Page:The War on the Webfoot Saloon.djvu/11

 Outside, the ladies were still singing away. They had neither moved nor missed a note.

Moffett had lost the organ and one gong in the riot and was forced to make do with the remaining gong and a few tin cans. His aides labored hard, but they were obviously disheartened. The Crusaders, meanwhile, wore quiet smiles of triumph. It was nearly six o'clock before they raised the siege.

Next morning at ten they were back; twenty-one of them, this time, each carrying a camp stool. "Every appearance indicated," said the awed Oregonian reporter, "that [they] intended to spend the day on the sidewalk." As on previous occasions an enormous crowd gathered within minutes. The sidewalks were quickly jammed. In the street, wagons, omnibuses, private carriages, horses and men swirled and eddied in dusty confusion, and the balcony of the Occidental Hotel, which overlooked the scene, creaked under the weight of the spectators who lined it. But the partisans of the Webfoot were strangely quiet. No gongs were clanged, no whistle blown. Instead the proprietor hustled off to bring the police.

All twenty-one of the ladies were arrested, but since the complaint was based upon the events of the preceding day only six were actually brought to trial: the Mesdames Shindler, Sparrow, Ritter, Swafford, Fletcher and Stitzel. This time there was no mention of praying and singing, it being simply charged that "the defendants . . . did willfully and unlawfully conduct themselves in a disorderly and violent manner ... by making a loud noise and creating a disturbance ... " Which was not in strict accordance with the facts but might, by a little judicious twisting, be made to seem so. After extensive legal maneuvering Judge Denny ruled that the complaint was proper as to form and content, and on the morning of April 20 a jury of six was empanelled (a saloon-keeper and five other businessmen), and the prisoners were brought before the Bar. City Attorney Mulkey and Mr. E. A. Cronin represented the City. Ex-Governor Gibbs and Mr. Parrish defended.