when the uneasiness of the mob was quieted + for a moment or so. + + "I am from Kenner, gentlemen, and I have come down to New Orleans + tonight to assist you in teaching the blacks a lesson. I have killed a + Negro before, and in revenge of the wrong wrought upon you and yours, I + am willing to kill again. The only way that you can teach these Niggers + a lesson and put them in their place is to go out and lynch a few of + them as an object lesson. String up a few of them, and the others will + trouble you no more. That is the only thing to do--kill them, string + them up, lynch them! I will lead you, if you will but follow. On to the + Parish Prison and lynch Pierce!" + + They bore down on the Parish Prison like an avalanche, but the avalanche + split harmlessly on the blank walls of the jail, and Remy Klock sent out + a brief message: "You can't have Pierce, and you can't get in." Up to + that time the mob had had no opposition, but Klock's answer chilled them + considerably. There was no deep-seated desperation in the crowd after + all, only, that wild lawlessness which leads to deeds of cruelty, but + not to stubborn battle. Around the corner from the prison is a row of + pawn and second-hand shops, and to these the mob took like the ducks to + the proverbial mill-pond, and the devastation they wrought upon Mr. + Fink's establishment was beautiful in its line. + + Everything from breast pins to horse pistols went into the pockets of + the crowd, and in the melee a man was shot down, while just around the + corner somebody planted a long knife in the body of a little newsboy for + no reason as yet shown. Every now and then a Negro would be flushed + somewhere in the outskirts of the crowd and left beaten to a pulp. Just + how many were roughly handled will never be known, but the unlucky + thirteen had been severely beaten and maltreated up to a late hour, a + number of those being in the Charity Hospital under the bandages and + courtplaster of the doctors. + +The first colored man to meet death at the hands of the mob was a +passenger on a street car. The mob had broken itself into fragments after +its disappointment at the jail, each fragment looking for a Negro to +kill. The bloodthirsty cruelty of one crowd is thus described by the +_Times-Democrat_: + + "We will get a Nigger down here, you bet!" was the yelling boast that + went up from a thousand throats, and for the first time the march of the + mob was directed toward the downtown sections. The words of the rioters + were prophetic, for just as Canal Street was reached a car on the + Villere line came along. + + "Stop that car!" cried half a hundred men. The advance guard, heeding + the injunction, rushed up to the slowly moving car, and several, seizing + the trolley, jerked it down. + + "Here's a Nigro!" said half a dozen men who sprang upon the car. + + The car was full of passengers at the time, among them several women. + When the trolley was pulled down and the car thrown in total darkness, + the latter began to scream, and for a moment or so it looked as if the + life of every person in the car was in peril, for some of the crowd with + demoniacal yells of "There he goes!" began to fire their weapons + indiscriminately. The passengers in the car hastily jumped to the ground + and joined the crowd, as it was evidently the safest place to be. + + "Where's that Nigger?" was the query passed along the line, and with + that the search began in earnest. The Negro, after jumping off the car, + lost himself for a few moments in the crowd, but after a brief search he + was again located. The slight delay seemed, if possible, only to whet + the desire of the bloodthirsty crowd, for the reappearance of the Negro + was the signal for a chorus of screams and pistol shots directed at the + fugitive. With the speed of a deer, the man ran straight from the corner + of Canal and Villere to Customhouse Street. The pursuers, closely + following, kept up a running fire, but notwithstanding the fact that + they were right at the Negro's heels their aim was poor and their + bullets went wide of the mark. + + The Negro, on reaching Customhouse Street, darted from the sidewalk out + into the middle of the street. This was the worst maneuver that he could + have made, as it brought him directly under the light from an arc lamp, + located on a nearby corner. When the Negro came plainly in view of the + foremost of the closely following mob they directed a volley at him. + Half a dozen pistols flashed simultaneously, and one of the bullets + evidently found its mark, for the Negro stopped short, threw up his + hands, wavered for a moment, and then started to run again. This stop, + slight as it was, proved fatal to the Negro's chances, for he had not + gotten twenty steps farther when several of the men in advance of the + others reached his side. A burly fellow, grabbing him with one hand, + dealt him a terrible blow on the head with the other. The wounded man + sank to the ground. The crowd pressed around him and began to beat him + and stamp him. The men in the rear pressed forward and those beating the + man were shoved forward. The half-dead Negro, when he was freed from his + assailants, crawled over to the gutter. The men behind, however, stopped + pushing when those in front yelled, "We've got him," and then it was + that the attack on the bleeding Negro was resumed. A vicious kick + directed at the Negro's head sent him into the gutter, and for a moment + the body sank from view beneath the muddy, slimy water. "Pull him out; + don't let him drown," was the cry, and instantly several of the men + around the half-drowned Negro bent down and drew the body out. Twisting + the body around they drew the head and shoulders up on the street, while + from the waist down the Negro's body remained under the water. As soon + as the crowd saw that the Negro was still alive they again began to beat + and kick him. Every few moments they would stop and striking matches + look into the man's face to see if he still lived. To better see if he + was dead they would stick lighted matches to his eyes. Finally, + believing he was dead they left him and started out to look for other + Negroes. Just about this time some one yelled, "He ain't dead," and the + men came back and renewed the attack. While the men were beating and + pounding the prostrate form with stones and sticks a man in the crowd + ran up, and crying, "I'll fix the d--- Negro," poked the muzzle of a + pistol almost against the body and fired. This shot must have ended the + man's life, for he lay like a stone, and realizing that they were + wasting energy in further attacks, the men left their victim lying in + the street. + +The same paper, on the same day, July 26, describes the brutal butchery of +an aged colored man early in the morning: + + Baptiste Philo, a Negro, seventy-five years of age, was a victim of mob + violence at Kerlerec and North Peters Streets about 2:30 o'clock this + morning. The old man is employed about the French Market, and was on his + way there when he was met by a crowd and desperately shot. The old man + found his way to the Third Precinct police station, where it was found + that he had received a ghastly wound in the abdomen. The ambulance was + summoned and he was conveyed to the Charity Hospital. The students + pronounced the wound fatal after a superficial examination. + +Mob rule continued Thursday, its violence increasing every hour, until 2 +p.m., when the climax seemed to be reached. The fact that colored men and +women had been made the victims of brutal mobs, chased through the +streets, killed upon the highways and butchered in their homes, did not +call the best element in New Orleans to active exertion in behalf of law +and order. The killing of a few Negroes more or less by irresponsible mobs +does not cut much figure in Louisiana. But when the reign of mob law +exerts a depressing influence upon the stock market and city securities +begin to show unsteady standing in money centers, then the strong arm of +the good white people of the South asserts itself and order is quickly +brought out of chaos. + +It was so with New Orleans on that Thursday. The better element of the +white citizens began to realize that New Orleans in the hands of a mob +would not prove a promising investment for Eastern capital, so the better +element began to stir itself, not for the purpose of punishing the +brutality against the Negroes who had been beaten, or bringing to justice +the murderers of those who had been killed, but for the purpose of saving +the city's credit. The _Times-Democrat_, upon this phase of the situation +on Friday morning says: + + When it became known later in the day that State bonds had depreciated + from a point to a point and a half on the New York market a new phase of + seriousness was manifest to the business community. Thinking men + realized that a continuance of unchecked disorder would strike a body + blow to the credit of the city and in all probability would complicate + the negotiation of the forthcoming improvement bonds. The bare thought + that such a disaster might be brought about by a few irresponsible boys, + tramps and ruffians, inflamed popular indignation to fever pitch. It was + all that was needed to bring to the aid of the authorities the active + personal cooperation of the entire better element. + +With the financial credit of the city at stake, the good citizens rushed +to the rescue, and soon the Mayor was able to mobilize a posse of 1,000 +willing men to assist the police in maintaining order, but rioting still +continued in different sections of the city. Colored men and women were +beaten, chased and shot whenever they made their appearance upon the +street. Late in the night a most despicable piece of villainy occurred on +Rousseau Street, where an aged colored woman was killed by the mob. The +_Times-Democrat_ thus describes, the murder: + + Hannah Mabry, an old Negress, was shot and desperately wounded shortly + after midnight this morning while sleeping in her home at No. 1929 + Rousseau Street. It was the work of a mob, and was evidently well + planned so far as escape was concerned, for the place was reached by + police officers, and a squad of the volunteer police within a very short + time after the reports of the shots, but not a prisoner was secured. The + square was surrounded, but the mob had scattered in several directions, + and, the darkness of the neighborhood aiding them, not one was taken. + + At the time the mob made the attack on the little house there were also + in it David Mabry, the sixty-two-year-old husband of the wounded woman; + her son, Harry Mabry; his wife, Fannie, and an infant child. The young + couple with their babe could not be found after the whole affair was + over, and they either escaped or were hustled off by the mob. A careful + search of the whole neighborhood was made, but no trace of them could be + found. + + The little place occupied by the Mabry family is an old cottage on the + swamp side of Rousseau Street. It is furnished with slat shutters to + both doors and windows. These shutters had been pulled off by the mob + and the volleys fired through the glass doors. The younger Mabrys, + father, mother and child, were asleep in the first room at the time. + Hannah Mabry and her old husband were sleeping in the next room. The old + couple occupied the same bed, and it is miraculous that the old man did + not share the fate of his spouse. + + Officer Bitterwolf, who was one of the first on the scene, said that he + was about a block and a half away with Officers Fordyce and Sweeney. + There were about twenty shots fired, and the trio raced to the cottage. + They saw twenty or thirty men running down Rousseau Street. Chase was + given