[May 8, 1886 (New York Times)]

 The Anarchists Cowed

Breaking up their Haunts in Chicago.

Forced to Seek Hiding Places – The Disorderly Element Thoroughly Frightened – The Strikes.

Chicago, May 7. – The war is over, unless indications are out of joint.  The Anarchist has sought his hole and is burrowing as deeply as fear and the police will allow him.  His braggadocio is a thing of the past, and when he comes within sight of a blue coat he no longer looks ferocious and shakes his fist; he has an attack of ague and slinks out of sight like a whipped hound.  The police enjoy the situation.  They feel that the public is on their side and handle their clubs with a vim they lacked a week ago.  Woe to the Anarchist who forms the nucleus of a crowd.  He is shown no mercy.

 The Bohemian quarter is as quiet as Wall Street on Sunday.  The streets there are deserted and no heads are seen at the windows.  The Bohemian women have been taught a lesson.  They acted like tigresses on the night of the shooting, and the following day.  They developed mote courage, as well as ferocity and venom, than the men and showed so little of the woman in their words or actions that the police in self defense were compelled at times to forget the sex of their assailants.  Six of these women called upon the Mayor today and complained of the conduct of the police.  They were warned not to interfere with the latter and they would have nothing to fear.

 There is hardly an Anarchist in the city who is not in a tremor for fear of a domiciliary visit from the police.  Search warrants are no longer considered necessary and suspicious houses are being ransacked at all hours of the day and night.  Two guns and lot of cartridges and some packages of dynamite were found at the house of William Seliger, No. 442 Sedgwick Street, this morning.  The man was arrested and almost had a fit from fright.  He seemed relieved to be thrust into a cell.  He is a cabinetmaker.  An old fashioned shell was found in the lumber yard of Charles Reetz on Canal Street today.  It was tenderly conveyed to the Central Station.  None of the officers were curious enough to examine its contents.  A descent was also made today on No. 741 Loomis street by a squad of police.  In the basement lives Weisl Thorek, a carpenter.  The house was searched and a musket, revolver, a half keg powder, and a quantity of Socialistic literature, including Most’s instructions on the manufacture of dynamite were found.  Thorek was locked up.  He denies that he is a member of any secret organization.  The Anarchists, as a rule, had from Russia, Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia.  Nine-tenths of the Socialists here are Slavs, or a mixture of the Slavonic and Teutonic races.

August and Chris Spies and Schwab are resting quietly in hail.  Mrs. Spies, the mother of the prisoners, is very much worried over her sons’ “misfortune.”  She insists that August never could have done what has been attributed to him and that had he known what would happen he would never have gone to the meeting last Tuesday.  Her son Henry W. Spies, who lives at No. 60 McReynolds Street, has been married three years.  He is a cigar manufacturer.  He is now lying at home suffering from a wound in the groin.  He says he received the wound during the shooting Tuesday night.  He was at Tepf’s saloon, at the corner of Lake and Desplaines streets, on business, Tepf being and old customer of his.  Just as he was leaving the saloon and stepping our on the street he was struck by a bullet, but wife said he had never had anything to do with the Anarchists, but had often tried to persuade his brother August to give them up, or at least to be less violent. 

Fielden is suffering considerably from the wound in his leg.  The ball entered the front and came out three inches below the cap.  The hospital physician says that the wound was self-inflicted, and that the revolver Fielden carried in his hand while running away was probably discharged accidentally.  Fielden denies that he shot himself, but is unable to combat the physicians’ theory.

Parsons is still at large.  The police declare that they will yet catch him.  Had it not been for the mistake of a policeman he would now be in custody.  When the police made a raid on the Arbeiter Zeitung office a man attempted to enter.  The policeman who guarded the door refused him entrance, and advised him to “clear out.”  Parsons did so at once.  When the Anarchist’s photograph was shown to the police yesterday the officer who stood guard at the Arbeiter Zeitung office exclaimed: “Be gob, that’s the man I wouldn’t let in the day we made the raid.”  Mrs. Parsons called at the Central Station today.  She wanted to see the prisoners.  The request was denied.  The woman had been crying.  Her domineering manner has disappeared.

