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LSi.ieodhir-yrRACE WAR IS PREVENTEDOSKALOOSA OFFICERS STOP THE RIOTING AT EVANS.Co q ft tab 1* Bft|(«ab«rf Shot and D«i|ftr*«n»ly WoM*d04^Roy L«ifhtoi, Ac-««*#d *f Shofttlag, biupiHitn-Nin* N«(r«ci Didtr Attat,!-ftyeveOskaloosa, Jan. 4.—(Special.)—The threatened race was at Evans, a mining1 camp five miles west of here, was averted today by the prompt action of officers from Oskaloosa. Eight of the leaders among the negroes who have been involved in the trouble were brought here for safe keeping. Special deputy sic riffs were placed an guard and the saloons closed by Sheriff Cricket LThe trouble, which originated at a wedding New Year's evening, led to a riot in a saloon Friday night in which three white men were badly injured and culminated in the shooting of Constable John Ruggenberg of Evans at 10:30 o'clock this forenoon while he was attempting to arrest colored men who *were involved In the affair of the night before. Peeling ran high all day and for houra it looked as if an outbreak could not be averted, but promptthe feeling began to subside and no further trouble 3s feared at present.Manager Fhillipti of the mine saya he wiu discharge all the men involved In the affair. Sheriff Crickett ordered all the saloons closed, a? —ry of the white miners were drinki gettinginto an ugly mood.SMITH UNDER $■ * £ST.-»***• Chanted With tlelpitlon la fcfcoolice ? ad«lt;Lafter the rlc £ x Jvans and theSoon afterwounding of Cons -s Ruggenberg aTO 0‘Tom uyi c TT *telegram was reclt; ~ $ oy Chief Smith?£ t^e.lt;JeiecllYe d I nent from Sher-iff Cnckett at K tosa., requesting him to watch the int.. ming Rock Island tram from Oskaloosa and place under arrest a colored man named Oscar Smith, alias Burgess. Smith was stat* ed not to be a miner, but a well-dressed mulatto, a leader among the colored miners. He was described as being 25 years of age and light colored. Chief Smith wired the conductor of the train, asking him if he had enoh a man on board. The conductor replied that he had, and the detectives made preparations to intercept and arrest him upon arrival in the city. The fugitive, accompanied by his wife, was headed for Marciuisvilje, north of Bes Moines, where Mrs. Smith has relatives.- When the tram stopped at East Eighteenth street for the Great Western crossing, at 4 o'clock yesterday after-/£WHQAnAthaancerhconxna;wil daj wo 3 be hea no Bre Cai on Mil chilt; T yea city for yet con mitweMorHcacotXEsJiEW VEAR-3 ©1FXS.WORK.Kt Cofficial action restored a degree of quiet, although an intense undercurrent of feeling between the races continues. Ruggenberg is badly injured and may die.Roy Leighton, the negro accused of ehooting Ruggenberg, is not among the negroes under arrest and Ills whereabouts are unknown, but a companion and a reputed leader of the attack on Ruggenberg, Oscar Smith, has been taken in custody In Des Moines.The Genoa!* of the Troablc.The trouble between the negroes and whites at Evans began at a colored wedding New Year’e evening. White miners eharlvarled the newly wedded couple and were given a small! sum of money and went away. A crowd of colored miners then visited the house where the wedding took place, and they, too, were given money, after which they lefL The two crowds met soon after in a saloon,where they tyent-to spend the money, and trouble resulted. In the ensuing fight a white man, Jule Layton, was worsted. He swore out a warrant for the arrest of one of the colored men. For some reason the warrant was not served.A colored man named Wright, hearing the warrant was out for him, sought out Layton Friday night and found Mm In a saloon kept by Jack O'Brien. A fight started and all the colored people in the place, including Wright, were put out They immediately gathered their “gang together, and returning to the saloon, the door of which had been loeked and barred, demanded admittance, which was refused. They then burst the door open and sought to take possession of the place.Three white men were In the saloon, opposed by twenty colored men. O’Brien felled four of the colored men during the fight, and was then himself put out of action by being hit on the head with a chair. His companions were knocked insensible with beer bottles and ©tones hurled by the colored men. The appearance of Constable Ruggenberg put an end to the fighting for the night- The local justice could not be found and this morning warrants were issued at Oskaloosa for the following twelve colored men, charging them with rioting and attempt at murder;Oscar Smith, alias Burgess, claimed I the leader of the gang: HarryPai-ker, Len Wright, Leonard Ganes.noon, Smith, suspecting the authorities 1 had been: warned, disembarked and started northward on foot. The conductor observed hts departure and noti- ; fled the deteetives from a switch house at East Ninth* where there was a tele- j phone. Meanwhile Detective Johnson i had gone to the East Side Rock Island depot, expecting to Intercept the fugitive. Fortunately Chief S-mith had not left the station, being engaged In hitching a horse to a buggy. Upon learning the fugitive had left the train at East Eighteenth street, Chief Smith drove hurriedly east on Grand avenue, expecting to overhaul the negro on his way to Marquisviile, where he was suspected of intending to seek refuge among the negro miners. At East Ninth and Grand avenue the detective saw a negro who answered the dcscrip- . tion given of Smith, alias Burgess. He accosted him. The negro' showed a disposition to runr hut stopped when he saw a big pistol leveled at him.“You are from Evans, and you are wanted for being concerned^ in. the shooting of an office? there this morning,” said Chief Siiilth. approaching the stranger,“I didn't shoot kd officer,'* replied the negro sullenly. “He shot hisselt He was trying to cop ^at a rcoon, and while they was serappin' the gun goes off and shoots the constable.”“What did you rtn away from Evans for? asked the detective.