Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-07

along the route, and the unruly char
aeter of the crowd.
Bursts of laughter came frequently
as women told of their experiences.
Mrs. Upton said there were some ell
DERBY women in the Ohio division, and
She was afraid Good natured
drunken man would fall against
them. $50 we all hurried and got
past. and he fell back in Wisconsin,
or Wyoming, or somewhere back
there" she said. She declared the
police were At the scene and made no
effort 70 help. The most inefficient,
she said were the plain clothes men.
sworn for the OCCASION. who carried
! their authority in the badges on their
coats.
Mrs. Agnes N. jerks Of Concord, y.
+ Fl. who had her daughter and other
! young girls with her in the New
Hampshire division, told one of the
most striking stories. She declared
uniformed policemen had encouraged
! the crowd in its disorders; and that
+ she had been so alarmed at the ac-
/ ton of the officers toward the young
/ girls that the children were placed in
/ the center of the procession, where
/ they ere protected by older women.
The crowd hooted and jeered," she
said, men tried to get the flowers from
/ our coats. and one man stuck his foot
out in front OF my daughter and tried
/ To trip her. At another point. two po-
/ licemen in uniform We're standing to-
/ gether and We're encouraging the crowd
i to jeer us. one policeman looked as
though he was going to take hold of
the young girls who We're marching
with us. We were more frightened by
| the police than by the crowds
! None of the women could give the
| number of the policemen who had ex-
| hibited Indifference or antagonism, al
though several thought they could iden-
tffy some of them. The witnesses were
almost unanimous in declaring that
few policemen We're in sight and no
mounted officers, and that there SEEM
ed to be no successful effort to control
the crowds until the cavalrymen came
on the scene.
Mrs. Cordelia P. Odenheimer of Jes-
sup, Md, said she had walked the
length of the avenue a short time prior
I
the crowds We're then back on the side
walk.
Mrs Abbie Scott Baker of Washing
ton, one of the organizers of the parade,
declared the street had been allowed
to become congested just before the
parade started; and that lack of adj
/ vance protection had made it impos-
sible then to clear the avenue. III. was
as though we walked into the neck of a
funnel" said Mrs. Baker. lone police
man to whom l appealed stood with his
arms folded and said: oh, the crowd is
doing very well.
Mrs. Walter ]. Fisher. wife of the
retiring secretary of the interior, told
the committee of the anxiety with
which she watched from the postotfice
building for her daughter TO appear in
the parade as the crowd now and then
surged across the avenue, breaking and
blocking the progress of the pageant.
Miss Elizabeth Brown, local teach
er, testified of the coarse buffoonery TO
which the teachers brigade was sub
jected. The crowd pressing against
us, would repeat the alphabet count
to 10 and sing Rats, rats, rats as
they marked time" said she.
Miss Verna Hetfield, who rode on the
"Oid Liberty BelT' float. testified that
a man in the crowd caught her by the
foot and that she kicked him loose.
| Another caught her sister by the hand
and others rubbed their arms.
Miss Maud C. Gunther of the Weles-
| ley division declared that the police
| ''reclined" upon the crowd.
Miss Patricia NJ. Street, assistant
| director of the parade, testified that
drunken man spat tobacco juice in
woman's face when she reached out to
push him back from the line Of march.
Il struck the man across the face, and
a policeman tore my coat in pulling at
me-" said she. Il demonstrated. He
said: There would nave been nothing
like this happen if you women would
| stay at home"
Philip Elliott. a 13-year-old Boy
Scout, told of being knocked down by
a policeman, whom he was trying to
help push back the crowd
Senator Pondexter. who marched in
the parade, declared on the stand that
when an automobile ambulance tried
to drive through the parade lengthwise
| in the presence of the police he con-
| cluded that a deliberate attempt was
being made to break up the parade.
Mrs. jeanette Gallinger daughter
in-law of Senator Gallinger. and Mrs.
Helen Hillwed of Connecticut We're
among others who testified
The committee will resume the hear