and the crowd turned toward the river and scattered into several + vacant lots in the neighborhood. + + The volunteer police stationed at the Sixth Precinct had about five + blocks to run before they arrived. They also moved on the reports of the + firing, and in a remarkably short time the square was surrounded, but no + one could be taken. As they ran to the scene they were assailed on every + hand with vile epithets and the accusation of "Nigger lovers." + + Rousseau Street, where the cottage is situated, is a particularly dark + spot, and no doubt the members of the mob were well acquainted with the + neighborhood, for the officers said that they seemed to sink into the + earth, so completely and quickly did they disappear after they had + completed their work, which was complete with the firing of the volley. + + Hannah Mabry was taken to the Charity Hospital in the ambulance, where + it was found on examination that she had been shot through the right + lung, and that the wound was a particularly serious one. + + Her old husband was found in the little wrecked home well nigh + distracted with fear and grief. It was he who informed the police that + at the time of the assault the younger Mabrys occupied the front room. + As he ran about the little home as well as his feeble condition would + permit he severely lacerated his feet on the glass broken from the + windows and door. He was escorted to the Sixth Precinct station, where + he was properly cared for. He could not realize why his little family + had been so murderously attacked, and was inconsolable when his wife was + driven off in the ambulance piteously moaning in her pain. + + The search for the perpetrators of the outrage was thorough, but both + police and armed force of citizens had only their own efforts to rely + on. The residents of the neighborhood were aroused by the firing, but + they would give no help in the search and did not appear in the least + concerned over the affair. Groups were on almost every doorstep, and + some of them even jeered in a quiet way at the men who were voluntarily + attempting to capture the members of the mob. Absolutely no information + could be had from any of them, and the whole affair had the appearance + of being the work of roughs who either lived in the vicinity, or their + friends. + + ++DEATH OF CHARLES+ + +Friday witnessed the final act in the bloody drama begun by the three +police officers, Aucoin, Mora and Cantrelle. Betrayed into the hands of +the police, Charles, who had already sent two of his would-be murderers to +their death, made a last stand in a small building, 1210 Saratoga Street, +and, still defying his pursuers, fought a mob of twenty thousand people, +single-handed and alone, killing three more men, mortally wounding two +more and seriously wounding nine others. Unable to get to him in his +stronghold, the besiegers set fire to his house of refuge. While the +building was burning Charles was shooting, and every crack of his +death-dealing rifle added another victim to the price which he had placed +upon his own life. Finally, when fire and smoke became too much for flesh +and blood to stand, the long sought for fugitive appeared in the door, +rifle in hand, to charge the countless guns that were drawn upon him. +With a courage which was indescribable, he raised his gun to fire again, +but this time it failed, for a hundred shots riddled his body, and he fell +dead face fronting to the mob. This last scene in the terrible drama is +thus described in the _Times-Democrat_ of July 26: + + Early yesterday afternoon, at 3 o'clock or thereabouts, Police Sergeant + Gabriel Porteus was instructed by Chief Gaster to go to a house at No. + 1210 Saratoga Street, and search it for the fugitive murderer, Robert + Charles. A private "tip" had been received at the headquarters that the + fiend was hiding somewhere on the premises. + + Sergeant Porteus took with him Corporal John R. Lally and Officers + Zeigel and Essey. The house to which they were directed is a small, + double frame cottage, standing flush with Saratoga Street, near the + corner of Clio. It has two street entrances and two rooms on each side, + one in front and one in the rear. It belongs to the type of cheap little + dwellings commonly tenanted by Negroes. + + Sergeant Porteus left Ziegel and Essey to guard the outside and went + with Corporal Lally to the rear house, where he found Jackson and his + wife in the large room on the left. What immediately ensued is only + known by the Negroes. They say the sergeant began to question them about + their lodgers and finally asked them whether they knew anything about + Robert Charles. They strenuously denied all knowledge of his + whereabouts. + + The Negroes lied. At that very moment the hunted and desperate murderer + lay concealed not a dozen feet away. Near the rear, left-hand corner of + the room is a closet or pantry, about three feet deep, and perhaps eight + feet long. The door was open and Charles was crouching, Winchester in + hand, in the dark further end. + + Near the closet door was a bucket of water, and Jackson says that + Sergeant Porteous walked toward it to get a drink. At the next moment a + shot rang out and the brave officer fell dead. Lally was shot directly + afterward. Exactly how and where will never be known, but the + probabilities are that the black fiend sent a bullet into him before he + recovered from his surprise at the sudden onslaught. Then the murderer + dashed out of the back door and disappeared. + + The neighborhood was already agog with the tragic events of the two + preceding days, and the sound of the shots was a signal for wild and + instant excitement. In a few moments a crowd had gathered and people + were pouring in by the hundred from every point of the compass. Jackson + and his wife had fled and at first nobody knew what had happened, but + the surmise that Charles had recommenced his bloody work was on every + tongue and soon some of the bolder found their way to the house in the + rear. There the bleeding forms of the two policemen told the story. + + Lally was still breathing, and a priest was sent for to administer the + last rites. Father Fitzgerald responded, and while he was bending over + the dying man the outside throng was rushing wildly through the + surrounding yards and passageways searching for the murderer. "Where is + he?" "What has become of him?" were the questions on every lip. + + Suddenly the answer came in a shot from the room directly overhead. It + was fired through a window facing Saratoga Street, and the bullet struck + down a young man named Alfred J. Bloomfield, who was standing in the + narrow passage-way between the two houses. He fell on his knees and a + second bullet stretched him dead. + + When he fled from the closet Charles took refuge in the upper story of + the house. There are four windows on that floor, two facing toward + Saratoga Street and two toward Rampart. The murderer kicked several + breaches in the frail central partition, so he could rush from side to + side, and like a trapped beast, prepared to make his last stand. + + Nobody had dreamed that he was still in the house, and when Bloomfield + was shot there was a headlong stampede. It was some minutes before the + exact situation was understood. Then rifles and pistols began to speak, + and a hail of bullets poured against the blind frontage of the old + house. Every one hunted some coign of vantage, and many climbed to + adjacent roofs. Soon the glass of the four upper windows was shattered + by flying lead. The fusillade sounded like a battle, and the excitement + upon the streets was indescribable. + + Throughout all this hideous uproar Charles seems to have retained a + certain diabolical coolness. He kept himself mostly out of sight, but + now and then he thrust the gleaming barrel of his rifle through one of + the shattered window panes and fired at his besiegers. He worked the + weapon with incredible rapidity, discharging from three to five + cartridges each time before leaping back to a place of safety. These + replies came from all four windows indiscriminately, and showed that he + was keeping a close watch in every direction. His wonderful marksmanship + never failed him for a moment, and when he missed it was always by the + narrowest margin only. + + On the Rampart Street side of the house there are several sheds, + commanding an excellent range of the upper story. Detective Littleton, + Andrew Van Kuren of the Workhouse force and several others climbed upon + one of these and opened fire on the upper windows, shooting whenever + they could catch a glimpse of the assassin. Charles responded with his + rifle, and presently Van Kuren climbed down to find a better position. + He was crossing the end of the shed when he was killed. + + Another of Charles's bullets found its billet in the body of Frank + Evans, an ex-member of the police force. He was on the Rampart Street + side firing whenever he had an opportunity. Officer J.W. Bofill and A.S. + Leclerc were also wounded in the fusillade. + + While the events thus briefly outlined were transpiring time was a-wing, + and the cooler headed in the crowd began to realize that some quick and + desperate expedient must be adopted to insure the capture of the fiend + and to avert what might be a still greater tragedy than any yet enacted. + For nearly two hours the desperate monster had held his besiegers at + bay, darkness would soon be at hand and no one could predict what might + occur if he made a dash for liberty in the dark. + + At this critical juncture it was suggested that the house be fired. The + plan came as an inspiration, and was adopted as the only solution of the + situation. The wretched old rookery counted for nothing against the + possible continued sacrifice of human life, and steps were immediately + taken to apply the torch. The fire department had been summoned to the + scene soon after the shooting began; its officers were warned to be + ready to prevent a spread of the conflagration, and several men rushed + into the lower right-hand room and started a blaze in one corner. + + They first fired an old mattress, and soon smoke was pouring out in + dense volumes. It filled the interior of the ramshackle structure, and + it was evident that the upper story would soon become untenable. An + interval of tense excitement followed, and all eyes were strained for a + glimpse of the murderer when he emerged. + + Then came the thrilling climax. Smoked out of his den, the desperate + fiend descended the stairs and entered the lower room. Some say he + dashed into the yard, glaring around vainly for some avenue of escape; + but, however that may be, he was soon a few moments later moving about + behind the lower windows. A dozen shots were sent through the wall in + the hope of reaching him, but he escaped unscathed. Then suddenly the + door on the right was flung open and he dashed out. With head lowered + and rifle raised ready to fire on the instant, Charles dashed straight + for the rear door of the front cottage. To reach it he had to traverse a + little walk shaded by a vineclad arbor. In the back room, with a cocked + revolver in his hand, was Dr. C.A. Noiret, a young medical student, who + was aiding the citizens' posse. As he sprang through the door Charles + fired a shot, and the bullet whizzed past the doctor's head. Before it + could be repeated Noiret's pistol cracked and the murderer reeled, + turned half around and fell on his back. The doctor sent another ball + into his body as he struck the floor, and half a dozen men, swarming + into the room from the front, riddled the corpse with bullets. + + Private Adolph Anderson of the Connell Rifles was the first man to + announce the death of the