collected more and more men, dissatisfied angry men who’d already been so humiliated by their circumstances,by their poverty, that they didn’t know themselves any more. They had lost their individuality. You know what I mean by that?’
‘Not really.’
‘Each man had forgotten what made him different from the next guy. And now, added to all the chronic humiliation was his anger at the unfairness of the draft, at the possibility of becoming, not a man any more, but an animal in a pack of animals. There were thousands of men like this and they headed towards the draft office on 3rd Avenue. By the time they reached it there were 15,000 of them and they set to destroying the building. They smashed and burned it. They set all sorts of things on fire, other buildings, everything. They cut the telegraph wires so that reinforcements couldn’t be sent to assist what few police were there. Remember that many of the regular police force were already in the Army. There was a small military detachment at the draft office and, even though they were armed with rifles, they were no match for the mob. It was too big. One soldier was disarmed, then beaten and kicked to death and then his body was thrown twenty feet to the ground. Train tracks were ripped up. Street cars were destroyed. The armoury on 21st Street was looted then destroyed.
‘Columns of black smoke blotted out the July sun. They went after any policeman they could find, politicians, anyone who looked rich enough to pay the $300 needed to be exempt from the draft.’
‘How could they tell?’
‘By the way someone looked, the way they were dressed.’
‘But they could be wrong. Maybe a poor person was wearing their best clothes.’
‘They
could
be wrong but they didn’t care. It didn’t matter to them. Watch your case. Are you watching your suitcase?
‘By eleven-thirty that Monday morning the draft, at least in New York, was suspended. But it was too late. The mob was in charge of Manhattan. At two-thirty that afternoon it reached the Colored Orphan Asylum. This was a charitable institution for black children who had lost their parents and who had no one else to take care of them. It had its own nursery, a school and an infirmary. There were 230 or so children. They were having a normal day when suddenly the building was rushed bythe mob. Anything that could be taken, lifted, carried from the building was looted; sheets, blankets, clothes, even food. They took toys. Everything else was set on fire after someone in the mob yelled “Burn the niggers’ nest!” They were black orphaned children. Was there anyone more vulnerable in all the city? The mob set upon the asylum. With clubs, brick bats, anything they had to hand. It only took about twenty minutes to destroy the whole place.’
‘Did anyone try to stop it?’
‘Actually, yes. It was reported that one man – he was Irish – pleaded with the mob to help the children but they set upon him too.’
‘And what … what happened to the children?’
‘The children, carrying whatever belongings they could hold, were led out through a side entrance by some staff and through the streets with a police guard. Some soldiers armed with bayonets came to escort them and keep them from the mob.’
‘So none of them were killed?’
‘One of them was, a ten-year-old girl.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘As she was being led away from the building, a piece of furniture hurled out the window of the asylum by the mob hit her in the head. It’s horrible, Adam, what people can do, what they’re capable of.’
‘Did her friends see, the other children, I mean? Did they see her get killed?’
‘I guess they must have.’
‘And what happened to the rest of them, the children?’
‘Well, I read one account that said they were taken to a police station on 35th Street and another version said they were put on a barge and towed out to the middle of the East River to keep them safe from the
‘Not really.’
‘Each man had forgotten what made him different from the next guy. And now, added to all the chronic humiliation was his anger at the unfairness of the draft, at the possibility of becoming, not a man any more, but an animal in a pack of animals. There were thousands of men like this and they headed towards the draft office on 3rd Avenue. By the time they reached it there were 15,000 of them and they set to destroying the building. They smashed and burned it. They set all sorts of things on fire, other buildings, everything. They cut the telegraph wires so that reinforcements couldn’t be sent to assist what few police were there. Remember that many of the regular police force were already in the Army. There was a small military detachment at the draft office and, even though they were armed with rifles, they were no match for the mob. It was too big. One soldier was disarmed, then beaten and kicked to death and then his body was thrown twenty feet to the ground. Train tracks were ripped up. Street cars were destroyed. The armoury on 21st Street was looted then destroyed.
‘Columns of black smoke blotted out the July sun. They went after any policeman they could find, politicians, anyone who looked rich enough to pay the $300 needed to be exempt from the draft.’
‘How could they tell?’
‘By the way someone looked, the way they were dressed.’
‘But they could be wrong. Maybe a poor person was wearing their best clothes.’
‘They
could
be wrong but they didn’t care. It didn’t matter to them. Watch your case. Are you watching your suitcase?
‘By eleven-thirty that Monday morning the draft, at least in New York, was suspended. But it was too late. The mob was in charge of Manhattan. At two-thirty that afternoon it reached the Colored Orphan Asylum. This was a charitable institution for black children who had lost their parents and who had no one else to take care of them. It had its own nursery, a school and an infirmary. There were 230 or so children. They were having a normal day when suddenly the building was rushed bythe mob. Anything that could be taken, lifted, carried from the building was looted; sheets, blankets, clothes, even food. They took toys. Everything else was set on fire after someone in the mob yelled “Burn the niggers’ nest!” They were black orphaned children. Was there anyone more vulnerable in all the city? The mob set upon the asylum. With clubs, brick bats, anything they had to hand. It only took about twenty minutes to destroy the whole place.’
‘Did anyone try to stop it?’
‘Actually, yes. It was reported that one man – he was Irish – pleaded with the mob to help the children but they set upon him too.’
‘And what … what happened to the children?’
‘The children, carrying whatever belongings they could hold, were led out through a side entrance by some staff and through the streets with a police guard. Some soldiers armed with bayonets came to escort them and keep them from the mob.’
‘So none of them were killed?’
‘One of them was, a ten-year-old girl.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘As she was being led away from the building, a piece of furniture hurled out the window of the asylum by the mob hit her in the head. It’s horrible, Adam, what people can do, what they’re capable of.’
‘Did her friends see, the other children, I mean? Did they see her get killed?’
‘I guess they must have.’
‘And what happened to the rest of them, the children?’
‘Well, I read one account that said they were taken to a police station on 35th Street and another version said they were put on a barge and towed out to the middle of the East River to keep them safe from the
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