Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-01-04
FIERCE BATTLE With
ANARCHISTS IN LONDON
MurdererS Of Policemen a
bay--1500 Officers Surrounds the
House, Which Is Burned, the
Anarchists MI PeriShing.

London, Jan. 3.-Pattlng to the grim
end against desperate odds, Peter the
Painter" and Dutch Fritz" reputed
Anarchists, went to their death toda Y
shouting defiance to the laws Of Eng
land, 1t is believed tfat four com
panIons perisAet with them in the
flames tat consumed their den in Sid :
ney street, not far from the heart
of LONDON. This afternoon only the
cnarrcd bodies of the two desperadocs.
wanted for tie ASA Ssin9 ton of tire.
policemen. two weeks ago, had been
recovered.
When their house had been riddled
with bullets from The guns OF the po-
lice and soldiers and set or fire. t,r-
trapped men clanlIered 20 the roof and
there mad their last stand. firing a
the crowds below and jeering their
assaitantS until tho uppeI supports ii
the building gaVe way and the out
las Werr swallowed up in the seeth
ing flam'>.
Such q ta:tle between officers %
tin. .aH aal criminals seldom hos
been MageJ Discovered IN their hid
stood of Two hair companies OF Scot
Quarts from tie tower OF London.
sevel..l detachments OF armed police,
a battery of horse artillery with thret
maclias guns end c gntling gun ana
a 81. brigade until their Eorlc was
nl5d
Tho authorities sought 10 get tn :
men allHc. 1t took them seven hours
to gel hold If their incnerated bodies
II required 40 policemen nasseH
about the scene t. keep back tire tens
of thousands al spectators VII ;
crowded about the firing zone.
Distinguished in the scene MIS- ffam0
Secretary Churchill, who darted mere
and there consulting With and advising
the department heads IS 20 what
measures should be taken
There. j. some doubt as To whethe
the nolice fired the building. This Wa
the first report, the step having eeel
decided upon. it was said. to save al
unnecessary loss of lit, which WA.
SIRE tn attend an attempt /" take tit
ularr by storm However, accordils
To another version, the occupants pu
tee torch Ia THEN improVlsed fortrtS
when they realized that the only'a
native was their capture. =
Detective Sergeant Lesson was sho'
and seriously injured. two other oill'
GERS received bullet wounds and sev
cral firemen were hurt by COllapSiE
walls. Two soldiers and three civilians
were shot. The wounds of Lesson only
are serious.
The scene Of the battle was near
where the burglary was attempted IN
tie night of Dec. Is. when three po-
licamcn were MORALLY wounded.
The police had located the headqIar-
tiers of the Anarchists and surrounding
the place planned to capture them be
fore daylight. Detective Sergeant Lee
son was accommodating in the |ard a,
the rear when there was n fash from
revolver broke the silence and the ser
geant fell back in the arms of his broth
Ell officers with bullet in the lungs.
Police reinforcements were rushed
to the place and a rain of lead poured
into the windows of the house. The
OCCUPANTS responded and for hours the
fight continued, the police being sup
ported by the SCOTS Guards and ar
tillery, though the latter did not bring
their guns into play. Soldiers were
posted on the roofs of nearby buildings
and fred continuously at the Anarch-
lists who appeared repeatedly at the
windows and returned hundreds of
shots.
The outlaws were armed with mag
azine revolvers and had 1t good sup
ply of ammunition as Was shown by
several explosions which marked the
progress of the flames.
Piles of straw We're lighted neal
the house with the idea of smoking
out its defenders and il is thought
likely that the flames communicated
with the building. At any rate, soon
after these fires We're started, the
house was ablaze and the Anarchists.
driven from the top story to the roof,
finally went down in the ruins. Only
when the building collapsed did the
firemen venture an entrance. Then
they flooded the lower floor and re.
covered two bodies. 1t is believed that
other bodies will be found. Whether
tho besieged We're wounded before being
burned cannot be known, but it is Ger
tain 10 one escaped from the house.
In an interview Mr.. Churchill ex7
pressed the opinion that the Anarchists
had set fire to thc building themselves
The police later said that while they
were satisfied that one of the bodies
recovered was that of Fritz, they We're
not positive that the other was that
of Peter the Painter.
During the fight points of vantage
were at premium and many per
sors from the West End paid biz
prices for positions on roofs command
ing the scene. One detachment of sol