Annals of the great strikes in the United States

The Workingmen’s Sympathies for Strikers—A Mass Meeting—The Hoodlums on the Alert—Concocting Mischief—Race Riots—Incendiarism—Chinese Wash Houses—The Hoodlum’s Aversion—Destructive Conflagrations—A Vigilance Committee—Chasing the Roughs—A Bloody Scene—The Aroused Citizens Crush the Mob Spirit—Peace Restored.

The wave of unrest that had its origin in the eastern States swept westward, involving two third of the great cities and large towns in its disastrous course, and finally reaching the Pacific shore, manifested itself with terrible effect in the metropolis of California. Properly speaking, the difficulty in San Francisco was not a strike. But the uprising among the workingmen was made an occasion by the roughs, the hoodlum element in San Francisco, to vent their hatred, and indulge in violent attacks on the Mongolian residents of the Pacific states. It was but natural that the workingmen of the Far West, advised as they were, of the events occurring in the East, should entertain a profound sympathy for their eastern brethren on a strike against low wages; it was but reasonable that they should come together to give expression to that sentiment, and they did come together. Better perhaps, that they had not done so, but the errors of the past are irrevocable. Taking advantage of the somewhat perturbed condition of the society, on account of the exciting news from the East, the hoodlums of San Francisco, inaugurated a series of outrages for which the workingmen were in no way responsible.

During the afternoon of July 24th, 1877, hand-bills were industriously circulated throughout San Francisco, setting forth that the workingmen and women of the city would meet in mass meeting at half-past seven o’clock, near the new City Hall, to take action in relation to the strikes in the east.

On account of the excitement which had been occasioned by the news from Pittsburgh, an immense crowd was attracted to the spot, a majority of whom were actuated by mere curiosity, while the hoodlum element went there for what might turn up. By seven o’clock Market street was alive with men going west, and half an hour later both sides of the thoroughfare were black with people. The large, irregular-shaped lot in front of the new City Hall was the place chosen for the meeting, and at eight o’clock it was almost impossible to find a spare foot of ground. A platform had been erected in the center of the lot, and a brass band attempted to play “The Star Spangled Banner” as an overture to the commencement of the meeting.

A gasoline lamp, such as are used by street corner vendors of corn plaster, and superior blacking, was lit by a tall man with a prominent nose, who afterwards called the meeting to order, and nominated James F. D’Arcy for chairman of the meeting. Mr. D’Arcy threw a damper on the meeting by stating that it was no anti-Coolie meeting, and that they were not there for the purpose of discussing the Chinese question. He said that they had met not for the purpose of encouraging riot and incendiarism, but to give their brother workmen in the East their moral support. He then took up the eight-hour question, but did not speak long, as the crowd were impatient for novelty, and had enough of eight-hour oratory.

“Talk about the Chinamen;” “Give us the Coolie business,” and other shouts from all over the ground put an end to his discourse. The crowd was a good natured one, but its component parts wanted fun, and so another meeting was organized on the eastern portion of the lot, and the crowd which seceded from the original meeting, amused themselves by extinguishing the speakers whenever they attempted anything approaching spread-eagle oratory.

Dr. Swain was introduced amidst a constant fire of small talk from the gamins. He quoted from the ancient Greek, spouted phrases from Cicero and Horace, and attacked the Federal Government for not providing for an army of three millions of unemployed workingmen. The crowd could not stand him very long, and he gave way.

A lady was introduced as Mrs. Kendrick. Mrs. Kendrick said that if the workingmen had their wages reduced, the hardships fell on their wives and children as much as on themselves, and they should not, therefore, be selfish in their indignation, but divide a little of it with the women. Her auditors listened good naturedly for fifteen minutes, but as there appeared to be no chance for recess, she was advised to “hire a hall,” and the chairman was asked to “fire her out.”

Hon. John Days, from Nevada, was introduced as an “ex-organizer of ‘The Workingmen’s League.’” Mr. Days alluded briefly to the soulless corporations, the fat and bloated railroad magnates, and the necessity for checking their rapacity.

A gang of some two hundred young hoodlums, who had been collecting on the McAlister side of the lot, at this juncture rushed pell-mell up Leavenworth street, hooting and yelling in a fearful manner. At least eight thousand people were present at the meeting, and it was an orderly one for so large a crowd.

About eleven o’clock in the evening a fire broke out at the Pacific Mail Dock, San Francisco, and raged furiously until after midnight, burning immense quantities of lumber, and a great deal of similar property, owned by various parties. The fire was of incendiary origin, the evident intention being to involve the Company’s property in its spread. The citizen vigilantes marched to the scene of the conflagration, and closed all the streets commanding the approaches.

