Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1894-06-22

In June OF tndU year IHeTe dppcdESul III
several of the Indiana papers the fol-
lowing advertisement:
MILITARY EXCURSION
Uniformed military companies in Indiana
wishing TO join the excursion battalion TO make
a summer visit to New York in July, will please
report to Lieut. Bidwen Indianapolis Un
usual inducements are offered to organized com
panies to join this pleasure party. The battal
ion will be the guest OF New York for two
days"
This vague announcement of pro-
iected excursion did not fail to attract
some attention in New York. Several
of the papers referred to it in para
graphs, which briefly stated that the
militia of Indiana intended to visit the
city during the summer.
On the 9th of July the superinten.
dent of police in New York received a
formal letter from Indianapolis saying
that il the arrangements could be COM
pleted regiment of Indiana militia
would visit the city on or about the
18th, and asked for the usual right to
parade and police guard to clear the
Streets At the time of the receipt OF
the letter every man of the regiment
was in New York. The men of the
force were so widely and carefully dis
tributed that a military organization
was invisible. Each man had in his
possession light uniform consisting OF
q blue flannel shirt, duck trousers and
belt, thin glazed hat, knapsack and
Spencer rifle with twelve rounds of
ball cartridges. This uniform could be
put on in few moments.
At half-past five on tie morning OF
the 18th the men thus equipped
came to Tomplxin's square from all
points of the city The inhabitants in
the neighborhood looked on with the
lazy interest that n military parade
awakens in the metropolis, but no one
knew or cared to inquire whether the
regiment had arrived en- masse by an
early train or had come in the night
before.
The troops had to wait till nine
o'clock for the platoon of mounted
police that was to precede them. Gen.
Waterson, the colonel commanding,
communicated with the sergeant of
the squad through his adiutant. They
had been invited, he said, to visit Wall
street and the sub-treasury. They
were then to march to Gen. Grants
tomb for battalion evo!utions
1t does not appear that any suspi-
cions up TO this time were awakened
in the police, who regarded the con-
spicuous cartridge belts of the men as
piece of western military nonsense,
and il was not within their line of duty
to question the visit of the officers to
the sub-treasury. If the sub-treasury
did not want their western visitors
they would shut the doors in their
faces
It was twenty minutes past nine
when the regiment, preceded by the
police, and with the colonel and his
staff, dismounted, left the park and it
was ten o'clock when it wheeled into
Broadway at Eighth street making a
solid and formidable appearance in its
homely uniforms and soldierly bear
ing.
Nothing occurred along the route of
consequence to interfere with its prog
ress. The inha abitants looked upon it
as part of the constantly recurring
show of that highway; careless re-
the cheap get-up, but the crowds eyed
it carelessly and went on their way.
1t was just fifteen minutes of eleven
by the Trinity clock when the armed
force turned into Wall street and five
minutes later it had come to
a halt in front of the sub-treasury
building. The regiment filed all the
space on the Wall street side and ex-
tended around into Nassau and Broad
streets. The lines were quietly and
quickly but effectually formed and the
sub-treasury was, for the time being,
cut off from interference.
We have in Police Sergeant McGuire's
account and in Gen. Waterson's report
sufficient data from which to form
some idea of the scene. The sergeant
says: 81 don't think ten minutes had
passed when found the whole of the
broad steps leading up to the building
covered with soldiers, leaving only
space of ten feet in the center, and the
colonel and his staff followed by an
other hundred men were marching up
that alleyway into the building. One
of the patrolmen, who was as much
astonished as / was, asked me what the
regiment was going to do in the build
ing, and 1 made some careless answer
There was a black crowd of people
down in Broad street looking on and
most of the Office windows in the
neighborhood were crowded with peo-
pie, but there was no excitement. The
men on the steps looked as If they
were drawn up for show, but calcu-
lated that it would take the whole po-
lice force of the city to dislodge them.
The first thing that gave me a twinge
was that, after the troops went in,
none of the people who were doing
business inside came out, and the sol
diers wouldn't let anybody go up. In
spector Fairchild, who didn't like the
looks of things, turned his badge out,
took two men and insisted on going in
to see what was being done. We
waited over half an hour and they did
not come back, but the company of
troops that had gone in had come out,
fallen into line, and another hundred
men had been marched in. Word was
then sent to the central office That
was about twelve o'clock. Itwas three
quarters of an hour before the super
intendent and another inspector ar
rived. They went at once into the
building, where they were placed un-
der guard. We were then ordered
back, outside of the lines, by one of
the captains"
From Gen. Waterson's account we