* * * * *
Henry Metzgar, _sworn with the uplifted hand_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. In the Eighth ward, Pittsburgh.
Q. What official position did you hold in the city last July?
A. I was the mayor's clerk.
Q. What knowledge had you on Thursday of any disturbance among the
railroad employés?
A. I think my first knowledge was on Wednesday, but to get at the data
I would request to send for the information made against Thomas McCall.
[A paper exhibited to witness.]
Q. Is that a copy of the information?
A. Yes. On Thursday, the 19th, Mr. Watt came into the office, and asked
for a number of policemen. As to the exact number I don't know, I
didn't exactly hear the number, but I understood he wanted ten
policemen to go out on the Pennsylvania railroad. The mayor went out
with me to the chief of detectives, and they got a number of policemen,
and arranged them up in line, and I think I asked Mr. Watt how many he
wanted, and he said ten. One or more of them then stepped out of the
ranks. Ten policemen went out, I believe, to the railroad. About twelve
o'clock of that day we received a telegram, asking, I think, for fifty
policemen additional.
Q. From whom?
A. To the best of my recollection the telegram was from Mr. Watt. I
immediately went out and hunted some of the policemen who had been
discharged--I hunted them up, and several of the officers went out and
hunted them up. I notified a number myself to report at the office for
duty at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's depot. How many reported I
don't know. It not being my special duty, I paid no attention to it.
But I know a number of them reported. Where they went to I don't know
personally. About four o'clock that evening, the mayor asked me if
there was any news from the Twelfth ward. I told him I could telegraph
to the Twelfth ward and see. We did so, and the report came from the
station that all was quiet.
Q. The Twelfth ward takes in this district at Twenty-eighth street?
A. Yes; the mayor then left the office to go to Castle Shannon where
his family is, as I believed, for the night. About that time--about
five o'clock, Mr. Watt came in and asked for from fifty to a hundred
additional policemen. I told him I didn't know where we could get
them--that all we had for effective duty was ninety men, and, in the
absence of the mayor, I couldn't take away the policemen from all
portions of the city, for the purpose of protecting the property of the
railroad company. Mr. Watt said to me, what will I do. I said, I don't
know--the only thing--if you have a fear of any danger to your
property--you had better call upon the sheriff, and the sheriff can
call a _posse comitatus_ to protect the property if there is any
danger. Mr. Watt said he would do so. That is the last I saw of him
until some time after the riot. No--the next morning--the morning of
the 20th--he came in, and made this information against Thomas McCall.
The mayor, at the time, said to him, that our police force was very
limited, and in making those arrests we would have to make quiet
arrests. The warrants were placed in the hands of the officers, for the
purpose of ascertaining where those parties lived, and to find out who
they were, and all about them. For the most part, they were strangers,
as far as we knew. Officer McGovern had the warrants. The next morning
Mr. Houseman, of the firm of Hampton & Dalzell, came into the office,
and asked me how many of the parties had been arrested. I told him I
didn't know that any were arrested. That the mayor's instructions were
to proceed quietly. He said, can you give me this information. I said,
no, it is part of the record, and cannot go out of our hands. He then
asked for the names of the parties against whom the information was
brought, and he copied the names, and as he was going out he said, I am
instructed by Mr. Hampton to tell you folks not to execute these
warrants. I said, very well--this is a matter entirely in your own
hands. I went out with him to the officer, and told the officer to
produce his warrants. He produced them, and I told him, you are
instructed by Mr. Hampton, through Mr. Houseman, not to execute them.
He said, that was all right. That is all I know, unless some special
question may arise.
Q. How many policemen had been discharged prior to Thursday?
A. One hundred and sixteen.
Q. How long had they been discharged before that?
A. They were discharged, I think, sometime about the latter part of
June, or may be the 1st of July. I am not certain as to the date.
Q. Had you any knowledge of any anticipated outbreak or strike by the
men before it was communicated to you by Mr. Watt?
A. Not the slightest. And at that time we had no idea there was going
to be any such trouble at all, as we have had sometimes in this city.
Q. You were present when Mr. Watt asked the mayor to furnish him with
the police?
A. I was in the office.
Q. You heard the mayor's reply?
A. He went out with Mr. Watt and instructed the chief of police to get
the men.
Q. Did Mr. Watt have to promise to pay the men before the mayor gave
that instruction?
