Cortland Evening Standard, Wednesday,
February 27, 1895.
RIOTING FOR
RELIGION.
Uprising of Catholics Against Ex-Priest
Slattery.
STATE MILITIA UNDER ARMS.
Efforts
Made by the Mob to Prevent the ex-Priest From Lecturing on Catholicism Met by
Police and Troops—Several Bayonet Charges Upon the Crowd. Firmness of the
Authorities All That Prevented Bloodshed.
SAVANNAH, Feb. 27.—Last night was the most
exciting in the history of Savannah. For five hours the city trembled on the
verge of religious riots. The entire white military force of the city, except
the artillery, has been on duty; 10 infantry companies and the Georgia Hussars,
the latter being dismounted, have been under arms.
A mob, estimated at from 3,000 to 5,000, a
great part being Catholics, has challenged their forbearance to the extreme.
But for the coolness of Mayor Herman Myers
and the officers commanding the troops, blood might have been the result. Bayonet
charges were made several times to clear the streets, but the mob, which had
gathered about Masonic Temple, one of the principal buildings of the city and situated
in the heart of Savannah, stubbornly refused to retire.
For three days it had been apparent that
grave trouble was brewing. The city had been liberally placarded with notices that ex-Priest Slattery and his wife, described as an ex-nun, would lecture here on
Catholicism. Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians at once took steps to prevent
their appearance here.
Petitions were circulated asking Mayor Myers
to refuse to permit the ex-priest to hold his lecture. The petition said that if
Slattery was allowed to speak there would be disorder and riot. About 500 signed
the petition.
When it was presented to the mayor by a
committee of 12 Catholics, including the presidents of two divisions of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, he handed them a written opinion from the
corporation attorney to the effect that he as mayor had no power to abridge the
right of speech guaranteed by the constitution of the United States and
Georgia.
In his opinion, the city attorney said, there
could be no disorder or trouble if those who would be offended by Slattery's remarks
would stay away from his lecture. He urged all to do so. Mayor Myers also asked
the committee to advise all Catholics to keep away from the lecture.
"I cannot stop this man from
lecturing," said the mayor, who is a Hebrew, "but I can prevent
disorder and will do so. If the police are not sufficient force to do so the
military will be appealed to. Riot will not be tolerated."
The committee stated that it was their desire
to avoid trouble and that they would use their influence in that direction. They
did so, but their efforts utterly failed. All day it was rumored that mobs
would come from different sections of the city and that Slattery would be killed.
The fact that he was to put on the garb of a
priest in the course of his lecture spread like wildfire and raised an intense feeling
among Catholics.
Mayor Myers issued instructions to Chief
McDermott to have the entire available police force on hand at Masonic Temple. Fifteen
policemen were stationed inside the hall and 30 others were massed in front. By
7 o'clock several hundred had collected.
When Slattery arrived the mob had not assumed
large enough proportions to cope with the police.
By 8
o'clock a howling mob of over 1,500 surrounded Masonic hall. In the hall were
an audience of about 400, including a number of ladies.
The lecturer had hardly began before brickbats
and cobblestones began to rain on the windows. The police had closed all the
heavy inside shutters. This saved the audience from injury, only two or three
being injured by flying glass. The rest of the police force was called out and 50
officers were soon in front of the hall. The mob made rushes to secure an
entrance, but were driven back time after time by the police.
Chief McDermott summoned the mayor. The
lecture closed at 9:30, and it was apparent that it meant the loss of many lives
for the lecturer and the audience to leave the hall.
As the ex-priest was about to leave the hall
with his friends the chief of police stopped them and refused to allow anyone to
go downstairs.
The military alarm, 11 taps on all fire bells
in the city, was sent in, but when it sounded the mob derided it.
The Georgia Hussars, dismounted, under
command of Major Mildrim, were the first to respond. The organization contained
30 men in all. The mob laughed at them as they drew up in front of the hall.
Soon after the tramp of the other military was
heard and four companies of Savannah Volunteer Guards under command of Colonel
Garrard swung into position in front of the hall with fixed bayonets and rifles
loaded with ball cartridges.
By order of the mayor the guards formed in
two single lines and charged the mob with fixed bayonets in hope of breaking
it. The mob was shoved back slowly, but refused to break and occasional rocks
were thrown at the hall. The mob was sullen and defiant and apparently determined.
Six
companies from the First regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Reilly, came up
soon afterwards, making 11 companies on the ground.
In the hall the audience was still penned up.
Some of the women were crying.
While a consultation of the commanding officers
and the mayor was being held, Captain J. H. Dillon, one of the most prominent
Catholics of the city, tendered his services as a peacemaker. He brought Vicar
General Cafferty, who is in charge of the diocese in the absence of Bishop Becker,
to the scene of the trouble.
The vicar general addressed a portion of the
mob.
A few of those addressed shook the vicar general
by the hand and left, but the majority stood still.
