The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-05
BELGIAN RIOTS
 RESEMBLE REVOLT Result of Clerical Victory in
 Recent Election
RIOTING IS EXTENSIVE
Siege Resembles Besieged City-Mob Devastates Brussels and Wrecks Catholic Club at Cornu and
 Other Disorders Occur

Brussels, June 4.--Belgium is in state of eruption on account of the recent elections and rioting through out the country has taken on revo- lutionary character. Many persons have been killed or wounded in various cities and large number of reserves have been called to the colors. Agitation in the industrial centers Is rapidly in- creasing. Every hour brings news of fresh protests by the laboring classes against the governmental victories. The conservative elements are con siderably alarmed over the tendencies of the civic guard, which corresponds to the American militia, to make com mon cause with the rioters. This, how ever. Is only in isolated instances, Brussels being a case in point, where the guard today held sympathetic celebration before the monument Of Francisco Ferrer. the originator of the modern school in Spain.
 Result of Election
 The national disorders generally are attributed to the acute disappointment of the laborng classes over the pro nounced victory of the clericals in the recent elections.
 | Latest reports rom lHt PAoNAiSSo show that a strike movement has spread over the entire Liege basin and has tied up most of the collieries and 1 the big metal industry. In the center | of Belgium many industrial properties seem to approve of the strike and sym | pathize with the men. The women have l aroused themselves to even greater frenzy than the men in the disorders, which are particularly anti-clerical in their character.
 l In all collierles of the southeast the Flemish workmen have been boycotted l by the Walloons and hundreds already l have left the provinces. The street car employees have struck at La Louviere, and the municipal employees at Seraing.
 Siege Is Besieged
 1 Liege tonight has the appearance of | a besieged city. Two regiments are under arms besides police, the civic guard and gendarmes. Several clashes occurred between the rioters and troops Lancers met and dispersed a column of miners from the neighboring col lieries trying to enter the city.
 Tn Brussels a mob tonight made rapid tour of the city. wrecking street cars. smashing windows and doing all manner of damage. They broke in the doors of the Church of St. John and St Nicholas and. entering, demolished the tabernacle. Iney then set nre to the doors Next they tried to force an entrance to the monastery of the Artois fathers and arriving at the An derlecht quarter wrecked a cafe and attempted to storm a convent. but were dispersed by fremen with streams from their hose.
 A column of several thousand strikers left La Louviere for the nearby collier les this evening to induce the miners | to join in the movement The strikers were hotly pursued by mounted gem darmes and 300 soldiers have been dis patched from Charleroi for La Lou viere, where serious rioting was feared tonight.
 At Cornu a mob wrecked the Catholic club. At Bruges gendarmes fired on a mob wounding 50 rioters, several fla tally The gendarmes were assailed with bottles, bricks and pieces of fur niture from hundreds of windows.