Rioters In Full Possession — Robbing Of Freight Cars, Etc.

This article from the July 23, 1877 issue of the Baltimore American gives an account of the rioters halting rail service and robbing freight cars.

THE RIOTERS IN FULL POSSESSION—ROBBING OF FREIGHT CARS, ETC.

CUMBERLAND, MD., 6:30 A. M.

—This morning the rioters here and at Keyser have everything in their own hands. No trains are allowed to leave, and no violence is used to engineers and firemen. The police are powerless to suppress the disorder. The rioters number 1,500 at this place, and will be joined to-day by reinforcements from Martinsburg. The coal miners from Frostburg have joined the rioters at Keyser.

The rioters, it is feared, will resist any military that may arrive. Those arrested last night for shooting at the police were released by Mayor Withers, because he fears the threats made by the mob who had surrounded the jail. The passenger trains bound east and West are not allowed by the Company to run after night between certain points. Some of the guests at the Queen City Hotel last night would not go to bed, as the rioters had made threats that they would burn the building.

A number of freight cars at this place were broken open at the depot this morning about daylight by the mob, and a large quantity of provisions and other things carried away. Women and children with bags and baskets assisted in this depredation, and each one went off loaded with plunder. They were not interfered with, as the authorities are unable to guard property.