“I knowed they’d be after ail the niggahs in the town for the sbootln’, so I made my git-away,” was the reply.Smith was placed under arrest and conducted to the station. On the way to headquarters the prisoner recognized hia wife as she was being driven past in a buggy on the way to Marquisviile by a relative. Smith confessed it had been his intention to get to the Northwestern yards, if possible, and make his way out of town on a freight train to Marquisville, where he had expected to go into hiding. His wife was permitted to go on to Marquisville, but Smith was confined in jail* A telegram informing Sheriff Crickett of his arrest wafl sent to Oskaloosa a few minutes after his apprehension. A reply was received from the sheriff stating he would take the first train for the city. He is expected to arrive this morniing.waDfthoffthibeapthithtmich;thttetedteevathiMithtthth.haCO.cianothtfoibeiCHtoM.wastinoup' Sam Carr, Roy Leighton, Henry Steele, John J. Jones, Robert; Wright, M.: Washington, Sisto Johnston, George Brooks.for the Con*table.When Constable Ruggenberg left for Oskaloosa: the news was circulated among the colored men, and it is claimed threats to fix him on his return were freely made. Smith, alias Burgess, is stated to have said he would hill the constable if he attempted to serve a warrant on him. Great excitement prevailed among the colored men at the time.A crowd of colored men was at the station when Constable Ruggenberg got off the train on his return. The constable approached one of the colored men and placel him under arrest. As he did so Roy Leighton attempted to board the train, which was still at the station. He was covered by the constable's gun and ordered to return to the plarfcrm.Leighton and Burgess attacked the constable, according to the story of bystanders, and in the struggle Rug-genberg was wounded by the discharge of his own weapon. It is claimed by the prosecution that the weapon had been wrested from Ruggenberg by Leighton, while the negroes claim' It was accidentally discharged while in Ruggenberg’a hands. The colored men in the crowd immediately seized the warrants in the officer’s hands and tore them up. Leighton started down the track with the constable's gun in his hand. Two men with shot guns covered him and he was obliged to return. Later he escaped Into the crowd, and running west on the track disappeared. He has not since been located, Ruggenberg was then removed to his home. He was shot .through the left groin and the wound is serious and may prove fatal.0*kaloo*a Offleor# Rrstoro Prace,IGIAHS GGiM T9 ISLE OP PIKESth;T« J. Jamet of Fkitfi.ld on Hit 'Way to Arrange for an Uixt.asirc Colony.OfwhIndignation ran high over the shooting and violence was threatened. If looked for a time as if a race war could not be averted and that it would be accompanied by great loss of life. The following officers from Oskaloosa were summoned: Sheriff Crickett, Chief of Police Nick Moore, Officer George Andrews. Justice B. C. Rice and County Attorney Deavitt. Deputies were sworn in and by 4* p. in. eight of the colored men involved in the affair had been arrested. They were taken to Oskaloosa on a special in order to protect them, as It wa* not deemed safe to have them in Elvans when the white miners quit work.WVi P ti i t tT’Q'3 H £ * nn vorooaIamaJNew Orleans, Jan. 4.—T J, James of Fairfield, la., passed through here en route to the Isle of Pines, just south of Cuba, which has been reserved by the United States, Mr. James goes there to make arrangements for the extensive colonization of the Island by farmers from Iowa, Illinois and other western states. A large body of land has been acquired in the island by a company incorporated under the laws of Iowa. Thirteen families from the town of Spirit Lake are already settled there and are well pleased with the country. Their leters home are so satisfactory as to promise a large emigration there, and Mr. James goes to the island to put the lands In condition to receive the emigrants.wa0121Hi:poibelotihe]neitinwi:citha-MrGOLD AND SILVER YIELD.Prftductl*n of Frvoioaa Uetth for PailYear Accord!** to Robert*.Washington, Jan. 4.-~Th0 preliminary estimate of Mr. Roberts, the director of the mint, on the production of gold and silver in the United States durina the calendar year 1501 indicates only a^lignt gain over the production of the pie-ceding year, The yield of Alaska fell off by about one million dollars: Colorado made a slight gain ir* gold, and the other producers were nearly stationary.The yield of silver exceeded that of the previous year by about two million fine ounces. The total number of ounces of fine gold produced is shown to have been 3,880,57g, of the value of $8lt;.21£,SOO. The number of fine ounce© of silver produced was 59,653/13$, having a commercial value of $35*792,300. The coinage value of the silver la approximately $7?,006.0GG.Colorado leads the states in the production of both gold and- silver, the total value of her output of gold amounting to $29,000,000. Colorado’.s production of silver totals 20,533,333 fine ounces. California was second in the production of gold, the state’s ouput having a value of $15,730,000 Montana hold? second pjace in the production of sliver, with 14,m.W fine ounces. Utah produced 10,250,000 fino ounces of silver..JP1*Klondike produced $17,555,-400 gold, and Alaska. $6*904,400.hhthrtortoHirlcagclt of: istaithipoSOI-witoiJ*:tO;thItDndPrtflkerB' Fnlt;*t*r* ftorporfChicago, Jan ■ 4.—'The piant of James C, Curtis uo-( manufacturers of undertakers' supplies, was damaged S2W.OOO by fire tonight The building was five stories high and stood at the Intersection of West Monroe and Jefferson street©The fire originated m the paint shop ana made a clean sweep through the three unper stories of the building. Th^ two lower floors, occupied by the offices and manufactured product, were so baciiy oamaged by water as to make the Ica* practically total. During the fire fhe^ewere several explosions and nf -hewlthIninIn
Newspaper Details
Des Moines Daily Leader
Des Moines, Iowa, US
Sun, Jan 05, 1902
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Myke G.
NA, NA 05 Oct 2020
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