pistols. Barricades were now erected, behind which the mob rallied, and
the contest assumed the aspect of a regular battle. The notorious Captain
Rynders came on the ground, between six and seven o'clock, and attempted
to restore quiet. Not succeeding, however, he repaired to the office of
the Police Commissioners, and told Commissioner Draper, if he had not
police force enough to disperse the mob, he should call out the military.
The latter replied that he had made a requisition on Major-General
Sandford, for three regiments, and that they would soon be on the ground.
But it was nine o'clock before they made their appearance. The police then
formed in two bodies of seventy-five men each, and supported, one by the
Seventy-first Regiment and the other by the Eighth, marched down White and
Worth Streets. This formidable display of force overawed the rioters, and
they fled in every direction. This ended the riot, although the military
were kept on duty during the night.

At times, the fight was close and deadly, and it was reported that eight
were killed and some thirty wounded.

BREAD RIOT.

In the autumn, there came a financial crisis, that was so wide-spread and
disastrous that the lower classes suffered for want of food. Banks
suspended specie payment, manufactories were forced to stop work, and
paralysis fell on the whole industry of the nation. It was estimated that
ten thousand persons were thrown out of employment. These soon used up
their earnings, and destitution and suffering of course followed. Their
condition grew worse as cold weather came on, and many actually died of
starvation. At length they became goaded to desperation, and determined to
help themselves to food. Gaunt men and women, clad in tatters, gathered in
the Park, and that most fearful of all cries, when raised by a mob,