wretch. He rushed to the street door, shouted + the news to the crowd, and a moment later the bleeding body was dragged + to the pavement and made the target of a score of pistols. It was shot, + kicked and beaten almost out of semblance to humanity.... + + The limp dead body was dropped at the edge of the sidewalk and from + there dragged to the muddy roadway by half a hundred hands. There in the + road more shots were fired into the body. Corporal Trenchard, a + brother-in-law of Porteus, led the shooting into the inanimate clay. + With each shot there was a cheer for the work that had been done and + curses and imprecations on the inanimate mass of riddled flesh that was + once Robert Charles. + + Cries of "Burn him! Burn him!" were heard from Clio Street all the way + to Erato Street, and it was with difficulty that the crowd was + restrained from totally destroying the wretched dead body. Some of those + who agitated burning even secured a large vessel of kerosene, which had + previously been brought to the scene for the purpose of firing Charles's + refuge, and for a time it looked as though this vengeance might be + wreaked on the body. The officers, however, restrained this move, + although they were powerless to prevent the stamping and kicking of the + body by the enraged crowd. + + After the infuriated citizens had vented their spleen on the body of the + dead Negro it was loaded into the patrol wagon. The police raised the + body of the heavy black from the ground and literally chucked it into + the space on the floor of the wagon between the seats. They threw it + with a curse hissed more than uttered and born of the bitterness which + was rankling in their breasts at the thought of Charles having taken so + wantonly the lives of four of the best of their fellow-officers. + + When the murderer's body landed in the wagon it fell in such a position + that the hideously mutilated head, kicked, stamped and crushed, hung + over the end. + + As the wagon moved off, the followers, who were protesting against its + being carried off, declaring that it should be burned, poked and struck + it with sticks, beating it into such a condition that it was utterly + impossible to tell what the man ever looked like. + + As the patrol wagon rushed through the rough street, jerking and + swaying from one side of the thoroughfare to the other, the gory, + mud-smeared head swayed and swung and jerked about in a sickening + manner, the dark blood dripping on the steps and spattering the body of + the wagon and the trousers of the policemen standing on the step. + + ++MOB BRUTALITY+ + +The brutality of the mob was further shown by the unspeakable cruelty with +which it beat, shot and stabbed to death an unoffending colored man, name +unknown, who happened to be walking on the street with no thought that he +would be set upon and killed simply because he was a colored man. The +_Times-Democrat_'s description of the outrage is as follows: + + While the fight between the Negro desperado and the citizens was in + progress yesterday afternoon at Clio and Saratoga Streets another + tragedy was being enacted downtown in the French quarter, but it was a + very one-sided affair. The object of the white man's wrath was, of + course, a Negro, but, unlike Charles, he showed no fight, but tried to + escape from the furious mob which was pursuing him, and which finally + put an end to his existence in a most cruel manner. + + The Negro, whom no one seemed to know--at any rate no one could be found + in the vicinity of the killing who could tell who he was--was walking + along the levee, as near as could be learned, when he was attacked by a + number of white longshoremen or screwmen. For what reason, if there was + any reason other than the fact that he was a Negro, could not be + learned, and immediately they pounced upon him he broke ground and + started on a desperate run for his life. + + The hunted Negro started off the levee toward the French Vegetable + Market, changed his course out the sidewalk toward Gallatin Street. The + angry, yelling mob was close at his heels, and increasing steadily as + each block was traversed. At Gallatin Street he turned up that + thoroughfare, doubled back into North Peters Street and ran into the + rear of No. 1216 of that street, which is occupied by Chris Reuter as a + commission store and residence. + + He rushed frantically through the place and out on to the gallery on the + Gallatin Street side. From this gallery he jumped to the street and fell + flat on his back on the sidewalk. Springing to his feet as soon as + possible, with a leaden, hail fired by the angry mob whistling about + him, he turned to his merciless pursuers in an appealing way, and, + throwing up one hand, told them not to shoot any more, that they could + take him as he was. + + But the hail of lead continued, and the unfortunate Negro finally + dropped to the sidewalk, mortally wounded. The mob then rushed upon him, + still continuing the fusillade, and upon reaching his body a number of + Italians, who had joined the howling mob, reached down and stabbed him + in the back and buttock with big knives. Others fired shots into his + head until his teeth were shot out, three shots having been fired into + his mouth. There were bullet wounds all over his body. + + Others who witnessed the affair declared that the man was fired at as he + was running up the stairs leading to the living apartments above the + store, and that after jumping to the sidewalk and being knocked down by + a bullet he jumped up and ran across the street, then ran back and tried + to get back into the commission store. The Italians, it is said, were + all drunk, and had been shooting firecrackers. Tiring of this, they + began shooting at Negroes, and when the unfortunate man who was killed + ran by they joined in the chase. + + No one was arrested for the shooting, the neighborhood having been + deserted by the police, who were sent up to the place where Charles was + fighting so desperately. No one could or would give the names of any of + those who had participated in the chase and the killing, nor could any + one be found who knew who the Negro was. The patrol wagon was called and + the terribly mutilated body sent to the morgue and the coroner notified. + + The murdered Negro was copper colored, about 5 feet 11 inches in height, + about 35 years of age, and was dressed in blue overalls and a brown + slouch hat. At 10:30 o'clock the vicinity of the French Market was very + quiet. Squads of special officers were patrolling the neighborhood, and + there did not seem to be any prospects of disorder. + +During the entire time the mob held the city in its hands and went about +holding up street cars and searching them, taking from them colored men to +assault, shoot and kill, chasing colored men upon the public square, +through alleys and into houses of anybody who would take them in, breaking +into the homes of defenseless colored men and women and beating aged and +decrepit men and women to death, the police and the legally constituted +authorities showed plainly where their sympathies were, for in no case +reported through the daily papers does there appear the arrest, trial and +conviction of one of the mob for any of the brutalities which occurred. +The ringleaders of the mob were at no time disguised. Men were chased, +beaten and killed by white brutes, who boasted of their crimes, and the +murderers still walk the streets of New Orleans, well known and absolutely +exempt from prosecution. Not only were they exempt from prosecution by the +police while the town was in the hands of the mob, but even now that law +and order is supposed to resume control, these men, well known, are not +now, nor ever will be, called to account for the unspeakable brutalities +of that terrible week. On the other hand, the colored men who were beaten +by the police and dragged into the station for purposes of intimidation, +were quickly called up before the courts and fined or sent to jail upon +the statement of the police. Instances of Louisiana justice as it is +dispensed in New Orleans are here quoted from the _Times-Democrat_ of July +26: + + +Justice Dealt Out to Folk Who Talked Too Much+ + + All the Negroes and whites who were arrested in the vicinity of + Tuesday's tragedy had a hard time before Recorder Hughes yesterday. Lee + Jackson was the first prisoner, and the evidence established that he + made his way to the vicinity of the crime and told his Negro friends + that he thought a good many more policemen ought to be killed. Jackson + said he was drunk when he made the remark. He was fined $25 or thirty + days. + + John Kennedy was found wandering about the street Tuesday night with an + open razor in his hand, and he was given $25 or thirty days. + + Edward McCarthy, a white man, who arrived only four days since from New + York, went to the scene of the excitement at the corner of Third and + Rampart Streets, and told the Negroes that they were as good as any + white man. This remark was made by McCarthy, as another white man said + the Negroes should be lynched. McCarthy told the recorder that he + considered a Negro as good as a white in body and soul. He was fined $25 + or thirty days. + + James Martin, Simon Montegut, Eddie McCall, Alex Washington and Henry + Turner were up for failing to move on. Martin proved that he was at the + scene to assist the police and was discharged. Montegut, being a + cripple, was also released, but the others were fined $25 or thirty days + each. + + Eddie Williams for refusing to move on was given $25 or thirty days. + + Matilda Gamble was arrested by the police for saying that two officers + were killed and it was a pity more were not shot. She was given $25 or + thirty days. + + ++INSOLENT BLACKS+ + +"Recorder Hughes received Negroes in the first recorder's office yesterday +morning in a way that they will remember for a long time, and all of them +were before the magistrate for having caused trouble through incendiary +remarks concerning the death of Captain Day and Patrolman Lamb." + +"Lee Jackson was before the recorder and was fined $25 or thirty days. He +was lippy around where the trouble happened Tuesday morning, and some +white men punched him good and hard and the police took him. Then the +recorder gave him a dose, and now he is in the parish prison." + +"John Kennedy was another black who got into trouble. He said that the +shooting of the police by Charles was a good thing, and for this he was +pounded. Patrolman Lorenzo got him and saved him from being lynched, for +the black had an open razor. He was fined $25 or thirty days." + +"Edward McCarthy, a white man, mixed up with the crowd, and an expression +of sympathy nearly cost him his head, for some whites about started for +him, administering licks and blows with fists and umbrellas. The recorder +fined him $25 or thirty days. He is from New York." + +"Then James Martin, a white man, and Simon Montegut, Eddie Call, Henry +Turner and Alex Washington were before the magistrate for having failed to +move on when the police ordered them from the square where the bluecoats +were Tuesday, waiting in the hope of catching Charles. All save Martin and +Montegut were fined." + +"Eddie Williams, a little Negro who was extremely fresh with the police, +was fined $10 or ten days." + + ++SHOCKING BRUTALITY+ + +The whole city was at the mercy of the mob and the display of brutality +was a disgrace to civilization. One instance is described in the +_Picayune_ as follows: + + A smaller party detached itself from the mob at Washington and Rampart + Streets, and started down the latter thoroughfare. One of the foremost + spied a Negro, and immediately there was a rush for the unfortunate + black man. With the sticks