St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-03-05
tent to suffer their present evils. and an
outbreak therefore causes no great sur

prise.
A few months ago the unemployed of
DantZic petitioned the authorities to
furnish them with labor, no matter
what it was, to keep themselves and
their families from starving. DantZic.
which is the capital of the province of
West Prussia. is commercial center Of
no little Importance. 1t has numerous
breWereS, diStilleries, flour mills, sugar
retneries and other works, all of which
have felt the depression in the CONNER
cial world. with the consequent eSlit
that many of the employees have been
laid off to await the arrival of better
times. In addition to these men large
number of others carpenters, masons,
painters, etc.-arc out of work because
of the depression in the building and
allied trades, and consequently there
has been during the winter much suffer
ing among all classes of workmen.
There seems to be no Immediate pros
pect of an improvement. and the pa
thence of the men seems to nave about
reached the limit of its endurance.
When the deputation of the unem-
plOyed recently waited upon the author
tiles, they received a promise that
something would be done for them and
today, in obedience to q notice. 500 men
plOCe6ucu W lll6 lduuluS SGdSO III LliO
expectation that they would be con-
veyed to the municipal sewage farm
and put to work. When they arrived
there, the officials picked out 220 men to
be taken to the farms, and said that
they were unable to furnish work for
the others. Those who were refused
employment were bitter III their de-
nunciatiOn of the trick, as they termed
it. that had been played upon them.
Some of the men constituted themselves
leaders and made violent speeches, call
ing upon the crowd to help themselves
to food if the authorities would not fur
nlsh them with the means OF getting it.
The imprisoned words OF the speak
erS ana the presence of the crowd Itself
attracted a large number Of the lower
classes of the city and the impromptu
meeting soon degenerated into mob.
The excitement grew by what it fed
upon and the suggestion that food was
plenty i'll the shops was seized upon
with avidity. The mob left the vicinity
of the landing stage and i'll a compact
mass rushed through the streets, hurl-
ing imprecations at the authorities and
declaring that they would steal before
they would starve. Every bakers shop
they came across they looted, and some
of the gaunt, pale-faced men could be
seen deVOuring the SpOilS in manner
which showed that they had not tasted
food for a lorg time. Others placed the
bread they had seized under their coats
with the intention of carrying it to their
wives and children. Loaded butchers
carts passing along the streets were
seized upon, their drivers hustled away
and their contents hastily divided among
the crowd.
The mob was constantly gaining fresh
acceSslons, and the riot was assuming
formidable proportions before the police
aWoke to the fact that they must be up
and doing If they hoped to successfully
cope with the rioters. DetachmentS of
police were hastily sent to that part of
the city in which the rioting and the
plllaging was going on. After Strug-
gle with the rioters, who were inflated
with their successes, and resisted the
police, the latter made determined
charge and succeeded in dispensing the
mob. There is still much excitement
among the Workingmen, and it would
not be in the least surprising should
further and more serious Drouhe occur.
The news from DantZie has had very
disquieting effect here. and the
affair is eagerly discussed in official
circles and by the workingmen. 1t is
TAKEN 10 give further PROOF, II any were
needed, of the bad state of affairs that
exists throughout the country. A later
dispatch says that after the speakers
had addressed the disappointed work
ingmen, majority of the latter, with
out needing the appeals to right their
own wrongs, returned to their homes.
Those who did the rioting and pilaging
were, as in the case of the Berlin riot,
not genuine workingmen, but dock rats
and other loafers, who were never
known to do an honest days work.
That there is extreme suffering
among the workingmen is evident to
every one, but they are submitting to
the inevitable with as much patience as
possible and there is no reason why
the responsibility for the acts of the
lawless elements of the city should be
placed on their shoulders, as seems to
be done every time an outbreak occurs.