New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-09-21
Passengers Crouch in
Panic as Rocks and
Clubs Clash.
MANY RAIDS ON
SURFACE LINES
Alleged Dynamiter Taken
Auto Guards for
Night Trips.

Police reserves. charging TO the
rescue Of four green line" surface
cars ambushed by strikers at Eighty
sixth Street and Central Park West
last night, tore into a mob Of four
hundred men armed with stones
and bottles. There followed the
worst fight of the present strike,
which boiled up and down the ave-
nue. for ten minutes before the night
sticks finally dispersed the rioters.
This disturbance, which was al.
most battle, and the capture Of =
man, said by the police to be plar-
ming to dynamite the Broadway sur
face line, were the chief develop
ments yesterday in the car strike, for
the opposing sides seemed TO be
marking time in anticipation of the
general strike set for tomorrow.
Rioters Ambush Cars.
The attack at Eighty-sixth Street
and Central Park West was not =
spontaneous outburst. Whatever
spontaneous outburst. Before the re
serves came the mob of strikers car
ried out an apparently well organ
lied plan of attack.
Here was the plan of campaign:
Where Eighty-sixth Street runs int1
Central Park West, Central Park
slopes to below the avenue level. Be-
tween the grass and the sidewalk is
stone wall, three feet high on tn,
sidewalk side, and rising five feet
from the grass Of the park.
AT dusk last evening the strikers
marshalled behind this wall. There
lying quietly on the sod, about four
hundred in number, they waited until
they might hit two cars with one
brickbat.
Cars Run Into Trap.
Their opportunity came about S
o'clock, when two northbound cars and
two southbound cars stopped close to-
gether at Eighty-sixth Street to dis
charge passengers for the crosstown
line.
&ndI nt- h. fHslN ~
nnd, Immediately thereafter, Of mis-
siles. Men poured over the Central 4
Park wall and raced toward the cars.
Mingling with their yels and the
screams OF those trapped in the cars
came the sound Of breaking glass and
the dull tattoo Of rocks shattering the
roofs and sides OF the cars.
Motormen and conductors gave one
look toward their former companions
sweeping down upon them. Then they
crouched on the floor of the cars, stuck
their heads under any nearby seats and
called for the police.
Closing in around the cars, the riot
ers hammered with rocks upon their
sides. The policeman guarding the lines
traffic fought off those who attempted
to climb on the platforms, but the riot
ers were rapidly tearing other holes Of
entry
Rush Call for Reserves.
Captain Edward Dempsey, Of the
West Sixty-eighth Street station, had
been strolling down Central Park West,
clad in civilian clothes When the up
roar started he ran TO a police box and
summoned the reserves.
Then, pinning his badge upon his
lapel, he plunged into the thickest Of
the fray. As he did so a striker hi. him
in his neck with a large rock. The cap
tain made a mental note Of the throw
or. and wished ardently that the West
6sth Street station had more reserves
70 ask for. Then he yelled for the men
who were still defending the cars.
These, cheered by The sight Of the
gold badge upon his lapel, charged
through the strikers 70 his side, and
then, with Dempsey at their head.
charged again and again upon the mob.
They were too few TO have much sf-
feet, and they were being roughly han
died when the wall OF siren brought
Joy to their hearts. A minute later q
big Police Department automobile
rolled up to the curb. Before it stopped
husky men in blue were pouring from IL
Nightsticks Play Tattoo.
With Dempsey at their head, they
jammed their way into the riot. Night
sticks rose and fell with rcsoundine
whscks, and the howls OF defiance which
the rioters had uttered changed to a
weaker tone. Again and again the po-
lice charged, until finally the strikers