they had torn from fences on the line of + march the young outlaws attacked the black and clubbed him unmercifully, + acting more like demons than human beings. After being severely beaten + over the head, the Negro started to run with the whole gang at his + heels. Several revolvers were brought into play and pumped their lead at + the refugee. The Negro made rapid progress and took refuge behind the + blinds of a little cottage in Rampart Street, but he had been seen, and + the mob hauled him from his hiding place and again commenced beating + him. There were more this time, some twenty or thirty, all armed with + sticks and heavy clubs, and under their incessant blows the Negro could + not last long. He begged for mercy, and his cries were most pitiful, but + a mob has no heart, and his cries were only answered with more blows. + + "For God's sake, boss, I ain't done nothin'. Don't kill me. I swear I + ain't done nothin'." + + The white brutes turned + ++ A DEAF EAR TO THE PITYING CRIES+ + + of the black wretch and the drubbing continued. The cries subsided into + moans, and soon the black swooned away into unconsciousness. Still not + content with their heartless work, they pulled the Negro out and kicked + him into the gutter. For the time those who had beaten the black seemed + satisfied and left him groaning in the gutter, but others came up, and, + regretting that they had not had a hand in the affair, they determined + to evidence their bravery to their fellows and beat the man while he was + in the gutter, hurling rocks and stones at his black form. One + thoughtless white brute, worse even than the black slayer of the police + officers, thought to make himself a hero in the eyes of his fellows and + fired his revolver repeatedly into the helpless wretch. It was dark and + the fellow probably aimed carelessly. After firing three or four shots + he also left without knowing what extent of injury he inflicted on the + black wretch who was left lying in the gutter. + + + ++MURDER ON THE LEVEE+ + + +One part of the crowd made a raid on the tenderloin district, hoping to +find there some belated Negro for a sacrifice. They were urged on by the +white prostitutes, who applauded their murderous mission. Says an account: + + The red light district was all excitement. Women--that is, the white + women--were out on their stoops and peeping over their galleries and + through their windows and doors, shouting to the crowd to go on with + their work, and kill Negroes for them. + + "Our best wishes, boys," they encouraged; and the mob answered with + shouts, and whenever a Negro house was sighted a bombardment was started + on the doors and windows. + +No colored men were found on the streets until the mob reached Custom +House Place and Villiers Streets. Here a victim was found and brutally put +to death. The _Picayune_ description is as follows: + + Some stragglers had run a Negro into a car at the corner of Bienville + and Villere Streets. He was seeking refuge in the conveyance, and he + believed that the car would not be stopped and could speed along. But + the mob determined to stop the car, and ordered the motorman to halt. He + put on his brake. Some white men were in the car. + + "Get out, fellows," shouted several of the mob. + + "All whites fall out," was the second cry, and the poor Negro understood + that it was meant that he should stay in the car. + + He wanted to save his life. The poor fellow crawled under the seats. But + some one in the crowd saw him and yelled that he was hiding. Two or + three men climbed through the windows with their pistols; others jumped + over the motorman's board, and dozens tumbled into the rear of the car. + Big, strong hands got the Negro by the shirt. He was dragged out of the + conveyance, and was pushed to the street. Some fellow ran up and struck + him with a club. The blow was heavy, but it did not fell him, and the + Negro ran toward Canal Street, stealing along the wall of the Tulane + Medical Building. Fifty men ran after him, caught the poor fellow and + hurried him back into the crowd. Fists were aimed at him, then clubs + went upon his shoulders, and finally the black plunged into the gutter. + + A gun was fired, and the Negro, who had just gotten to his feet, dropped + again. He tried to get up, but a volley was sent after him, and in a + little while he was dead. + + The crowd looked on at the terrible work. Then the lights in the houses + of ill-fame began to light up again, and women peeped out of the blinds. + The motorman was given the order to go on. The gong clanged and the + conveyance sped out of the way. For half an hour the crowd held their + place at the corner, then the patrol wagon came and the body was picked + up and hurried to the morgue. + + Coroner Richard held an autopsy on the body of the Negro who was forced + out of car 98 of the Villere line and shot down. It was found that he + was wounded four times, the most serious wound being that which struck + him in the right side, passing through the lungs, and causing + hemorrhages, which brought about death. + + Nobody tried to identify the poor fellow and his name is unknown. + + ++A VICTIM IN THE MARKET+ + + +Soon after the murder of the man on the street car many of the same mob +marched down to the market place. There they found a colored market man +named Louis Taylor, who had gone to begin his early morning's work. He was +at once set upon by the mob and killed. The _Picayune_ account says: + + Between 1 and 2 o'clock this morning a mob of several hundred men and + boys, made up of participants in many of the earlier affairs, marched on + the French Market. Louis Taylor, a Negro vegetable carrier, who is about + thirty years of age, was sitting at the soda water stand. As soon as the + mob saw him fire was opened and the Negro took to his heels. He ran + directly into another section of the mob and any number of shots were + fired at him. He fell, face down, on the floor of the market. + + The police in the neighborhood rallied hurriedly and found the victim of + mob violence seemingly lifeless. Before they arrived the Negro had been + beaten severely about the head and body. The ambulance was summoned and + Taylor was carried to the charity hospital, where it was found that he + had been shot through the abdomen and arm. The examination was a hurried + one, but it sufficed to show that Taylor was mortally wounded. + + After shooting Taylor the members of the mob were pluming themselves on + their exploit. "The Nigger was at the soda water stand and we commenced + shooting him," said one of the rioters. "He put his hands up and ran, + and we shot until he fell. I understand that he is still alive. If he + is, he is a wonder. He was certainly shot enough to be killed." + + The members of the mob readily admitted that they had taken part in the + assaults which marked the earlier part of the evening. + + "We were up on Jackson Avenue and killed a Nigger on Villere Street. We + came down here, saw a nigger and killed him, too." This was the way they + told the story. + + "Boys, we are out of ammunition," said someone. + + "Well, we will keep on like we are, and if we can't get some before + morning, we will take it. We have got to keep this thing up, now we have + started." + + This declaration was greeted by a chorus of applauding yells, and the + crowd started up the levee. Half of the men in the crowd, and they were + all of them young, were drunk. + + Taylor, when seen at the charity hospital, was suffering greatly, and + presented a pitiable spectacle. His clothing was covered with blood, and + his face was beaten almost into a pulp. He said that he had gone to the + market to work and was quietly sitting down when the mob came and began + to fire on him. He was not aware at first that the crowd was after him. + When he saw its purpose he tried to run, but fell. He didn't know any of + the men in the crowd. There is hardly a chance that Taylor will recover. + + The police told the crowd to move on, but no attempt was made to arrest + anyone. + + ++A GRAY-HAIRED VICTIM+ + +The bloodthirsty barbarians, having tasted blood, continued their hunt and +soon ran across an old man of seventy-five years. His life had been spent +in hard work about the French market, and he was well known as an +unoffending, peaceable and industrious old man. + +But that made no difference to the mob. He was a Negro, and with a +fiendishness that was worse than that of cannibals they beat his life out. +The report says: + + There was another gang of men parading the streets in the lower part of + the city, looking for any stray Negro who might be on the streets. As + they neared the corner of Dauphine and Kerlerec, a square below + Esplanade Avenue, they came upon Baptiste Thilo, an aged Negro, who + works in the French Market. + + Thilo for years has been employed by the butchers and fish merchants to + carry baskets from the stalls to the wagons, and unload the wagons as + they arrive in the morning. He was on his way to the market, when the + mob came upon him. One of the gang struck the old Negro, and as he fell, + another in the crowd, supposed to be a young fellow, fired a shot. The + bullet entered the body just below the right nipple. + + As the Negro fell the crowd looked into his face and they discovered + then that the victim was very old. The young man who did the shooting + said: "Oh, he is an old Negro. I'm sorry that I shot him." + + This is all the old Negro received in the way of consolation. + + He was left where he fell, but later staggered to his feet and made his + way to the third precinct station. There the police summoned the + ambulance and the students pronounced the wound very dangerous. He was + carried to the hospital as rapidly as possible. + + There was no arrest. + +Just before daybreak the mob found another victim. He, too, was on his way +to market, driving a meat wagon. But little is told of his treatment, +nothing more than the following brief statement: + + At nearly 3 o'clock this morning a report was sent to the Third Precinct + station that a Negro was lying on the sidewalk at the corner of Decatur + and St. Philip. The man had been pulled off of a meat wagon and riddled + with bullets. + + When the police arrived he was insensible and apparently dying. The + ambulance students attended the Negro and pronounced the wounds fatal. + + There was nothing found which would lead to the discovery of his + identity. + + ++FUN IN GRETNA+ + +If there are any persons so deluded as to think that human life in the +South is valued any more than the life of a brute, he will be speedily +undeceived by reading the accounts of unspeakable barbarism committed by +the mob in and around New Orleans. In no other civilized country in the +world, nay, more, in no land of barbarians would it be possible to +duplicate the scenes of brutality that are reported from New Orleans. In +the heat of blind fury one might conceive how a mad mob might beat and +kill a man taken red-handed in a brutal murder. But it is almost past +belief to read that civilized white people, men who boast of their +chivalry and blue blood, actually had fun in beating, chasing and shooting +men who had no possible connection with any crime. + +But this actually happened in Gretna, a few miles from New Orleans. In its +description of the scenes of Tuesday night, the _Picayune_ mentions the +brutal chase of several colored men whom the mob sought to kill. In the +instances mentioned, the paper said: + + Gretna had its full share of excitement between 8 and 11 o'clock last + night, in connection with a report that spread through the town that a + Negro resembling the slayer of Police Captain Day, of New Orleans, had + been seen on the outskirts of the place. + + It