Winston-Salem Calm Today After
Night of Rioting in Which Four Persons Are Killed. . . Troops from Charlotte
and Raleigh Help Home Guards in Work
By the Associated Press
Winston-Salem,
Nov. 16—Order was restored here today after a night of rioting in which four
persons were killed and a score injured when a mob attempted to lynch Russell
High, a negro, held in the city jail on charges of shooting John E. Childress,
Sheriff Flint and attacking Mrs. Childress.
The
negro, who was not positively identified, is believed to have been taken to a
neighboring city for safekeeping.
Arrival
of 250 soldiers from Camp Greene and 175 from Camp Polk today had a pronounced
effect on the mob, which dispersed after word had been passed around that the
prisoner had been secreted away.
Before
the troops reached here, the police, assisted by home guards, arrested a large
number of whites and negroes for carrying concealed weapons. The jail at
daylight was filled with persons who were disarmed and locked up while the mob
spirit was at its highest pitch.
The list
of dead included Rachel Levi, a young girl who was shot while leaning out of a
window in her home during the height of the disturbance, Robert Young, a
fireman was killed while playing a stream of water on the mob. Charles J.
White, a construction foreman, was fatally wounded while driving a motor car.
The fourth victim was an unidentified negro.
Childress
and his wife and Sheriff Flint were shot Saturday night. After the arrest of
High there was much talk of lynching and a mob quickly gathered. Efforts of the
mayor to restore order failed.
Detachments
of home guards form Greensboro and Mount Airy, summoned here when the situation
got beyond control of the local authorities, returned today.
Governor
Bickett at Raleigh announced today that there would be a complete investigation.
Five of
the more seriously injured, including two members of the home guards, were
taken to hospitals, but many others were treated at their homes. The total
number of injured was not known and the police would not even hazard an
estimate.
The mob
first formed yesterday afternoon about 3:30 o’clock and stormed the jail. Three
shots were fired and the negro accused of shooting the two men and attacking
Mrs. Childress was seriously wounded, while a white man named Traggs also was
hit in the arm by a stray bullet.
After
some difficulty, the police succeeded in clearing the crowd out of the building
and the mayor called out home guards. Quiet reigned for a time, but later the
report went around that the negro shot was not the man that had been sought. By
nightfall the mob had reformed and started marching to the jail, which was
surrounded by home guards.
Hardware Stores Broken Open
Hardware
stores were broken into and revolvers, shotguns and other weapons and
ammunition taken. As the mob marched, it increased in size and when its
objective was reached it numbered several thousand. The mayor sought to address
the crowd, but could not be heard. In the meantime fire companied had arrived
and when the mob broke for the jail, firemen turned water on them.
Firing
immediately followed, and Young was shot dead. A bullet hit Miss Levi, who was
watching nearby. The home guards answered the volley but the mob quickly
overpowered them and went into the jail. Two members of the guard were badly
hurt by being thrown bodily down a stairway which they were guarding.
Apparently
the mob did not find the negro it sought for no more of the prisoners were
fired upon. After an hour or more the mob left the jail and started marching
through the business section of the town. Gradually it broke into groups and
for a time it was feared that there would be a race riot as some of the groups
headed for the negro quarters.
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