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Show SOLDIERS START FREE-FOR-ALL FIGHT Bad Arbor Day Mlx-Up With Brick Bats, Knives, Chairs, Bonrd9 and Fists. BRICK bats, butcher knives, chairs, boards and dots were freely used in a battle between soldiers and Chilians at the Continental corner cor-ner about 7 o'clock last night. 'ifie affair was described In enthusiastic enthusias-tic terms by those who delight In good, old-fashioned free-for-alls. "It made me feel young again," ?a!d one spectator. "I would have, given ?G to have been In It," remarked another who arrived a little late. The soldiers. Andrew W. Voell and Rollo Mlnto, rather tho worse for their Arbor day festivities, started tho fight, It Is nald, by insulting the landlady of the Continental hotel. William Bates, a roomer, and three or four other civilians .. 1 .1.. I 1. 1... ll..nn IVia soldiers. One of tho latter drew a big butcher knife from his sleeve. A civilian ran to a pile of bricks. The civilian threw a brick and the soldier the knife. A civilian picked up the knife nnd hacked tho yoldlcr's ear. In the meantime another civilian had found a chair. He raised it above his head and tried to hit a soldier, but one of his allies cot in tho way and caught the chair on top of his head. Finally a civilian got one of the soldiers partially down and another citizen tore up a board walk and broke the boards over the soldier's back. - Annie Westcrfleld and Clara Bente, female friends of the soldiers, gave aid and comfort to the military forces by shouting encouragement and reviling" the civilians. Attracted by thetumult Officers J. D. Brown and William Hilton ran down First South and, at their approach, the struggling mass of belligerents melted away. Hilton pursued Voell for two or threo blocks before capturing him, and Brown chased Mlnto back Into the Interior of the block, where the soldier surrendered just aa t,hc officer prepared to shoot at him. William Bates, who had so gallantly come to the defense- of tho landlady, got away when he saw the police coming, and went down on Second South street. There he met the Westerflold and Bente girls. To show his opinion of their unlady-Uke conduct at the time of tho scrap he planted his fist in Miss Bente's right eye. He then returned to the Continental, Con-tinental, where he ran into the open arm1 of Officer Brown and was taken to the station. Bates y-aid that the soldiers came to the Conlinontal to see the Misses Westerflold and Bente. When the landlady land-lady offered objections the soldiers addressed ad-dressed her In the vilest of terms, whereat Bates and the other clvllianfj came to her defense. Bates also claimed that the Bente woman had assaulted him while he was fighting the soldiers. |