On the arrival of the first detachment of citizens, a crowd numbering about ten thousand gathered. The various lumber and coal-yards in which the fire was raging, were surrounded on the land side by a fence running near the bottom of a steep hill, leading up to St. Mary’s hospital. On the top of this hill a crowd had assembled. While a portion of them attempted to set fire to the fence, the police and citizens attempted to drive them off, and were met by a shower of stones from the hill. The hill was then stormed in the face of a hot fusilade of stones, and the mob began firing pistols. The force answered with a volley, and getting to close quarters, used their clubs with telling effect. In the charge a young man, the note teller in the London and San Francisco bank, fell, fatally wounded. Another citizen was shot dead, and a great many were wounded more or less seriously, by stones and pistol shots. It was impossible to ascertain the loss of the rioters. Several were reported killed and wounded, but nothing could be definitely known. At least one hundred shots were fired into the mob. About a dozen were found lying in the drug stores near the scene of action, more or less seriously injured. This charge broke the courage of the mob, many of whom were captured, and a long chain being stretched across the front of the mail dock, they were marched to it for safe keeping. The mob at no time obtained access to the mail dock, which was closed, strongly guarded, and several cannon planted, commanding the entrance. The ships at the wharves were hurriedly towed to places of safety. The firemen, after the first outbreak, were well protected, and worked with but slight hinderance. The driver of hose-cart No. 1 was shot dead by the mob, but there were no other casualties among the members of the force.

The anti-Coolie meeting, which had been called, met early in the evening, near Corry Hill. Threats were openly made to clean out Chinatown, and attack the residents and railroad authorities, and from what could be learned, it would appear that Friday night had been fixed upon for the demonstration in that direction. During the evening the following slips, marked “Warning,” were distributed:

The attention of the “Thousand and One” will be drawn to any and all premises where Chinese are employed or allowed. Property owners, insurance companies and employers, make a note of this while there is time, and before the avengers and oppressed laborer thunder at your doors.

Quiet was restored in the city shortly after midnight. Four hundred stand of arms and six thousand revolvers were received from the United States Arsenal.

According to the announcements previously made, the city was treated to a display of lawlessness and hoodlumism such as had never before been witnessed. A band of two or three hundred young men, crazed with excitement and liquor, ruled that portion of the city in which they paraded, for three hours, and it was not until the entire force of regular and special police and a hundred citizens sworn as officers, together with the Sheriff and his Deputies were called upon, that the crowd was broken and the riot stopped. The hoodlum element, it has been claimed, was drawn together by the workingmen’s mass meeting, and it was at the new City Hall where the leaders got their followers together, and laid their plans for the criminal acts which were committed by them sometime later.

On the southwest corner of Leavenworth and Geary streets, was a two-story frame building with a basement. The basement was occupied as a Chinese wash-house, and the upper part as a fruit store and dwelling. The vicious gang rushed into the wash-house, beat the Chinese inmates who had not effected a retreat, scattered the clothing upon the floor, smashed the windows, battered down the doors, and broke the oil lamps against the walls. A portion of the crowd made a raid on the fruit stand, and threw the contents into the street. The burning oil set the building on fire, and in a few minutes the house was in a blaze. An alarm of fire was turned on, and the Department came speedily upon the ground. The inmates of the upper part of the building were rescued with great trouble, and it was only by the greatest exertions that a lady who had retired for the night, was saved from becoming a victim to the flames. Another piece of deviltry practiced, was in cutting the hose leading from the engines. This was done in several places, scarcely one half of the water, in some instances passing through the severed hose.

While the firemen were exerting themselves to subdue the flames, the gang started down Geary street, frightening women and children with their wild cries, shoving men off the sidewalks, and indulging in the wildest species of Indian yells. On the south side of Geary street, above Powell, was a Chinese wash-house, with large glass windows and doors. In five minutes after these wretches rushed into the place the establishment was completely gutted; every pane of glass was broken, the doors wrenched from their hinges; the clothing which had just been washed, trampled under foot, and every article of every description broken to pieces. The inmates, apprised of their danger, had already fled and thus saved themselves. There can be no reasonable doubt that they would have been murdered had they remained. Another wash-house on Post street, near Taylor, was similarly treated, and one of the proprietors was beaten badly on the street.

An attack was made on Gibson Chinese Mission, 916 Washington street, and stones were hurled at the windows.

A Chinese wash-house on Pacific street, near Mason, was attacked; another on Geary street, near Jones; and numerous others in various parts of the city were completely demolished by the mob of hoodlums. The wash-house at 506 Post street was assailed, and the adjoining plumber’s store at 508, owned by Kearny Bros., was broken into, the mob arming themselves with brass implements in the windows and on the shelves.

