The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1916-09-15
THE JOYS OF
A RIOT
Bv M. QUAD
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright. 1916. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.

The cop and l had been dr1ven lnt0
q doorway by a shower when be said:
II nm goin' home in about an hour.
now, and I'll be one thankful a I
said home, but 1t was a misnomer.
What sort of a home has a patrolman
got? Well, it's a place where you go to
when you can't go anywhere else. Your
wife and children are almost strangers
to you"
II thought it was a pretty good job"
l replied. There's n pretty good sal
airy and your pension when you have
reached a certain age"
pretty good job" he exclaimed In
contempt. "Why, man. a longshore-
man or a ditch digger is not as tired
when his hours of labor have passed
and he is not SO bunged up ut the end
of q year. It's walk, walk, walk until
there is no more feeling In your feet.
It's watch, watch, watch until your
eyes need spectacles. It's worry and
trouble every hour you're on duty"
But 1 have seen a patrolman smile
and laugh" I protested.
$50 have 1, and Il smile and laugh
myself, but the occasions have b0en
few and far between. l have come
into the station house when relieNed
at nv post so exhausted that a man
could have pushed me over With pis
fingers. have piled into bed and smut
my eyes and just got dream running
through my head when the call came
II was q call for us to TURNOUT and DE
mighty prompt about II. There wasa
riot going on half aymile away, N
walters in a certain restaurant~"ere'on
q strike and they were smashing things
nm in a beautiful manner. A}crowdsof
outsiders was collected and encourage
ing them and taking part In the SMASH
Ing. Then, my son, Is when. you nave
seen the patrolman smile and laugh,
! His chance was coming to get even.
We smiled and laughed as we tumbled
| into the ago. and all weariness ana
| all desire for sleep vanished away. y
~ said our chance had come to get
| even. The strikers had made 1t haru
for us, but we want a show at some
thing or somebody to pay on OLD
scores. When you can't strike a nan
who has bufeted and Inundated you
YOU turn and kick his dog or SOMEBODY
| e,se's O TO get even. The horses go
away at a gallop.
1--WE iump out and form in line. and
the crowd laughs and boots at us. We
get the word to advance In line, u we
select the biggest men and those VINO
are hooting the loudest- The rioters
give way for a moment and then hold
their ground. Every man of them IL
armed with a hrickbat, cobh'ostone OF
! stick. and they are just as anxious for
a fight as we are. We do not seek to
kill, but they are ready to take life. y
"Crash! And we are into them. We
strike for their heads, their arms. their
hands, their knees and any other part
which will take the fight out Of them.
They grapple with US. They seize Us
by the arms, the legs. and try to grasp
our nightsticks. Sometimes there Is
only one opposing you. sometimes
there are five or six climbing over you
like a pack Of wolves. Even II you
we're a coward you cannot get away.
You have got to stand up and face 1t
and take your medicine.
"There is a Joy in 1t, my son. mor
Joy than a soldier feels in battle. The
best man is going to win in that row.
You are hit with brickbats a dozen
times a minute, but you don't feel the
hurts until afterward. You are knock
ed down by some missile striking you
in the face, but you don't stop to wipe
away the blood-you keep facing on:
From your prone Position sou strike
out WITH your club at the knees and
shins around you. and many a man
will limp for the next month.
up comes more wagons and more
men from other stations, and we begin
to drive that crowd. Some rim away:
some seek refuge in d0Orways: some
mount to the roofs and from those
vantage points continue to hurl. brick
bats down upon us. The row lasts
half an hour. At the end Of that time
some ri0ter raises a call, and the street
is cleared in a minute-no. not cleared
| There are fifty men down and In need
Of a surgeons care They are the
wounded Of the battle. Every one has
shed his blood for what he deems fs
the principle Of the thing. II you
could see those fifty laid out side by
side, with three or -four. surgeons rem
dering first aid. you would be shocked.
"And how about us? Some have to
he carried to. the wagon and bundled
in most any way, and those who have
escaped the lightest have a bad limp
at least. There is hardly a uniform
that is not ripped and torn and latter
ed. The men have bruised faces.
bleeding hands and bruised bodies.
Every n of us needs the surgeons
care as soon as we reach the station.
There is no, boasting about what this
man OF that a has done. but there IL
victory In the eyes Of every n We
have paid OF old scores. We have got
even for fifty humiliations. We get
leave Of absence for three days. and
then we are to be back and as good as
new. I tell you, my son, curious a. It
may seem to You and others. that the