The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-12-17

was moving down the stairs, facing
the policeman, drawing closer to
him. He finally put his gun away.
The comrades never yielded
ground. They fought for every inch.
They returned blow for blow. One
policeman tries to arrest Negro
comrade. Several comrades sur
round him, open his arms, free the
Negro Another policeman lifts his
club over comrades head-a
strong hand seizes the club, turns
it the other way and soon there
are blue marks on the policeman's
face. A woman comrade is being
hammered with club over her
shoulder. 1t is painful. But, as she
tells subsequently, II caught him
by his necktie and began to pull;
he knocks with his club while I pull
his tie; it hurts me but l know it
hurts him too: he is choking"
A heavy Negro woman is being
poked in the ribs by policeman.
She told us later she didn't want
to start fight. She was just draw
ing away. But then little white
woman comrade, just a slip of a
girl saw a Negro conrade being
attacked and rushed to her rescue;
she screamed, she scratched, she
bit the policeman's hand.
We'll" says the Negro comrade,
81 gees this little kid fighting the
cop, and I says to myself, Here
is your chance 1 give him one
sock and he just sits down. The
Negro comrade smiles quietly, ex-
hibiting two rows of magnificent
white teeth.
% ARE ARRESTED
The battle lasted for quite a
while. superintendent Black was
hit with bottle over his head, and
received decorations. The police be-
came wild, but the comrades would
not allow themselves to be fright
ened. The upshot was the arrest
of % comrades, the first the police
could lay their hands on. The po-
lice had planned to put us all into
patrol wagons and lock us up but
they soon realized they would have
their hands full all night long, and
many of them would suffer. AS
it is, four policeman were taken to
a hospital.
In the meantime the air in the
hall became more tolerable and we
all returned to our nights lodg-
ing"
IT was strange picture. Most
of the chairs broken, their legs
having been used as weapons. The
floor-all covered with glass, rem
nants of broken bottles and shat
tered window panes. Nearly all the
window panes-colored too-bro-
ken. The doors smashed and splin
tered. Perhaps three-quarters Of
the marchers had one injury or
another-scratched faces, lacerated
skulls, Welts on back and hip. You
come over to a conrade, and put
your hand on his shoulder, only
to see him writhing in pain; he
had just received a blow over his
shoulder. The doctor and the
nurses, our WIR. medical aid, had
their hands full Bandages, scis-
sors, knives, blood-but what spirit!
Everybody happy in the knowledge:
1--WE have stood our ground" The
gases are still strong Eyes are
smarting; tears are running. Some
body says, Don't rub your eyes,"
and the comrades let their tears
flow freely-and thus they are talk
ing to each other, exchanging
smiles and explanations while the
tears are running down their faces.
What sight! Such a night ties
comrades together with insoluble
bonds.
AN ORGANIZED ARMY
They had wcathered the storm.
They had shown the workers OF
Wilmington and of the whole coun-
try that they were an organized
army, power, collective body
carrying out the will of yet big
ger collective body-the working
masses that had elected them to
the Hunger March.
The moment required that we
make clear to ourselves the mean
ing of what happened. We discuss
the situation in groups. The first
question is: DOES anybody regret?
Is anybody frightened" Not in
the least. We feel, stronger than
before. We have carried out our
decision hundred per cent The
second question: Has the enemy
won?" No, they have lost. They
didn't expect such a counter attack.
They didn't appreciate the fighting
power of organized workers. The
workers of Wilmington will now