The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-07-16
WOMEN IN THE STRIKE.
ACTIVE PART THEY ARE TAKING IN
THE LABOR TROUBLES.
They Heap Abuse on the POi1ce-Litt1o
Children Taught to Commit Acts OF
Violence-Methods Employed.

From The Chicago Tribune.
The refrain of the old song runs: Meh
must work and women must weep
But suppose the men won't work. sun
women must weep, though many are JUST
now showing that they can quit 'heii
part of the programme also and JOIN the
strike.
What a varied part has woman been play
ing in the terrible scenes of the last week.
Here and there, everywhere, over the vast
network of railroads about Chicago, nave
gathered the lawleas mobs. StrlkerS'
rioters" "lawless fiends' they have peeh
called; but in all this the terrible WofoS
have been aimed only at men. Can II DC
that they have fallen upon the heads ol
won en-? Look more closely among all THESE
surging masses Yes, more's the pity, look
in the front rank of all this lawlesSness;
fiutter of skirts is there; high, shrlll VOICES
Tot from the throats of men, rise ABOVE
the deeper roar of baff1ed rage.
With the keys of their houses of dlscoh-
tent hung upon their wrists and their pa-
bies their arms or hanging 10 lheir
skirts, the women of the great strike 1ol-
low down the tracks in the steps of their
ht Stands, guided by the yells and shouts
to the scenes If action. Where great net
works Of tracks cross each other at right
al giles near a quiet roundhouSe cattle
tra in is standing. The engine Kisses threat
en;ngly, but moves not. The crowd Jeers
and looks proudly down the tracks TO
where freight lying on their sides
barring the way. Soldiers of the United
States army with glistening bayonets SIT
on the pilot of the engine. OtlEsEsssare on
the tender and patroling regularly up ana
down the Sides while at eacht cars eno
and each side soldier stands to guard
the coupling pins. Police officers are sta
toned on the tops Of every car And from
within the cattle low end call IN restless
anxiety. Still the engine Kisses threaten
ingly, still the crowd jeers
Women to the Fore.
The women climb on knobs of ground, on
cinder heaps and piles of rock, on every
vantage point, to peer over the seething
mass of men. Gradually they push their
way into the thrOng, and their heads, COW
cred with blue-checked aprons or draped In
black shaWls, give a strange setting to
the stern, hard faces beneath Many girls,
with uncovered heads in all stages of frowsi-
ness, seen in the front line. Gaining
courage from the patience of the patrollng
boys in blue, these women of the strike
Shrek their maddening taunts and are
wildly cheered by the crowd. They press
nearer. Now something peers, Wild-eyed
and excited, from maternal arms and the
folds of maternal skirts. Children are here;
even babes must go to swell bowling
mob. The women go beyond the guard line
and meet the order to go back with swift,
harsh words and curses of defiance.
Then comes a shrill little pipe from the
shadow of a skirt: ''Scabs! Scabs!'
And the mass applauds Still the train
does not move.
The cavalry goes forward to the obstruc-
tons, but on it's arrival produces effect
upon the recumbent cars and the troopers
return amid the hoarse, triumphant cries
Of the mob that follows. Farther down the
tracks an incoming train has slackened
speed in the press of the multitude. In
stantly it is surrounded and engineer and
fremen are dragged from their places. Tri-
umphant yells and cries from men, women
and children rend the air A woman, white
with wild excitement, lends her handker-
chief. 1t is run up on a stick; man climbs
upon the pilot and amid deafening cheers
and slaott:r of laarhtcI the aes Of surrender
is fastened to the headlight of the engine
The crowd thckenS fast and becomes
more unWieldy. The patrol is brisker over
the tracks and the restraining pressure of
a bayonet is often felt.
But holding their babies close for shields
the women still break past the patrol lines
and go where no man dares to step. Now
children follow and when a soldier heads
them off the crowd cries tauntingly:
Shoot a kid, will you? Shoot kid!'
And one man airs his NEUROLOGICAL lore in
crying: you're a hero, you are! I think
| see your name engraved in the calendar
of Mars!"
Children in the Rioters Ranks.
The children stepped with the pois-
onOus spirit of insurrection. Each demon
stration of 1t is cheered to the echo by
the mass of kindred souls. From down the
tracks wild shrieks and yells come nearer
and nearer Then stolen handcar comes
in view, loaded with these little heirs of
promise waving flags and yelling derisve
epithets and curses. The cruel features
OF their mothers and granddames light up
with savage delight; and not to be outdone
by their offspring they add their volley of
curses to the boys in blue and their hearty
praise to the wee rioters.
An aged crone, with struggling locks of
white, hobbies through the line and vents
her wrath upon the guard in a string of
black, ugly words Respect for the aged is
sentiment rooted well in the heart of
every American man, and this only it is
that makes the deputy rest his hand in
firnness upon her shoulder as he urges her
back. In another center of excitement the
cavalry ranges across the track in advance
OF a train that is hurriedly made up and
the infantry forms in the space between,
driving all trespassers from the line
A building close beside the tracks is shin
gled with excited small boys. Bayonets
presented at the edge of the roof cause
them to tumble quickly off, sliding down
the caves spOutS and disappearing in space
One ragged brown cap comes slowly up
over the ridgepole, after the roof is cleared
and an urchin finally perches himself hest
tatngly on the edge, ready to slide out of
sight at the first intmation that cavalry
can climb Farther down an empty car on
the Sidetrach has an Irregular, notified
fringe about the edge of it's roOf-black lit
tIa legs brown little legs, white little legs