As a major seaport, Boston had a large contingent of maritime workers for whom a night of drinking, fighting, and insulting the elites had great appeal. Pope Night gave the common people a chance to express their dissatisfaction with the status quo on the pretext of condemning popery. The boisterous and often violent festivities were permitted only because the anti-papal theme made them acceptable to the ruling class. At least two fatal accidents occurred on Pope Night, possibly due to heavy drinking. In 1735, four apprentices drowned while canoeing home from Boston Neck after the bonfire. In 1764, a carriage bearing an effigy of the pope ran over a boy's head, killing him instantly. Riot acts Boston's elites were appalled by the increasingly rowdy festivities. One resident, complaining to a local newspaper in 1745, referred to the revelers as "rude and intoxicated Rabble, the very Dregs of the People, black and white", and urged the authorities to crack down. In 1748, the Justices of the Peace announced that "whereas sundry persons have heretofore gone about the streets ... armed wh. clubs & demanding money of ye inhabitants and breaking ye windows of ye who refuse it", they planned to send out constables to keep the peace. Similar notices were published over the next four years, to no avail. In 1753 the Great and General Court passed an act forbidding "all riotous, tumultuous and disorderly Assemblies" from "carrying pageants and other shews through the streets and lanes of the town of Boston and other towns of this province, abusing and insulting the inhabitants". The court passed similar acts in 1756, 1758, 1763, and 1769, but the locals were determined to have their fun. The 1769 Riot Act imposed penalties for shaking down wealthy residents: Authorities apparently could not rely on the militia to keep order on Pope Night. A possible explanation is that the militiamen themselves were among the revelers. Local militiamen participated in the market riot of 1737 and the Knowles Riot of 1747, and instigated the Montgomery Guards Riot of 1837. Following an accident on Pope Night in 1764 in which a boy was killed, the "Sheriff, Justices, and Officers of the Militia" were ordered to destroy the North and South End popes, but were unable to control the crowd, which numbered in the thousands. No mention is made of the militia's rank and file. Decline The passing of