The first number of the Arbeiter Zeitung published since Tuesday appeared today, but in a greatly reduced from.  After complaining that the entire staff from the “devil” up had been arrested the editor makes the following appeal:

            “You can see, workingmen, from this that the ruling classes have realized the power of a workingman’s paper better than the workingmen themselves have done.  Now we want to show you the workingmen’s party is perhaps for the rime being a little troubled but that it cannot be crushed.  We now appeal to you, workingmen of Chicago!  You have seen that a workingman’s movement without a workingman’s paper is impossibility.  Nach one of you should therefore work to this end, that in the circles wherein you move the paper be rested comrades.  Should further arrests take place there will others step into our places.  We shall continue the fight for liberty and right which this paper ever wages to the terror of the robbing employees and their deeds, and in their faces we fling our motto which is “Down with everything that resists us,” and inform them that this sentiment is too deeply rooted in the people to be exterminated by the imprisonment of a few leaders, especially where the movement is of such gigantic dimensions.  Forward and unceasingly forward will the movement continue in spite of chicanery of the ruling classes.  Force engenders force.  The truth of this axiom has been proved by others, and with us it is not going to be a fiasco.  Now, once mote, workingmen do your duty and we will do ours.  If for a short time we can only issue our paper in small form we beg our readers to excuse us on account of the circumstances under which we are compelled to work: We will do all we can in a short time to be complete.”

 The sale of the paper was not interfered with.  The bomb thrower has not yet been identified, and few except the police think he will be placed.  So far no “squealers” have been found among the Anarchists.

A double inquest was held at the County Hospital today by Coroner Hertz, in the cases of Policemen John J. Barrett and George F. Mueller, victims of Tuesday night’s riot.  The jury returned the following verdict:

            “That the said George F. Mueller came to his death the 6^th day of May, A.D. 1886, from shock and hemorrhage caused by a ball shot out of a pistol in the hand of a person unknown to this jury while performing his duty in assisting to suppress an unlawful assembly, May 4, 1886, at the northeast corner of Desplaines street and Randolph street, and we, the jury, recommend that the said unknown person be apprehended and committed to the county jail without bail and we further recommend that August Spies and Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab and A.R. Parsons be committed as accessories, without bail to the county jail, said August spies, Samuel Fielden and A.R. Parsons having, with the advice of Michael Schwab made incendiary and inflammatory speeches, causing such unlawful assembly.” 

Two undertakers wished to take possession of the body of Policeman Mueller and they had a ghastly row about the matter while the Coroner’s jury was in session.

It is understood that a special Grand Jury will not be called to indict the imprisoned Anarchists.  Several prominent criminal lawyers say they can undoubtedly be indicted for murder.

Officer Matthew Joseph Deegan, the first victim of the murderous bomb, was buried today in St. Boniface Cemetery.  The funeral was not largely attended on account of the general excitement.  Six officers acted as pall bearers.  Deegan was a man of immense stature.  He was over 6 feet in height and weighed 300 pounds.  Officer Flavin had a leg amputated today.  His wife begged that it should not be taken off, until told that amputation was his only chance of recovery.  Officers Redin and Jacob and Nels Hanson are not yet out of danger.  Officer Madden, who was shot by Laffelhardt, is getting better, while Laffelhardt, whom he shot in return, is dying.  Officer Murphy, whose foot was blown off by the bomb, suffers much pain, but it is thought will recover.  Schumacher, who was in the crowd from which the bomb was thrown, is at death’s door.

 The striking railroad freight handlers and switch tenders have not been able to drag to their side any other railroad employees.  The impression is general that the switch tenders or points men as they are called in England.  They number only 30 men and are employed by the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad.  The tracks of this road are used in entering the city by the Grand Trunk, Chicago and Eastern Illinois, Wabash, Louisville, new-Albany and Chicago, and Chicago Atlantic.  Though few in number, the strike of these men has caused the roads much inconvenience, as neither engineers, firemen, nor switchmen consider it their duty to turn switches, and under ordinary circumstances would not be called upon to do so.

 Nearly all the roads received notice today from the switch tenders that unless they were granted an increase of 20 per cent, in their wages they would strike by this evening.  They were promptly informed that owing to the present stagnation in business their demand could not be granted and that any man who stopped off work may consider himself discharged and need not expect to be re-employed.  The managers say they expected this move on the part of the switch tenders and that new experienced men have been brought there to take the places of the strikers.  In order to prevent interference on the part of the strikers outside of the city limits when the regular city police cannot be brought into requisition, they have engaged a large number of Pinkerton’s detectives for special duty until all danger has passed. 