Major Mildrim and others urged the mob to
disperse, but to no purpose. A double line of soldiers a block long was formed,
and while the rest of the military kept the crowd back, nearly all of the
audience passed out of the hall amid hisses.
As Slattery came out with eight policemen and
the mayor there was a howl from the mob, but the other military, charging
bayonets, pushed it back in all directions. Slattery was placed in the center
of the military, and headed by a detachment of mounted police, and with foot
police on the sides, the four companies of infantry, amid hisses and jeers, marched
to the Pulaski House, followed by hundreds.
A large detachment of police were left at
the hotel to guard him over night. Every door
to the hotel was locked and guarded.
Finding that Slattery had gone, the mob
gradually dwindled away.
CUBAN PATRIOTS REBEL.
The Long
Expected Uprising Is at Hand.
ISLAND
UNDER MARTIAL LAW.
Spain
Taking Every Precaution to Suppress the Uprising—Patriots In This
Country
Unusually Active—Large Quantities of Arms and Other War Materials Said to
Have Been Landed In Cuba Recently.
HAVANA, Cuba, via Key West, Feb. 27.—Martial
law has been declared here and the police and Spanish garrisons throughout the
island are on the alert to prevent an uprising. Slight outbreaks have already
occurred at Cienfuegos and Matanzas. At the latter place, three Cuban patriots have
been arrested and a small quantity of arms seized.
The coast guards on land and gunboats by sea
are patrolling the coasts to prevent the landing of filibusterers from Florida,
Honduras or Costa Rica.
Spies in Tampa and Key West have reported unusual
activity among refugees and have forwarded some information of a general
conspiracy afoot. The
government seems to fear an insurrection and to be taking extreme measures to
stamp it out.
Cubans
In New York.
NEW YORK, Feb. 27.—At the offices of the
papers patronizing the Cuban revolutionary party there was a good deal of
excitement. Enrique Trujillo, the proprietor and editor of El Porvenir [The Future], a journal which is in entire sympathy with
the revolutionists, had a busy time of it. His office at 40 Broadway was
thronged with Cuban patriots, who awaited the slightest inkling of news from
Havana or any other part of Cuba. They were very wary, however, of giving any
information when approached by a representative of the press and referred him
to Editor Trujillo.
The editor of El Porvenir said:
"A big mass meeting will positively take
place at Hardmann hall tonight. I have no doubt that it will be very largely attended
by our co-workers, and stirring addresses will be made by Benjamin Guerra. Juan
Fraga, Gonzalo de Quezada and others.
"That the long looked for revolution
has begun is beyond all doubt.
"I sent two cablegrams to personal friends
of mine in Cuba, asking for information, and I have not received any answer as
yet. This, to my mind, is a convincing proof that the good work has begun, and
the governor has either suppressed my messages or the answers to them. That the
revolution is now in progress is certain.
"I have received several letters from Santiago
and Havana during the last two weeks, which foretold the uprising and fixing
the date of it.
"The people are exasperated with the abuses
heaped upon them and are anything but pleased with the recent alleged reforms
approved by the Spanish government. These only tend to give a very imperfect form
of home rule to the Cubans and are far from satisfactory.
"During the past eight months I have frequently
been apprised of a very well organized revolt being on foot, as I have kept
myself in constant communication with several well-known persons connected with
the movement.
"The Cuban revolutionary party is very strong
in the United States and South America and large quantities of arms and ammunition
have been landed safely in Cuba. These will be augmented by several other
consignments in the near future."
Great
Excitement at Key West.
KEY WEST, Feb. 27.—Several thousand Cubans
are permanent residents of this city and nearly all of them are monthly subscribers
to the revolutionary fund. This fund, the accumulation of years, and
contributed to from all over America, is supposed to amount to several millions
of dollars.
For weeks and months patriots here have been
expecting that a blow would be struck and the revolutionary flag again raised
in Cuba. News from Havana has been disseminated quickly and is being excitedly
discussed in the places of Cuban resort.
 |
| Krag-Jorgensen (Springfield) rifle. |
The
Army's New Weapons.
Since the American civil war weapons of
destruction have changed so much in their character that an army using such guns
as we employed then would be wiped out as quickly as the Chinese have been, if
fighting with a foe equipped with the latest cannon and rifles. It is not
greatly to our credit as a nation that our own little regular army was the last
one to be furnished with the new guns.
The change has been made, however, and the
United States army is now nearly up to the times. The new weapons with which it
has been supplied are described in The
Century by Victor Louis Mason. At the time of the war we had only smooth
bore iron cannon and mortars, muzzle loading. These have been replaced by
breech-loading steel-rifled cannon and mortars which are "marvels of
power, endurance and accuracy."
A great revolution in army tactics was
wrought with the invention of smokeless powder. With the use of this, each army
will be able henceforth to see the enemy's evolutions and flank movements. The
United States army has not yet been supplied with this smokeless powder, but
will shortly be. In place of the old fashioned single loading infantry rifle,
sending its big, broad bullets crashing and slashing into things, we now have
an infantry rifle with a caliber of only three-tenths of an inch. It is a far
more deadly instrument than the old arm was. The small caliber ball has an
accuracy, a penetration and a range unknown to the world 30 years ago. The new
infantry arm is also a magazine rifle or a single fire rifle at will.
