The morning times., 1896-07-16
CYCLERs BLAME THEP0UCE
Criticisms Freely Made of the
Parade Handling.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY
Several Riders Tell of Their Ex-
periences While In Line-Maj jor
Moore Defends the Force and Ex-
plains why the Crowd Was Not
Restrained. s.7

The wheclmcn Of the city are very much
displeased at tne ieeble attempt of the
police to control tle EiSt crowd at the
between Washington Circlts AM Peace mon
| ument, where only single policeman was
detailed to keep order.
police force" said Mr.. Fitzhugh, one of
Lne red devils and "a prize winner 1T
was the fault OF the police entirely, in
their failure to keep th9.cs9wds back, tnaJ
the boys failed to mase'anS better appear-
POLICE GENERALLY CONDEMNED.
About dozen riders were VITA MIR.
Fitzhugh and each one, all members of
the Washington Road Cub, echoed his
Mr.. William T. Robertson, the chief mar
shall, was no more pleased than his fellow
wbeelmen sef .
"Or course" lie said, "the failure OF
the officers TO give MS "a clear line mater
Tie boys couldn't put up a good appear
ance in such n crowd and they had no room
for display. 1t was to the disadvantage of
everyone, and the people were as much
disappointed as the wiieclmen themselves
at the failure OF the police"
Mr. Doupins, uI Tie White Flyers in
answer to the reporters query, said:
1T was the worst ever saw or heard
Of. The idea OF the Washington police
force not being able to manage that
crowd is absurd. They didn't try TO.
"A half dozen mounted officers, rid
ing through the line, did n good. We had
to dismount every, half minute and elbow
our way through"
Similar expressions were heard where
ever wheelnen conSregated.
MIR. CAMPBELL'S EXPERIENCE.
Mr.. H. A. Campbell, who has spent con-
siderable time anu money IN the execution
or his slinpersonatlonfnr Tor Miss Columbia, told
The Times OF his experience while in the
ranks:
- was in the unattached division and
rode aions witnout any interference until
t,..d Fran sI.t,,
From this point 1 lad To dlsmount about.
every ten feet. The people would stand
in line and pull the decorations orr my
wheel. AT Eleventh street We had TO dis
band as the crowd refused to recede.
A soon as / quit the ranks / was attacked
by a mob of colored men and women who
did their best TO strip the wheel or lanterns,
bunting. etc, and me or clothes. My hama
was badly cut in the scufrle. / was not
abe TO reach the judges stand during the
evening. The police were woefuliy de-
reict III Their duty and seemed to ma Ke no
effort to keep the sidewalks clear"
MAJOR NO ORES EXPLANATION.
Major Moore was asked yesterday why
II was tnat lne ponce Iorce raiied 10 gear
the streets Tuesday evening, and permit
the cyc!ers to have rocm for the parade.
He replied:
II cannot see how the police were to
blame. An officer can only admonish in
a case OF that kind; lie cannot use his
club TO keep ladies and children back in
line on an occasion where vast crowd
IS attracted TO the sidewalk with such
great expectations.
"A cycle parade Is not like any other, to
begin with. You cannot detail mounted
men TO ride at the front, as is done where
the military or some civic organization is
out. on fuot or on horseback. If mounted
men ride in front or 4 bicycle column
they must be long distance in advance
in order TO be out OF the way themselves,
and what good VIII that accomplish? AS
soon as the oIflcers pass the crowd surges
back 10 tie street. beyond the sidewalk.
There is great difference between be-
ilevins you can do thing and in doing it.
No oIncer wants tO use violence, and
tie people soon fInd IL out. In ms efforts
TO discharge his duty a good officers
record is often marred. and it is his
record upon which he must depend for
q retention on the force. ~
Il regret exceedingly that the harmony
OF the parade. Was alsSuIbed, but the peo-
pie are not blameless, They got tired OF
waiting and IL was hard % keep them III
line
VIEWS OF A BUSINESS MAN.
Editor Times: 80
1 would ike TO say through the columns
OF your paper tnat the bicycle parade Was
a big success as far as tue riders went, but
as regards the police arrangements II
was very badly managed. Ii there had
been some big mogul coming up the Avenue
with drum corps the biue-coats would
have driven the teams and, the people not
only to tue SIDEWALKS yuL l.ito some OF the
houses tociear the wa y,, nav