The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-21
BARCELONA STRIKE TROUBLES
FORCE PREMIER TO sTRIN-
GENT ACTION
CRISIS IN LIFE OF NATION
RiOting Spreads, More Troops Are
Ordered Out, and Fight
ing Still Con-
tinueS.
SHIPPING HAS WARsHIP's AID

MADRID, Feb 20-Premier Sagasta is
declaring a decree establishing martial
| law throughout Spain. The signature of
| the decree, it is believed, will be followed
| by national crisis.
1t was persistently said when the cham
| ber of deputies closed this evening that
| the minister of war, Gen. Weyler, had a
| long conference with the queen regent
| yesterday, followed by a conference with
the military authorities today. After
ward, it is asserted, arms and ball car
! tridges were served out to the troops in
| Madrid.
The battleship Pelayo has been ordered
| to Barcelona.
According to kilograms received here
| late tonight from Barcelona the street
fighting there continues A heavy rain
| helped to disperse the rioters, and the
| authorities are taking severe measures
The strikers today killed three work
men who wished to resume work. The
proprietor of a bakery who raised the
/ price Of bread was also killed.
It is hourly becoming more apparent
! that anarchists are the prime movers In
! the revolution. The markets are without
provisions and the strikers are prevent
| ing the slaughter of animals.
A mob storr1ed the arsenal at Sabadell,
not far from Barcelona, and secured
/ forty rifles, but these were subsequently,
| recovered by the troops.
Fresh fighting betwe en- the troops and
rioters has occurred at Tarrasa and Sab
| adell
Most of the ships in Barcelona harbor
| have been forced to leave without dis
| charging their cargoes.
! Shoot at Troops From Ambush.
The Barcelona mob does not offer any
/ serious resistance when confronted by the
! troops, but rioters are continually sniping
| at the police and soldiers from behind
| doors and windows and from the roofs
of houses, dispensing when the troops
| charge.
/ Incendiary posters have appeared which
i threaten the orderly classes with terrible
reprisals, saying that dynamite viii be
used to offset the Mausers of the troops
| The strikers are looting numerous shops
! and private houses.
The railroad officials have announced
| the suspension of service On the lines
owing to the resolute attacks which the
rioters have made on the trains
Trade unions throughout Spain have
declared adhesion to the cause of the
| Barcelona strikers.
Forty workmens S associations have been
i dissolved, and the members of their COM
mittees arrested. The homes of the
strike leaders and of anarchists are be-
I ing registered and put under guard
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 the police No letters
have been delivered in Barcelona in three
days, and in some distant parts of the
town business is completely paralyzed.
Strike Agitation Is Spreading.
1 A pitched battle occurred in the out
skirts of the city between the strikers
and the military escort attached to sew
eral wagons that were bringing in pro-
visions. 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 enter
ing the city.
The strike agitation is spreading. At
! Castellon de la Plana, taxing advantage
| of the night and of the absence of the
| police, the strikers set fire to two fac
tories with the aid of petroleum The
factories were destroyed. At a work
/ mems meeting held at Castellon de la
| Plana a general strike was voted At
| Saragossa most of tile factories have all
ready closed on the demands of the
| workmen The captain general of Sara
! gOssa has wired for reinforcements
/ StA 1AC at dACIlCld, OWlIIS 70 the AC~
| fusal of the dock laborers 10 participate
in it, did not become general The po-
| lice at Valencia, assisted by the troops,
/ have, up to the present, been able to
maintain order.
Martial law has been proclaimed at
! Manresa. thirty miles northwest Of Bar
celona, and at Saragossa.
Owing to the censorship over news
from Barcelona, it is difficult to ascer-
| tain the real state of affairs. 1t is quite
| certain. however. that all the efforts of
| the authorities toward conciliatory moves
| have so far failed, and the extension of
/ the strike movement is more likely than
its restriction.
Government Suppresses News.
In addition to the labor movement. the
ever present Catalan home lule agita-
! tion is likely to prov ca serious factor in
the situation. Almost alone among ths
| ministers and the government authoTi-
ties, Gen. Weyler is in sympathy with
the Catalonian demands, and is inclined
| to study their grievances. He has held
military commands in Catalonia, speaks
the Catalan language and understands
the situation.
The government declines to publish fig
ures of the casualties in the riots of
Tuesday and Wednesday. It is inferred
| from private information received here
that forty persons were killed and geo
wounded during the encounters of those
days. Five hundred arrests have been
made. All persons who were only slight.
ly wounded were concealed by their
friends in order to avoid prosecution
Women took a prominent part in the
riots, and were more violent than the
men. Among the incidents related of the
disorders ar Barcelona is the case of a
policeman who fell a victim to his re-
semblance to an inspector named Tiesols,
who is much hated by the anarchists.
The policeman. mistaken for the inspect
or, was assassinated.
The telegraph lines have been cut be-
tween Sabadell and Tarrasa. 1t is feared
the strike will next extend to Seville and
Verona, and a ministerial crisis is not
an unlikely outcome Of the trouble
1t trarspires that last Sunday several
workmen's meetings were held in BARGE
Iona. The principal meeting was held at
the Circo Espanol and was attended bv
6,C0O persons. Teresa Claramunt, the no.
torious agitator Bonfulla and other an
archists made violent speeches at this
Continued ON Seventh Page.