Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-04-27
RIOT AT DETROIT.
TWO MEN KILLED AND A LARGE
NUMBER INJURED.
Striking Polish Laborers and sherIff's
Posse Have Short but Bloody Con-
nlct-SheriT Collins Very Seriously In
jured-Other State News.

A battle between 300 strikers and
posse of six officers under Sheriff
Charles p. Collins occurred at the east
ern water works extension, just beyond
Connors Creek on the Crosse Pointe
road, about three miles east of De-
troit, Mich. One of the strikers was
shot dead, another was SO badly
wounded that he died a few hours
after, and Sheriff Collins was so badly
injured that his recovery is uncertain.
1t is impossible to tell exactly how
many others were wounded, but the
list is probably not less than Is.
The dead are: John Pielat, So Albert
place. Unknown Polish laborer.
The injured so far as known are:
Sheriff Charles =. Collins, bad scalp
wound in back of head; severe wound
in leg Just above ankle caused by a
blow from piclSaX; two cuts in back,
one on left shoulder and many small
bruises and cuts about the body. An
thody Gubchowich, laborer, aged 40;
gunshot wound in right thigh. Law
renee Kulzki, aged 40; shot in left
thigh. William Il. Burch, policeman,
aged 80; two ribs fractured and re-
ceived two blows on head from shovel
Joe Kobaslli, aged IS; Polish laborer,
shot between the ninth and tenth ribs
on the right side; ball entered liver;
will die. Tony Cowsli, bullet wound
just above the right knee. John Kop-
perschmidt, aged Al; one bullet wound
in little part of left arm; ball came out
at neck, grazing jugular VEN; another
bullet wound in fleshy part OF left
thigh; both bullets came out; will
probably die. George Caehey, aged
80; foreman in employ of water board;
three severe scalp wounds in back
part of head two confused wounds in
back and one in left shoulder. Andrew
Esl1i, aged about 40; one gunshot
wound in right side of neck and one in
right jaw; third bullet penetrated
the left breast about two inches above
the nipple; ball took a downward
course and entered the liver; will die.
Joseph Kubiak, two bullet wounds
in thigh. Unknown Pole, abdomen
grazed by bullet. Anton Powasly,
shot in left leg, above the knee,
by someone unknown in front of jail.
William Frise, policeman; hurt about
the arm and head. John Russell
! Fisher, Evening Newsreporter; bruised
on back and shoulder. Michael Kanof-
ski, seriously wounded. Andrew
Boersig, not seriously hurt. Fred
Alfred, Michael Barla, missing; may
be unknown dead man.
The Cause.-The Fight.
The events which lead up to the
| trouble are these: When the Detroit
| Driving club built their new track and
! club houses at Crosse Pointe, about
three miles east OF the city limits OF
Detroit, the water board of Detroit
agreed to extend q water main from
| the water works TO the club grounds.
AS soon as weather permitted about
| 800 Polish laborers, who had been liv-
| ing on the city's charity all winter,
were hired TO do the work. The water
board decided to do the work by the
piece in six-hour shifts, TO give all a
| chance-17 cents per cubic yard of
clay and Is cents for sand. The men
reported for work, but several objected
! because piece work was n new thing
and soon the rest were talked into
striking. The first day those who
would work were intimidatcd by the
strikers. Before o'clock on the
morning of the second day over 400
| Poles with picks and shovels had
! gathered at the scene and by o'clock
fully 200 more had congregated. The
scenes of the first day were repeated,
and Sheriff Collins was called upon for
assistance and protection for those
willing to work.
The foreman tried TO get them TO try
the new scale. Deputy Steysllal spoke
in Polish to the crowd, but they would
only listen TO the incendiary harangue
of their own leaders. Nothing had
been done except a few slight Skin
mishes until noon, when Engineer Will
| Jams received orders from the water
| board to discontinue work for the time
being in hopes that in few days the
work could be resumed without trouble.
| Foreman Cathey at once began TO take
up the pump and hose used in the
work, when one of the Poles shouted
something and a rush was made for
him with appraised shovels and picks.
Cathey pulled his revolver to defend
himself. Sheriff Collins and two depu-
ties, besides four city policemen sworn
in as deputies. went to Cathey's assist
ance. The Poles rushed on with angry
yells and the little band of officers
opened fire. Cathey was beaten down
and his head pounded into the mud.
Sheriff Collins fell while trying to es-
cape after emptying his revolver. Each
officer fred every shot he had and then
retreated, using his club on the blood
thirsty rioters. The fight lasted 1C
minutes.
Within "a hours three ringleaders Oh
the rioters were locked up together with
90 others identified as being foremost
in the battle. No blame is attached tc
the officers for shooting, as they had
to do so TO protect their own lives.
The following day gang of Poles
went out Woodward avenue and made
a gang of 40 PAYERS stop work under
threat of rough treatment. There wa:
no lighting.
few days later-after the first ex
element of the bloody riot had blown
over somewhat-the water board pu
30 men TO work by the piece and sis
hours day. The men earned from
81 02 to S1.62 the first day. The pres
ence of over 100 deputies armed will
Winchesters and revolvers had the eff
feet of preventing any disturbance.
The fugitive Louis Il. Menage
charged with embezzling 81 100000 a
Minneapolis, expresses a willingness t,
return home and face'the music.
The illness of Mrs. Gov. Mckinley