A. I believe something was said about pay. These men, you see, were not
on the pay-rolls of the city. The regular men were in bed or scattered
all over the city. These men happened to be there that day, being paid
off.
Q. Did the mayor require Mr. Watt to become responsible for their pay?
A. I believe something was said about the railroad company--that it
would have to pay the men, as no provision was made by the city for
their pay. I think very few of these men were on the regular force.
Q. Did the mayor make that a condition before he instructed you to send
out for the men?
A. He never instructed me to send out for anybody.
Q. Who did he instruct?
A. Either the chief of detectives or the chief of police--I cannot
remember which.
Q. Did he make any order at that time, calling out policemen?
A. Not as I know of.
Q. These men went out as volunteers?
A. Yes; in that sense. They were men who had been discharged. They went
out under the control of Officer Charles McGovern.
Q. They volunteered to go?
A. We had no right to make a demand on them as a police force. They
were not in the employ of the city.
Q. When the telegram came to you calling for fifty policemen, what
effort did you make to get them?
A. We hunted them up as well as we could. A great many of these men
wouldn't go because they were incensed at the city for discharging
them, but a number of them did respond.
Q. You hunted up as many as you could get to go willingly?
A. Yes.
Q. How many?
A. About thirty-five. It not being my special business, I didn't pay
much attention to it.
Q. Did you notify the mayor of that call for fifty additional police?
A. Yes; he sent us out, and says, go hunt them up.
Q. How many did you get?
A. I think about thirty-five. I never burdened my mind specially with
that.
Q. Did you get another call from the railroad company?
A. I have no recollection of another call, except when Mr. Watt came
and said he wanted from fifty to one hundred men additional.
Q. Did you communicate that to the mayor?
A. I did when he came into the city, at eight o'clock on that evening.
Q. What evening?
A. Thursday evening.
Q. What did the mayor say?
A. He said he didn't know where he could get the policemen. Our
intention in calling the police was simply to protect property from
getting stolen.
Q. Did he make a demand upon the citizens of the city to join the
police force at any time?
A. We made a demand--certainly we did.
Q. When?
A. On Sunday night, for instance, when I made a call upon the citizens
to volunteer to protect the water works of the city.
Q. Had you made any demand prior to that Sunday night?
A. I cannot say. I know of that for a fact.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What demand?
A. He said, how many people will volunteer to protect the water-works
of the city, and I ask for volunteers. As I understood, they intended
to burn them down. Out of some two hundred men, four responded, I
think. He said he understood they were in danger.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. But he summoned no posse from the citizens of the city during the
riots, did he?
A. I don't know that he did.
Q. How many of those discharged policemen were at the city hall on
Thursday when those ten men went out?
A. I cannot say how many were there. They were in and out, being paid
off. I cannot say how many. Quite a number of them, I know.
Q. How many could you have got to go out there at that time, do you
think?
A. We got all we could.
Q. To go voluntarily?
A. Yes; I know, personally, I used every exertion I could, and I know
Mr. Davis was out hunting up men.
Q. Were you out there during the riots at any time?
A. I was out on Friday.
Q. At what point?
A. At Twenty-eighth street.
Q. How large a crowd was there?
A. At the time I was there I suppose probably a thousand people were
there.
Q. How many were engaged in the riotous proceedings?
A. None that I saw.
Q. What were they doing at that time?
A. They were assembled there listening to a speech made by Doctor
Donnelly, counseling moderation, and advising those not connected with
the railroad to go home and attend to their own business. Some other
speeches were made by one or two more.
Q. What was the effect of the speech upon the crowd?
A. I don't know that it had any effect. It had no special effect
particularly one way or another.
Q. Did they listen to it?
A. Yes.
Q. Did they make any response to it in any way?
A. Some response was made to Doctor Donnelly when he counseled those
having no business there to go home. Some of them made some remarks
from the outside of the crowd--that is enough now, you just stop there;
and things of that kind.
Q. What time did the mayor return from Castle Shannon?
A. Shortly after eight o'clock. It may have been eight and a half
o'clock.
Q. Where did he remain during the night?
A. In the office, I think.
Q. All night?
A. I can't say, for I didn't stay there.
Q. Where was the mayor Friday, during the day?
A. In and out the office all day, so far as I know. I know he was
there.
