The Penn's Grove record., 1899-08-25
ANARCHIST MOB TN PARIS
Street Fights That Recall the Days
Of the Commune.
PlLLAGE AND BURN CHURCHES.

Demonstration May Hurt Dreyfus's
Chances of ACCOMPLISHMENTS at the
Church of st. Joseph-wiId Rabble
DESTROYS Affairs, Fonts, Statues and
! Rare Paintings-Many Persons Injured
PARIS (By Cable).-A mob of Anarchists
and Socialists, infumed by revolutionary
h%arangues, attacked a number of churches
In Paris. The Church Of st. Joseph was
broken into and the interior wrecked in a
mad outburst OF sacrilegious fury. The
rioting was suppressed by the police and
Republican Guards only after fierce fight
ing.
The Prefecture OF Police gives the fol-
lowing statistics OF the riots: Three hum
dred and eighty persons were injured.
Three hundred and sixty were taken to
g Lariboisiere and St. Louis hospitals.
Eifty-nine police agents were wounded,
besides Commissaires Coulter and Domsi-
none. One hundred and fifty persons were
arrested, of whom eighty are detained in
custody.
The trouble originated in ar attack made
by Anarchists on Anti-Semites. A thou
sand Anarchists under Sebastian Faure as
sembled in the Place de In R~epubliGue and
resisted ting nlice who attempted to dis
perse them
A policS lmissary and an inspector
attempted arrest some rioters who were
carrying a red flag, but they were trampled
upon and beaten with bludgeons. A num-
Der of shots were fred by the mob. The
Inspector was mortally injured by the
clubs. and the commIssary was hit by a
bullet, receiving a serious wound. Four
other policemen were stabbed. Notwith-
standing their defeat the police made a
number of arrests, among their prisoners
being Faure.
Subsequent to the rioting in the Place de
Ia Republique the mob rushed to Rue st.
Maur, where they stormed the churches OF
st. Maur and st. Joseph. They entered the
buildings, and viii 9 some OF them lore
down the affairs and pulpits, others seized
the sacred pictures, holy vessels and the
Host, the conseerated waters, all OF which
were thrown into the street. The affairs
and pulpits furnished wood for n bonfire,
and all the seized church property was
burned. A similar scene was enacted at
st. Nicholas's Church. The mob tried to
burn the churches, but failed.
While the rioters were stormtng st.
Nicholas's Church they were charged by
police and cavalry, but they succeeded in
carrying out their plan despite the efforts
to dispense them. Thu sacktng OF the
churches recalls the excuses committed
by the Communists In 1871.
The mob which attacked st. Joseph's
Church carried hatehet5 and long knives,
which they had stolen from the counter:
of various shops. The aged sacristan
seeing the rioters coming, hastily closed
tx outer gates, but his precnution was
futile. The mob attacked the gates with
hatchets and long bars of iron, and soon
forced them open. The oak doors were
next attacked They finally gave way and
the crowd burst into the church.
The six side affairs and baptismnl font
we're thrown to the ground. The holy water
stoups were broken, pictures were torn,
and the statues and other devotional OBJ
ects were thrown to the floor and smashed
to pieces.
Next the mob attacked the high altar.
The tabernacle was torn from its place.
The sacred hosts were thrown on the
ground and trampled upon, andthe candle
sticks were broken. A figure OF the Eaylour
hanging on Il great cross above the altar
was made the aim for all sorts of missiles,
and was fractured in several places.
While some sung the "C~armagnole,' the
rioters seized the chairs and carried them
to the small square in front of the church,
where n bonfire was made of them. Not
content with the destruction that had been
wrought, some of the mob returned to the
sanctuary and succeeded in pulling down
the crucilx, which they then threw intothe
flames.
Some one raised the cry that the statue
OF the Virgin had been forgotten. Back
into the church poured the crowd and
quickly they pulled down the image,
Wien the police had routed the mob and
entered the church the Anarchists had Just
set fire to the pulpit, which they had been
unable to destroy.
The interior OF the church is simply a
wreck. Several valuable old pictures
were destroyed and they can never be re-
placed.
A l%amentabIe feature OF the affair is that
1t will be regarded as a pro-Dreyfus de-
monstration and react greatly to the detri-
ment of the chances of acquittal.