Some Chinamen, fleeing from an attack on their premises, and closely pursued by a mob, took refuge in the grocery store at the northeast corner of Turk and Leavenworth streets, and the crowd following, took possession of the store, and turned their attention from the Chinese to the liquors, and plundered the place before they left it. The grocery belonged to Mr. Dolan.

Local Officer Page had a novel adventure on Mark street. He arrested a turbulent fellow in the outskirts of the crowd at the new City Hall, and started to take him in, when a gang surrounded him and stole his pistol from his overcoat pocket, and forced his prisoner away. The crowd followed down Sixth street, and Page was assisted out of his scrape by the arrival of detectives Jones and Coffey, who, by a little strategy, got the crowd off on a wrong scent at Market and Eddy streets.

It is estimated that the damage to Chinese wash-houses, and other property, will amount to twenty thousand dollars.

A policeman was struck on the head with a stone thrown from a crowd on Kearny street.

The sidewalk in front of several wash-houses in the North Beach district looked like a bed of cobble stones.

In every instance the police acted with the utmost promptness and resolution, and were posted in every part of the town, with a strong reserve at the City Hall, and their presence in good force had a wholesome effect in checking the perverse elements in the crowds. The entire department was on duty under Chief Ellis, assisted by Captains Lee, Stone, Short, Douglass, Baker, and a number of Sergeants. It was observable that the hoodlums, from fifteen to twenty, were conspicuous in violent demonstrations. About half-past eleven a procession of about two hundred passed down Post street from Stockton, and thence by Geary to Market, and dispersed in the direction of Tar Flat. Their cry was, “We aint no slaves, are we Bill?”

No serious casualties to Chinamen were reported. They prudently kept out of the way.

After the rioters had become tired of gutting wash-houses they started for Chinatown, continually yelling. Long before the police authorities had been notified of what was going on, and a number of special officers were sworn in to assist the regulars. Captains Douglass and Short, with twenty-eight men, marched to the corner of California and Dupont streets, while Sergeant Harmon, with twenty-four men, took post at the corner of California and Stockton streets. The rioters, their numbers now swelled into thousands by all classes of people, the majority of whom went along with them out of mere curiosity, entered Dupont street from Sutter, and rushed along toward Chinatown. A wash-house was encountered on the east side of the street, north of Bush, and it quickly presented the appearance of an exploded powder mill.

The advance, composed entirely of the worst element, was stopped at California street by Captain Douglass and his posse. An order to charge up the hill was given, and in a brief time the police force was among the rioters making a vigorous application of their clubs. The assault was successful, and the hoodlums fled in all directions. The dispersion was complete for the night.

Quiet was restored on the 26th, but the situation was threatening. The only man killed in the riot of the 25th, was Herman Gudewell, teller in the London and San Francisco Bank. Several others were dangerously wounded on both sides.

During the following day, there was a stream of citizens pouring into the rooms of the Committee of Safety, and the available force at the disposal of the Committee, was doubled or tripled.

An appeal was addressed by William T. Coleman, President of the Committee, to the workingmen, calling upon them to aid in the suppression of the riot. Invitations were distributed by the Committee among all good citizens, inviting them to attend the meeting of the Committee at Horticultural Hall, in the evening of the 26th.

Resolutions were drawn up by the Committee of Ten, of the People’s Reform and Anti-Chinese Party, and introduced at the convention which met at Crusader’s Hall, repudiating any connection with the rioters, and pledging the convention to assist the authorities in the preservation of order.

The Committee of Safety and municipal authorities, conferred with Admiral Murray on the 26th, and the result was the Pensacola was anchored in the stream, opposite the Pacific Mail dock, and the Lackawanna took up a position at the foot of Market street. Admiral Murray stated that he was prepared to land a force of marines and blue jackets with Gatling guns, in case of a riot. The position of the Pensacola enabled her to sweep away any mob which would gather at the mail dock.

Ex-soldiers of the Union and Confederate armies met in the afternoon, in the Horticultural Hall, to effect an organization of companies and regiments, and arms and ammunition were received.

Mayor Bryant, of San Francisco, issued a proclamation in which he said:

That lawless and atrocious acts of the vicious and criminal classes in the community had been committed which compelled him for the last time, to warn all good citizens against appearing on the street in large numbers or groups. The object of this caution was, that the innocent might not suffer, and that the street and public places might be left free and unobstructed for the operations of the police, military, and the Committee of Safety, who, he was assured, would see that order was maintained at all hazards.

