Sharp County record., 1878-05-10
AN EXTRRDINARY SCENE.
Richmond in tLast Days of the war
The Uprising the Female commune
IefT Davis SlTs His Nerve.

The Uprising the Female Commune
JEFF. Davis slrs His Nerve
A writer in New York San gives
the following coming from the lips OF
Major John Maniel, a well known resi-
dent of Virgin. The narrative was
drawn from tBIajor by a discussion
concerning therowth Of Communism
and its power displayed in the rail-
road riots lastinter.
The Major 81 that when Harper'S
Ferry was capred at the beginning OF
the war, all thlvailable machinery Tor
the manufactu of arms was taken to
Richmond. Hldreds Of workmen and
their wives andaughters had been en-
ployed in tharsenals and machine
Shops, and thefollowed the machinery
to the capital search of employment
They got it. II a time they were reg
ularly paid in pod money, and every
thing moved soothly. But as the cur
rency deprecisd they began to suffer-
The money reived by the workmen
would not sulort their families. AS
the war progpsed Confederate notes
became almos valueleSs. Grant had
his hand on ththroat of the Confeder-
acy at Petersb'g. The wages OF the
workmen wou not purchase food for
their families. They protested, but in
vain. They we too patriotic to or
oanize a reyution. Their women,
however, fornl secret society based
on Communist principles. They seem
to have held nat their husbands were
working for th Confederacy, and that
the Confedera was the only safety OF
the grocers an shopkeepers. Without
clothing and pvisiOns their husbands
and sons musstop work. This would
cut off necessa1 munitions and supplies,
the GovernmeI would fall, and all be
involved in uncommon ruin. To avoid
this a general vision of food and cloth
ING must be made. The wives and
daughters of tborers and mechanics
throughout thecapital generally joined
in the movemet. -.
While standig in Main Street one
morning the Mjor witnessed an extra
ordinary scene Hundreds of women
suddenly appeSed. The broad avenue
was filled with hem. They came filing
in from the crss streets by platOons,
and began to SEX the stores. Hollow
eyed and gaun with hunger, nobody
dared resist tbm. A crowd of men
hung upon the utskirts, offering no in,
reference, and expressing no sympathy
for the shopkee,ers. The women took
the stores in linz, one after the other
They proceeded Systematically. The
goods were piled upon wagons drawn
by horses drivenbyf'male sympathizers
Not word was spoAen. The work was
done with terrible arnestness. Wher
the mob entered a gncery certain per
centage of them pihd the goods upor
the outstretched arms of the others, anC
they were borne 70 the streets anC
dumped into the wagons. The womer
diers nor itir police wer' i in sight. Mean
while the crowd increased. Other WON
en- heard what was gping on, and flock
ed to Main Street fpr share of th'
plunder. Not man joined them, anC
for long time no one made an effort t(
stop them. At last Congre ssman Bald
win, of Virginia, Jumped upon a dry
goods box, and made an impassioneC
appeal for law and Gder. He might a
well have talked to the wind. No on,
paid the least attention to him. Th
women went on with their sacking, ant
the bystanders drowied Baldwin's S voic
with their wnoops and cheers.
"While | was gazing at the scene,
said the Major, 81 s;w Captain of al
Alabama cavalry regiment with whom
I had a slight acquaintance. We wer
both in uniform. We agreed that some
thing ought to be done to restore orde
and stop the robbery At his sugges
ton we stationed ourselves at the doc
of a store already overrun. In a fey
seconds virago tried to pass us.
can see her now. Her cheeks and lip
were red, but she had pinched, starve
look, and an eye like hawk. She cal
ried in her arms a half dozen bars c
yellow soap, piece of dress silk, a lon
box of stockings, and some raisins an
herrings. l said:
Madam, 1 beg your pardon; bu
you are forgetting yourself. Thes
goods are not yours. You have ne
paid for them, and you will not be pei
mitted to leave this store with them
"She looked at me-" said the Majol
Sin a wild way, as though endeavorin
to comprehend what had said, and the
went to the counter and threw down til
goods. As she came back she dehbe
ately took me by the arm and slung N
from her with such force that l wei
spinning around like top, and struc
the front of the building so hard that
took the breath out of me. She tina
quietly gathered up her load from tt
counter and walked out. The Alabam
Captain looked at me and laughed, bl
kept his hands in his pockets and sal