Q. Was any effort made to increase the police force on Friday?
A. Not that I know of.
Q. Nor on Saturday?
A. No.
Q. When were the discharged men placed back on the police force?
A. They were not placed back on the police force until Monday. I think
Monday a number of them reported for duty. A committee of councils, or
councils held a session on Sunday morning; but there was so much
confusion that nothing was done. The police force was not replaced
until Monday or Tuesday; that is, the additional men.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Where is the mayor at the present time?
A. In Philadelphia, I believe. He has left a note that he would be home
to-morrow.
Q. What was said about these men being paid?
A. There was some conversation about the railroad company--that it
would have to pay these men, because the men were not on the pay-rolls
of the city at the time.
Q. Did the mayor make that inquiry of Mr. Watt, as to who would pay?
A. I know there was some conversation on that subject.
Q. Did or did not the mayor say to you that it was necessary for the
officers of the railroad to go out of town, that their lives were in
jeopardy?
A. No.
Q. Did anybody else say so?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever hear it said?
A. No; only after the riots. I understood they left town for fear of
that, and I was rather astonished to find that some of them had been
out of town.
Q. Did anybody there state to you that General Pearson had better go
out of town?
A. No.
Q. Did you know of his being out of town?
A. No.
Q. Did you know of any of those railroad officers being out of town?
A. No; only subsequently.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Did any of the citizens call upon the mayor, requesting him to put
on an additional force?
A. Well, I guess--I do not know that. They did not up to Saturday
afternoon, until the time of this firing.
Q. Didn't they do it on Friday?
A. No.
Q. On Saturday?
A. Not that I know of.
Q. Did they offer to become responsible for the payment of the
additional police?
A. When?
Q. Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
A. I never heard of it at all. I never heard any such an offer made.
The committee of public safety afterwards agreed to pay a certain
number of men on the police force from that time until the end of the
year.
Q. When did they make that proposition?
A. I think Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, but it was after all the
trouble had occurred, so far as I know anything of it.
Q. You know nothing of any such offer having been made on Friday,
Saturday, or Sunday?
A. No.
Q. Were you with the mayor during those days?
A. Off and on, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday I was at the central
station until twelve o'clock, noon. We had about one hundred and
twenty-five prisoners there Sunday morning, and it took all my
attention until noon that day to get through with the business.
Q. What were they arrested for?
A. For carrying away property, and stuff, and various things, and
disorderly conduct. One thing and another of that kind.
Q. For larceny and disorderly conduct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Before whom were they taken?
A. Before Deputy Mayor Butler.
Q. What was done with those persons?
A. Some were fined, and some were held for court, and some were
discharged. A great many were discharged, as one of the officers came
down with the report that the jailor said that he could not hold them
or keep them.
Q. What persons were they who were arrested?
A. I cannot say. Most of those names are fictitious.
Q. Did you get their residences?
A. No; the residences were not taken.
Q. How many did you hold for court?
A. That I cannot say.
Q. Did you keep a record of it?
A. Yes; there is a record of it.
Q. Have you the record now in your office?
A. I do not know whether it is there now. I passed the record out of my
hands to the comptroller of the city.
Q. How many were fined?
A. Quite a number.
Q. Did they pay their fines?
A. Some of them did and some went to jail.
Q. How many went to jail?
A. That I cannot say.
Q. Can't you make an estimate?
A. I really could not, because you can imagine that morning I had not
much stomach for anything to keep facts and figures. It is just a
general idea. Everything was in such terrible confusion.
Q. How large were the fines?
A. From three to five dollars.
Q. You say you cannot tell who those men were, or where they resided?
A. No; they were people I never saw before.
Q. Those who were committed to jail. Did you ever ascertain afterward
who they were and where they came from?
A. I did not.
Q. Did you ever make any effort?
A. I never did. The police made efforts afterwards to try to ascertain,
I believe, who they were, but I do not know what they did, or whether
they did anything or not.
Q. Can't you tell something about what class of people they were from
their dress?
A. They all looked to be of the poorer class of people, but what they
were or who they were I cannot say.
Q. Can't you tell whether they were tramps or railroad men or people of
the poorer class?
A. Some were tramps--I know that. I have a recollection of that. I
don't think there were any railroad men. There may have been a few, but
a very few, though. They were generally of the poorer class of people,
picking up plunder.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Were they Pittsburghers?
A. That I cannot say. I never saw them before, and have never seen them
since.
By Mr. Means:
Q. When those policemen were sent out there, was there any arrangement
made by Mr. Watt, or any other person, to keep the time of the men
while in service?