is true that a suspicious-looking Negro was observed by the residents + of Madison and Amelia Streets lurking about the fences of that + neighborhood just after dark, and shortly before 8 o'clock John Fist, a + young white man, saw the Negro on Fourth Street. He followed the darkey + a short distance, and, coming upon Robert Moore, who is known about town + as the "black detective," Fist pointed the Negro out and Moore at once + made a move toward the stranger. The latter observed Moore making in his + direction, and, without a word, he sped in the direction of the Brooklyn + pasture, Moore following and firing several shots at him. In a few + minutes a half hundred white men, including Chief of Police Miller, + Constable Dannenhauer, Patrolman Keegan and several special officers, + all well-armed, joined in the chase, but in the darkness the Negro + escaped. + + Just as the pursuing party reached town again, two of the residents of + Lafayette Avenue, Peter Leson and Robert Henning, reported that they had + just chased and shot at a Negro, who had been seen in the yard of the + former's house. They were positive the Negro had not escaped from the + square. Their report was enough to set the appetite of the crowd on + edge, and the square was quickly surrounded, while several dozens of + men, armed with lanterns and revolvers, made a search of every yard and + under every house in the square. No Negro was found. + + The crowd of armed men was constantly swelling, and at 10 o'clock it had + reached the proportions of a small army. At 10:30 o'clock an outbound + freight train is due to pass through Gretna on the Texas and Pacific + Road, and the crowd, believing that Captain Day's slayer might be aboard + one of the cars attempting to leave the scene of his crime, resolved to + inspect the train. As the train stopped at the Madison Street crossing + the engineer was requested to pull very slowly through the town, in + order that the trucks of the cars might be examined. There was a string + of armed men on each side of the railroad track and in a few moments a + Negro was espied riding between two cars. A half dozen weapons were + pointed at him and he was ordered to come out. He sprang out with + alacrity and was pounced upon almost before he reached the ground. + Robert Moore grabbed him and pushed an ugly-looking Derringer under his + nose and the Negro threw up both hands. Constable Dannenhauer and + Patrolman Keegan took charge of him and hustled him off to jail, where + he was locked up. The Negro does not at all resemble Robert Charles, but + it was best for his sake that he was placed under lock and key. The + crowd was not in a humor to let any Negro pass muster last night. The + prisoner gave his name as Luke Wallace. + + But now came the real excitement. The train had slowed down almost to a + standstill, in the very heart of town. Somebody shouted: "There he goes, + on top of the train!" And sure enough, somebody was going. It was a + Negro, too, and he was making a bee-line for the front end of the train. + A veritable shower of bullets, shot and rifle balls greeted the flying + form, but on it sped. The locomotive had stopped in the middle of the + square between La voisier and Newton Streets, and the Negro, flying with + the speed of the wind along the top of the cars, reached the first car + of the train and jumped to the tender and then into the cab. As he did + several white men standing at the locomotive made a rush into the cab. + The Negro sprang swiftly out of the other side, on to the sidewalk. But + there were several more men, and as he realized that he was rushing + right into their arms he made a spring to leap over the fence of Mrs. + Linden's home, on the wood side of the track. Before the Negro got to + the top one white man had hold of his legs, while another rushed up, + pistol in hand. The man who was holding the darkey's legs was jostled + out of the way and the man with the pistol, standing directly beneath + the Negro, sent two bullets at him. + + There was a wild scramble, and the vision of a fleeing form in the + Linden yard, but that was the last seen of the black man. The yard was + entered and searched, and neighboring yards were also searched, but not + even the trace of blood was found. It is almost impossible to believe + that the Negro was not wounded, for the man who fired at him held the + pistol almost against the Negro's body. + + The shots brought out almost everybody--white--in town, and though there + was nothing to show for the exciting work, except the arrest of the + Negro, who doesn't answer the description of the man wanted, Gretna's + male population had its little fan and felt amply repaid for all the + trouble it was put to, and all the ammunition it wasted. + + ++BRUTALITY IN NEW ORLEANS+ + +Mob rule reigned supreme Wednesday, and the scenes that were enacted +challenge belief. How many colored men and women were abused and injured +is not known, for those who escaped were glad to make a place of refuge +and took no time to publish their troubles. The mob made no attempt to +find Charles; its only purpose was to pursue, beat and kill any colored +man or woman who happened to come in sight. Speaking editorially, the +_Picayune_ of Thursday, the twenty-sixth of July, said: + + ++ESCAPED WITH THEIR LIVES+ + +At the Charity Hospital Wednesday night more than a score of people were +treated for wounds received at the hands of the mob. Some were able to +tell of their mistreatment, and their recitals are briefly given in the +_Picayune_ as follows: + + Alex. Ruffin, who is quite seriously injured, is a Pullman car porter, a + native of Chicago. He reached New Orleans at 9:20 o'clock last night, + and after finishing his work, boarded a Henry Clay Avenue car to go to + Delachaise Street, where he has a sick son. + + "I hadn't ridden any way," said he, "when I saw a lot of white folks. + They were shouting to 'Get the Niggers.' I didn't know they were after + every colored man they saw, and sat still. Two or three men jumped on + the car and started at me. One of them hit me over the head with a + slungshot, and they started to shooting at me. I jumped out of the car + and ran, although I had done nothing. They shot me in the arm and in the + leg. I would certainly have been killed had not some gentleman taken my + part. If I had known New Orleans was so excited I would never have left + my car." + + George Morris is the name of a Negro who was badly injured by a mob + which went through the Poydras Market. Morris is employed as watchman + there. He heard the noise of the passing crowd and looked out to see + what the matter was. As soon as the mob saw him its members started + after him. + + "One man hit me over the head with a club," said George, after his + wounds had been dressed, "and somebody cut me in the back. I didn't + hardly think what was the matter at first, but when I saw they were + after me I ran for my life. I ran to the coffee stand, where I work, for + protection, but they were right after me, and somebody shot me in the + back. At last the police got me away from the crowd. Just before I was + hit a friend of mine, who was in the crowd, said, 'You had better go + home, Nigger; they're after your kind.' I didn't know then what he + meant. I found out pretty quick." + + Morris is at the hospital. He is a perfect wreck, and while he will + probably get well, he will have had a close call. + + Esther Fields is a Negro washerwoman who lives at South Claiborne and + Toledano Streets. She was at home when she heard a big noise and went + out to investigate. She ran into the arms of the mob, and was beaten + into insensibility in less time than it takes to tell it. Esther is + being treated at the charity hospital, and should be able to get about + in a few days. The majority of her bruises are about the head. + + T.P. Sanders fell at the hands of the Jackson Avenue mob. He lives at + 1927 Jackson Avenue, and was sitting in front of his home when he saw + the crowd marching out the street. He stayed to see what the excitement + was all about, and was shot in the knee and thorax and horribly beaten + about the head before the mob came to the conclusion that he had been + done for, and passed on. The ambulance was called and he was picked up + and carried to the charity hospital, where his wounds were dressed and + pronounced serious. + + Oswald McMahon is nothing more than a boy. He was shot in the leg and + afterward carried to the hospital. His injuries are very slight. + + Dan White is another charity hospital patient. He is a Negro roustabout + and was sitting in the bar room at Poydras and Franklin Streets when a + mob passed along and espied him. He was shot in the hand, and would have + been roughly dealt with had some policeman not been luckily near and + rescued him. + + In addition to the Negroes who suffered from the violence of the mob + there were several patients treated at the hospital during the night who + had been with the rioters and had been struck by stray bullets or + injured in scuffles. None of this class were hurt to any extent. They + got their wounds dressed and went out again. + + ++WAS CHARLES A DESPERADO?+ + +The press of the country has united in declaring that Robert Charles was a +desperado. As usual, when dealing with a negro, he is assumed to be guilty +because he is charged. Even the most conservative of journals refuse to +ask evidence to prove that the dead man was a criminal, and that his life +had been given over to lawbreaking. The minute that the news was flashed +across the country that he had shot a white man it was at once declared +that he was a fiend incarnate, and that when he was killed the community +would be ridden of a black-hearted desperado. The reporters of the New +Orleans papers, who were in the best position to trace the record of this +man's life, made every possible effort to find evidence to prove that he +was a villain unhung. With all the resources at their command, and +inspired by intense interest to paint him as black a villain as possible, +these reporters signally failed to disclose a single indictment which +charged Robert Charles with a crime. Because they failed to find any legal +evidence that Charles was a lawbreaker and desperado his accusers gave +full license to their imagination and distorted the facts that they had +obtained, in every way possible, to prove a course of criminality, which +the records absolutely refuse to show. + +Charles had his first encounter with the police Monday night, in which he +was shot in the street duel which was begun by the police after Officer +Mora had beaten Charles three or four times over the head with his billy +in an attempt to make an illegal arrest. In defending himself against the +combined attack of two officers with a billy and their guns upon him, +Charles shot Officer Mora and escaped. + +Early Tuesday morning Charles was traced to Dryades Street by officers who +were instructed to kill him on sight. There, again defending himself, he +shot and killed two officers. This, of course, in the eyes of the American +press, made him a desperado. The New Orleans press, in substantiating the +charges that he was a desperado, make statements which will be interesting +to examine. + +In the first place the _New Orleans Times-Democrat_, of July 25, calls +Charles a "ravisher and a daredevil." It says that from all sources that +could be searched "the testimony was cumulative that the character of the +murderer, Robert Charles, is that of a daredevil and a fiend in human +form." Then in the same article it says: + + The belongings of Robert Charles which were found in his room were a + complete index to the character of the man. Although the room and its + contents were in a state of