The age-herald., 1902-02-21
Soldiers and Strikers Fight Until the the Town is
 Wrecked by Shells
REVOLUTION SPREADING
 OVER SPANISH KINGDOM
Cavalry, Infantry and Artillery Used By Government In Efforts to Stop the Riots, But the Situation
 Has Not Improved.

London, February 2o.-A message to the Exchange Telegraph Company from Bar celona via Perpignan, France, says fierce battle has been fought between the troops and the rioters in the suburbs of Barcelona, known as Sano. Before the engagement the cavarly and infantry had been posted in the most dangerous points and field battery had been To- cated on the plaza from which advantage ous point the guns could sweep the sur rounding streets. When the final clash with the troops occurred, continues the dispatch, the artillery was brought into action and raked street after street. The rioters engaged the batteries at close range but were finally driven off It Is reported that 800 persons were killed and wounded on both sides The entire neigh borhood was wrecked by the shells. The ruins caught fire and this completed the destruction.
 Further fighting Is reported at Mataro, fifteen miles from Barcelona, where a quantity of arms have been discovered. Fighting is also reported at Tortosa and Tarragona, respectively fifty and one hundred miles Southwest of Barcelona.
 Street Fighting Continues.
 Madrid, February 2O.-According to tel egrams received here late tonight from Barcelona the street fighting there con- tinues. The heavy rain which fell during the day helped to disperse the rioters and the authorities are taking severe measures.
 A proclamation has been issued order ing all private individuals to surrender any weapons they may possess, under pain of severe penalty. The sale. of arms has also been prohibited.
 Forty workmens' associations have been dissolved and the m embers of their com mittees arrested The dwellings of the strike leaders and of anarchists are being registered and put under guard.
 The battleship Pelayo has been ordered to Barcelona
 The military engineers have assumed control of the street car service and a few cars, half filled with soldiers, are running. Even the funeral coaches have to be protected by police. No letters have been delivered in Barcelona in three days, and in some distant parts of the town business is completely paralyeed.
 A pitched battle occurred in the out skirts of the city between the strikers and the military escort attached to sev- eral wagons that were bringing in provi- sions. The contents of the wagons were dragged out and barricades were built across the road The rails have been torn up to prevent trains from entering the city.
 Spreading Seriously.
 The strike movement has begun to spread seriously. At Castelon de la Pla- ma, taking advantage of the night and of the absence of the police, the strik- CTS set fire to two factories with the aid of petroleum. The factories were burned. At a worlzman's meeting held at Castel- lon de la Plana 8 general strike was voted
 At Saragossa most of the factories have already closed on the demands of the workmen, and the strikers are bringing pressure to bear to compel the factories still remaining open to close their doors.
 The captain-general of Saragossa has wired for endorsements.
 The strike commenced at Valencia, but owing to the refusal of the dock laborers
 
 Martial law, it is learned late tonight, has been proclaimed at Manresa, about thirty miles northwest of Barcelona, and at Saragossa- At the latter place the troops have occupied a strategic position in order to check the disturbances.
 Official telegrams received here describe slight improvement in the situation at Barcelona and officials tonight seem more hopeful.
 News Strictly Censored.
 Owing to the strict censorship over news from Barcelona it is difficult to as- certain the real state of affairs there. It is quite certain, however, that all the eff forts of the authorities to persuade the labor leaders into conciliatory attitude have so far failed, and the extension of l the strike movement is more likely tha-. 1 its restriction.
 i In addition to the labor movement, the 1 ever-present Catalan Home rule agitation | is likely to prove serious factor in the situation.
 One hopeful sign is the fact that almost alone among the ministers and the gov erning authorities, General Weyler Is in sympathy with the Catalonian demands and is inclined to study their grievances. He has held military commands In Cata- 1 lonia, speaks the Catalan language and l thoroughly understands their situation l The government declines to publish fig ures of the casualties in the riots of Tues 1 day and Wednesday. It is inferred from private information received here that forty persons were killed and two hun dred wounded during the encounters of | those days, and that 400 arrests have 1 been made.
 Women Take Prominent Share. | Women took a prominent share in the riots and were more violent than the men. At Barcelona a policeman who resembled an inspector named Tiesos, who is much hated by the anarchists, was assassi- mated.
 The telegraph lines have been cut be- tween Sabadell and Tarraza. It is fear ed the strike will next extend to Seville and Verona and ministerial crisis Is not an unlikely outcome Of the trouble It transpires that last Sunday several workmens meetings were held in Bar celona. The principal meeting was held | at the Circo Espanole and was attended | by 5000 persons Tereza Claramunt, the notorious agitator Bonfuila and other anarchists made violent speeches at this meeting in favor of a general strike. This