By Roger Ruthhart, Dispatch/Argus staff writer

Part 4 of 8

John Looney used his paper, The Rock Island News, regularly to criticize The Argus. Then, in 1912, his paper attacked Rock Island Mayor Harry M. Schriver.

On March 27, 1912, riots and martial law ruled the headlines in Rock Island. In front page photos that day were Mayor Harry M. Schriver, left, who had beaten John Looney after being attacked by Looney's paper; and Sheriff O. L. Bruner, who asked for National Guard assistance to regain control of the city.

According to accounts, Mr. Looney had pressed Mayor Schriver not to prosecute one of his lieutenants, Anthony Billburg, on gambling charges. When he got the wrong response from the mayor, he attacked him in several articles in The News.

A 2-inch headline said ``SCHRIVER'S SHAME'' and the secondary headline accused the mayor of spending ``Night and Day in Peoria in Filthy Debauch with Ethel.''

Friday, March 22, 1912, Mayor Schriver retaliated by arresting Mr. Looney and closing down his newspaper. He was brought to the police station, where Mayor Schriver beat Mr. Looney so severely he required hospitalization. He suffered a possible broken nose, four deep wounds to the head, and blood gushing from his right ear.

``Driven beyond the limit of human endurance by a libelous, defaming and besmirching attack which appeared this morning in John Looney's News, Mayor H.M. Schriver stopped, to a certain degree, the sale of the sheet, caused the arrest of 18 newsboys who were offering it for sale, and of Looney himself, and one of his henchmen, Dan Drost, beat Looney badly, forced him to apologize, and then rejected Looney's voluntary offer to issue a special edition containing a retraction of the article which was the cause of the action upon the part of the city's head, but warned him of what would happen if the attack was repeated,'' The Argus reported.

Mr. Looney was arrested at 10 a.m. and, according to The Argus, ``when Mayor Schriver saw him in the sergeant's office he could not control himself any longer and attacked him. No one else was in the room. Those who were outside the door heard Looney shriek at the top of his voice, `Murder, murder. He's murdering me' and he continued to cry out until he sank to the floor. After the uproar had subsided, Looney was heard to apologize.

``Mayor Schriver said `Listen to me, John Looney! If you ever use my name in your scandalous, blackmailing sheet again, in a scandalous article attacking my character, I will shoot you on sight! Apologize!''' The Argus reported.

``The city is full of people who have been the victims of his onslaughts,'' the mayor said after the beating. ``For my own part, it has gone as far as it can. Looney understands that.''

The newsboys pleaded guilty to selling an indecent newspaper. Myron Jordan, who was believed to have written most of the News stories, also was arrested.

Four days later, on March 26, 1912, a large crowd gathered in Market Square. Opponents of Mayor Schriver and associates of John Looney stirred the crowd. The angry mob stormed the police station and police fired back, killing two bystanders and wounding nine others.

``Officers Driven Off Streets and Trapped in Headquarters by Howling Mob. Station Showered with Missiles and All Windows in Building Smashed'' Argus headlines said on March 27.

``The whole trouble ... may be traced to the fact that I enforced the law against disorderly saloons and chop suey joints. That is what brought the attack upon me by the Looney paper and it is at the bottom of the entire disturbance,'' Mayor Schriver said.

The riot began quietly with a speech by E.E. Gardner, editor of the Tri City Labor Review and socialist candidate for supervisor, who addressed a gathering in Market Square. ``I was very careful in my speech to urge respect for the law,'' he told The Argus.

The purpose of the meeting was to spread fliers calling for the recall of Mayor Schriver and Commissioner Archie Hart, citing the mayor's actions in the Looney case as cause for the recall.

But others berated the mayor for beating up Looney and banning distribution of The News. One person testified hearing Harry M. McCaskrin, a candidate for state's attorney backed by Mr. Looney, urge the crowd to ``go to The News office and get a paper and, if the officers interfere, overpower them.'' Mr. McCaskrin denied he invited resistance of police.

The riot actually was started, according to Argus accounts, by a small group of men who were not from Rock Island who started harassing police on 2nd Avenue. Knowing their resistance would provoke a fight, the officers ran east along the avenue. A mob followed them to city hall.

``As the mob lined up across the street, Commissioner Hart stepped outside the station and, holding his hands up, urged the crowd be guided by reason and refrain from any attempt at injury. His remarks were drowned by a riotous cry, followed by a fusillade of bricks,'' The Argus reported.

He went back inside and urged police not to agitate the crowd in any way, the Argus said. A few minutes later officers were startled by the firing of two shots into the west wall of the station lobby.

In response, police fired over the heads of the crowd, estimated at as many as 3,000 to 4,000. There was a retreat by the mob, but they came back and were met by another volley over their heads. It later was reported that many of the leaders were ``thugs, imported for the occasion. Few Rock Island residents could be recognized.

``Their next volley was directed into the crowd and some few were wounded,'' The Argus reported. ``The mob returned fire using revolvers and bricks. Every station window and some in city hall were broken. Several bullets were fired through windows.''

The Argus reported that police fired into the crowd ``only after most of the windows in the city hall and station had been broken out and a number of policemen inside had been hit with brickbats and rocks.''

The police were reinforced by Sheriff O.L Bruner and three deputies armed with revolvers and rifles. The renewed efforts of the mob were doubled.

``When another man was killed on Third Avenue, some of the less reckless withdrew from the mob,'' The Argus reported. ``When the third death occurred, the fight was about over. Several men were carried away, badly injured ...'' It later was learned there was no death on 3rd Avenue, but two were killed during the rioting.

In all, the officers withstood the onslaught of the mob for more than an hour, according to The Argus.

The sheriff contacted Gov. Charles Deneen, who declared martial law and sent in 600 National Guard troops to quell the riots. Units in Geneseo and Sterling were mobilized immediately.

``With the notice that soldiers were coming, the rioters began dispersing though the streets were alive with people all night. There were various minor outbreaks and gatherings but, whenever the soldiers put in an appearance, quiet was restored at once,'' The Argus reported.

When the riot was over, Market Square resembled a battlefield. All gatherings were outlawed and citizens were warned to keep off the streets. The mayor issued an order closing all saloons. Prostitution houses were raided and closed. Thirty-four people were arrested in the two days after the riot. A special grand jury was called to investigate the riot.

In the end, two died as a result of the riot -- Frank H. Kellogg, 36, of Davenport, who came to Rock Island with his wife to watch the activities, not to participate, and Raymond Swingle, 18, of 1308 44th St., who was downtown doing an errand for his mother when struck by a bullet in the stomach.

Mr. Looney left town to recuperate from his beating at his 25,000-acre ranch in New Mexico. He would return nine years later, in March 1921, to re-establish control over vice in Rock Island.

Thursday: Newspaper wars rage between Looney and The Argus.