February 20, 1917
NEW YORK POOR RIOT FOR FOOD
MOB OF WOMEN STORMS OFFICE OF CITY MAYOR CRYING "WE WANT BREAD"
PEDDLERS MOBBED WHEN PRICES RISE PAST SLIM PURSES
Push-Cart Merchant Are Attacked in Wild Riots in New York Slum Districts
Police Guard thrown Around Office of Mayor to Fend Off Protesting Crowd
PINCHED BABES IN ARMS MOTHERS FOR MOB
Dealers Charge That Higher-ups Are Boosting Prices
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12 Cents Before the War as Good as Dollar
Now
NEW
YORK, Feb. 20.—A dollar in New York today will only purchase the food that 12
cents would before the outbreak of the European war in 1914. These figures were
announced by John J. Hartigan Commissioner of weights and measures, after an
exhaustive investigation into the city’s food supply and market. [$0.12 in 1914 equals around $2.80 in 2013; $1.00 in 1917
equals around $18.20 in 2013]
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NEW YORK,
Feb. 20—Crying “we want bread, we want bread” more than 300 women, bare-headed,
scantily clad—their warmest garment being a shawl thrown about their shoulders—stormed
up the steps of the city hall here Tuesday, demanding relief from mayor Mitchel
from the high cost of food.
Some have declared their families were starving.
Most of the women carried babies, their faces showing the pinch of hunger in their arms.
The women were headed by Mrs. Ida Harris, president of the Mothers' Vigilance league, and Marie Ganz, known as "Sweet Marie". They came from the Rutgers square tenement district where push cart peddlers have been steadily raising prices until the women declare they are now utterly unable to feed their families.
“We are starving, we want bread,” was the constant cry raised by the women as they surged about the entrance to the city hall.
At noon a delegation of women had gathered in front of police headquarters, demanding to see Police Commissioner Woods.
At the same time the police received word that two thousand additional women were forming in Rutgers square to march to the city hall.
A serious outbreak was threatened when Marie Ganz was arrested after the main body of women had been dispersed. The crowd in Rutgers square to march to the city hall.
A serious outbreak was threatened when Marie Ganz was arrested after the main body of women had been dispersed. The crowd in City hall park by this time numbered thousands.
Women Rush Patrol
“Sweet Marie” has been identified with agitators here and the police quickly sought to separate her from the women defanding [sic] food. She was hurried into the police precinct station in the city hall and then into a patrol wagon. Sighting her in the wagon, the women made a rush for it, yelling screaming and demanding her release. A line of police was quickly formed to stop the on-rushing women and the patrol whisked away.
Walking quietly across city hall park, the women were at the very steps of the building before they were noticed. They swept up the steps en masse. The doors were banged shut in their faces, and wild cries and imprecations followed.
Police Drive Them Off
A swarm of police reserves and Plain clothes men appeared. They drove the women down from the steps. Marie Ganz then mounted the…
Some have declared their families were starving.
Most of the women carried babies, their faces showing the pinch of hunger in their arms.
The women were headed by Mrs. Ida Harris, president of the Mothers' Vigilance league, and Marie Ganz, known as "Sweet Marie". They came from the Rutgers square tenement district where push cart peddlers have been steadily raising prices until the women declare they are now utterly unable to feed their families.
“We are starving, we want bread,” was the constant cry raised by the women as they surged about the entrance to the city hall.
At noon a delegation of women had gathered in front of police headquarters, demanding to see Police Commissioner Woods.
At the same time the police received word that two thousand additional women were forming in Rutgers square to march to the city hall.
A serious outbreak was threatened when Marie Ganz was arrested after the main body of women had been dispersed. The crowd in Rutgers square to march to the city hall.
A serious outbreak was threatened when Marie Ganz was arrested after the main body of women had been dispersed. The crowd in City hall park by this time numbered thousands.
Women Rush Patrol
“Sweet Marie” has been identified with agitators here and the police quickly sought to separate her from the women defanding [sic] food. She was hurried into the police precinct station in the city hall and then into a patrol wagon. Sighting her in the wagon, the women made a rush for it, yelling screaming and demanding her release. A line of police was quickly formed to stop the on-rushing women and the patrol whisked away.
Walking quietly across city hall park, the women were at the very steps of the building before they were noticed. They swept up the steps en masse. The doors were banged shut in their faces, and wild cries and imprecations followed.
Police Drive Them Off
A swarm of police reserves and Plain clothes men appeared. They drove the women down from the steps. Marie Ganz then mounted the…
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 4)
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(Continued from Page 1)
PEDDLERS MOBBED WHEN PRICES RISE PAST SLIM
PURSES
…steps and addressed the women. She urged the women to remain in the street, and especially to do nothing that would give the police an excuse to arrest them. With this the crowd quieted and “Sweet Marie” and Mrs. Harris were admitted to the building as representatives of the protesting women.
Mrs. Harris declared she represented no political organization of any kind.
