New-York tribune., 1900-09-04
MANY WAGE A FENCE WAR
BLOOD SPILLED IN FIGHT AT STATEN
ISLAND BEACHES.
BARRICADE TO PREVENT CROWD GOING
FROM MIDLAND TO WOODLAND
REPEATEDLY TORN DOWN
AND REBUILT.
AND REBUILT.

AND REBUILT.
The thirty thousand people who visited Mid
land Beach. Staten Island yesterday afternoon
were treated to exciting fence war between
the employees of Midland Beach and Woodland
Beach. small resort which adjoins Midland
There was a brief but lively encounter be-
tween the forces which was not entirely blood
less. 1t resulted in the arrest of H. c. Wilson
the manager Of Woodland Beach, and c. A
Honmeister. the proprietor of one Of the hotels
there.
woodland Beach consists of two hotels
bathhouse, a merry go-round and a few stands
and is a few hundred feet south of the Midland
Beach line. A board walk was built last spring
extending to the Midland Beach wharf. The
heavy stringpiece of the wharf is the dividing
line between the two properties Last year
there was fence between the two beaches and
persons who visited Woodland were compelled
to jump from the pier to the beach or to go to
the rear of the Midland buildings.
Yesterday morning the Midland Beach man
agernent began the erection of a lattice fence
along the stringpiece. cutting off access between
the beaches except by the roadway at the
rear. The Woodland Beach people retaliated by
causing the arrest of six employees of the Mid
land Beach company on charge of violating the
Sunday law in working on the Sabbath. These
men admitted to ball. and yesterday morn
ing were discharged.
FENCE PARTLY REBUILT.
Several parts of the fence had been completed
before the arrests were made. and these stood.
cutting off Woodland Beach, until 1890
o'clock yesterday afternoon Then bout fifteen
Of the Woodland Beach people, led by w C.
Wilson. c. A. Hoffmeister and w H. Putnam.
and armed with axes and heavy poles made a
sudden descent upon the fence and cut and
battered it down Before the work had been
completed E D. Cunden, the manager of Mid
land Beach. organized his forces and made an
effort to save the fence. The warning parties
were Immediately surrounded by immense
throng Of people. who cheered on the beg-
erents. The axes in the hands of the Woodland
Beach forces were caught by the Midland Beach
men, and in the struggle for their possession
the hands OF several were slightly cut. and
blood sprinkled about the battle-ground and
upon the clothing Of the contestants.
The fence was cleared away and then fol-
lowed the arrest of Wilson and Hoffmeister. The
Midland Beach management appealed to Cap
tain Daniel Blake, of the Eightieth Precinct. for
protection He sent three men, with instructions
to preserve the peace. The policemen refused to
permit the rebuilding of the fence unless permit
was obtained. and so the Midland Beach forces
built barricade with lattice frames benches
and lumber the wharf. twenty feet from the
while the Woodland Beach "barkers' called
upon the spectators to assert their rights in a
free country and clear the barrier away. No
one made the attempt, but hundreds of men and
women crawled over and through it
ITALIAN WOMAN URGES CROWD ON.
An old Italian woman. said to be the wife of
the proprietor OF fruit stand at Woodland
Beach, mounted the ba-ricade and swinging an
umbrella over her head. called upon the crowd to
come across the barricade and denounced the
Midland Beach management The crowd
laughed at her imprecations. and she was not
molested. Finally the Midland Beach leaders
withdrew, and soon afterward the Woodland
Beach force made another descent and cleared
a wide passageway through the barricade
Manager Cundell and Mayor John Hinchliffe
OF Paterson, n. J., who is the president Of the
Midland Beach Company. called upon the police
to arrest the Woodland Beach men, but they de-
clined to take any action. The barricade was
rebuilt, and another appeal was made to Cap
tain Blake by the Midland Beach officials but
the Captain did not come to the scene to make
an investigation of the trouble While the Mid
land Beach officers were striving to obtain pro-
lection for their property from the police cap
tain the Woodland Beach forces tore down the
barricade- 1t was rebuilt again. but was again
torn down, and this time the greater part of
the lumber was carried to the rear of the wharf
and thrown in a heap upon the sand. Encount-
ers between the forces were prevented nv the
policemen, who warned the belligerents that any
breach of the peace would be followed by i'm
mediate arrest. Mayor Hinchliffe finally de-
clared that he would wait until permit could
be obtained to build fence. when one would be
erected, and then the law would be invoked to
maintain their rights.
PROFITED BY THEIR ADVERTISING.
Mayor Hinchliffe, when asked as to the origin
of the trouble, said that he and his brother who
the owners of the beach, had spent much
money at the beach and had built the pier The
Woodland Beach people had started their en-
terprise and profted entirely from the adver-
tsing and the travelling facilities provided for
Midland Beach. 1t had been decided that so
long as there were no Objectionable features at
Woodland Beach no obstacle would be thrown
in the way Of its managers. Recently the
Woodland Beach management had employed
"barkers' and gypses and other Coney Island
features and. climax a prizehght had been
arranged. This had finally determined them to
erect the fence so as to separate the beaches
w. H. Putnam, who represents the owners OF
the property at Woodland Beach and George s
Scofeld. counsel for the Woodland Beach peo-
pie, contend that the wharf where the fence
was erected is upon public highway. and that
consequently the Midland Beach people have no
right to build fence there. The Midland Beach
ment of Docks. and they claim under this lease
control of the property and the right to build
the fence
HENRY GEORGES BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION