The Washington times., 1934-02-14
REPORTER SEES
. HAVOC, RUIN
IN VIENNA
By ALFRED TYRNAUER
(COpyright, 1884, by International News
SerVice.l

By ALFRED TYRNAUER
Copyright, 1884, by. International News
Service.)
VIENNA, Feb. IA QNS0-A
brief hour after the army and
tn police finally had shot their
waR through the hitherto happy
workers district of Floridsdof
today, and while scattered shots
still were ringing out and be-
.draggled corpseS of civilians were
lying on the frozen ground. I was
permitted to advance, under po-
lice escort, to the farthest out
posts and see what havoc had
been wrought.
Black motor hearSeS, Scurring
about, proved insufficient to clear
the battle scene before the first
non-combatant foreigners arrived.
Battle RACES rs Hours
The Schutzbund, or Socialist
warriors, went down fighting. It
took the military, police, and
Heimwehr 26 solid hours to dis
lodge them.
>, I saw them covering a little
group, shiVering against a wall,
start timorouSly as police bruSquely
ordered them to move on.
Wide-eyed children stared at
me, as they ventured forth, clasp
ing firmly the hands of parents
or. elder brothers, into streets
strewn with empty shells, cart
ridge cases, and broken glass.
There were splotches of blood on
walls and pavementS.
Buildings RiddIed
The one-time clean and spa
cious Schlinger Court, built by the
municipality Of Vienna in 1926
1926, was pock-marked with bull
lets.
Adjoining buildings were rid
died by shells from light artillery.
The little north railway station
Ia Floridsdorf, which has been the
starting point of so many picnics
Of happy workmen and their fam
lies, is a mere ShambleS.
Firemen still are fighting fire
which has eaten it's way into rec
reation halls and movie theaterS
the workmen had paid for out Of
their savings.
While inspecting the north
station I saw an improviSed
armored train of the Schultz
bunders. It consisted Of freight
cars, reinforced with steel plates,
and behind the plates, mounted
machine guns. The train was
intended to keep open communi-
cations between the Socialist
forces in various parts Of the
city.
''Reds Crushed"
Here, also, I ran across Gen.
Karl Vaugoin, who held the post
Of war minister for ten years
and recently was appointed pres
1dent of the Federal Railways.
He told me:
II believe we now have def.
niteIy crushed this Communist
revolution. Look what ruin
this revolution has made Of
public buildings. Such things
never will happen in Austria
again.
1--WE used heavy guns IN
FlOridsdOrf. Now we will use
artillery against Stadtlau and
Meidling where the Socialists
are still holding out. We will
make q clean slate"
AS I passed through the dis
trict I saw young peasant SOL
diers, fair-haired, ruddy-cheeked
youngsters with chinS Sprouting
three-days' growth Of stubbly
boards. They seemsd wideeyed
from lack Of sleep and shook at
their baptism Of fire."
Weapons Smuggled
The police claim that in
Schlinger Court, where the heavi-
est fighting centered, they found
o hundred machine guns and q
thousand rifles-many Of them
with ropes instead Of leather
sNngS-and large numbers OF
small, homemade hand grenadeS.
Among the SchutZbund mate
rial captured I saw many steel
helmets, similar to those worn by
French Colonial infantry. Po-
lice believe these were stolen
from army stores in Czecho-Slo-
vakia and smuggled in.
Military authorities told me
that, while the district is now in
their hands, the "mopping up" will
not be completed until well into
the night. /
Cellars Explored
Motor trucks are rumbling into
the district, equipped with large
searchlightS to aid in exploring
cellars.
Here, amid the desolation Of
TIoridsdorf, the RingstrasSe, in the
center Of the city and as yet un-
touched by fighting, seems peace
full and far, far away, although
it. is only a half-hour's taxi ride
from this blood and debris strewn
battlefield.
Artists Quit ShOIU;
D~n DonLofoUors