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| Strikers battle Pinkerton men at Homestead, Pa. |
WAR AT
CARNEGIE'S WORKS.
A
Pitched Battle Between the Workmen and Pinkerton's Detectives—Several Killed
and Many Wounded.
P1TTSBURG, Pa., July 6.—Pittsburg has had
another experience with labor riots and this time, as during the fearful scenes
which were witnessed during the railroad riots of 1877, blood has been shed,
life jeopardized and valuable properly placed in danger. This time there was
no destruction of property, but the mob was thoroughly well organized, well
disciplined and had efficient officers at the head to conduct the operations.
The forces embraced all the men employed in the extensive plants of the Carnegie
Iron and Steel Company at Homestead, some eight miles east of Pittsburg, and a
battle, which for blood-thirstiness and boldness of execution has not been
excelled in actual warfare, waged from 4 o'clock this morning until 6 o'clock
this evening, and only ceased when the force of Pinkertons brought to the place
to suppress the strike unconditionally surrendered, leaving their arms in the
barges in which they had been transported to the works.
The riot was the culmination of the troubles
which have been brewing at Homestead
for the last month. Yesterday the Carnegie Company announced their intention to
proceed to get ready to make repairs and the officials asked the Sheriff to
appoint deputies to protect their property. The sheriff sent a small squad of
men up to the works, but the strikers assembled in force and notified them to get
out of town as no disorder was intended and no damage would be done to any property.
They even offered to be sworn in as deputies and to give bonds for the faithful
performance of their duties as conservators of the peace. When this offer was
declined, the Advisory Committee, which had been directing the action of the workmen,
and which had held the turbulent spirits among the workmen in check, was
immediately dissolved and all the records of the committee were promptly
destroyed.
The developments today showed that the
applications made for assistance of the Sheriff was merely for the purpose of them
covering what was intended to be a coup de main on the part of the Carnegie Company, in clandestinely introducing a
body of Pinkerton detectives into the mill enclosure. The detectives had been
rendezvoused some five or six miles below the city on the Ohio river, at which
point two model barges had been prepared for them. The barges were of the best
build, and were used in shipping iron rails down the river from the Carnegie
Mills at Braddock. The holds were filled up with bunks, cooking arrangements
and other accommodations and as an extra precaution, as if in preparation for
the siege to which they were subjected to to-day, were lined with heavy steel
plates on the inside, while the whole back deck was protected in a similar manner.
It was the intention that the men should reach the works about 3 o'clock this morning, but the guards who were
on duty along the river got word of the threatened invasion of the Pinkerton
men and prepared to receive them. The barges were towed up the river by a tow
boat, but before the Pinkerton men reached Homestead thousands of strikers had
gathered on the banks of the river ready to give them a warm welcome. When the
boats attempted to land, the workmen broke through the fence surrounding the
mill and entrenching themselves behind piles of billets, prepared to resist the
landing of the detectives.
THE DETECTIVES
ATTEMPT TO LAND.
By 4 o'clock in the morning an effort
was made to land the Detectives , but the strikers met them and a fierce battle
was precipitated, both sides exchanging a heavy volley of shots. The Detectives
were all armed with Winchester rifles, but at the point where the attempt to
land was made, there was a steep embankment and they were compelled to go in
single file and were soon driven back to the boats by the steady fire from the
shore. The Pinkerton men were determined to land, and poured volley after
volley into the ranks of the strikers, many of whom were stricken down by the
bullets, some of them being fatally injured and others killed outright. As the
battle progressed the strikers took up a position behind breastworks hastily
constructed of steel rails and billets, and from this place of safe refuge were
able to pick off the Detectives as soon as they appeared on the deck of the
boats. In the meantime, Captain Hynd and Superintendent Kline of the Pinkerton
men were disabled and the fire was so fierce that the crew of the tow boat
hastily cut loose from the barge and steamed up the river, carrying as many
wounded as they could reach to Braddock, from which point they were sent down
to the hospitals for treatment at Pittsburg. Seven of the force were thus cared
for, while the strikers that fell wounded were carried to their homes at
Homestead, the dead being taken to the morgue and undertaking rooms in the
town.
A TEN-POUND CANON
PRESSED INTO SERVICE.
