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Many Are Wounded In Brooklyn Riot 1910
IN THE STRIKE BY THE POLISH WORKMEN, in the big jute
mills of the American Manufacturing Company, at Wythe Avenue and
Noble Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, |
John Mascos of 72 North Seventh Street, Brooklyn,
a foreman, has remained loyal to the company. On that
account he was beaten by the strikers several days ago.
It was decided yesterday to move him closer to the mills
for his own safety, and so a truck, guarded by seven
loyal employees, was sent to take him and his household
effects to a house that had been rented for him close to
the mills.
The truck was trailed by some of the strikers, and when
the seven loyal men went into Mascos's house to get his
furniture, the strikers surrounded the truck. Some took
the horses from the truck and others attempted to take
the wheels off.
When the seven loyal employees emerged with the first
installment of furniture the rioters set upon them,
scattering Mascos's household effects all over the
street and sidewalks. Some tried to turn the truck over.
Meanwhile the crowd was augmented not only by strikers
and their sympathizers, but by the merely curious who
wanted to see what the excited gathering was all about.
More than a thousand had been thus drawn together when
shooting began.
Two Seriously Wounded
It is not known who started the shooting, though the
police arrested two men, but in the fusillade two men
fell, Frank Heitko of 93 North Eighth Street and Peter
Nosel of 157 Wythe Avenue. Both of these men, it was
said, were strikers, who had been shot by their comrades
by mistake.
Heitko received a bullet through his left lung and Nosel
was shot in the right side of the head. Both were rushed
to the hospital, where it was said last night that
Heitko might die. Stray bullets wounded several others
slightly. It was said, but they escaped in the
excitement.
In the midst of the riot some one set fire to one of
Mosco's mattresses, that had been thrown to the sidewalk
and torn open. The blaze spread to other furniture and
some one turned in a fire alarm. That summoned Engine 12
and its tender, from North Ninth Street, which came
thundering through the streets and into the midst of the
crowd, that had been thinned out somewhat already by the
shooting.
Policemen on strike duty at the iron works of Tuttle &
Bailly, at North Tenth Street and Wythe Avenue,
attracted by the shooting, arrived on the scene about
the time the firemen did. They clubbed their way to the
fallen men. With firemen fighting the fire, policemen
fighting anybody that got in their way, and the strikers
fighting each other, the rioting ran into a tangle of
cross purposes.
The first set of policemen were joined by the reserves
from the Bedford Avenue Station. Two men who were
pointed out as having done most of the shooting were
arrested, Thaddeus Yozlitis of 69 Beadle Street and
Cailo Thurnik of 72 North Eighth Street. Both were
charged with felonious assault.
Masco Remained In The House
Following the reserves from the Bedford Avenue Station
was Capt. Dooley with all the policemen he could muster.
Then the rioters and the curiosity seekers disappeared
into the side streets. John Masco was escorted to the
new house near the jute mills, but a large part of his
furniture had been destroyed. Masco has been most
unpopular with the strikers. He has been attacked on the
street several times since the trouble began in the jute
mills. Yesterday he remained in his house until the riot
was over.
The labor troubles in the mills reached an acute stage
several weeks ago, when the Polish employee went on
strike. The American Manufacturing Company retaliated by
declaring a lock-out, but the mills were reopened a few
days ago and all who had been locked out were taken
back, though the original strikers were denied work.
These strikers have been giving continuous trouble
since, it is charged.
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