Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-02

struck. Committees visited them, and,
though they had held out for a few days,
the strike fever finally won them.
At the undertaking establishments there
was most serious condition. In this cli-
mate the funeral usually is held on the
day of death. But the cab drivers and af-
fliated unions had decided that no vehicle
should move. One undertaken finally COM
promised with them by agreeing to have
would not permit Cuban or Spanish driv-
ers do not know how the other under
takers managed it, but on Monday there
were fewer funerals than usual.
Street Cars Were Kept Running.
The crisis for public order and for Presi-
dent Palma's government came about at an
earlier hour than otherwise might have
happened through the determination of the
Havana Electric Company to keep its cars
moving, and through the bravery of the
street employees. They alone had
fused to go into the strike. The cars had
run all day Sunday and Sunday night, af-
ter the guaguas, or omnbuses. had quit.
Monday the cars were still running, though
the passengers in them were not many.
Down town committees of the strikers
would board the cars and try to persuade
the motormen and conductors to quit, but
they attempted no violence. Out on the
edges of the city 1t was different. There
they massed In numbers and forced the
cars to stop and the passengers to get out.
All this time the police had no authority
to use stern measures. They were expected
to argue with law breakers while In the act
OF law breaking Some of them called the
strikers bandits and some addressed them
as gentlemen" But the calling of names,
whether polite or otherwise did not deter
the strikers. These began to form into a
dangerous mob, especially at the outlying
section OF the city, known as the Quatro-
Caminos or Four Corners.
1t was 10 o'clock in the morning before
the police force had real authority to act.
Then sharp order from President Palma
caused the alcalde to issue a proclamation
forbidding crowds and giving the police the
right to use their guns and their clubs
After this In various parts of the city there
were bloody skirmshes In which the police
always came out ahead
Squads of the Cuban artillery which was
trained by the American army officers, also
were brought out and reached the centers
OF disturbance with gratifying promptness
while the Rural Guard mounted as they
wi.h praiseworthy promptness. 1t was not
an American mob, and when once convinced
that there was to be no liberation of dis
order its violence was only sporadic.
In the afternoon, after the municipal au-
thorities had been brought to the sense of
their responsibilities by the president and
the trolley cars were given police protec-
ton, climbed onto one which was headed
ior the suburbs There was plenty of room
inside. A white policeman with a carbine
on the front platform and a black police
form seemed to be a sufficient display of
moral force to justify the trip. 1t proved
to be without incident.
Violence at Night.
While 1t was apparent in the afternoon
that the strike as a spasm of violence was
broken, there were some misgivings about
the night. After dark l made trim for
observation over the line known as Jesus
DEL Monte. which passes through the in
fected district where the mob feeling was
strongest and where there were the most
opportunities for mischief Both the mu-
plcipal police and the Rural Guard were
well placed along the route, but in the
darkness they could not afford complete
protection. AT one point a rock smashed
into the side of the with good deal
of force and caused scramble into the
center aisle, with one passenger yelling
that he was shot 1t was an llustra ton
of the power of the imagination The DO
liceman on the platform had blazed away
W h his revolver into the blackness from
which the rock had come, and the Cuban
passenger had mistaken the revolver for
the rock
At the end of the line the superintendent
told US that each of the two cars ahead of
us had been shot into. You will probably
catch 1t going back he said 1t was
something of a relief to three passengers
when the danger zone was passed. and the
heart OF the city was reached again.
Speech of Juan Gualberto Gomez.
A meeting was then going on in the
theater. which was the strike Headquarters.
1t was presided over by Gen Maxine Co.
mex and was called under the influence of
the Centre de Veterans. The real purpose
was to enable the striking cigar makers to
call off the sympathetic strike before 1t
called itself off. Their leaders were all
present. Manuel Sanguily, one Of the Gu
pan senators, made conservative speech,
showing them the way out by the appoint
ment OF Joint committee. There were
reckless radicals among them who wanted
to keep up the disorder. They urged yart-
Gus objections. Then Juan Gualberto Co
mez, the mulatto leader of the radical Do
litical element which opposes the Palma
administration, made a warning speech,
telling them that they must find way out,
because the continuance of disorder would
imperil the independence of Cuba. Speak
ing as the leader of the opposition to the
Palma admnistra ton, he said that he and
his associates were bound in this crisis to
support Palma. There were other speeches
and explanations, but 1T all resulted in the
appointment of a joint committee from the
cigar makers and the veterans, with au-
thority to reach an agreement with the
cigar manufacturers. The details Of this
negotiation are not of serious concern
Within twenty-four hours afterward the
sympathetic strike in Havana was over
Trade and industry resumed their normal
courses and the newspapers reappeared
with full and consecutive accounts of what
had happened from the day they ceased
publication.
Fear Of Intervention.
The potent agency in ending the strike,
in so far as it an outbreak of violence
was the Havana police force, exercising its
proper functions as the guardian of law
and order. The controlling motive which
worked down from the political leaders on
the mass was the fear of giving the United
States a ground for Intervention. Minister
Squiers from the beginning avoided any
public demonstration. American interests
were assured Of protection and the Cuban
authorities were notified where these in
terests were interfered with or threatened
1t was perfectly understood that If mob
violence became rampant and the Ameri-
can artillery stationed at the Santa Clara
barracks found American property in dan
ger and beyond the protection of the Gu
ban authorities the minister would call on
1t. But this was Locked upon only as
contingency, and it proved 10 be such At
all times rumors were flying, most of them
absurd. about American Intervention. 1t is
undeniable that wild as these rumors were
they had certain moral effect.
Appeal to Patriotism.
The necessity Of preserving Cuban indie