Yesterday will be marked as a never-to-be-forgotten day in the history of St. Hedwig Parish and in the history of the Poles in Chicago. It will be marked as a day of disgrace--as a day when a group of Poles living in St. Hedwig Parish created a violent disturbance that resulted in a bloody scene, the like of which probably was never seen before in Chicago.

An irate crowd, mostly composed of women armed with all sorts of household tools and whatnot, stormed the church rectory at 7 A. M. for no apparent reason, broke the doors down, and threatened the lives of the persons within. Efforts to establish order only infuriated the angry mob and precipitated a fight with the police, a fight which lasted until 9:30 A. M. and during which several persons were wounded--some severely.

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This disturbance took on the semblance of a regular street riot and received considerable publicity in the local press. The results of this affair are very saddening for the parish.

Reverend S. Kobrzynski received the following order yesterday afternoon:

"Chicago, Illinois

February 8, 1895

"Right Reverend Father Simon Kobrzynski, C. R.

"Right Reverend Father: I regret that, owing to recent public disorders in the congregation, it becomes necessary to close the church of St. Hedwig.

"No religious services of any kind can be performed in it for the present.

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Yours faithfully in Christ,

P. A. Feehan,

Archbishop of Chicago"

This order was put into effect yesterday.

Yesterday's occurrence is the sad epilogue of a series of bitter disputes in the parish--disputes which have been going on for some time and about which we have written on several occasions.

After the January incidents, which resulted in the departure of Reverend Anthony Kozlowski from Chicago, a temporary period of peace ensued, during which Reverend Gieburowski, a young priest, filled Kozlowski's vacancy, assisted the pastor to the best of his ability, and fulfilled all his duties with diligence.

Legal proceedings against the persons responsible for the first disturbance 4had been settled by arbitration and everybody thought that the discontented parishioners would at last quiet down permanently. The discontent, however, had not been entirely eradicated, and the first signs of it were seen in yesterday's sad affair, which broke out suddenly and without the slightest warning.

This is what happened: As Reverend Gieburewski, in his sermon, was urging the discontented parishioners to bury the hatchet in the name of God and man, a group of young people, some of whom are hardly known in the parish, began to stamp their feet and interrupt him with loud noises. Not desiring to aggravate the situation, the priest left the pulpit, while one of the church ushers asked the youngsters to leave. When order was restored after their departure, Reverend Barzynski completed the services. This was all what happened, but the American press made a big story of it.

After last Sunday's riot, Reverend Joseph Barzynski decided that, inasmuch as the parishioners were on the warpath, he would resign as pastor of 5St. Hedwig Parish.

On January 4, at the suggestion of his brother, Reverend Vincent Barzynski, pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Reverend Joseph Barzynski tendered his resignation to the Archbishop of Chicago, who set the matter aside for further consideration. On February 5 Reverend Joseph Barzynski went to see the Archbishop and asked him to accept his resignation. The Archbishop granted his request. After having his resignation accepted, Reverend Joseph Barzynski left the rectory of St. Hedwig Parish and moved to the rectory of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Noble and Ingraham Streets. His pastorship at St. Hedwig was taken over temporarily by Reverend Joseph Gieburowski. Reverend Joseph Barzynski, therefore, left of his own free will, in the love of God and man, to avoid further outbreaks of violence.

Last Wednesday, February 6, a delegation of public-spirited citizens called upon the Archbishop and urged him to come to some understanding on the parish's future plans of operation. At the time, however, the Archbishop 6was out, so the committee was given an appointment for Thursday. Archbishop Feehan expressed his regret for the recent occurences in the parish, questioned the group about the details, and finally informed them that shortly a new and capable pastor and assistant would be assigned to the parish. As to Reverend Kozlowski, the Archbishop said that he would not accept him. The committee then gave its own version of the falsification of names on the petition to oust Reverend Joseph Barzynski, and contended that the petition had the names of parishioners who could not sign their names, and that these names had been signed by the canvassers without informing the people of the nature of the petition. With the matter apparently settled, the delegation returned to give its report and everyone was confident that peace would finally reign in the unfortunate parish, as there were no reasons for further trouble, since a new pastor was to take charge.

But this was far from the truth, for the troublemakers were more concerned in creating a scandal than in anything else. The plotters were alert and, 7seeing that conditions were likely to take a turn for the better, resolved to speed up their scheme.

On Monday or Tuesday, Reverend Anthony Kozlowski, who until then had not been seen in the parish, reappeared. According to present indications, it seems that from then on the plot began to take shape. The police now have proof that the plans for the attack on the rectory of St. Hedwig Church on Friday morning were discussed at a meeting held in one of the local halls of the parish. At this meeting, attended mostly by women, some one told the women to arm themselves with all sorts of household tools and to bring red pepper to throw into the eyes of the police.

