New-York tribune., 1921-11-21
Milk Strikers
Charge Police
With Brutality
Woman to Show Hylan
Bruises She Says Captain
Made When She Asked
for Protection for Kin
Others Tell of Clubbing
Mrs. "A. E. MontefOrte De-
clarcs Officers Threat
cned to ssCef' Men Folks

Charges of more than a score of in
stances of alleged police brutality de-
clared to have been directed against
the striking members of the Milk
Drivers Union and to include club
bing and bhckjacking, will be laid be-
fore Mayor Ifylan in his office to-day
by George w. Briggs. chief leader of
the strike, according to plans he an
uounced last night.
As Exhibit A in connection with
the charges, woman's arms will be
barred to her shoulders before the
Mayor for display OF black and blue
bruises as big as silver dollars in the
event that the Mayor will accede to a
request for presentation of this evil
dence.
Coincidentally, the strikers plan to
make inquiries as to Just what was
meant by Dr. Royal S. Copeland, Health
Commissioner. when, in pledging the
aid of the city to the cause of the
strike, he told the strikers to "go fish
Ing and leave it to the Mayor and me-"
Woman Shows Bruises
ne woman Win the pruiseu arms is
Miss Anna E. Monteforte, of TAO East
229th Street, the Bronx. She is a
chiropractic physician, with a father,
a brother and brother-in-law among
the strikers. In showing the bruises
to reporters last night she said they
were inflicted yesterday by Police Cap
tain Patrick Gargan, of the La Sale
Street station, when she as
serted, she went to him with several
other women relatives of strikers to
plead that he stop police violence
against the strikers at their own head
quarters in 125th Street.
'He would not wait even to give me
two minutes time TO hear my plea, as
/ requested" Miss Monteforte said.
"After telling me to hurry up, damn
quick and get the hell away from
here he seized me and propelled me
violently along with him for half
block, squeezing my upper forearms
in his powerful grip with all his
might You can see the result for
yourselves.
CAS- he let me go, he said
"I'll get you, all of you women, and
your men, too, before I'm through with
this
"The other women with me we're sub
jected to similar forcible treatment at
the hands of the policemen with him.
Two of the other women were Mrs
Joseph Purdy and Mrs. M. Porwich,
both wives of strikers. They will call
on Mayor Hylan with Mr.. Briggs ana
myself.
Brother Was Arrested
"The threat to get our men folks as
we'll as ourselves was made good to-
day, when my brother, Joseph, was ar
rested on a charge of assault"
Joseph Monteforte, according to po-
lice reports, was arrested at the Man
haitian Interborough subway station as
one of four men alleged to have beaten
Patrick Conlon, Sheffield driver, who
exhibited scalp wound. He will be
arraigned in Washington Heights
court to-day.
any mistreatment by Captain Gar
can occurred at 125th Street and Am
sterdam Avenue" continued Miss
Monteforte. "The reason we women
went there was due to the fact that
for several days George Waldo, super
intendent of the Sheffield plant, has
been driving up to the strike headquar-
ters with a bodyguard of four police
men and trying to intlmidate the
strikers.
".We'll get you, and you, and you.
he and the policemen have told various
of the strikers, pointing clubs at them
individually. Or he has said repeated
ly, in singing out strikers: That 5
him, boys; remember to get him. And
time and again the strikers have been
prodded about with nightsticks.
Il was wholly courteous and gen
tlewoman in going to Captain Gargan
and pleading that he order the aban-
donment of such tactics. when told
my story to Chief Inspector William j.
Lahey he said that the men do some
things they shouldn't at times and
sent me to the inspector in charge Of
Captain Gargan's district. The in
spector, after repeated my story,
said that he felt Captain Gargan
should be censured,' and l am in
formed that he sent for him.
"The chief fear of the inspectors
seemed to be that the story would get
into the newspapers"
Efforts to reach Captain Gargan for
q statement as to Miss Monteforte s
charges were unsuccessful. At his
home il was said he was on duty, and
at the station house it was asserted by
the desk sergeant that he was "out
somewhere in the precinct and couldn'
be reached"
Intends to Visit Mayor
Briggs, who was seen with other
strike leaders in the Hotel Woodstock,
said he intended to ask the Mayor
whether this is the United States or
: Russia"
"This is only one of more than a
score of cases Of police brutality am
going to lay before the Mayor" he
said. Right now the Police Depart
ment is being used as q strikebreaking
organization by the milk trust. In ad-
dition to clubbing and blackiacking the
strikers, policemen are utilized daily
for threatening the men and their
families, and even for delivering milk
in the house-to-h house peddling.
Go back to your job or we'll get
you, is a common threat made
'And it was the New York Milk Con-
ference Board, mind you, that went
into court and got an Injunction
against violence!"
Briggs denied emphatically the claims
of the board that many of the strik-
ers have returned to work He sale
that Local COL of the union, whose
members went back to their Jobs sew.
eral days ago. voted unanimously YES.
terday at Newark to rejoin the strike
and that they will all be out again to-
day.
VIII Stay Out All Winter
"I know of only two strikers whs
actually deserted us, and they are son,
Of former president of the Borde,
company he said Were going t,
stay out all winter to win this strike
II necessary"
Also he denounced as false the claim