The crowd eventually dispersed, only to return several hours later. At about 11:00, a crowd of 50–60 men (as estimated by the "Boston Evening Transcript"; the "Mercantile Journal" estimated the crowd as between 150 and 200) set fire to tar barrels on the convent grounds. Several fire companies were called to the scene, but declined to intervene, instead joining a crowd of spectators, which eventually grew to around 2,000 people. No city in the United States at the time had a professional police force.