The scene of a truck loaded with weapons of war being driven through the streets in broad daylight, guarded on all sides by glittering bayonets, is one that will not be forgotten by the Sacramento citizens for some time to come. It brought facts home to the people and showed them that the strike was no peaceful affair, but some thing of a very serious nature. It revealed the true position of the strikers.
The events of the morning were exciting, but these were even more so. For on this occasion the men did not have to share the honors with any one. In the dining-room the noise of the conversation was almost deafening. To an outsider it would appear as if a Bedlam has broken loose. Each man had some thing more important than the other to relate, and consequently each bid against the other for the attention of the table he was at. Either a man was eating, or else he was talking, and between the two, his jaw was kept busy. Some were handicapped on account of not having so many personal experiences as others; but they made up for it, the one experience they had, they
“Told; retold it o’er.”
One interesting subject was the manner in which the members of the company impressed the strikers. Their duty had been performed in such a way, with such snap and at the same time with such firmness, that the strikers were kept guessing as to whether they were regulars or the militia. Surely, the strikers argued, that man, pointing to Crowley, does not belong to the militia, or that one, pointing to Burtis, or that one, etc., pointing to Wilson, Keane, Heeth, Zimmerman, R. Radke in succession, and, above all, that one with the white diamond on his arm, meaning First Sergeant A. F. Ramm. Surely, he cannot belong to the militia! Their conception of the National Guard was altogether different from the appearance of the men. Weak-kneed, narrow-chested, goose-necked, pale-faced striplings were, with them, synonymous to the members of the National Guard. These men did not agree with their conception, so, consequently, they must be regulars. One of the women in the crowd, that Burtis forced back with no gentle hand, excused him to the strikers by saying that he could not help it, as he was a regular.
As soon as the meal was finished the company marched back to the Capitol grounds. As they passed into camp it was loudly cheered by the other companies. Company F especially showed its unselfishness by giving, as a company, three cheers and a tiger for Company B. Upon reaching the company’s street the men were dismissed, and for the rest of the evening until taps were besieged, at different times, by nearly the whole regiment, all anxious to hear about what took place during the raid.
This night pickets were again sent out. Gilkyson, Hayes, and O’Brien were sent from Company B. The strikers were as much excited over the events of the day as were the militia. Just as in the case of any undue excitement, those people who live out of town will proceed into town in order to hear the latest news, so the strikers gathered into town that night in order to discuss the latest phase in the course of the strike. All the hours of the night and the early hours of the the morning they passed and repassed the camp in groups. The pickets kept on the alert for any suspicious move on their part, and had plans formed for repulsing any advance that they might make. The strikers, however, were not looking for trouble, as they had enough for one day.
The following morning the company again omitted to take its accustomed walk for breakfast—it was served on the grounds. From this time on meals were prepared within the camp. The rapidity with which cooks sprang up on every hand passeth all understanding. Some were but an ephemeral growth—they blossomed but to die. Others, however, displayed a real native gift for cooking, which they themselves hitherto had never dreamt they possessed. This exhibition of latent genius reminds one of the lines in Gray’s Elegy:
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,