The freight handlers bitterly denounce the switchmen because the latter do not refuse to move cars loaded by men who have taken their places.  Railway officials are well satisfied with the progress made in their freight houses on the whole.  They are handling nearly as much freight as at any time before the strike.  The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul authorities think that their new men are doing more work proportionately than the old ones did, and attribute this to the fact that the men are well fed, get plenty of sleep, and have no opportunity to fill up with stimulants.  Very few of these old men have turned up at any of the houses and the local agents say that none of the new men will be discharged to make room for those of the strikes who might exhibit a desire to rerun.  The Fort Wayne is accepting all business offered at the Madison and Van Buren street houses.  The Eighteenth street transfer house will be opened Monday at the latest.  Some of the old men who were force out by the strikers have returned and are at work.  No local switching is being done as yet, but this trouble, it is thought, will be over by Monday.  There are 125 men at work, and 75 more will give them as many as they usually employ.  The Chicago and Alton and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Roads were handling everything offered and delivering everything called for.  The special police on the latter line were given a little something to do when a number of striking freight handlers and switch tenders drove the engineers and firemen from their engines, but the crowd left when the police appeared. 

The Receivers of the Wabash experienced a great change of heart yesterday as to their desire to have Judge Gresham appoint Deputy Marshals, after his very sharp opinion on their application and yesterday Mr. Tutt appeared before the judge and said he was going down to the company’s yards to look over the situation of affairs.  He appeared in the course of two hours and reported that the road was receiving and forwarding all freight offered and here was at present no necessity for action on the part of the Court.  There were small squads of strikers in the neighborhood but they wee giving no trouble.  For the time being therefore, he desired to withdraw his application, as the local authorities were ample to protect the company’s property.  The judge reiterated his remarks of the day before that the Receivers who had denied his jurisdiction only 10 days ago ought to be consistent in their conduct, and not turn around and come to him as soon as there was any trouble.  He considered he had jurisdiction of the case and should use his power promptly if it should become necessary.  The probability is, however that the Receivers will not call on him, as to recognize his jurisdiction might put an awkward phase on the recent sale of the road, which has never been approved by the court here not any decree entered here.

Deering & Co.’s men, numbering 1,800 returned to work today.  Their wages had been from $2 to $2.50 per day.  Eight thousand bricks constituted a day’s work.  The men demanded that 6,400 constitute a day’s work.  The employers wanted to compromise on 7,000.  The men seemed willing to accept, but the union was not and ordered a strike.  A yard owner said that if the men’s demand was granted the public would be compelled to pay the difference.

Quiet reigns in the vicinity of the McCormick works.  A body of police is on guard and strikers are afraid to venture neat the works or interfere with the new employees.

The Knights of Labor are endeavoring to effect a settlement between the lumbermen and their employers.  The mill owners will probably start their mills on Monday whether or not a settlement is made.  Trouble may then occur if the strikers do not return to work, though little fear is entertained of any.

The police allege that the incendiary circular distributed on the night of the shooting was written and ordered by Adolph Fischer, the chief lieutenant of August Spies.  He worked at the case in the Abeiter Zeitung office, and is a tall, rawboned Anarchists, upon whom the police found a three-edged knife and a pair of revolvers.  The police claim that Fischer is a director of the Socialistic Publishing Company and performed the dangerous work of the office.  He and the other Anarchists will be given a hearing tomorrow morning on a writ of habeas corpus.  The Anarchists intend to deny that any dynamite was found in the Arbeiter Zeitung office.

The police relief fund now amounts to over $35,000.  Among the subscriptions received today was one of $500 from Deacon S.V. White, of Wall Street.

Twenty of the Arbeiter Zeitung’s printers, who were arrested and held for indictment as accessories to the murders committed by the Anarchists on Tuesday night have been discharged.  It has been decided not to prosecute them.

William Stahlknecht, the President of the Cabinetmakers’ Union and a professional agitator, was arrested at an early hour this morning on a warrant issued by Justice Brayton.  Stahlknecht is accused of intimidating workmen.  The arrest was made near the house of the accused, and the private detective who with a knife.  Stahlknecht has incurred the enmity of the Furniture Manufacturers’ Association by inciting strikes and preventing the men from conferring with their employers.  It is alleged that he participated in Tuesday night’s demonstration at the Haymarket.

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