Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-01
COXEY IN THE ABE.

area at the east front Here a blue-coated
mass awaited the oncomers. There was a
crash as the fugitives, officers and mob
from the street met the wall OF officers and
the people In the opening.
The crowd gave way and out of the melee
appeared Marshal Browne struggling In the
grasp Of four policemen. There was wild
excitement throughout the whole crowd, and
the news that Browne had been arrested
spread Immediately 10 the army and ere
etsd intense confusion. The men were loud
N their denunciations OF the arrest, al
though a feeling OF fear seemed to have
penetrated the ranks
The Attempt of Coxey.
Before any one knew 1t Coxey was bound
ing ND the east front entrance to the Capt.
toll He was up to the tenth step before he
was recognized. Then the officers closed In
above him and his further passage was
barred The great crowd now recognized
him and shout went up from every corner
OF the vast assemblage. Coxey turned
% the crowd and raised his hat. He was
deathly pale Capt Garden of the Capitol
police stepped to one side OF him and Lieut..
Kelly or the city police was at his other
arm The other officers formed solidly
d menacing clubs.
What do you want to do here?' asked
Capt Garden.
Il wish to make an address" responded
ton
But you cannot do that" said Capt. Gar
den: quietly but firmly.
linen can read protest?' asked Cox
~.
There was a moments hesitation. He
drew rom his pocket a typewriter manu-
script and began to unfold II. There was a
movement among the officers. Capt. Gar
den quietly took Coxey by the left arm and
Lieut. Kelly took him by the right. They
moved down the steps, the solid rank OF
omeers following Coxey was thus impelied
downward and forward. He was not pull
ed. or put under arrest, but firmly pushed
AWAY.
AT the foot of the steps the great crowd
greeted Coxey and the officers with a storm
Of shouts Again the mounted officers
charged. the crowd surged, and for time
II looked as though there would be trouble.
But the little knot of officers pressed for
ward with Coxey in their center. They
were fanked by the mounted officers. Thus
Coxey made his exit from the Capitol en-
trance and the east front. As he moved
away he tossed the typewritten protest to
q group OF newspaper men and said: That
u for the press"
Escorted to His Carriage.
When the police had escorted Coxey to his
carriage. pushing him by the shoulders. but
not seizing him, they released him. He
clambered into the carriage. where his wife
sat. with Legal Tender In her lap, and as
he stood there fierce cheer was sent up
from the surrounding crowd. Then the po-
ncemen seemed to lose their heads, and, fall
Ing upon the luckless colored men and
women nearest them, they dubbed the me-
groes Justify.
For a moment the army seemed leaderless
and in confusion, although the men had not
broken ranks IN all the tumult- The honor
fell to the humble bass drummer Of rescu-
Ing 1t from confusion, for he strted a rhyth-
mic and regular boom" upon his instru-
ment. the wealers fell into step, and, with
Coxey bowling to the right and left, amid
Wild cheers, the cohorts turned down I'd
street to the south and started the march to
the new camp in the malarious region by
the canal
His Constitutional Rights.
When Browne reached the foot of the
Capitol steps there was a hurried and eX-
cited dialogue between him and the police,
which could not be heard through the up
roar. Then two policemen threw them
selves upon Browne. grabbed his flag of
peace and smashed the staff, seized Browne
by the shoulders and thrust him through
the crowd several hundred feet to the side
walk Clubs were seen descending upon
mems shoulders in the group, but whether
Browne was hit could not be seen. AS the
two officers rushed him through the crowd
he was seen trying TO shelter his head, &
though he expected blows, and could be
heard shouting, Il am an American citizen.
i stand on my constitutional rights" De-
spite Ills rlSnlS the dramatic
marshal was dragged to the police station.
Brief Period of Excitement.
The excitement at the Capitol grounds
was of but brief duration. Whatever i'm
portance the demonstration assumed was
due chiefly to the immense crowd of curious
people who had assembled to see what
would happen. There was small sized
riot directly in front of the House of Rep
resentatiyes on the east side, but 1t was
soon over, and was confined to but few
persons. For few minutes there was great
excitement at this particular point. and it
looked as IL il might become serious. In a
mighty short time the squad of police in
yolged W u had given several men club
bling, which showed that they meant bust
ness, and had arrested Browne, who was
the cause and instigator of the trouble.
Within ten minutes after this episode the
crowd was greatly thinned out, and every
thing was as quiet as need be.
Police Use Their Climbs.
The men who had been following Browne
rs a guard began an attack on the officers,
hitting them with their fists. seizing the
horses by the bride. grabbing at their
billies and trying to pull them from their
horses There may have been dozen or
there may have been twenty-five Of the
Coxeyites engaged In this skirmish, and the
density OF the crowd of spectators made it
impossible TO designate their numbers. As
policemen used their billies with yigor, hit
ting the men over the heads who attacked
them, and pounding Browne, who was still
fighting at the top OF his bent. Some Of the
men were probably pretty badly bruised up
IN the skirmish, and there was great ex-
element in the crowd of spectators, but
the tight was over in q very few minutes,
Browne being marched OF under arrest,
with a mounted police on each side Of him
holding him by the collar, and his followers
min led with the crowd and were lo@t.
Two or three times after the skirmish was
over one or two of the Coxeyites rushed out
OF the crowd to get blow at the police.
Not Generally known.
A. soon as Browne had been taken away
the crowd began to dispense rapidly and
there was but little more trouble. A half
IN hour later mora than three-fourths of
the people who had assembled around the
Capitol were gone, the procession had
marched away and everything was quiet.
During the scrimmage the crowd was SO
great that the trouble could not be seen
any great distance, and 1t is probably due
to the fact that most of the people did not
know what was going on and that the body
Of the Coxeyites were In ignorance of the
arrest that there was no more serious trou-
BILE.
The police remained on guard at the Capt.
toi during the rest Of the afternoon.
AFTER THE EXCITEMENT.