Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1917 — NEGRO TROOPS RIOT IN TEXAS; 12 WHITES DIE [ARTICLE]

NEGRO TROOPS RIOT IN TEXAS; 12 WHITES DIE

Captain of Illinois Artillery Among Those Killed in Race War. BLACKS OF CITY JOIN FIGHT Large Number Shot Down by Members of Mob in Automobiles —Illinois Soldiers Surround Camp of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry. Houston, Tex., Aug. 24.—-Twelve white men, civilians, police officers and National Guardsmen, were killed, and more than a score of persons wounded in the outbreak of negro soldiers of the Twenty-fourth United States infantry. It is not known how many negroes are dead. Capt. J. W. Mattes, Battery A, Second Illinois field artillery, was among the dead, being killed when he tried to remonstrate with the negro soldiers who were running ramptint. Race Feeling Cause of Riot. Race feeling, smoldering in Houston since the arrival of four companies of the Twenty-fourth United States infantry, a negro regiment, broke loose. Streets near the ngeroes’ camp were turned literally into a shambles. Negroes armed with army rifles fired indiscriminately into crowds of white people, shot up the white residents’ houses and passed on to vent their hate on others. - Among the injured are: C. N. Wright, a civil engineer, shot in the thigh. T. Binford, city detective, shot in the leg. The riot near Camp Logan soon spread and negroes in the black .quarter of the city armed themselves and went forth. Child Shot Down. Two white men were reported killed Uj the San Felipe .district, populated almost entirely by negroes. One ipan was shot dead as he sat in his buggy. His horse wgs killed. In another portion of the town a little girl was shot down and a woman sustained injuries. White men, commandeering automobiles, started through the residential section collecting rifles and shotguns. Then they started for the Sjeat of the riots. The negroes began to hunt for cover. At eleven o’clock not a negro was to be seen anywhere in the city, with the exception of about 100 men of the Twen-ty-fourth infantry. « Armed Crowd Gathers. ’ A riot meeting was held in the center of the town. Clambering in the back seat of an automobile, a man harangued the crowd. It was not before a throng had gathered, armed with automatic pistols, shotguns and rifles.

A short time before midnight they began to get away. Machine after machine, each carrying four to eight men, whirled down the streets of Houston toward Camp Logan. Nothing has been heard from them since. The first Houston knew of the trouble was at 8 p. m. A few scattering shots were heard. Everybody began to ask what the- trouble was. Then the telephones began to sing. “Send help ! Send help ! The negroes are shooting up the town." Ambulance Stopped. Three automobiles loaded with police officers started.for Camp Logan. They halted at the city limits and confined their activities to warning people not to go near the camp. An ambulance that ventured near to pick uf> the wounded girl v,jj_s stopped by the colored troops. The tires were shot full of holes; the driver told to turn around; a few shots were fired in the air, and the machine came tearing back on flat tires. The Illinois National Guardsmen stepped into the fray then. Companies were marched to the camp site of the negro companies. Other companies yent to the San Felipe district, where a portion of the army negroes had gone. The camp site was surrounded, and not a man, white or black, was allowed to enter or leave. Word was received that the San Felipe quarter was surrounded by the Illinois troops and that they were waiting to Capture the negro company.