The news of the riot reached
Pittsburg as early as 6 o'clock in the morning and thousands of mill workers,
all of whom are now idle pending the conference on the scale, congregated in
the streets while hundreds of others armed with guns and well supplied with
ammunition took up the line of march to reinforce the strikers. As soon as the
day broke the strikers secured a small brass ten-pound cannon and planted it
within the steel billet embrasure, so as to command the barges which were
moored at the bank of the river.
DYNAMITE BOMBS
USED.
When it was found that little
impression could be made by the cannon on the boats, an effort was made to fire
the barges, and thus compel the Detectives to leave the vessel or suffer the
terrible fate of being burned alive. Hose was procured and oil was spouted on
the decks and sides of the barges. While this was being done, barrel after barrel
of oil was emptied into the river above the mooring place, the object being to
allow it to float against the boats and then ignite it.
A THREAT MADE.
At 5 o'clock the Pinkerton men
hung out another white flag and this time it was respected, and a committee of
strikers went aboard lo prepare terms of capitulation. They guaranteed safe
conduct for the Pinkertons provided they left their arms and ammunition behind
and agreed to leave the place under guard. The detectives had no alternative and
promptly accepted the terms, some of them saying it was the first time they had
ever submitted to such a humiliating surrender.
FIENDISH ACTS.
The most shocking and
dastardly deeds, however, were committed while the prisoners were being escorted
through the streets by guards appointed by the strikers. An angry mob lined the
streets on both sides as the men passed by, each in charge of two deputies, the
mill men and their friends kicked them and threw some of them down. The
unfortunate detectives begged for mercy. Some of them had pistol shot wounds in
their heads and three were seen with their eyes shot out. Several were shot in
the shoulders, arms and legs, and could scarcely limp along. Blood was running
in streams down the shirts and they fairly yelled in pain. Fully 30 injured men
were taken to the Town Hall. One of them had his eye punched out by an umbrella
in the hands of a woman. Sand was thrown in their eyes and they were hit with
clubs and other missiles. Many were knocked down with clubs and trampled upon
and some were too weak to walk when they started for the Town Hall. The mill
men used the stocks of their rifles and struck the detectives over the heads
and shoulders, inflicting serious and in some cases fatal injuries.
As the procession reached the
Amalgamated Association building, the detectives had to remove their hats and
salute the flag. When they removed their hats men and women hit them with
umbrellas and sticks and abused them in every way imaginable. There seemed to
be a determination to kill the prisoners and it was with the greatest
difficulty that the demon-like crown could be restrained.
The men were finally lodged in
the Opera House, where they were to be kept for the night. Thousands, however,
gathered around the building and the wounded men were kept in a constant state
of terror, and it was long before their wounds could be dressed.
After a time and when but a
few stragglers remained on board, the retreat of the rear guard was hastened by
the cry of "Fire." Some one in the mob had set fire to the model barges which for
15 hours had been the shelter of the Pinkertons and which had withstood the
assaults of 5,000 men. They burned rapidly, and soon nothing but the charred
hulks of the vessels of war remained.
KILLED AND
WOUNDED.
PITTSBURG, Pa., July 6.—A
complete list of the killed and wounded was not obtainable at midnight. As far
as could be ascertained, 12 workmen and 9 detectives were killed and 18 workmen
and 21 detectives injured in the battle. In addition to this, at least a
hundred detectives were seriously injured by the strikers while on their way to
jail this evening.
A Prominent Cortland Man.
In a recent visit to Cortland
one of the editors of the Sun met his old friend, J. Melville Sampson, who
has become wealthy by his investments in real estate. He is now erecting a
magnificent building directly opposite the Cortland House that will cost about [$400,000.]
Mr. Sampson is a genial gentleman and one of the most popular residents of
Cortland. His success is well deserved and his example should be followed by
other persons of that flourishing village.—Norwich Sun.
Injured by a Canon.
On Monday, at Harford, a young
man named Charles Tanner was seriously injured by the discharge of a cannon
that was being fired there. When the gun was loaded, he stepped up and applied a
lighted cigar to the vent. When the gun was discharged the flash from the vent
struck the lad full in the face, tearing open one cheek and blowing out one
eye, and ruining the sight of the other, so that if he recovers he will be
terribly disfigured and blind for life.—Marathon Independent.
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