ON AMERICAN SOIL 187 



the occurrence should be partly made known in the city, 

 in older to prepare the citizens for an extraordinary 

 event, without giving exact details as to what to expect. 

 Tims no one outside the sworn members of the organiza- 

 tion knew anything definite, but even the late hour did 

 not prevent the gathering of an enormous crowd at the 

 plaza— a large square in the most frequented part of the 

 city. 



Expectancy was at its height. About half past eleven 

 there appeared the criminal Jenkins, surrounded by 

 twenty-four armed men, members of the lynching com- 

 mittee. A scaffold had been erected and was now the des- 

 tination of the culprit, though an unsuccessful attempt 

 had been made by a few regular policemen to break the 

 cordon; the order to stand back and the significant dis- 

 play of pistols had its wholesome effect upon these so- 

 called agents of public safety. AVhen the place of hang- 

 ing had been reached the chosen leader of the band of 

 lynchers, climbing upon a table and in the torchlight, ad- 

 dressed the multitude, which had reached a number of at 

 least twelve thousand people. He dwelt eloquently upon 

 the present state of affairs and this particular event, end- 

 ing his fiery speech with these words: "Citizens of San 

 Francisco! Is it your will that this criminal Jenkins, 

 who has been found guilty of robbery, shall lose his life 

 by the rope?" A thundering "yes" from thousands of 

 voices was the answer and when the sound began to die 

 away the lifeless body of Jenkins was already swinging 

 in midnight air! 



This daring deed had given publicity to the existence 

 and purpose of the society and the crisis was overcome. 

 Everybody indorsed the action of the lynchers and the 

 demand for admission to membership reached such pro- 

 portions that the names of nearly every honest and armed 

 man in the city appeared on the membership roll within 

 the next few weeks. Of course, it became necessary to 

 reconstruct the by-laws and reorganize committees, sub- 

 divide patrols and plan the whole working on a larger 

 and more effective scale. It was therefore decided to 



