Aug. 30, 1964 - A police force of 1,500 men managed to put down scattered outbursts of violence last night and early today in the Negro section of North Philadelphia.
After sustained rioting there Friday night and yesterday morning, Mayor James Tate invoked emergency powers under an 1850 law and proclaimed a quarantine for 125 blocks of the troubled neighborhood.
Using the language of the old statute, the Mayor’s proclamation ordered residents of the neighborhood “to disperse themselves and peaceably depart to their habitations.”
Last night, the Mayor made a television appeal for cooperation with his order.
Shortly after 10 p.m., gunfire was heard for the first time here this weekend. A volley of five or six shots was fired at a group of patrolmen from the roof of a building on Norris Avenue. No one was hit. The policemen took cover without returning fire.
But window-breaking by juvenile bands was the most common form of trouble. Reports of such incidents were broadcast over the police radio at the rate of one every 10 to 15 minutes. In almost all cases, patrol cars arrived at the scene in time to prevent looting.
Shortly before midnight, Mayor Tate urged all residents in the riot-torn section not to attend church this morning. He said he had the full support of representatives of all religious denominations.
At a news conference, Mayor Tate stressed his belief that the rioting had “nothing to do with civil rights or any proper or fair grievance.” He added that he knew of no outside agitation.
Mr. Tate called the situation “definitely under control” shortly before midnight.
At 3 a.m., however, arrests were mounting as the police began picking up persons for violating the Mayor’s proclamation, and looting was reported outside the quarantined area.
Representative Robert N.C. Nix, a Democrat, who represents the disorder area, described the riot as “very bad, vicious, illegal, and unnecessary.”
“I was there and saw a bunch of hoodlums and bums,” he said. “They are not representative of the Negroes in the community. What we must do now is utilize the influence of man, talk to the crowd, get them off the street.”
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