literally took his life in his hands, because the fingers of the militia
rested on hair triggers.

Nine colored men and one white man were added to the seven suspected
looters shot and killed since martial law was proclaimed. Absolute
secrecy concerning the deaths was maintained by the military
authorities. Citizens who heard repeated firing between midnight and
dawn in the business center of Dayton and near Ludlow Street, in which
were located many of the handsomest homes in Dayton, spread these
reports. The reports were confirmed in a non-committal way by militiamen
who were on duty in these sections, who admitted they had fired ball
cartridges as a "warning" to suspected looters.

The most detailed account of the death of the white man had it that he
was halted near Main and Third Streets shortly after 2 A. M. He had one
hand behind his back, and when ordered to open it two watches fell to
the pavement. He was then searched and eighteen watches were found in
his pockets. The sentry called a corporal's squad of six militiamen and
reported the loot found on the prisoner. The prisoner was led to the
wall of a near-by building, faced toward the wall, and the squad, which
had received instruction from its commander, fired. A white band with a
red insignia, made apparently to simulate a Red Cross badge, was taken
from the man's arm, and the body was thrown into the canal.

EXECUTIONS DENIED

The nine colored men reported as killed were discovered by sentries in
various parts of the city. A dozen militiamen on duty near Main and
Third Streets, about 2 A. M., said that they had heard firing at the
locality named, but attributed it to warning shots. One of the men said
that a sergeant in his company told of shooting and killing a colored
man Friday night, when the man tried to escape in a boat on the Miami
Erie Canal.

Brigadier General George H. Wood, when asked about the reports of
squad-firing and the deaths of ten suspected looters, said:

"There was some squad-firing after midnight by sentries posted in the
Ludlow section, where are located the homes of some of Dayton's
wealthiest citizens. But neither there nor in other sections of the city
where shots were fired was any one killed. The report that executions
followed the detection of militiamen caught looting are without
foundation. There have been no drumhead or other courtmartials and none
will take place while I am in command here in Dayton.

"We have the