Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-05-11
THE COMMUNE IN RICHMOND
AN INCIDENT ~ THE REBELLION.

the appp rance and operations of commu-
niSts in Richmond during the rebellion,
aud how they were suppressed: When
Harper's Ferry WA captured rt the be
ginning of the war. all the available ma.
chinety for the manufacture Ut arms WAS
taken Ia Richmond. Hundred. of work
men aud their wives and daughters had
been employed in the arsenss and ma
chine shops, and they followed .he ma
chin"ry Ia the capital in search Of EN-
plnyment. They grtlt. For time they
were regularly paid in g,od money, and
everything moved smoothly. But ~ ths
currency deprecated they began to suffer.
The money received bv tho wurkmen
would not support their families. A. the
wnr p, progressed Confederate notes became
almost valurless Grant hnd hlS hand on
burg. The wages OF the workmen would
not purchase food for their ramilies. They
protested, hut IN vain. Thty wsre too
patri tic to organize revolution. Their
Whi1th, HpWeNeT, iOtlu"u stcTdt society
based on communi,tc principles. They
seemed to have held that their husbands
were working for the Confedcracy, and
that the Conlederacv WAS the oLly safety
of the grnoers and ,hopkeepers. Without
clothing and provisions their husbands
aud sons must stop work. This would
cut nff necessary munitions and supplies,
the q ,vernmrnt would tall aud nil he in
VOWED in one common ruin. To avoid
this, n general division of food and cloth
ing must be made The wives aud daugh.
tiers of lnborers and mechanics through
out the capital generally joined in tho
movement.
While standing in Main street one
morning the Major witnessed an extr,or
diuaiy scene. Hundreds of womal sud
'nly appeared The brond nvenua was
| illrd with them. They came filing in
from the cross streets by platoons and
began To sack the stores. Hollow syed
md gaunt with hunger. nobody dared RI.
sl-t them. a crowd Of men hung upon
the out kirts, offering no interferrnce and
expressing no sympathy for the shop.
Keepers. The women took the stores in
line, one after the other. They proceed
ed Systematically. The good. were piled
upon wagons drawn by horses and driven
by female Sympnthizers. Not word
was spoken. The work was done with
terrible sarne-tne>s. When the mob en-
tered grocery certain per centag" Of
them piled up the goods upon tho out.
stretched arms of the others, and they
were 'Urue To the streets and dumped
into the wagon-. The women had il all
their own WAY. Neither soldiers nor po
lice wele in sight. Meanwhile tho crowd
incrra-rd. Olhcr women heard what
wa going on nnd Il "ked to Msln street
TOR II share of the punder. Not = man
JOINED them, aud for long time No one
mnda IN 'tlort To stop them. Al last
Congressman Baldwin OF Vnginis, jump
ed upon II dry goods box and made An
impHs innrd appeal for law aud ORDER
IL" might as well have talked To the
wind. The women went On with their
sncking and the bv-tanders drowned
Bad wins voice with their wh0up. and
cheers.
" While ! was gazing at the scene"
said the Major, saw Captain of an
Alabama cnValry regiment, with whom
| ! ht.H Iii I.fhI ~
both in uniform. w. agreed that soms
thing ought To be done to restore order
aud stop tha robbery. AT his sugge-tion
W. stationed ourselves at thu door of n
store "v.rfun. In few seconds viragO
tried to pass us. | can see her now. H-r
cheeks aud lips were rcd. but she had
pincheA Starved look. and an eye like n
hawk. She carried in h.r arms half
dozen bars 0i yellow sonp, piece OF
dress silk, II long box ut stockings. aud
some raisin- aud some behring's. said
- VI adam, beg your psdon, but
you ARE focgatiing Yourself. These goods
are not yours. YOU have not paid for
them, and you will not be permitted to
| leave the store with them
She looked vt mo, aid the Major,
"in u wild way, as though sndsavorng
to comprehend what had said, and then
went To the counter and threw down the
go"ds. As sue came back she deliberate
" took mo by tho arm aud Sung me
from her With such f'ce that went
spinning around lks top, and struck
the front Of building 50 hard that il took
the breath out OF mo. Shu then qdiatly
gathered up her lond from tho counter
and walked cut. The Alabama captain
Iook.d NJ me aud laughed, but kept his
hands in his packets aud 'ad nothing.-
told him | thought We were out Of place
mud he nodded We cone uded after that
u remain simple spectators.
Meanwhile tho women we're approach
ing the Jews' quarter. The Hebrews
we're credited with great wealth. II WAS
SAID tina. they hnd made barrels Of mon
~ out Of the Cnntederscy. and tho fe
| male communists went ut them without
u qualn of conscience. Moses and l,aSc,
however, had hsard what was gong on
above, and tried 10 protect themselves
They put up their shutters, barricaded
their dopr., ran up stairs, and watched
/ the proceedings from the SECOND story
windows. But the women were not dis.
mayed. While some of them ran far
nxes, other. found u long piece of .cant
/ ling aud used It ~ hatte'lng ram. The
/ first dpnr h'w op"n, AMID the chrar- OF
the npt-ld"r-. to.lowed by n wall Of sor-
I rev from the Jsws. "Oh, mins Kott !