The largest cannon are for coast defense, and
they are now guns of 12 inch caliber. Bigger mouthed cannon than that have been
made in England, as large as 16.25 inches across, but they were failures.
Inventions have been made since our war that enable artillery officers to get
the range of an enemy's guns with far greater accuracy than was possible then.
Perhaps in future wars so much lead and powder will no longer be wasted.
Besides the great 12 inch cannon we have now machine guns that will fire by
electricity 1,800 shots a minute. The powder with which the infantry will be
supplied is a much higher explosive than the old kind of black powder was.
The new weapons were carefully selected from
the latest and best models in use among European nations. The board of experts
took the best, wherever they could find it.
THE DIANA
WHEELS.
Hosts of
Them to be Made This Year by the Cortland Wagon Co.
The demand for bicycles has become so great
all over the country that many of the well known wagon and carriage factories
have turned their attention to the manufacture of wheels in addition to their
regular line of goods. The aggressive spirit of the Cortland Wagon Co. is ever
on the alert to grasp a new opportunity to please their patrons, and this year
they have determined to put out a line of bicycles at popular prices. Their machines
are all strictly high grade; and will be known as the Diana wheels. In their
catalogue introducing this new line of goods the manufactures say, "In
selecting a trade mark for our wheels we have taken the figure of Diana, known
in mythology as the daughter of Jupiter, the twin sister of Apollo, and the
patroness of the chase. This really beautiful and graceful figure, as painted
by Louis Perrey and perpetuated in bronze by St. Gaudens is recognized the
world over as one of the finest works of high art, and as such fittingly
symbolizes our wheels, which for grace, beauty and magnificent proportions are
unequaled."
Many of these wheels have already been made
and they are daily being shipped by the carload. They can be seen at the show
room of the factory. An up-town
agency will in a day or two be established at 22 Railroad-St., where Mr.
William Grady, the agent, will be pleased to show to all interested the good
qualities of the wheels.
VERDICT
FOR THE MEN.
Laborers
on the Electric Road Get a Verdict of $144.
Eleven of the twelve workmen who helped to
dig the holes and put in the trolley poles on the electric road assigned their
accounts to Michael Bulkley, who brought an action yesterday in Justice Dorr C.
Smith's court against the Cortland and Homer Traction Co. to recover their
wages. The defense was that the work was done for the New York Electrical
Engineering Co. or its subcontractors, Jacobs & Seever. The jury were out
about half an hour and brought in a verdict for the plaintiff for the full amount,
$144. T. E. Courtney appeared for the plaintiff and H. L. Bronson for the
defendant.
It is understood that the case will be appealed.
BREVITIES.
—The Ladies' Literary club met this afternoon
with Mrs. D. L. Bardwell on Orchard-st.
—The Alpha C. L. S. C. will meet with Mrs.
A. M. Graves, 35 Madison-st., Monday evening, March 4.
—County Clerk E. C. Palmer has purchased of
Mrs. Ophelia E. Squires her house and lot on Prospect-st, for $6,000.
—Governor Morton has signed the bill appropriating
$50,000 for equipping and furnishing the Oneonta Normal school.
—The April number of Current Literature will be a special floral number, with articles
and illustrations on floriculture and up to date gardening.
—The 9:46 train on the E., C. & N. R. R.
was about an hour late yesterday morning due to the breaking of an eccentric on
the locomotive near Swartwood.
—The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick will hold
a special meeting on Thursday evening, Feb. 28, 1895, in the C. M. B. A. rooms.
A large attendance is desired.
—The misplacing of a decimal point in some
figures in the town report of Supervisor
Smith yesterday caused an error. We republish the report to-day corrected.
—The engine on the 11:20 train slipped an
eccentric and was twenty-five minutes late last night. The same accident
occurred this morning on the return trip making the 6 o'clock train forty five
minutes late in Cortland.
—Mr. E. P. Halbert whose grocery on Groton-ave.
was burned some weeks ago has rented the building at the corner of Groton-ave.
and Graham-ave. and is putting it in shape for a new grocery store. He expects
to have things in readiness to open the store on Saturday of this week.
—The United States Express Co. received on
the 8:07 train this afternoon 1,200 pounds of freight from Caterer John F.
Bausch of Syracuse, who serves the Mellon-Wallace wedding dinner this evening.
Eight hundred pounds more were expected on the 6:20 train to-night, making in
all nearly a ton.
—Mr. E. W. Bates has begun the erection of a
new two-story building 23 by 50 feet in size on the site of the one recently burned
on Groton-ave. and occupied by Mr. E. P. Halbert as a grocery store. Mr. Bates
is pushing the work on the building as rapidly as possible and expects to be
able to open with a full line of groceries on April 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment