River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-07-27
LED BY WOMEN.
A Mob of Striking Miners and Their
Wives Attack Non-Unionists at Weir
City, kan.-A Fight I'm Which Four
Persons. One a Woman, Are Wounded.

A Mob of Striking Miners and Their
Wives Attack Non-Unionisfs at Weir
City, kan.-A right I'm which Four
Persons, One a Woman. Are Wounded.
KANSAS Cry, Mo-, July 2l.-Four
striking miners were wounded in an
attack on the new men brought in by
the operators at Weir City, Kan,
Thursday afternoon. They are Henry
Beigh, a man known as 1.-THE Swede, y
John Herring and boy. A
French Indian woman who was
cheering the men on was also
struck by stray bullet Adjt.
Gen. Artz has ordered two companies
of militia from Topeka and Wichita TO
the scene. The operators are making
every effort to resist the men, who,
aided by their women, are organizing
10 keep out the 1000 negroes on their
way TO Weir City from Alabama The
difficulty originated in this way:
just before noon a band of 500
strikers, headed by 100 women who
had been marching TO the various strip
pits, reached Clements pit and sent IN
committee to persuade the miners
working there to quit. This they re-
fused to do and when the com littee
! reported the entire body of mi cheers
moved on the works TO force men
out. The strip men were reaa, enr
them, and when they passed the tres
pass line they were fired upon and a
general battle followed, in which Win
chester rifles, pistols and clubs were
used. Over 100 shots were fired but no
body was killed. One man was wounded
in the forehead, another in the leg, boy
in the foot and one of the women got a
bullet through her arm. None of the
wounds are fatal and il is believed that
none of them are dangerous A num-
Der on both sides were badly beaten up
with clubs and dubbed guns. The
wounded were quickly removed by their
friends and their names have not been
learned.
As a result OF the battle the men in
the strip were routed by the strikers
and were forced to flee for their lives,
pursued by the bowling mob, which
would have lynched them had
they been caught. The owner of
the strip, Clements, his son and man
named Big Dick Reed are said to
be the ones who did the shooting, and
they have given themselves up and
were run out of the county for safe
keeping. The excitement was intense
after the shooting and it was feared
that matters would become worse,
but prominent ker, George X. Full
ton, made the crowd speech, in
which he advised them to keep cool and
counseled peace. 1t is rumored that a
large number of firearms have been re-
ceived here. The excitement continues
at high pitcn and further bloodshed
now seems inevitable.
The fight was one of the fiercest in
the annals of mob attacks. The crowd
of 500 that surged through the main
street of Weir City was half made up OF
women and children. lnasmuch as
nearly all the women are of foreign ex-
traction they presented a strange ap-
pearance. One-third were French, and
they shouted cries of encourage
ment in that language. The German
women of the party each carried a
small black flag, and at the head OF
the entire mob were two American
ndgS lidl ldu beth ihduV III Ohc VI the
min rs cabins. The women led.
Some of them had their children
with them and the little ones car
ried flags. The men were armed with
guns and every woman had a stout
stick. The rioters pushed forward
to the granite pits, where the French
women called upon the non-union men
to get out. They refused, whereupon
the women pushed down upon them
add with their sticks beat the miners
right and left. Several of them were
severely hurt before they could get out
of the way. When the women had any
opportunity they grasped the men by
the hair and almost scalped them.