DIARY AND NOTES 353 



Alley, but notwithstanding that several shots had been 

 fired, nobody seemed seriously hurt. A few Celestials 

 were taken to jail in consequence. The disturbance was 

 thought to have ended and the jailbirds were taken the 

 next day before the police court for preliminary hearing, 

 at which large numbers of Chinatown were present. No 

 sooner had the court set the day for trial than the Mon- 

 golians repaired to their own quarters, where a new fight 

 ensued, which soon attracted a multitude of Mexicans and 

 Americans from that vicinity, some of whom were speed- 

 ily mixed up in the fight. The heathens fought desper- 

 ately and an officer, Robert Thompson, who attempted to 

 quell the riot, was killed and his deputy, Bilderain, was 

 wounded, which naturally roused the boundless anger of 

 the white mob that now surrounded the Chinese dens 

 demanding the blood of the murderers of an American of- 

 ficial who had done his duty as a peace officer. One of the 

 heathens ventured into the street and was at once caught 

 by his pursuers, taken about four squares and hanged to 

 the doorway of a corral amid the abjurations of the en- 

 raged spectators. Having tasted the blood of the almond- 

 eyed stranger, the combined mob of Americans and Span- 

 iards now largely reinforced, began the real massacre. 

 As the beleaguered heathen had barricaded doors and 

 windows, a crowd of hoodlums in desperate frenzy 

 climbed upon the roofs, broke holes through and shot the 

 inmates, males, females, young and old, regardless as to 

 their guilt or innocence. The object was one of vengeance 

 on the cold-blooded murderers of an American citizen. 

 It may seem amazing that so-called civilized communities 

 should have to witness the frenzied destruction of nearly 

 a score of human lives, even though the provocation was 

 very great. When quiet was restored, there were eigh- 

 teen bodies found dangling in mid air, some from win- 

 dow casings, some from lamp posts, while one ot two had 

 actually been tied to the seat of farm wagons and others 

 to awnings, among these the body of a child ! 



Though quite a number of arrests had been made, few 

 actual convictions followed and the sentences covered but 



23 



