Mob Rule at Denver: Drunken Democrats’ Doings.
| Newspaper: | St. Albans Daily Messenger |
|---|---|
| Publication Date: | Mon, Nov 1, 1880 |
| Published at: | Saint Albans, Vermont |
| Page Number: | 1 |
Article Transcript
A Denver dispatch of the 31st says: Denver has been in the hands of a mob for eight hours, and there are now full 1500 rioters in the streets.
The trouble has been growing for days.
It was discovered a week ago that there were fully eight thousand illegal names registered in this city, and immediately afterwards the streets were filled with strangers of the worst character.
Ever since the publication of the forged Garfield letter violent partisans have striven to make an issue of the Chinese question and the democratic press has been filled with articles asserting that as soon as Garfield was elected the state would be flooded with Chinese and all white labor driven out.
Saturday night the democrats had a procession, carrying transparencies tending to excite animosity against the Chinese.
A considerable portion became intoxicated, and this noon they made an assault on the Chinese houses, tearing the houses and beating and driving out the Chinese.
One was dragged from Hon. Lee’s place with a rope about his neck, and his skull crushed in with boots and bricks.
The police were unable to control the mob.
The fire department was ordered to throw water on the rioters, but the mob attacked them and badly wounded two firemen.
Many Chinamen were fearfully beaten.
One was rescued by the police and taken to jail, which was immediately surrounded by a mob of about 1000, who hurrahed for Hancock and yelled “lynch the leper.”
About dark the mob were entirely beyond control and marched from street to street, gutting Chinese houses and assaulting citizens.
From an isolated tenement a Chinaman was dragged, his ears cut off and otherwise terribly mutilated.
He was finally rescued in a dying condition.
Several are reported killed.
Many colored men were knocked down and beaten.
At this hour the rioters are still on the streets in full force.
There is a great fear of incendiarism to-night.
The transparencies carried in the democratic procession Saturday night were devoted altogether to the Chinese, and this with the constant repetitions of the Garfield forgery, are the causes of the mob.
There is a dangerous night ahead.
The Chinese population here cannot exceed one hundred and fifty.