Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-05-06
NEW YORK LABOR RIOT.

NYh ORlNKLE, writing In the Wash
ipgton Sunday Post, says that on the
Oath day Of April, ultimo, the knights
of Labor held entire possession Of
New York City for forty.eigh hours
They stopped all surface travel by
horse railroad on Monday, and if you
stop to think a moment how utterly
dependent this longitudinal metropo-
lis is on horse car travel you can i'm.
agine the effect of this on every branch
Of business. Broadway and Fifth
avenue and other of the great tribu.
tary streets like Fourteenth and
Twenty-third wore Sunday aspect.
The grand crowds of women and
children that are usually seen around
the big bazaars in Fourteenth street
had disappeared.
All commerce, all the retail trades,
artizans, merchants, skilled labor of
every kind suffered, because the least
skilled of all labor had its grip on the
means of transit. Icame down Broad.
way l stepped in at half a score of
the big shops. They were deserted
at what is usually the busiest hour.
talked with the merchants. They
had but one opinion. They were suf
feriug, but one and all hoped the rail.
roads would hold out and settle THE
question Of trade tyranny and law
and order once and for all. do not
remember ever having seen so COM
plets revulsion of public opinion as
these strikers brought about within
week. At first public sympathy was
heattily with them in what il believed
was o fight against heartless corpora
tioni but now they have succeeded
in placing the railroads on the side
of law and order, and with one voice
the intelligent community is backing
the corporations, simply because the
corporations do not insist upon inter-
fering with the rights Of everybody
else, and making threats Of violence.
saw the fight on Third avenue
Wednesday. 1t was a small riot In
it were all the deadly elements Of the
Commune all the incipient flames and
fnrp &c LhH -snApst pariaian aaus -
Nothing saved that great thorough
fare from massacre but the prompti-
tude with which the police fell upon
the mob and drove it back. When
the first brick was aimed at The poor
conductor who was trying 10 take the,
car through there went up howl
from thousands Of cruel, demoniac
throats. and in an instant the air was
thick with missiles. The car windows
were smashed, the light panels splin'
tered. The wrecked vehicle was sur
rounded in twinkle with maddened
men and women. A horrible sound
of yslls, screams and grosns filled the
air. There seemed TO be but one i'm.
pulse animating this mob, it was to
get hold of the two men who were on
that car and tear them limb from
limb. II was noble sight, this brave
endeayor Of thousand TO clutch two
fellow beings and rain blows upon
them and trample them into masses
neutrality-suspicious. flesh beneath their
hoofS As I saw brawny arms in the
air, caught sight Of the distorted faces
and glazing eyes and heard the fear
full din Of sickening oaths and impre-
cations, / asked myself if this was the
advance guard Of the army Of knights
that was going to regulate labor.
1t only lasted five minutes, thanks
to organized power, to which, alas, in
these days Of arbitration and moral
suasion we must come at last for dread
adjudication in the streets. The
clubs were coming. One double pla-
toon came down Third avenue, anoth-
or came suddenly out Of Fifty.n ninth
ST. eet, as if it had been shot up
trap. Then commenced that most
fearful Of all sights, police attack
upon street crowd. Superintendent
Murray's orders to his men were to
"strike hard" / turned my head
away with a sickening sensation, for
had seen this before. You can have
no possible conception Of the terrible
nature Of such scene unless you had
encountered ii. | have witnessed
charge Of cavalry that rode down
gunners and trampled infantry into
the earth, but there was mild re-
deeming swirl TO it, and then there
were no women and children there,
as there always will be in mob.
The one duty Of the police in such
a crisis is 10 break and scatter the
solid mass. It must 20 through it,
and when the onslaught is made with