THE FERRER CASE 37 



houses, and public buildings were guarded as well as possible 

 by the slender force at hand. No one thought of guarding 

 churches, convents, schools, etc., and so these were left unpro- 

 tected. That night the street-cars were overturned, trolley- 

 lines cut, telephone and telegraph wires disabled, and gas and 

 electric lights rendered useless. Rioting occurred, policemen 

 were shot, and firemen stoned and wounded. The authorities 

 were thoroughly alarmed, and the riot act was read and posted 

 in the public places. The next day the city was declared under 

 martial law, and all powers were handed over to the military 

 governor. Proclamations to that effect were posted in con- 

 spicuous places throughout the city. 



But on the second day, July 27, the storm broke. The revo- 

 lutionists and anarchists had been holding meetings, and had 

 determined on a program of looting the banks, stores, and 

 public buildings. These, however, were too well guarded by 

 cordons of military and police and well-equipped employees. 

 All the morning attempts to pillage and rob were made, but 

 the rioters were driven off. Then, in the outlying districts, 

 they tore up the paving-stones and began to barricade the 

 streets. They broke into an armory and sacked it of its arms. 

 Railway tracks were torn up and all means of communication 

 were completely shut off. The police frequently heard of out- 

 rages hours after they had occurred. A mob of young thugs 

 broke into one of the churches and plundered everything there 

 and in the sacristry, set fire to the church, and went howling 

 into the streets with their booty. It was the first-fruits of the 

 anarchist program, and it supplied an easy quarry for the 

 anarchists and revolutionists. The churches, schools, and 

 convents were not guarded at all ; and, besides, there would be 

 plunder for everybody. The riotous crowd of anarchists and 

 their allies now had a chance to exploit their hatred for reli- 

 gion and order, and proceeded to carry it out with all the 

 brutality and savagery of which they were capable. 



The day of July 27 was a ghastly one, filled with smoke, 

 murder, and terror. The kerosene-can was used after looting 

 had secured every valuable article, and before midnight the 

 mob had attacked and burned some twenty-two institutions in 

 the newer and outer part of Barcelona. The police pursued 

 them as best they could; but the revolutionists were divided 

 by their leaders into sections, attacking churches, schools, and 



