The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1921-04-14

will abide by the decision OF the
archbishop"
Louis Gentle, Leonard Montemurro
and Santo Serpe, also members of the
committee, likewise resigned and i'm
mediately afterwards all of them left
the hall.
Mob Spirit Takes Control.
Then without leaders, the mob spirit
took control of the crowd. Of one
accord they rushed into the street
where they assembled under the lead
of band and marched militantly to
the priests house. AS they approached
the parsonage the band played, "The
Star Spangled Banner" and continued
to play the national anthem while the
crowd clamored to enter the house.
Some one suggested that they break
into the house and bring the priest
out forcibly.
Don't carry a knife or gun or even
pin with you," cautioned members
of the mob as they circulated through
the seething hundreds of people.
'DOnt harm him but get him out"
/ "He'd better never come back either"
! sailed out another member of the mob.
All seemed to be agreed that the mob
did not intend to do bodily harm to
the priest but merely meant to eject
him from the property of the church
to show their determination in the
present crisis.
OutgrOwth of Old Quarrel.
owe have been pateient and done
all we could to prevent this declared
one of the members of the committee.
"The letter sent by tn archbishop this
morning angered the people beyond
our control and we were no longer able
to hold them in check. We are will
ing to present our case to the arch
bishop and to the public but we must
have action and we must have it now"
The agitation started several months
ago over question of church manage
ment. There have been many develop
ments in the case since that time, once
Archbishop Messlner sending drastic
letter to the congregation threatening
to excommunicate all who should con-
tinue to take any part in agitation
against the priest. From this it is
judged that any who participated on
the demonstration last night are au-
tomatically suspended from the ranks
of the church.
This morning at the episcopal resi-
dence in Milwaukee, it was declared
that Archbishop Messmer was out of
the city. 1t was thought possible that
he might have come to Kenosha to
intervene in the situation but at late
hour he had not been seen, here.
Makes Correspondence Public.
"This trouble has been brewing for
several years" explained one of the
members of the committee. "We want
the people of Kenosha to know that
we have done everything in our power
to prevent this thing happening. We
have opposed Reverend Perardi be-
we are today making public the CORE
spondence which we have had with
the archbishop in connection with the
affair in order that the people of
Kenosha may understand our situa-
ton
"Our first letter went to the arch
bishop on the first of November ask
ing for an interview, he continued
eve received no answer to that re-
following registered letter to the
quest On December 28th we sent the
Archbishop:
Kenosha, Wis, Dec. %, 1920
Archbishop Messmer,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin,:
Most Reverend Archbishop:
We, the so-called committee called
on you December II, 1920 to discuss
our side of the story. Have you heard
it, which was supposed to have been
presented to you?
We know that you have heard Rev
erend Father Perardi's side of the
story. After waiting two hours to see
you, your respectable secretary in
formed us that you did not desire to
see US but that you would write to
US or that we would hear from you
but up to the present writing we have
not heard word from you.
We express our hope to hear from
you by return mail as we the commit.
tee are placed in such a position that
we cannot control the colony any
longer, as they refuse to be rebuffed
So please see to it that this is an.
swered at once so that nothing will
happen in the colony
Yours respectfully,
The Committee.
Claim Not Bolshevicks.
The following letter was sent in re.
ply to Archbishop's letter on January
8th, 1921, which threatened excommu.
: nication to all who continued to take
part in the agitation:
Kenosha, Wis, Jan. 8, 1921.
Archbishop Messmer,
1000 Grand avenue,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Most Reverend Archbishop:
In reply to your most welcome let
ter of January the 9Th, 1921, we, the
, so-called committee, have done as yor
! requested.
We have on the seventh held &
meeting and placed the letter before
the congregation We have also tax
en- to heart everything which yor
stated.
We are very sorry to hear that yor
! are now confined in bed and we hope
that you will soon recover. Have
) noticed also in your letter that yor
stated that you would be here this