chaos on account of the frenzied search for + clews by officers and citizens, an examination of his personal effects + revealed the mental state of the murderer and the rancor in his heart + toward the Caucasian race. Never was the adage, "A little learning is a + dangerous thing," better exemplified than in the case of the negro who + shot to death the two officers. + +His room was searched, and the evidence upon which the charge that he was +a desperado consisted of pamphlets in support of Negro emigration to +Liberia. On his mantel-piece there was found a bullet mold and an outfit +for reloading cartridges. There were also two pistol scabbards and a +bottle of cocaine. The other evidences that Charles was a desperado the +writer described as follows: + + In his room were found negro periodicals and other "race" propaganda, + most of which was in the interest of the negro's emigration to Liberia. + There were Police Gazettes strewn about his room and other papers of a + similar character. Well-worn textbooks, bearing his name written in his + own scrawling handwriting, and well-filled copybooks found in his trunk + showed that he had burnt the midnight oil, and was desirous of improving + himself intellectually in order that he might conquer the hated white + race. Much of the literature found among his chattels was of a + superlatively vituperative character, and attacked the white race in + unstinted language and asserted the equal rights of the Negro. + + Charles was evidently the local agent of the _Voice of Missions_, a + "religious" paper, published at Atlanta, as great bundles of that sheet + were found. It is edited by one Bishop Turner, and seems to be the + official organ of all haters of the white race. Its editorials are + anarchistic in the extreme, and urge upon the negro that the sooner he + realizes that he is as good as the white man the better it will be for + him. The following verses were clipped from the journal; they were + marked "till forbidden," and appeared in several successive numbers: + + + OUR SENTIMENTS + + H.M.T. + + My country, 'tis of thee, + Dear land of Africa, + Of thee we sing. + Land where our fathers died, + Land of the Negro's pride, + God's truth shall ring. + + My native country, thee, + Land of the black and free, + Thy name I love; + To see thy rocks and rills, + Thy woods and matchless hills, + Like that above. + + When all thy slanderous ghouls, + In the bosom of sheol, + Forgotten lie, + Thy monumental name shall live, + And suns thy royal brow shall gild, + Upheaved to heaven high, + O'ertopping thrones. + + There were no valuables in his room, and if he was a professional thief + he had his headquarters for storing his plunder at some other place than + his room on Fourth Street. Nothing was found in his room that could lead + to the belief that he was a thief, except fifty or more small bits of + soap. The inference was that every place he visited he took all of the + soap lying around, as all of the bits were well worn and had seen long + service on the washstand. + + His wearing apparel was little more than rags, and financially he was + evidently not in a flourishing condition. He was in no sense a skilled + workman, and his room showed, in fact, that he was nothing more than a + laborer. + + The "philosopher in the garret" was a dirty wretch, and his room, his + bedding and his clothing were nasty and filthy beyond belief. His object + in life seemed to have been the discomfiture of the white race, and to + this purpose he devoted himself with zeal. He declared himself to be a + "patriot," and wished to be the Moses of his race. + +Under the title of "The Making of a Monster," the reporter attempts to +give "something of the personality of the archfiend, Charles." Giving his +imagination full vent the writer says: + + It is only natural that the deepest interest should attach to the + personality of Robert Charles. What manner of man was this fiend + incarnate? What conditions developed him? Who were his preceptors? From + what ancestral strain, if any, did he derive his ferocious hatred of the + whites, his cunning, his brute courage, the apostolic zeal which he + displayed in spreading the propaganda of African equality? These are + questions involving one of the most remarkable psychological problems of + modern times. + +In answer to the questions which he propounds, the reporter proceeds to +admit that he did not learn anything of a very desperate nature connected +with Charles. He says: + + Although Charles was a familiar figure to scores of Negroes in New + Orleans, and they had been more or less intimately acquainted with him + for over two years, curiously little can be learned of his habits or + mode of life. Since the perpetration of his terrible series of crimes it + goes without saying that his former friends are inclined to be reticent, + but it is reasonably certain that they have very little to tell. In + regard to himself, Charles was singularly reticent for a Negro. He did + not even indulge in the usual lying about his prowess and his + adventures. This was possibly due to the knowledge that he was wanted + for a couple of murders. The man had sense enough to know that it would + be highly unwise to excite any curiosity about his past. + + When Charles first came to New Orleans he worked here and there as a day + laborer. He was employed at different times in a sawmill, on the street + gangs, as a roustabout on the levee, as a helper at the sugar works and + as a coal shoveler in the engine room of the St. Charles Hotel. At each + of the places where he worked he was known as a quiet, rather surly + fellow, who had little to say to anybody, and generally performed his + tasks in morose silence. He managed to convey the impression, however, + of being a man of more than ordinary intelligence. + + A Negro named William Butts, who drives a team on the levee and lives on + Washington Street, near Baronne, told a _Times-Democrat_ reporter + yesterday that Charles got a job about a year ago as agent for a + Liberian Immigration Society, which has headquarters at Birmingham, and + was much elated at the prospect of making a living without hard labor. + +According to the further investigations of this reporter, Charles was also +agent for Bishop Turner's _Voice of Missions_, the colored missionary +organ of the African Methodist Church, edited by H.M. Turner, of Atlanta, +Georgia. Concerning his service as agent for the _Voice of Missions_, the +reporter says: + + He secured a number of subscribers and visited them once a month to + collect the installments. In order to insure regular payments it was + necessary to keep up enthusiasm, which was prone to wane, and Charles + consequently became an active and continual preacher of the propaganda + of hatred. Whatever may have been his private sentiments at the outset, + this constant harping on one string must eventually have had a powerful + effect upon his own mind. + + Exactly how he received his remuneration is uncertain, but he told + several of his friends that he got a "big commission." Incidentally he + solicited subscribers for a Negro paper called the _Voice of the + Missions_, and when he struck a Negro who did not want to go to Africa + himself, he begged contributions for the "good of the cause." + + In the course of time Charles developed into a fanatic on the subject of + the Negro oppression and neglected business to indulge in wild tirades + whenever he could find a listener. He became more anxious to make + converts than to obtain subscribers, and the more conservative darkies + began to get afraid of him. Meanwhile he got into touch with certain + agitators in the North and made himself a distributing agent for their + literature, a great deal of which he gave away. Making money was a + secondary consideration to "the cause." + + One of the most enthusiastic advocates of the Liberian scheme is the + colored Bishop H.M. Turner, of Atlanta. Turner is a man of unusual + ability, has been over to Africa personally several times, and has made + himself conspicuous by denouncing laws which he claimed discriminated + against the blacks. Charles was one of the bishop's disciples and + evidence has been found that seems to indicate they were in + correspondence. + +This was all that the _Times-Democrat_'s reporters could find after the +most diligent search to prove that Charles was the fiend incarnate which +the press of New Orleans and elsewhere declared him to be. + +The reporters of the _New Orleans Picayune_ were no more successful than +their brethren of the _Times-Democrat_. They, too, were compelled to +substitute fiction for facts in their attempt to prove Charles a +desperado. In the issue of the twenty-sixth of July it was said that +Charles was well known in Vicksburg, and was there a consort of thieves. +They mentioned that a man named Benson Blake was killed in 1894 or 1895, +and that four Negroes were captured, and two escaped. Of the two escaped +they claim that Charles was one. The four negroes who were captured were +put in jail, and as usual, in the high state of civilization which +characterizes Mississippi, the right of the person accused of crime to an +indictment by legal process and a legal trial by jury was considered an +useless formality if the accused happened to be black. A mob went to the +jail that night, the four colored men were delivered to the mob, and all +four were hanged in the court-house yard. The reporters evidently assumed +that Charles was guilty, if, in fact, he was ever there, because the other +four men were lynched. They did not consider it was a fact of any +importance that Charles was never indicted. They called him a murderer on +general principles. + + ++DIED IN SELF-DEFENSE+ + +The life, character and death of Robert Charles challenges the thoughtful +consideration of all fair-minded people. In the frenzy of the moment, when +nearly a dozen men lay dead, the victims of his unerring and death-dealing +aim, it was natural for a prejudiced press and for citizens in private +life to denounce him as a desperado and a murderer. But sea depths are not +measured when the ocean rages, nor can absolute justice be determined +while public opinion is lashed into fury. There must be calmness to insure +correctness of judgment. The fury of the hour must abate before we can +deal justly with any man or any cause. + +That Charles was not a desperado is amply shown by the discussion in the +preceding chapter. The darkest pictures which the reporters could paint of +Charles were quoted freely, so that the public might find upon what +grounds the press declared him to be a lawbreaker. Unquestionably the +grounds are wholly insufficient. Not a line of evidence has been presented +to prove that Charles was the fiend which the first reports of the New +Orleans charge him to be. + +Nothing more should be required to establish his good reputation, for the +rule is universal that a reputation must be assumed to be good until it is +proved bad. But that rule does not apply to the Negro, for as soon as he +is suspected the public judgment immediately determines that he is guilty +of whatever crime he stands charged. For this reason, as a matter of duty +to the race, and the simple justice to the memory of Charles, an +investigation has been made of the life and character of Charles before +the fatal affray which led to his death. + +Robert Charles was not an educated man. He was a student who faithfully +investigated all the phases of oppression from which his race has +suffered. That he was a student is amply shown by the _Times-Democrat_ +report of the twenty-fifth, which says: + +"Well-worn textbooks, bearing his name written in his own scrawling +handwriting, and well-filled copy-books found in