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Show Bonus Marchers Routed Amid Fire And BloodshedTroops Set Torch to Anacostia Camp After Tear Bomb Attack Sends Men, Women and Children Fleeing in TerrorStreets of Capital Mopped Up With SabersOne Man Killed, Scores Injured in Clash of Veterans, Police; Hospitals Filled With Wounded Men(By Associated Press) WASHINGTON, July 29 (Friday)The four wretched encampments which for two months have housed the bonus army lay burned to earth early this morning, and the veterans who had lived there sought haven in dark streets, on country roads and the path homeward.One of their number had been shot dead by police. That affray, near the capitol in the afternoon, led to President Hoover's calling upon federal troops to clear the camps which they did with the use of tear gas.In late afternoon and early evening they successfully attacked the three shanty sites in the city proper, applying the torch, once the veterans had fallen back.Late at night, after it had been decided to hold off drastic action in the main Anacostia camp until today at least, one after another blaze broke out in huts where the veterans were, and that portion of the city was cast in a lurid glare that could be seen by the president as he retired at the White House.Troops Complete DestructionFinally it was determined to let the troops complete the destruction. They did, and set up a guard there such as was watching over the other three scenes of attack.The numerous blazes which swept across the Anacostia camp following a few earlier, which started co incidentally with the arrival of the infantry and cavalry. It became a matter of dispute whether the soldiers set off these, or whether the veterans themselves had, or whether it had been the grim police. But there was unanimity that the angered veterans themselves started the final conflagration, since no soldiers were at the huts where the fires originated.In a statement, General Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff of the army, expressed his conviction that if the president had not taken his decisive action when he did, the government would have been threatened.Hoover Watches DevelopmentsThe president, he said, had gone the limit in the exercise of patience before he used force.I believe he would have been derelict in his duty if he had not acted.From early in the day until late tonight President Hoover kept his finger on developments. His directions to call upon the troops followed advices from District of Columbia |