Norwich bulletin., 1919-09-11

I and the 2Oth Infantry from western l Massachusetts. Boston also furnished l cavalry and an ambulance company.
 Fear Sympathetic Strike. i This force was believed sufficient to ] cope with the situation immediately ] esulting from the strike of police last
 night, but the threat that sympa thetic l strikes might be declared by the city ! firemen, street car men, telephone op- ! orators and electrical workers and i other organized bodies affiliated with l the American Federation of Labor was | not lightly regarded Accordingly, ! Governor Coolidge sent word to the mayor tonight he stood ready to sup plement the state guard by an appeal to the president for regulars. There was no disposition to minimize the possibilities if the firemen abandoned their posts and particularly if the city should be thrown in darkness at night by the suspension of lighting system. In Control of State Troops.
 Though not technically under mar
 tiaI law. the city was in complete con-
 trO1 of state troops under the direction
 of the mayor. By nightfalI the first sentries had made their appearance and they were added to rapidly as out of town regiments arrived Brigadier General Sam D. Parker of the Fourth
 brigade. a former fire commissioner of
 Boston, was in command, and estab- llshed headquarters at the South ar mory, near the Back Bay railway sta
 ton.
 Public Indignant.
 A wave of public indignation beat against the city hall and state house following the excesses of last night. when the city virtually was aban- doned to hoodlums, among whom was d large faction of the criminal class. l From the governors office came an implied rebuke in the statement that | the governor had been ready for two | days to meet a rROuPSt for T from the mayor. Mayor Peters in a | statement accused the governor of | trying to place upon him a responsi- bllltN that rested with Police Com | missioner Curtis. appointee of the | governor. The mayor said Curtis had | assured him that the aid of the state [ guard was not needed and that he. the | mayor. had no authority to call fer | troops until disturbances had actually | occurred. i
 Banks Took Special Precautions.
 The patrolmen, numbering rouniIy | 400. virtually the entire body. struck ! at 5-45 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The business men were reaSSur,d that 1 a volunteer force was being rapioiy i organized and that the police com missioner and the higher officers of the regular force were prepared for eventualities- Last night the banks and larger business houses took spe- cia1 precautions. but smaller dealers trusted to the imDrovised police force.
 For some reason not yet explained, the volunteer policemen were not call result that throughout the night the city was virtually at the mercy of mobs. Exact figures of the damage done could not be had because of the a bsence of the usual police reports. Superintendent of Police Crowley esti- the monetary loss roughly at $500. 900. An estimate of the stores, the windows of which were broken in. and the stocks footed. was 300
 A Night of Crime.
 Scarcely a district in the city failed this morning to show evidences of were backed up to stores whose win dows had been smashed and deliber- ately loaded with loot. Numberless persons were robbed. Dice games for the streets and on Boston Common, where professt nal gamblers found men with money One man on the Common had just pocketed gains of and his roll taken. Other crimes of revolting nature were committed Un- protected women were brutally as saulted in dark corners. Two women pursued by a mob found refuge in the city hospital. Their pursuers forced their way into the institution, where they were driven back by officers who had just brought in man with bull let in his head.
 Daylight brought a cessa ton of the bolder attempts on life and property, but petty thefts in great numbers con tinued and in some cases thieves made rich haul.
 Many Women Victims. {
 Many women were victims of hand j bag natchers. This work was made : more profitable by the unusual num- Der of women on the streets. attract ed from curiosity. Excoriat ton of the police and of the city officials, who were accused of not acting ( promptly and firmly. led to frequent ! fist fights in which many joined.
 The municipal courts had all the business to which they could attend 1 Many persons were given sentences of l six months for rioting, because loot s was found upon them. a
 Burglary insurance jumped during the day from 25 to 75 cents on con S tracts covering riot and civil com ' motion" All ompanies writing such ( insurance reported abnormal business It was estimated by underwriters that I insurance written today had g ars.
 Crooks Fiocking to City.
 Secret service men who watched the I hat crooks were coming into the city | oy every train. One officer said he I recognized a criminal whom he had I lot seen for five years and that l arge number of the crooks were "old I imers.'
 Looks Like . Fight to the Finish. 7
 It looked tonight like fight to the | finish. Many of those who made t