The 'Industrial Army' Mobilizes at Mapel’s Hall
Unemployed men marching across Washington are shadowed by federal marshals and local militia as tensions rise over the threat of train seizures.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Industrial Army spent yesterday in camp at Mapel’s hall near the Braun brewery, reorganizing its commissary department, which was in bad order, and waiting for the rain to cease. No attempt has yet been made to seize a train, but the danger is expected to come, if at all, when the Seattle and Tacoma forces unite at Puyallup. United States Marshal Drake has sworn in fifty deputies and provided rifles for them, and Gov. McGraw has ordered the Tacoma militia companies to hold themselves in readiness. Gen. Shepard posted an order at noon: 'Any officer guilty of being under the influence of liquor on or off duty will be suspended.' The men had been promised a good meal, but after waiting patiently for nearly ten hours, a jumbled mess of salmon and potatoes was served. The men were disgusted and began to kick in earnest. Gen. Shepard issued at 7 o'clock rations to the cooks and peace was restored.
“The men had been promised a good meal, but after waiting patiently for nearly ten hours, a jumbled mess of salmon and potatoes was served.”
This reflects the 'Coxey's Army' movement of 1894, where unemployed workers marched on Washington D.C. during the severe economic depression of the 1890s. Seattle’s role in these marches highlights the deep desperation of the era's labor class, mirroring today's ongoing civic debates regarding homelessness and state-sanctioned crackdowns on visible poverty.
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