his trunk, showed that he +had burned the midnight oil, and desired to improve himself intellectually +in order that he might conquer the hated white race." From this quotation +it will be seen that he spent the hours after days of hard toil in trying +to improve himself, both in the study of textbooks and in writing. + +He knew that he was a student of a problem which required all the +intelligence that a man could command, and he was burning his midnight +oil gathering knowledge that he might better be able to come to an +intelligent solution. To his aid in the study of this problem he sought +the aid of a Christian newspaper, the _Voice of Missions_, the organ of +the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was in communication with its +editor, who is a bishop, and is known all over this country as a man of +learning, a lover of justice and the defender of law and order. Charles +could receive from Bishop Turner not a word of encouragement to be other +than an earnest, tireless and God-fearing student of the complex problems +which affected the race. + +For further help and assistance in his studies, Charles turned to an +organization which has existed and flourished for many years, at all times +managed by men of high Christian standing and absolute integrity. These +men believe and preach a doctrine that the best interests of the Negro +will be subserved by an emigration from America back to the Fatherland, +and they do all they can to spread the doctrine of emigration and to give +material assistance to those who desire to leave America and make their +future homes in Africa. This organization is known as "The International +Migration Society." It has its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. From +this place it issues pamphlets, some of which were found, in the home of +Robert Charles, and which pamphlets the reporters of the New Orleans +papers declare to be incendiary and dangerous in their doctrine and +teaching. + +Nothing could be further from the truth. Copies of any and all of them may +be secured by writing to D.J. Flummer, who is President and in charge of +the home office in Birmingham, Alabama. Three of the pamphlets found in +Charles's room are named respectively: + +First, _Prospectus of the Liberian Colonization Society_; which pamphlet +in a few brief pages tells of the work of the society, plans, prices and +terms of transportation of colored people who choose to go to Africa. +These pages are followed by a short, conservative discussion of the Negro +question, and close with an argument that Africa furnishes the best asylum +for the oppressed Negroes in this country. + +The second pamphlet is entitled _Christian Civilization of Africa_. This +is a brief statement of the advantages of the Republic of Liberia, and an +argument in support of the superior conditions which colored people may +attain to by leaving the South and settling in Liberia. + +The third pamphlet is entitled _The Negro and Liberia_. This is a larger +document than the other two, and treats more exhaustively the question of +emigration, but from the first page to the last there is not an +incendiary line or sentence. There is not even a suggestion of violence in +all of its thirty-two pages, and not a word which could not be preached +from every pulpit in the land. + +If it is true that the workman is known by his tools, certainly no harm +could ever come from the doctrines which were preached by Charles or the +papers and pamphlets distributed by him. Nothing ever written in the +_Voice of Missions_, and nothing ever published in the pamphlets above +alluded to in the remotest way suggest that a peaceable man should turn +lawbreaker, or that any man should dye his hands in his brother's blood. + +In order to secure as far as possible positive information about the life +and character of Robert Charles, it was plain that the best course to +pursue was to communicate with those with whom he had sustained business +relations. Accordingly a letter was forwarded to Mr. D.J. Flummer, who is +president of the colonization society, in which letter he was asked to +state in reply what information he had of the life and character of Robert +Charles. The result was a very prompt letter in response, the text of +which is as follows: + + Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 21, 1900 + + Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett, Chicago, Ill.: + + Dear Madam--Replying to your favor of recent date requesting me to write + you giving such information as I may have concerning the life, habits + and character of Robert Charles, who recently shot and killed police + officers in New Orleans, I wish to say that my knowledge of him is only + such as I have gained from his business connection with the + International Migration Society during the past five or six years, + during which time I was president of the society. + + He having learned that the purpose of this society was to colonize the + colored people in Liberia, West Africa, and thereby lessen or destroy + the friction and prejudice existing in this country between the two + races, set about earnestly and faithfully distributing the literature + that we issued from time to time. He always appeared to be mild but + earnest in his advocacy of emigration, and never to my knowledge used + any method or means that would in the least appear unreasonable, and had + always kept within the bounds of law and order in advocating emigration. + + The work he performed for this society was all gratuitous, and + apparently prompted from his love of humanity, and desires to be + instrumental in building up a Negro Nationality in Africa. + + If he ever violated a law before the killing of the policemen, I do not + know of it. + + Yours, very truly, + + D.J. Flummer + +Besides this statement, Mr. Flummer enclosed a letter received by the +Society two days before the tragedy at New Orleans. This letter was +written by Robert Charles, and it attests his devotion to the cause of +emigration which he had espoused. Memoranda on the margin of the letter +show that the order was filled by mailing the pamphlets. It is very +probable that these were the identical pamphlets which were found by the +mob which broke into the room of Robert Charles and seized upon these +harmless documents and declared they were sufficient evidence to prove +Charles a desperado. In the light of subsequent events the letter of +Charles, which follows, sounds like a voice from the tomb: + +New Orleans, July 30,1900 + + Mr. D.J. Flummer: + + Dear Sir--I received your last pamphlets and they are all given out. I + want you to send me some more, and I enclose you the stamps. I think I + will go over in Greenville, Miss., and give my people some pamphlets + over there. + + Yours truly, + + Robert Charles + +The latest word of information comes from New Orleans from a man who knew +Charles intimately for six years. For obvious reasons, his name is +withheld. In answer to a letter sent him he answers as follows: + + New Orleans, Aug. 23, 1900 + + Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett: + + Dear Madam--It affords me great pleasure to inform you as far as I know + of Robert Charles. I have been acquainted with him about six years in + this city. He never has, as I know, given any trouble to anyone. He was + quiet and a peaceful man and was very frank in speaking. He was too much + of a hero to die; few call be found to equal him. I am very sorry to + say that I do not know anything of his birthplace, nor his parents, but + enclosed find letter from his uncle, from which you may find more + information. You will also find one of the circulars in which Charles + was in possession of which was styled as a crazy document. Let me say, + until our preachers preach this document we will always be slaves. If + you can help circulate this "crazy" doctrine I would be glad to have you + do so, for I shall never rest until I get to that heaven on earth; that + is, the west coast of Africa, in Liberia. + + With best wishes to you I still remain, as always, for the good of the + race, + + ---- + +By only those whose anger and vindictiveness warp their judgment is Robert +Charles a desperado. Their word is not supported by the statement of a +single fact which justifies their judgment and no criminal record shows +that he was ever indicted for any offense, much less convicted of crime. +On the contrary, his work for many years had been with Christian people, +circulating emigration pamphlets and active as agent for a mission +publication. Men who knew him say that he was a law-abiding, quiet, +industrious, peaceable man. So he lived. + +So he lived and so he would have died had not he raised his hand to resent +unprovoked assault and unlawful arrest that fateful Monday night. That +made him an outlaw, and being a man of courage he decided to die with his +face to the foe. The white people of this country may charge that he was a +desperado, but to the people of his own race Robert Charles will always be +regarded as the hero of New Orleans. + + ++BURNING HUMAN BEINGS ALIVE + + +Not only has life been taken by mobs in the past twenty years, but the +ordinary procedure of hanging and shooting have been improved upon during +the past ten years. Fifteen human beings have been burned to death in the +different parts of the country by mobs. Men, women and children have gone +to see the sight, and all have approved the barbarous deeds done in the +high light of the civilization and Christianity of this country. + +In 1891 Ed Coy was burned to death in Texarkana, Ark. He was charged with +assaulting a white woman, and after the mob had securely tied him to a +tree, the men and boys amused themselves for some time sticking knives +into Coy's body and slicing off pieces, of flesh. When they had amused +themselves sufficiently, they poured coal oil over him and the women in +the case set fire to him. It is said that fifteen thousand people stood by +and saw him burned. This was on a Sunday night, and press reports told how +the people looked on while the Negro burned to death. + +Feb. 1, 1893, Henry Smith was burned to death in Paris, Texas. The entire +county joined in that exhibition. The district attorney himself went for +the prisoner and turned him over to the mob. He was placed upon a float +and drawn by four white horses through the principal streets of the city. +Men, women and children stood at their doors and waved their handkerchiefs +and cheered the echoes. They knew that the man was to be burned to death +because the newspaper had declared for three days previous that this would +be so. Excursions were run by all the railroads, and the mayor of the town +gave the children a holiday so that they might see the sight. + +Henry Smith was charged with having assaulted and murdered a little white +girl. He was an imbecile, and while he had killed the child, there was no +proof that he had criminally assaulted her. He was tied to a stake on a +platform which had been built ten feet high, so that everybody might see +the sight. The father and brother and uncle of the little white girl that +had been murdered was upon that platform about fifty minutes entertaining +the crowd of ten thousand persons by burning the victim's flesh with +red-hot irons. Their own newspapers told how they burned his eyes out and, +ran the red-hot iron down his throat, cooking his tongue, and how the +crowd cheered wild delight. At last, having declared themselves satisfied, +coal oil was poured over him and he was burned to death, and the mob +fought over the ashes for bones and pieces of his clothes. + +July 7, 1893, in Bardwell, Ky., C.J. Miller was burned to ashes. Since his +death this man has been found to be absolutely innocent of the murder