Reign of Riot

REIGN OF RIOT.

Incendiary Fire, with Half a Million Damage.

A Night of Discord, Blood and Disaster.

Fight between Hoodlums and Police with Loss of Life.

RINCON HILL THE BATTLE-GROUND.

The Citizens' Committee of Safety to the Rescue.

An Inflammatory Anti-Coolie Meeting.

TWENTY CHINESE WASH-HOUSES SACKED.

The Killed and Wounded—The Night’s Arrests—Etc.

The statements caused by the riots in San Francisco continued throughout last night, and up to an early hour this morning. Among the worst were fires, total lawlessness, and extraordinary precautions taken by the authorities to preserve the peace.

The organization of the Committee of Public Safety, with semi-military establishment and numerous counteragents, has been met with strong condemnation.

There followed the night of lawlessness all over the southern part of the city, and arson and the attempted burning of a block of buildings in the heart of the business quarter.

A NIGHT OF TERROR—A GREAT PANIC—SACKING AND BURNING.

A FORMIDABLE DISTURBANCE.Be it proper that special note is made of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s dock (or “Old Tebo’s dock”), toward which the mob went with a wild cry of voices, and unprecedented ferocity of movement.

Fire-raising was again attempted at the Chinese quarters near the corner of Fourth and Brannan Streets.

It was prevented in the nick of time, and serious bloodshed was feared.

A large gathering had taken place, and the wash-houses were gutted with total loss to their owners.

This incident was but one of many, as more than twenty Chinese wash-houses across Rincon Hill were sacked and burned.

The organized elements of the riotous class, calling themselves “the anti-coolie club,” carried red flags and banners with offensive language.

It is clear that they did not act spontaneously, but rather through arrangement.

When the police engaged the mob, gunfire was exchanged.

LOSS OF LIFE.It is estimated that four persons were killed and about twenty seriously injured. Among the dead are two young white men, apparently bystanders.

The Chinese death toll is uncertain, though several were seen bleeding and carried off by the rioters.

COMPLETELY SACKED.A long line of Chinese establishments on the eastern slope of Rincon Hill were raided and pillaged.

Clothing was torn apart and set on fire. Furniture was smashed and thrown from windows.

No effective resistance was encountered in those areas.

The mob then made its way toward Brannan Street, where gunfire again erupted.

A few Chinese men attempted to defend themselves and their homes, but they were beaten back.

THE NIGHT.As darkness fell, the scene resembled a battlefield, with gangs of youths running with torches, clubs, and pistols.

The fire department was called to various scenes, but some engines were blocked by debris or turned back by rioters.

THE ANTI-COOLIE MEETING.A meeting was held at half-past 8 o’clock in Hamilton Hall, where inflammatory speeches were delivered.

Banners read “White Labor Must Rule,” and shouts of “Down with the Coolies!” followed.

The speakers included known agitators and labor men, who claimed that the Chinese had robbed them of their livelihoods.

Several warned that “the people’s wrath must be heard.”

RAID OF THE WASH-HOUSES.

Large numbers of Chinese wash-houses were visited by crowds of rioters last night, and the sacking and destruction was more general than upon any previous occasion.

Commencing at the Chinese quarter on Second Street, the mobs worked southward and westward, entering every place occupied by Chinese and destroying everything that came in their way.

The Celestials offered but little resistance, and most of them fled at the first signs of attack.

The greatest destruction occurred in the district between Harrison and Bryant, First and Third Streets.

The torch was applied to several buildings, and a number of fires were only subdued by the most strenuous exertions of the Fire Department.

At one point, on Harrison Street, between First and Fremont, a large brick building was fired and destroyed.

It was occupied by about fifty Chinese, who barely escaped with their lives.

Some were severely beaten in attempting to save their property.

At another place, on Beale Street, a man was seen to fall beneath the blows of the mob and was left for dead in the gutter.

Whether he was Chinese or a white man could not be ascertained.

A squad of police arrived soon after and dispersed the mob.

Scarcely a wash-house escaped damage.

All over the city, wherever a Chinese place was known to exist, it was visited and its contents destroyed.

Furniture was broken to pieces, bedding torn, and clothing set on fire.

At a late hour, bodies of men were still prowling about with the evident purpose of mischief.

The streets were filled with debris of broken household goods, and the gutters ran with soap suds and slop from the wrecked laundries.

A few arrests were made by the police, but not enough to deter the rioters.

The Chinese are in a state of complete terror and many have sought refuge on the water front and in the shipping.

Some took boats and rowed to the opposite shore.

The scenes of violence and destruction have struck terror into the hearts of the foreign population.

All business was suspended in the affected districts, and the people gathered in crowds on the street corners, discussing the situation in awed tones.

The attitude of the authorities is more determined than before, and a strong force of special police has been sworn in.

The citizens’ committee is cooperating actively with the regular force.

If to-night’s demonstrations are as severe as those of last night, it is believed that the military will be ordered out in force.

The Mayor is firm in his purpose to restore order at all hazards.