“I represent no one but mothers,” she said. “My husband is a watchmaker. I have three children and we just, manage to get alone. But other mothers who can't get along come to me with tears in their eyes and ask me what. To do.”
Protest May Not Wait
“We were promised a public school in which to hold a protest meeting next Tuesday. By that time, though, hundreds will be starving, so we determined to march down here to see him.”
Mrs. Harris was told that the mayor was not in his office, but was promised that he would meet them later.
Riots in Tenement Districts
There were riots Tuesday in three of New York's congested tenement Districts. Push carts were stripped, overturned and burned by frantic women.
In the Williamsburg section on Long Island, the open air market was wrecked and dealers hid behind barred and locked doors. Police reserves battled to restore order. The riot followed a sudden jump in the price of onions and potatoes.
In the Brownsville section and on the east side of Manhattan there were food riots almost as serious.
…steps and addressed the women. She urged the women to remain in the street, and especially to do nothing that would give the police an excuse to arrest them. With this the crowd quieted and “Sweet Marie” and Mrs. Harris were admitted to the building as representatives of the protesting women.
Mrs. Harris declared she represented no political organization of any kind.
“I represent no one but mothers,” she said. “My husband is a watchmaker. I have three children and we just, manage to get alone. But other mothers who can't get along come to me with tears in their eyes and ask me what. To do.”
Protest May Not Wait
“We were promised a public school in which to hold a protest meeting next Tuesday. By that time, though, hundreds will be starving, so we determined to march down here to see him.”
Mrs. Harris was told that the mayor was not in his office, but was promised that he would meet them later.
Riots in Tenement Districts
There were riots Tuesday in three of New York's congested tenement Districts. Push carts were stripped, overturned and burned by frantic women.
In the Williamsburg section on Long Island, the open air market was wrecked and dealers hid behind barred and locked doors. Police reserves battled to restore order. The riot followed a sudden jump in the price of onions and potatoes.
In the Brownsville section and on the east side of Manhattan there were food riots almost as serious.
The trouble
was started in Williamsburg when a woman, unable to pay the price demanded for
onions put her shoulder to the push cart and tipped it over. In a moment
hundreds of women were on their knees scrambling for the potatoes and onions.
The confusion of the fight for food spread and soon other carts were in the
street and the peddlers fleeing. Kerosene was thrown on some of the carts and
some instances were set afire.
Peddlers Deny Responsibility
Later 2,000 residents of one district assembled in mass meeting to hear the peddlers’ side of the case. One man declared he made but twenty cents a barrel on potatoes that cost him $10. The dealers charged they were allowed to purchase at one time from only two cars of potatoes when eleven were on the tracks.
A boycott on onions or potatoes, in which dealers will agree not to purchase any more, seems probably.
To Ask Other States’ Aid
Commissioner of Weights and Measures Hartigan planned on Tuesday to send to state departments of food and markets, or other state officials throughout the union, a letter urging increased food shipments to this city.
Prices of foods, not only in the push cart, but in every section of the city, have advanced tremendously. The difference in the prices of some vegetables is shown in the following:
[Note: 2013 prices is in red.]
String beans, 1917, 80 cents [$14.56] per pound; 1916, 20 to 40 cents [$4.29 to $8.58].
Peddlers Deny Responsibility
Later 2,000 residents of one district assembled in mass meeting to hear the peddlers’ side of the case. One man declared he made but twenty cents a barrel on potatoes that cost him $10. The dealers charged they were allowed to purchase at one time from only two cars of potatoes when eleven were on the tracks.
A boycott on onions or potatoes, in which dealers will agree not to purchase any more, seems probably.
To Ask Other States’ Aid
Commissioner of Weights and Measures Hartigan planned on Tuesday to send to state departments of food and markets, or other state officials throughout the union, a letter urging increased food shipments to this city.
Prices of foods, not only in the push cart, but in every section of the city, have advanced tremendously. The difference in the prices of some vegetables is shown in the following:
[Note: 2013 prices is in red.]
String beans, 1917, 80 cents [$14.56] per pound; 1916, 20 to 40 cents [$4.29 to $8.58].
Lima beans,
1917, 40 cents [$7.28] per pound; 1916, 20
to 30 cents [$4.29 to $6.44].
Spinach,
1917, 25 cents [$4.55] per pound; 1916, 6 to
8 cents [$1.29 to $1.72].
White
cabbage, 1917, 15 cents [$2.73] per pound;
1916 7 to 8 cents [$1.50 to $1.72].
Yellow
squash, 1917, 10 cents [$1.82] each; 1916, 5
to 7 cents [$1.07 to $1.50].
Cauliflower,
1917, 25 cents [$4.55] each; 1916, 20 cents.
[$4.29]
Potatoes,
1917, 10 cents [$1.82] per point; 1916, 4
cents. [$0.86]
Onions,
1917, 18 cents [$3.28] per pound; 1916, 9
cents. [$1.93]
Police are Gentle
For nearly an hour the confusion and near rioting continued in city hall park. Inspector Dyer was in charge of the police and went from patrolman to patrolman, cautioning them to “be easy, don’t push them, be careful.”
