Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-05-17

COLONEL presently DuIS dH'No piOlthslOnHl
sang froid and condescends to be hu-
man again.
"Get hearty supper all round, gen.
tlenen, them boots and saddles and
away for Sidneyr'
Two DAYS later. A fierce July sun is
pouring down a food of humid, mois-
ture laden heat upon a densely packed,
sweltering mass of turbulent men,
many Of them flushed with drink, all
of them flushed with triumph, for the i'll
armed, i'll disciplined militia of the sew
enties-a pygmy force az compared with
the expert guardsmen" of today-has
been scattered to the winds; the sturdy
police have been swept from the streets
and driven to the shelter of the sta
tons Mob law rules supreme. Dense
clouds of smoke are rising from sacked
and ruined wal ehouses and from long
trains of burning cars. Here and there
little groups of striking employees have
gathered, holding aloof from the reck-
less and Infatuated mob, appalled, at the
sight of riot and devastation resulting
from their i'll advised action. Many of
their number, conscious of their re-
sponsibility for the scenes of bloodshed
and pillage and wanton destruction of
property, public and private, would
now gladly undo their work and array
themselves among the few defenders of
the great corporations they have served
for years and deserted at the call of
leaders whom they never saw and in n
cause they never understood, but there
can be mo footsteps backward" now.
The tide of riot has engulfed the great
city of the west, and the majesty of the
law is but the laughing stock of the
| lowest of the masses. Huddled in their
precinct stations the police are bandag
ing their bruised and broken heads.
Rallied at their armories, the more de
termined of the militia are preparing to
defend them and their Colors against
the anticipated attack of so times their
force in coughs Chicago's vast
accumulation of outlawed vagabond
or criminal men. The city fathers are
well nigh hopeless. Merchants and
business men gather on change with
blanched faces and the oft repeated
query: what next? What next"
| Every moment brings tidings of fresh
| dismay. New fires and a crippled and
helpless department. for the rioters
| sla:h the hose and laugh all efforts
| to scorn. A CLEAN of hope shone in at
| 10 o'clock, and the boardrOom rang
with cheers at the president announce.
ment that the regulars were coming-a
whole regiment of infantry from Oma-
| ha was already more than half way.
But the CLEAN died out ut noon when,
with white lips. an official read the tel.
egram saying the strikers had side
tracked" the special trains bearing the
soldiers, and they could not advance
another mile.
And so they bad on one road, but
there are others, better guarded. better
run. The sun is we'll over to the west
again, Chicago is resigning itself to
another night of horror. when from the
suburbs there comes gliding in to the
heart of the city the oldest looking
railway train that has been seen for
years, sight at which a host of riot
Gus men break away from the threat
ening front, dragging with them those
pals" whom drink has either mad
dened or stupefied; a sight at which
skulking blackguards who have picked
up paving stones drop them into the
cutters and think twice before they lay
hand on their revolv er butts. No puff
ing engine hauls the train; the motive
power is at the rear First and fore
most is a platform car-open, uncover
ed, hut over its buffer glieten the bar
rels Of the dreaded gatling gun, and
around the Eun-can these be soldiers :
Covered with dust and cinders, hardly
vestige of uniform among them, in
the shabbiest of old felt hats. in hunt
ing shirts of flannel or huckskin, in
scout worn trousers and Indian leg
gings, but with their prairie belts
crammed with copper cartridges. their
brawny brown hands grasping the
browner carbine, their keen eyes peer
ing straight into the faces Of the throng-
ing crowd, their bronze feature set and
stern, the whole car fairly bristlos with
men who have fought tribe after tribe
of savage foes from the Yellowstone to
the Sonora line, and who hold q savage
mob in utter contempt. Here by the
hub of the gatling's wheel stands old
Feeny, close at the elbow of dark faced
Drummond. G troops first platoon,
"mans" the gatling gun, and under lis
old leader OF the Arizona campaigns
leads the procession" into the Garden
City of the antebcllum days. BY
Drummond's side is railway official
gazing ahead to see that every switch
is properly set and signaling back to
the engineer when to slow. when to
come confidently ahead. Behind the
platform car come ordinary baggage
and passenger coaches, black with meI
in the same rough, devil may care
scouting rig. All, except their horses anC
horse equipments left with the quarter
master at Sidney station the battalion
has been run to Chicago exactly as i
came from the plains. and Chicago
"toughs, " who would have hooted ant
jeered perhaps at sight of polished
brasses and natty uniforms, recoil be
wildered before this gang of silent anc
| L.