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MURDERS BY CHINESE tIN CALIFORNIA.. A telegram from San Francisco to the New York papers states that some persons passing near Sargent’s Ranch, about two miles from Rocklin, Placer County, heard several pistol-shots, and, as they approached tne house, saw two men, who scaled the fence and ran away. On entering the house the body ofA Mrs. Oder, who, with her husband and Sargent, occupied the premises, wa3 found on the floor. She had been shot twice, and her head split open by an axe. An alarm was given, and a party of constables and citizens began a search. About 50 yards from the house the body of Mr. Oder was found. He had received three pistol-shots. The party then followed the trail of the men who were seen to jump the fence. Their tracks showed that they wore . I ci Chinese shoes. After crossing a ravine, three-quarters t of a mile from the house, in a clump of willows, they t found Sargent bleeding from wound3 in the head and e body. He was conscious, and stated that two China- * men had called at the house shortly after noon and h desired to purchase a certain mining claim from him. t He accompanied them to the claim, and while returning c they shot him five times in the body and head and left him t for dead. He said the assassins were from Pcnrhyn, a t neighbouring village, one of them being a cook. He 1 had received 120 dols. from another Chinaman a few 1 daysbefore for a mining claim, which sum was in a trunk t at the house, and presumed that the object of the t murderers was to obtain the money. The party * followed the track of the murderers to a Chinese cabin i near at hand, where they captured three Chinamen, one 11 of whom was in bed, but perspiring freely, as though he had been running. Several other Chinamen living near by were arrested, and one of them, who was much frightened, volunteered the information that Ah Sam and Ah Jim had murdered Sargent, but would say no more. One of the prisoners had 120 dols. in his possession. It was found that the trunk in which Sargent deposited the money had been cut open and robbed. Sargent died the following morning. The cook could not be found, though the town and the country for miles around were scoured in the pursuit. On the 16th a meeting of citizens was held at Rocklin, and all the Chinese were notified to leave the place by six o’clock p.m. Before four o’clock the last squad of Chinamen, burdened by their baggage, filed out of the town, including those employed by the railroad company, the prisoners being the only ones remaining. At G p.m. the citizens marched to the Chinese quarter and demolished all the buildings, 25 in number, including a store, the owner of which had removed his stock of goods. At the inquest on the bodies of the murderedEersons facts were developed which led the sheriff to elieve that four of the Chinamen in custody were implicated in the murders, and he ordered their removal to the county gaol at Auburn. A crowd collected when the officers, with their prisoners, boarded, the train, and the muttering3 of the throng broke out into exclamations such as “ Have them out!” “ Hang them !” A rush was then made for the doors of the car, and the sheriff and his deputies were seized upon, and but for a fair show of pistols by the officers and conductor of the train the purpose of the mob would have been accomplished. The crowd wa3 finally forced back, and the train moved out of the station, followed by the yells of the throng. Throughout the day all the saloon keepers closed their doors, otherwise serious consequences would have ensued. The coroner’s jury found that the murder of Sargent was committed by Ah Sam, Ah Jim, and another Chinaman unknown, Sargent having mentioned a third assailant subsequent to his first statement. The jury failed to indicate the murderers of Oder and his wife, and the other prisoners were liberated for want of evidence againsi fethe evening the buildings connected with a Chinese ' garden about a mile from Rocklin were burned. It is positively denied that the fire wa3 caused by whites, and it i3 probable that the premises were abandoned and fired by the Chinese. _ A later despatch say3 Mr. j Sargent’s teamster is missing, and it is snpposod he has been killed. A partjT of armed citizens visited various+Arrfnolim Knf fAn n fTiom oil
Newspaper Details
London Magnet
London, Middlesex, GB
Mon, Oct 15, 1877
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Andrew N.
CA, USA 11 Nov 2016
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