HINDUS ARE LEAVING CITY
About 135, half the colony, have gone, and the rest are only waiting to draw pay and will leave today, never to return.
INDIANS QUIT MILLS AND VIOLENCE CEASES
Oriental crews refuse to go to work, even when promised protection One policeman quells mob.
Cowering, frightened Hindus to the number of 135, or approximately half the Indian colony, left Bellingham yesterday, and it is probable that by tonight there will not be a singly one of the Orientals left here. All those who can speak English state that they are staying over the one extra day in deadly fear of their lies and that they would have gone yesterday if they had been able to draw their pay and get their checks cashed.
Twenty-five of the dusky Singhs left on the north-bound Great Northern yesterday noon. The 4 o'clock B. B. & B. C. train carried approximately forty of them, and seventy others went in the evening on the Great Northern. There are now about thirty left in south Bellingham , sixty in Old Town and possibly two dozen in their hut settlement in the vicinity of Larson's mill at Lake Wahtcom .
Larson Mill Has Hindu Crew
Larson's was the only mill which ran with the Hindu crew working last evening. A force of some fifteen deputy sheriffs, most of them sworn in as specials for the occasion, guarded fourteen timorous Orientals through the night.
Some wag with a penchant for practical joking fired five shots in the vicinity of the mill, causing the deputies to turn out in a body and scaring the Hindus nearly into hysterics. With this exception the night passes quietly, no violence being attempted.
Although assured of protection by special police officers at the mills of the B. B. L. Company, the E. K. Wood Lumber Company and the Morrison Mill Company, the Hindu crews at these places quit, refused to work and declared that they were afraid of more rioters. Hallama, an employee at the B. B. L. Company, came to the police station last night and asked to be allowed to stay there so that he would be safe. He is an Americanized Hindu who wears ordinary clothes and speaks fairly good English, and he declared that he voiced the sentiment of the entire colony when he declared that they would leave today, as soon as they could draw their pay, and that no Hindus would ever come to Bellingham again.
In Fear of Murder
He said that he and his brethren were certain that the mob would kill them if they remained here. The police, he said, would do the best they could, according to the belief of the Hindus, but the sons of India feared that they would be caught in dark streets some night when the police were not present and would be either badly slugged or killed outright. He said Bellingham was no good place for Hindu, and that none of them would ever return to the city again.
An English-speaking Hindu who worked at one of the other mills said that he and the others would not stay for $5 a day now, as they were convinced that they would certainly be murdered if they presumed to remain after the warning given them by the rioters.
Crowd Threatens Officer
The only approach to lawlessness yesterday was the threat of a crowd of 200 men in Old Town to take away from Patrolman Callahan five Hindus who had come in from Larson's mill preparatory to leaving and whom he was taking to the C Street colony to spend the night. The crowd got the idea that the men were to be allowed to stay under police protection and crowded around the officer, but Callahan first quieted them with the assertion that the quintette intended to leave town on the following day. The mob thereupon agreed not to molest them during the night. The promise was well kept. Although half a dozen patrolmen, detectives and specials patrolled Old Town until late, no trouble started.
Southern Colony to Leave
It was rumored yesterday that the Hindus in south Bellingham planned to stay in the city and were not going to follow their compatriots to the other side of the line. A plan was arranged to repeat Wednesday night's riot and route them out of their homes, but it was learned early in the evening that the Orientals were getting ready to leave as soon as they could prepare for the journey, and they were given a day of grace. South Bellingham was well policed last evening, several officers of the force going over and staying till late.
Four Alleged Rioters Arrested on Warrants
Warrants were sworn out by Chief of Police Thomas in Judge Williams' court yesterday afternoon for the arrest of Fred Knowlton, Fred Nolan, a hackdriver; J. Bickbealer, a shingleweaver, and E. H. Anderson and William Winkworth on a charge of participating in a riot at the quarters of the Hindus on C Street Wednesday night.
The men were arrested last night by Sheriff Williams and Deputy DeHaven, and they are now in the county jail. Preliminary examinations will likely be held in Judge Williams' court today.
The men are identified as those who took an active part in the attack on the Hindus at C Street and also at the quarters of the Hindus at the Bellingham Bay Lumber Company's mill.
Upon conviction of participation in a riot the penalty as prescribed is a fine of not less than $20 nor more than $200; not less than twenty days nor more than one year in the county jail, or the accused may be both fined and imprisoned.
Hindus Cheered as they Depart
Nearly thirty Hindus last night purchased tickets for Oakland, Cal., and left on the 6 o'clock south-bound train. One of the Hindus who could speak English said prior to his departure: To much trouble here; we no like stay here; we go to California.
Another bunch of about forty Hindus was at the Great Northern depot, with the intention of leaving for Vancouver, B. C., on the 8 o'clock train last night; but they claim that the mill company where they worked would not pay them and informed them that they had to work last night. This the Hindus refused to do. They were advised to make another demand for their money and, if refused, to place it in the hands of an attorney for collection.
The men were closely huddled together in the waiting room at the depot and looked with fear upon every person who out of curiosity stood around and gazed at them. The Hindus aver that they will not stay here and are more anxious to go to Vancouver.
One of the timid Hindus, who acted as spokesman, asked Officer Callahan if they had to go to jail to keep away from harm, or if they would be permitted to go to their quarters on C Street to remain over night. They averred that they would leave as soon as they got their money. The officer told them to stay at the headquarters on C Street and that no harm would befall them.
Their evening meal at the depot consisted of thin, dry flapjacks, made of whole wheat flour, and a concoction of rice.
Industrial Workers Condemn Lawlessness
Resolutions strongly condemnatory to the mob violence of Wednesday night were adopted last night at a meeting of the Industrial Workers of the World. This organization, after much discussion of the various phases of the question of Hindu labor and the Hindu immigration movement, adopted a resolution declaring that it did not countenance the action against the local Oriental colony, as it did not believe it to be in accordance with the principles of organized labor for the peaceful and lawful settlement of labor difficulties. The resolution was signed by President J. A. Sells and Secretary R. C. Johnson. It contained no mention of the attitude of the body in regard to cheap Hindu labor and its local effects.
(Source: The Bellingham Herald/The Oregonian?, September 6, 1915/1910?)