Tears streamed down the faces of scores of woman as they ran blindly from one line of police to the other, crying for bread.
A low hum that rose to a roar of women's shrieks and an atmosphere of waving fists and a sudden elevation of babies greeted her when Mrs. Harris tried to speak.
“We are starving!” the women shouted at her. “We want to see the mayor! We are American citizens and something must be done for us.”
It was with difficulty that Mrs. Harris made herself heard above the cries. Clenching her fists above her head, her eyes turned upward and glistening, she appealed for silence, “just for a moment.”
Police pleaded with the women, but they grew gradually more and more hysterical. A newspaperman volunteered his services and he mounted the steps.
“Go on home,” he told them in Yiddish, “The mayor has promised to see you tomorrow. He is for you. He wants to do all he can for the people.”
“Who are you?” they asked.
“Who do you represent?”
Refuse to Disperse
They cheered when he told them he was a reporter for a Jewish daily newspaper. But they didn’t disperse.
Around the circle of women and separate from them by a blue cordon of police a curious crowd of thousands hung on. Police lines were established and no one was allowed to pass.
As the gesticulating closely packed mob of women howled down the efforts of the Jewish newspaperman to quiet them, the riot squads under Inspector Dwyer edged in among the crowd and broke them up into groups.
Just as they were scattering out under the urging of the police they caught sight of Marie Ganz being loaded into a patrol wagon and the riot broke out afresh.
The forward groups, being urged over toward Park row, began to yell and make a dash across City hall place for the patrol wagon, while the other groups surged away from the city hall steps and hurried to join the chase. They took time as they ran to shake their fists and cry: “We want food! Give us milk! We’re starving!”
Police Guard Patrol
But the police lines straightened between the racing women and the black patrol wagon directly in front of Brooklyn bridge, and the rush degenerated into a free-for-all fight.
Meantime the patrol wagon whizzed away, the women yelling and shaking their fists after it and “Sweet Marie” Ganz waving a handkerchief and smiling.
After the brief skirmish in the park space between city hall, Park row and Brooklyn bridge, which followed this, with the general crowd breaking through the police lines and taking part, the women surged down Center street past the tombs and on toward police headquarters, with police, mounted and on foot, galloping along beside them. A crowd of thousands of men, women and children trailed excitedly in their wake.
Police are Gentle
For nearly an hour the confusion and near rioting continued in city hall park. Inspector Dyer was in charge of the police and went from patrolman to patrolman, cautioning them to “be easy, don’t push them, be careful.”
Tears streamed down the faces of scores of woman as they ran blindly from one line of police to the other, crying for bread.
A low hum that rose to a roar of women's shrieks and an atmosphere of waving fists and a sudden elevation of babies greeted her when Mrs. Harris tried to speak.
“We are starving!” the women shouted at her. “We want to see the mayor! We are American citizens and something must be done for us.”
It was with difficulty that Mrs. Harris made herself heard above the cries. Clenching her fists above her head, her eyes turned upward and glistening, she appealed for silence, “just for a moment.”
Police pleaded with the women, but they grew gradually more and more hysterical. A newspaperman volunteered his services and he mounted the steps.
“Go on home,” he told them in Yiddish, “The mayor has promised to see you tomorrow. He is for you. He wants to do all he can for the people.”
“Who are you?” they asked.
“Who do you represent?”
Refuse to Disperse
They cheered when he told them he was a reporter for a Jewish daily newspaper. But they didn’t disperse.
Around the circle of women and separate from them by a blue cordon of police a curious crowd of thousands hung on. Police lines were established and no one was allowed to pass.
As the gesticulating closely packed mob of women howled down the efforts of the Jewish newspaperman to quiet them, the riot squads under Inspector Dwyer edged in among the crowd and broke them up into groups.
Just as they were scattering out under the urging of the police they caught sight of Marie Ganz being loaded into a patrol wagon and the riot broke out afresh.
The forward groups, being urged over toward Park row, began to yell and make a dash across City hall place for the patrol wagon, while the other groups surged away from the city hall steps and hurried to join the chase. They took time as they ran to shake their fists and cry: “We want food! Give us milk! We’re starving!”
Police Guard Patrol
But the police lines straightened between the racing women and the black patrol wagon directly in front of Brooklyn bridge, and the rush degenerated into a free-for-all fight.
Meantime the patrol wagon whizzed away, the women yelling and shaking their fists after it and “Sweet Marie” Ganz waving a handkerchief and smiling.
After the brief skirmish in the park space between city hall, Park row and Brooklyn bridge, which followed this, with the general crowd breaking through the police lines and taking part, the women surged down Center street past the tombs and on toward police headquarters, with police, mounted and on foot, galloping along beside them. A crowd of thousands of men, women and children trailed excitedly in their wake.
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