The first sign of trouble appeared on Thursday evening, when a few of the plotters managed to force their way into a meeting held by the parishioners to inform the latter that they had been to the bishop. The intruders, however, were thrown out.

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An unexpected attack came Friday morning, between 6 and 7 o'clock. A large crowd about two hundred women strong stormed the rectory and managed to get into the church, without, however, doing any damage.

During the outbreak at the rectory, Reverend Joseph Gieburowski and Reverend F. Britkopf, as well as Brother Aloizy and a number of servants, were at the rectory when the latter was stormed. The doors were broken down by stones, and an attempt was made to attack the occupants. Fortunately, two police officers appeared on the scene and gave protection to the threatened priests and servants. Had the police not come as quickly as they did, the outcome would have been much worse.

An idea of the riot may be gathered from the following excerpts taken from the local American press:

The Tribune writes as follows:

"Officers Wendt and Hammill, of the Attrill Street Police Station, were on 9duty at 7:30 A. M. near St. Hedwig Church at the time the attack on the church rectory started.

"The apparent aim of the enraged mob, consisting of men and women, was to kill or attack the assistant pastor. When the rectory doors were torn apart, the frenzied crowd began to shout: 'Turn the priest over!.... Let us lynch him!'

"The attack was led by the women, one of whom threw a handful of red pepper into the eyes of Officer Hammill. He was temporarily blinded by this unexpected shower of pepper, but as he began to get over the first effect he was able to strike the woman with his fist and then pin her against the door.

"In the meantime, Officer Wendt managed to get the mob back by using his club freely.

"At that moment, Officer Wendt found himself about twenty feet from the 10doors of the rectory; someone struck him on the head with a hammer, inflicting a severe wound. The officer slumped unconscious. Blood was flowing from his wound. Just then, the crowd, armed with bricks and stones, attacked Officer Hammill, who was compelled to hold back the madly infuriated Poles at the point of a gun.

"News of the attack reached the Attrill Street Police Station and Captain Rehm and his assistant mustered as many policemen as possible and rushed to the scene of action. The crowd was too unruly and menacing for the newly arrived squad of police and an alarm was sent for more reinforcements. Two patrol wagons were sent from the police station at North and Rawson Avenues.

"Before the wagons arrived, the mob renewed its attack on the police. Patrolman Klafta fell to the ground, a victim of a pepper attack, although he managed to arrest two of the women who led the crowd.

"During this melee, Reverend Joseph Barzynski arrived on the scene on a sleigh 11(completely unaware of the trouble because he came to pick up the remainder of his belongings, as he had been residing at St. Stanislaus Kostka rectory since Tuesday). His arrival was advantageous to the police because they were just escorting Reverend Gieburowski from the rectory, and they took advantage of the conveyance, As both priests were making off, the crowd began to make chase, but the horse was too fast for them. While the crowd was moving after the fleeing sleigh, the two patrol wagons managed to scatter the agitators.

"During the fracas at the rectory doors, Officers Christofferson, Tobin and Niederschmidt came to the assistance of Officer Hammill--Niederschmidt fired a shot into the air. Mrs. Anna Druwka, 68 Lubeck Street, was struck on the side of the head, suffering a slight wound, during the interim.

"After the crowd had been dispersed, Lieutenant Quinn, Sergeant Walton and eight patrolmen remained to guard the church and rectory. No new outbreak was reported up to midnight.

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"Three persons were arrested: Theodore Dimanowski, 18, Mrs. Antonia Gramza, 62, and Mrs. Catherine Lagodzinska, 45. All were placed under bond."

The other papers treated the story more or less in the same vein. The Herald, always in opposition to the other papers, sided with the agitators.

The casualty list is as follows: Arthur Hammill, policeman, serious head wound; Officer Niederschmidt, various lacerations; Arthur Wendt, fractured skull, as a result of being hit with a gas pipe--his eyes were also filled with pepper; J. Klofta, policeman, eyes filled with pepper; Theodore Dimanowski, 18, a broken nose. Besides these casualties, many in the crowd received blows from the clubs the police used.

The riot lasted from 7 A. M. to 9:30 A. M. Despite the cold weather, the women, especially, did not yield and continually attacked the police. Some of them had infants in their arms. Some of the women locked themselves in the church, and it was sometime before the policemen managed to get them all 13out.

No new rioting has occurred. Detectives are making a careful search for the persons responsible for inciting the people to riot. It is apparent that the guilty will shortly be found.

Thus ends the story of the riot at St. Hedwig Parish. It is indeed a shameful and saddening affair to all the Poles of Chicago.