No further leniency was shown the mob, members of the Committee of Safety were provided with the most approved weapons, and general orders were given to shoot down any person caught in the act of demolishing property, or interfering to prevent the extinguishment of fires. The resistance offered by the hoodlums the preceding night, was the reason for the adoption of harsher measures of punishment.

A special meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners was held in the afternoon, at which it was determined to instruct members of the police force that it was their duty to shoot into any crowd which attacked them with stones or weapons of any kind. They were instructed to take no risks whatever, but on the first attack upon them, they were privileged to use their pistols. A more careful estimate of the loss by the fire on the night of the 25th, showed losses amounting to about eighty thousand dollars.

The casualties by Wednesday night’s riot, were as follows: Herman Gudewell, Assistant note teller of the London and San Francisco Bank, shot while in charge of the vigilantes, of which he was a member, died soon after; Officers Wilson, Smith and Morehouse, wounded by stones, not dangerously; Officers Parsons and Pomroy, pistol shots in head and leg, respectively, not serious; J. K. Conolly, driver of No. 1 hose-cart, shot in the leg by a rioter; Samuel Scronse, on a cart with Conolly, was shot by the mob, fireman of No. 3 hose, struck by a stone in the face, and severely hurt; Joseph Wentworth, fatally injured and leg broken; Henry Washer, killed by a hose-cart on Pacific street, near Stockton; Thomas Baxter, a boiler maker, shot in the chest, near the mail dock, and subsequently died; James Miller, shot in the head while leading in the riot; two hoodlums, Railey and Thompson, shot on Rincon Hill, both of whom afterwards died; a rioter named Carr, dangerously wounded; Hayes, another of the mob, shot in the knee. A great number of the Committee and police were more or less hurt by stones thrown, and many of the rioters were severely clubbed, and it is believed quite a number were wounded by pistol shots, whose names and extent of injuries were not ascertained.

The complete preparations made by the authorities had a very wholesome effect on the hoodlum element.

It had been anticipated that some disturbance might arise previous to the sailing of the steamer Belgic, for Hong Kong, on the 27th of July. But this was averted, for while the Chinese passengers were collecting at the Mail Dock, a heavy guard was in attendance at the dock, and heavy squads patrolled streets leading to the locality as far as Market street. No demonstration was made. About sixty thousand dollars were subscribed to the fund of the Committee of Safety. Enlistments were continued for some days. The Committee was thoroughly organized, and each ward was guarded by its own detachment, while a force was held in reserve at the headquarters, and all members could be assembled at the tap of the bell, in case of necessity. A number of rioters were convicted at the Police Court, and sentenced to the full extent of the law. Notices were posted all over the town, offering a reward of one thousand dollars for the arrest and conviction of any person setting fire to property, and two hundred dollars for that of any one cutting the posts of the fire department. A number of threatening notices were received by manufacturers in San Francisco and in Oakland city.

No disturbance, however, took place. The evident determination of all classes of the citizens of San Francisco to put down the vicious elements, was sufficient to deter even the hoodlums from commission of overt acts against the law and the good order of society. San Francisco was thus saved from disgrace, and loss of property and lives. To this fortunate conclusion, of what at one time appeared a formidable danger, was largely due to the fidelity of the masses of workingmen. There was a very quiet season after the energetic exhibition of force by the authorities and citizens.

N. P. Brock, who made an incendiary speech at the anti-Coolie meeting of Wednesday evening, July 25th, was arrested on the evening of the 29th.

The steamer City of Tokio, from Hong Kong via Yokohama, with a large Chinese passenger list, arrived at San Francisco the morning of the 28th. The landing took place in the afternoon. A strong force of police and the Safety Committee received them.

The immigrants were placed in wagons, and, escorted by guards, moved along Second, Montgomery and Sacramento streets to the Chinese quarter. There was not the slightest disturbance at any time. The crowd at Main Dock was no larger than ordinary, and the hoodlum element failed to announce its presence. Crowds attracted by curiosity filled the sidewalks along the line of march.

On the night of the 27th, a company of Safety-men were fired on by hoodlums, near Laurel Hill Cemetery. The company returned fire, and the assailants took to the bush.

Fire was applied to a Chinese house at San Pablo, near Oakland, on the 28th, and nine houses were destroyed before the flames were subdued. Prominent citizens of Oakland and the suburban towns were daily in receipt of threatening letters.

A Eureka, Nevada, despatch of the 28th, announced that a crowd assembled in the afternoon, and held an indignation meeting, expressing themselves bitterly opposed to the Chinese population, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the Deputy Sheriff and several special police succeeded in preventing the destruction of the Chinese portion of the city of Eureka.