New-York tribune., 1908-01-03
A MEETING ON THE RUN
4NTI RENTERS IN RIOT.
Trmled Through Three Precincts
Before Stopped by Police.

The rent strikers held q peripatetic meeuns
last night. literally at the end of a truck The
truck was driven madly through three precincts
with four or five thousand shouting men ana
boys in its wake. trying TO listen to the speak
ers but it finally stayed in the 7th Precinct long
enough for five policemen to disperse the howl
ing mob and arrest the driver of the truck
That broke up the meeting, and Louis Zuck-
ernan was taken to the Madison street station.
charged with driving truck after dark without
a light disturbing the peace disordegy conduct.
inciting riot. paradins without license ana
everything else that Patrolman Dunnigan, who
does not like the Jews in Madison street, could
think of
Early in the evening two other arrests mad
been made Sirius Spector and his brother who
live at No 1s5 Ludlow street. thought they could
address meeting in Rutgers Square. but the
police thought otherwise. and they went to Mad
ison street That was when the meeting began
its wild chase through Canal street to Eldridge
street back to Grand street, into Rutgers Square
again, through Jefferson street to Madison. UP to
Rutgers and It's finish.
About two hundred landlords were having an
organiza ton meeting in No. III East Broadway
when the wandering meeting game along, MAX
| ing much noise it could. and tinid souls
who had read about the French Revolution
| and hunted cover. To the unafraid the noise
| sounded like Wow Wow" and that was what
| it really was
Harold NJ Phillips. Of the law firm of Phillips
& Phillips. of No. 271 Broadway, was chairman
| of the landlord meeting. and he and other
| speakers, including Morris Meyer, lawyer,
| urged immediate organization. Two hundred
| were present. and a motion to organize wac
carried unanimously. Then Joseph Smolensk1
| elected treasurer and Philip Manchal was
! made secretary. Just to give Smoenski some
| thing to do an assessment of 81 a man vas
| levied and he collected S5s. The next meeting
will be held on Saturday night
| About seventy-five dspossess notices were re-
| turnable in the Madison street court yester-
day. Jacob Panken had twelve adjourned ana
| three were dismissed on technical grounds al
| his instance. In most of the other cases Jus
| tice Roesch gave the tenants until Monday or
Tuesday to pay get out
According to the bureau of information Of the
| socialists at No. 3l3 Grand street, about twelve
| thousand families refused to pay the full amount
! of rent demanded and in seven houses. with a
| total of 227 families. reductions were granted.
About fifty dispossess warrants, returnabie to-
| day and tomorrow. were taken TO headquarters
Yesterday to be handled by the lawyers Of the
| movement Many more are expected to-day.
| Landlords would not admit last night that
there were twelve thousand families strike,
| but they said the situation was grave III the
extreme. and that unless the landlords held to-
| gether they would face heavy losses. Speakers
| said that Il essential that every landlord
| agree to refuse to receive any tenant dispos-
sessed for non n-payment of rent. and that unless
this was done the tenants would win their fight.
There was a mild storm at Nos. IS and 20
! Stanton street yesterday. The landlord. Jacob
/
| first house affected. but he had a dispossess
! notice served yesterday the Arkin family,
which is supposed to have started the whole
| trouble. So the tenants going TO have an
other strike and try to get another reduction.
| There were several evictions yesterday. with
| pathetic scenes accompanying them but no
wholesale dumping OF furniture in the streets.
| This will be difficult for the Teamsters' Union
| has decided TO help the strikers by refusing to
work on these jobs for the city n1arshals
Eight hundred tenants attended the meeting
of the Brooklyn Anti-High Rent League at
American Hall. Morel and Cook streets. Will
| iamsburs. last night. The meeting was held
under the auspices Of the Socialist party in
the district Speeches were made by Adolph
Benebey and Irving Polski. More than one
hundred tenants from the tenements at No.
! 113 TO III Debevoise street and the tenants
from the big tenements at No II Cook street
! and No 231 Moore street subscribed 50 each
| to the general fund. and a giant meeting
| will be held at Liberty Hall. Williamsburg, to-
| night.
| The Socialists have offered to take up the
! cases of tenants whose landlords attempt to
raise the rents begin eviction proceedings.
| Several landlords, it is said, have already ca
| pituated and have offered to ask other land
| lords to make a wholesale reduction in rents.