of +the two white girls with which he was charged. But the mob would wait for +no justification. They insisted that, as they were not sure he was the +right man, they would compromise the matter by hanging him instead of +burning. Not to be outdone, they took the body down and made a huge +bonfire out of it. + +July 22, 1893, at Memphis, Tenn., the body of Lee Walker was dragged +through the street and burned before the court house. Walker had +frightened some girls in a wagon along a country road by asking them to +let him ride in their wagon. They cried out; some men working in a field +near by said it was at attempt of assault, and of course began to look for +their prey. There was never any charge of rape; the women only declared +that he attempted an assault. After he was apprehended and put in jail and +perfectly helpless, the mob dragged him out, shot him, cut him, beat him +with sticks, built a fire and burned the legs off, then took the trunk of +the body down and dragged further up the street, and at last burned it +before the court house. + +Sept. 20, 1893, at Roanoke, Va., the body of a Negro who had quarreled +with a white woman was burned in the presence of several thousand persons. +These people also wreaked their vengeance upon this helpless victim of the +mob's wrath by sticking knives into him, kicking him and beating him with +stones and otherwise mutilating him before life was extinct. + +June 11, 1898, at Knoxville, Ark., James Perry was shut up in a cabin +because he had smallpox and burned to death. He had been quarantined in +this cabin when it was declared that he had this disease and the doctor +sent for. When the physician arrived he found only a few smoldering +embers. Upon inquiry some railroad hands who were working nearby revealed +the fact that they had fastened the door of the cabin and set fire to the +cabin and burned man and hut together. + +Feb. 22, 1898, at Lake City, S.C., Postmaster Baker and his infant child +were burned to death by a mob that had set fire to his house. Mr. Baker's +crime was that he had refused to give up the post office, to which he had +been appointed by the National Government. The mob had tried to drive him +away by persecution and intimidation. Finding that all else had failed, +they went to his home in the dead of night and set fire to his house, and +as the family rushed forth they were greeted by a volley of bullets. The +father and his baby were shot through the open door and wounded so badly +that they fell back in the fire and were burned to death. The remainder of +the family, consisting of the wife and five children, escaped with their +lives from the burning house, but all of them were shot, one of the number +made a cripple for life. + +Jan. 7, 1898, two Indians were tied to a tree at Maud Post Office, Indian +Territory, and burned to death by a white mob. They were charged with +murdering a white woman. There was no proof of their guilt except the +unsupported word of the mob. Yet they were tied to a tree and slowly +roasted to death. Their names were Lewis McGeesy and Hond Martin. Since +that time these boys have been found to be absolutely innocent of the +charge. Of course that discovery is too late to be of any benefit to them, +but because they were Indians the Indian Commissioner demanded and +received from the United States Government an indemnity of $13,000. + +April 23, 1899, at Palmetto, Ga., Sam Hose was burned alive in the +presence of a throng, on Sunday afternoon. He was charged with killing a +man named Cranford, his employer, which he admitted he did because his +employer was about to shoot him. To the fact of killing the employer was +added the absolutely false charge that Hose assaulted the wife. Hose was +arrested and no trial was given him. According to the code of reasoning of +the mob, none was needed. A white man had been killed and a white woman +was said to have been assaulted. That was enough. When Hose was found he +had to die. + +The Atlanta Constitution, in speaking of the murder of Cranford, said that +the Negro who was suspected would be burned alive. Not only this, but it +offered $500 reward for his capture. After he had been apprehended, it was +publicly announced that he would be burned alive. Excursion trains were +run and bulletins were put up in the small towns. The Governor of Georgia +was in Atlanta while excursion trains were being made up to take visitors +to the burning. Many fair ladies drove out in their carriages on Sunday +afternoon to witness the torture and burning of a human being. Hose's ears +were cut off, then his toes and fingers, and passed round to the crowd. +His eyes were put out, his tongue torn out and flesh cut in strips by +knives. Finally they poured coal oil on him and burned him to death. They +dragged his half-consumed trunk out of the flames, cut it open, extracted +his heart and liver, and sold slices for ten cents each for souvenirs, all +of which was published most promptly in the daily papers of Georgia and +boasted over by the people of that section. + +Oct. 19, 1889, at Canton, Miss., Joseph Leflore was burned to death. A +house had been entered and its occupants murdered during the absence of +the husband and father. When the discovery was made, it was immediately +supposed that the crime was the work of a Negro, and the motive that of +assaulting white women. + +Bloodhounds were procured and they made a round of the village and +discovered only one colored man absent from his home. This was taken to be +proof sufficient that he was the perpetrator of the deed. When he returned +home he was apprehended, taken into the yard of the house that had been +burned down, tied to a stake, and was slowly roasted to death. + +Dec. 6, 1899, at Maysville, Ky., Wm. Coleman also was burned to death. He +was slowly roasted, first one foot and then the other, and dragged out of +the fire so that the torture might be prolonged. All of this without a +shadow of proof or scintilla of evidence that the man had committed the +crime. + +Thus have the mobs of this country taken the lives of their victims within +the past ten years. In every single instance except one these burnings +were witnessed by from two thousand to fifteen thousand people, and no one +person in all these crowds throughout the country had the courage to raise +his voice and speak out against the awful barbarism of burning human +beings to death. + +Men and women of America, are you proud of this record which the +Anglo-Saxon race has made for itself? Your silence seems to say that you +are. Your silence encourages a continuance of this sort of horror. Only by +earnest, active, united endeavor to arouse public sentiment can we hope to +put a stop to these demonstrations of American barbarism. + + ++LYNCHING RECORD+ + +The following table of lynchings has been kept year by year by the Chicago +Tribune, beginning with 1882, and shows the list of Negroes that have been +lynched during that time: + +1882, Negroes murdered by mobs 52 +1883, Negroes murdered by mobs 39 +1884, Negroes murdered by mobs 53 +1885, Negroes murdered by mobs 164 +1886, Negroes murdered by mobs 136 +1887, Negroes murdered by mobs 128 +1888, Negroes murdered by mobs 143 +1889, Negroes murdered by mobs 127 +1890, Negroes murdered by mobs 171 +1891, Negroes murdered by mobs 192 +1892, Negroes murdered by mobs 241 +1893, Negroes murdered by mobs 200 +1894, Negroes murdered by mobs 190 +1895, Negroes murdered by mobs 171 +1896, Negroes murdered by mobs 131 +1897, Negroes murdered by mobs 156 +1898, Negroes murdered by mobs 127 +1899, Negroes murdered by mobs 107 + +Of these thousands of men and women who have been put to death without +judge or jury, less than one-third of them have been even accused of +criminal assault. The world at large has accepted unquestionably the +statement that Negroes are lynched only for assaults upon white women. Of +those who were lynched from 1882 to 1891, the first ten years of the +tabulated lynching record, the charges are as follows: + +Two hundred and sixty-nine were charged with rape; 253 with murder; 44 +with robbery; 37 with incendiarism; 4 with burglary; 27 with race +prejudice; 13 quarreled with white men; 10 with making threats; 7 with +rioting; 5 with miscegenation; in 32 cases no reasons were given, the +victims were lynched on general principles. + +During the past five years the record is as follows: + +Of the 171 persons lynched in 1895 only 34 were charged with this crime. +In 1896, out of 131 persons who were lynched, only 34 were said to have +assaulted women. Of the 156 in 1897, only 32. In 1898, out of 127 persons +lynched, 24 were charged with the alleged "usual crime." In 1899, of the +107 lynchings, 16 were said to be for crimes against women. These figures, +of course, speak for themselves, and to the unprejudiced, fair-minded +person it is only necessary to read and study them in order to show that +the charge that the Negro is a moral outlaw is a false one, made for the +purpose of injuring the Negro's good name and to create public sentiment +against him. + +If public sentiment were alive, as it should be upon the subject, it would +refuse to be longer hoodwinked, and the voice of conscience would refuse +to be stilled by these false statements. If the laws of the country were +obeyed and respected by the white men of the country who charge that the +Negro has no respect for law, these things could not be, for every +individual, no matter what the charge, would have a fair trial and an +opportunity to prove his guilt or innocence before a tribunal of law. + +That is all the Negro asks--that is all the friends of law and order need +to ask, for once the law of the land is supreme, no individual who commits +crime will escape punishment. + +Individual Negroes commit crimes the same as do white men, but that the +Negro race is peculiarly given to assault upon women, is a falsehood of +the deepest dye. The tables given above show that the Negro who is saucy +to white men is lynched as well as the Negro who is charged with assault +upon women. Less than one-sixth of the lynchings last year, 1899, were +charged with rape. + +The Negro points to his record during the war in rebuttal of this false +slander. When the white women and children of the South had no protector +save only these Negroes, not one instance is known where the trust was +betrayed. It is remarkably strange that the Negro had more respect for +womanhood with the white men of the South hundreds of miles away, than +they have today, when surrounded by those who take their lives with +impunity and burn and torture, even worse than the "unspeakable Turk." + +Again, the white women of the North came South years ago, threaded the +forests, visited the cabins, taught the schools and associated only with +the Negroes whom they came to teach, and had no protectors near at hand. +They had no charge or complaint to make of the danger to themselves after +association with this class of human beings. Not once has the country been +shocked by such recitals from them as come from the women who are +surrounded by their husbands, brothers, lovers and friends. If the Negro's +nature is bestial, it certainly should have proved itself in one of these +two instances. The Negro asks only justice and an impartial consideration +of these facts. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mob Rule in New Orleans, by Ida B. Wells-Barnett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOB RULE IN NEW ORLEANS *** + +***** This file should be named 14976.txt or 14976.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/9/7/14976/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgpd.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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