NEGRO MASSACRE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 112, 8 November 1906, Page 3

NEGRO MASSACRE.

HUNTED AND SHOT IN THE STREETS. REVENGE FOR ASSAULTS. The colour problem in America, which has lately been becoming steadily more and more perilous, suddenly precipitated ! terrible scenes in Atlanta, Georgia, on tho night of tho 23rd September, when maddened mobs of whites wrought indiscriminate vengeance on tho negroes, twenty-five of whom are reported to have been killed in the streets and over a hundred seriously wounded. A series of revolting negro assaults on white women and girls through the year — in one recent case an English girl was tho /victim — aroused increasing excitement, which culminated when, in the single city of Atlanta, five fresh 'cases of assaults on white women were reported in quick succession. At eight' o'clock, when special editions gave the details, intense fury seized the crowds which already filled the streets. From a crowd waiting in front of the chief newspaper office a fierce shout of "Kill the negroes!" arose. As if by a preconcerted plan (wrote the New York correspondent of- the Daily News), this crowd divided into' small sections, which rushed to different parts of , the city simultaneously with the distribution of the papers, each section forming the nucleus of a quickly growing mob mad for revenge. The negroes, who knew what was coming, fled into the streets of their quarter, where they wore sufficiently strong to resist unorganised attack. But such as were caught, in the streets fell victims to the crowds, which wero mainly composed of boys and young men. The majority of those killed were, arriving by olectric cars from the outskirts, not knowing what wag proceeding in the city. Whenever one was seen bo was pulled off the car and beaten with awful ferocity. In Forsytho-street a car with a party; of four negroes, two men and two women, was, discovered. The car was stojroed, the negresses were forced to desconu, and the negroes were riddled with bullets in full view of the editorial offices of the Atlanta Constitution. Similar tragedies occurred in the ''Georgiaavenue and Forest-avenue cars running to tho negro quarter. Tho police were rendered powerless by the moVs tactics of splitting up quickly and moving in sections, operating in widely separated localities. By the time the police arrived anywhere the tragedy was complete, and a smashed and riddled black body was lying in the roadway. Those killed wero going peaceably to town for the Saturday night's marketing. When tho mob's, tactics were recognised, an order was issued stopping all cats on tho lines running to the negro quarter, and policemen were stationed on tho other lines to warn intending coloured passengers of the danger. Scattered about the town are a number of negto' barber shops. These were invaded, and the barbers were dragged' into tho streets and beaten. The large Piedmont Hotel, in the centre of the city, having a number of negro omEloyees, was attacked, despite an appeal y tho poliro commissioner. Docatur- street, although outside tho negro quarter, has many negro shops and saloons. Hero tho mob operated, wrecking every negro house and beating every negro who could not escape by flight. Hero, after a time, fire engines woro called in, and turned tho hose on the mob. In Marietta-street tho flying negroes sought refuge in the post office, and one of them was stabbed to death on its stops. Intermittently such scenes continued until 1 o'clock in the morning, when troops and militia restored order. It is feared that Atlanta's examplo will bo followed in many cities if further negro outrages occur. HOW THE BLACKS RETALIATED. TwoArights later th© threatened negro retaliation in the neighbourhood of Atlanta, Georgia, commenced. Armed negroes shot white men in retaliation for tho mob violence. This provoked reprisals on the part of the forces responsible for the preservation of law and order, and as a result a number were slain by tho police and military. The Northern newspapers denounce tho failure of the Georgian authorities to restrain the mob violence. This is deeply resented in' the South, where it is said that tho Northerners are either unable to comprehend or are callously indifferent to a state of things for 'the existence of which the Northern displaced sentiment was originally respei^ible. As a consequence, not only-^are the whites and blacks in Georgia facing one another in v open fight, but tho Atlanta affair has had the effect of reviving a jjreat deal of the slumbering antagonism between th© North and South. Tho presence of th© militia in the streete of Atlanta^ the closing of the saloons, and an official order prohibiting youths to be out after nightfall, prevented a repetition of tho disorders within the city. It was in South Atlanta, where there are largo negro settlements, including the populous black suburb of Brownsville, that tho negroes became active. A mounted police patrol on a lonely road was fired upon by some blacks in ambush, and Constable Hardy was. instantly killed. Two others were badly wounded. NEGROES LED BY STUDENTS. This patrol is said to have been sent for the purpose of protecting tho negroes from attack by a flying squadron of the Atlanta mob ; but evidently the negroes considered its purpose hostile, for they fired from cover at th© roadside without warning. The police shot back, killipg several and wounding many, .when t|io negroes fled, leaving a number of .prisoners i In Brownsville the negroes were roported to bo armed, under the leadership of students of the Glark .(coloured) University. The police summoned leinforcomonts both of militia and police. Brownsvillo was surrounded, and a number of negroes, who hod fled to tho ewainps, were arrested and sent to the city under a guard. „ ■Novra of the policeman's murder preceded them, and when tho car arrived at the outskirts of Atlanta a crowd assembled, dragged tho prisoners away and killed two m the front porch of a house, the mistress of which feu dead from heart failure caused by the excitement and horror of the spectacle. It ia stated that the militia and police made efforts to protect their prisoners, but it is doubted whether their efforts were very strenuous , Brownsville was atormed by five companies of tho Stato militia soon after > dawn, assisted by a force of mounted . policemen, their object being, in rotalia- » tion for Hoards' murder, to capture all noeroes found nrmed.

As the cordon of troops closed in, many negroes tried to break through the lines. Several were killed, and of the .black population 257 were arrested, all armed with guns and revolvers. Among them was the negro postmaster Price, who, it is alleged, supplied many guns, along with ammunition. Several dead bodies of negroes have been found in the woods, and many others are believed to be there still. There was some brisk •fighting in storming the village, some blacks having barricaded themselves in their houses. Two were killed in one house. The most serious feature of the situation is the attitude attributed to students of Clark University, the leading negro educational institution in the South. It is said that they are equally responsible with the black women in inciting the negroes to retaliate, and have helped secretly to procure and distribute arms and ammunition. A strong force of military was sent to the university to search for the students and arrest all found in pofeession of arms. "A life for a life" is the negroes' watchword. They declare that for every black killed a white's life shall pay.