A. I had nothing to do with that. That was a matter for the clerk of
the chief of police to attend to. I know that Mr. Watt, or somebody,
sent down a check to pay them.
Q. Have you any recollection of a party of eighty sent to the
work-house?
A. I remember a party of forty-six sent there. They came here from
Cumberland, and were arrested on the arrival of the train here.
Q. What train?
A. On the Connellsville railroad.
Q. Those were all sent up in a body?
A. Yes, sir.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. When was that?
A. On the 23d or 24th of July.
* * * * *
R. H. Fife, _sworn with the uplifted hand_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Were you sheriff of Allegheny county last July?
A. Yes.
Q. How long have you been sheriff?
A. Two years the first Monday of last January.
Q. State what knowledge you have of the disturbance of the peace that
commenced on the 19th of July last?
A. On the 19th of July last I had been out of the city during a part of
that day, and came home late in the evening. I went to my house, and
remained there until sometime in the night. I had been sleeping, I
think. About eleven o'clock, between that and twelve o'clock----
Q. Thursday night?
A. Yes. Mr. Scott--that is Mr. John Scott--Mr. Watt, and another
gentleman--I do not recollect his name--came to the house. I came down
and admitted them into the parlor. They told me of the trouble they
had--that Mr. Watt had been assaulted, and that a large crowd was out
there. They wished me to go out and see what I could do. I told them I
would go, and I put my coat on, and called one of my deputies--Mr.
Haymaker--and we started down to Union depot. There we met General
Pearson, and he went with us out to one of the offices--I do not know
just what office--and then General Pearson and Mr. Watt--I think Mr.
Watt went along, or some other gentleman connected with the
railroad--and I went up to Twenty-eighth street.
Q. What time did you arrive at Twenty-eighth street?
A. It was after the middle of the night--between twelve and one
o'clock. There was a large crowd of rough people there. But probably I
am a little ahead of my story when I speak of Twenty-eighth street. On
my road up from the depot to Twenty-eighth street, the cars on the
siding there, and on the tracks that were not filled with merchandise,
appeared to be all filled with people. A number of them were in there
sleeping, and others were in there carousing. All the cars appeared to
be full. At Twenty-eighth street, I asked why that assemblage of people
were there, and they said they were on a strike, and that they proposed
to stop the freight trains from going out, and that they had stopped
them. I told them they were acting contrary to the law, and that they
must disperse. The reply was, "go to hell you gray-headed old son of a
bitch," that and other pet names of similar character. I then repeated
the order that they must disperse, and that if I had not the power to
do it, that I would have to try to get power sufficient to do it. They
then replied, that General Pearson and I both might go to hell, that
they had the mayor and his force on their side, and that Mr. T. C.
Jenkins had agreed to give them one thousand barrels of flour to stand
out, and that Mr. Alexander King had agreed to give them a thousand
dollars. I told them they did not know those gentlemen as well as I
did, or they would not talk that way. They said they knew them, and
that we had better take a walk. About this time there was a diversion
in the crowd. A courier came with a piece of paper--I did not have it
in my hand, I did not get to see it--but a large number of them ran
across, and they read the communication aloud. It read something in
this way: "Hold your position until to-morrow morning, and we will send
five hundred coal miners to assist you." It purported to come from the
Monongahela Valley. They then assembled back. I was up on a pile of
lumber talking to them, and I commenced to talk again, but, after this,
they were far more abusive than before. The language would not do to
repeat. In a short time another courier came with another
communication, representing to come from Wilkes-Barre, that parties
there would be here to assist them as soon as they could.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Were these people you spoke of, railroad men?
A. Not many of them. A portion of them were, but not many. They were
the bad elements of society from all parts of the city, and from some
parts of the county, in connection with thieves and blackguards from
other parts of the country. A great many strangers were there. I made
that remark to one of the railroad officials, that the crowd was not
composed entirely of our people, and he differed with me, and I gave
this answer at the time--I said "These are not our people, for I claim
to know as many men in Allegheny county as any other man in it, and
they are strangers here that I never saw." Some females were there, or
ladies, the worst I ever saw.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. You speak now of Thursday night?
A. Yes; my first introduction to the crowd. I remained some time,
trying to get them to disperse. They did not offer me any violence, but
refused to go, and said they would die there sooner than they would be
driven off. One man there, who appeared to be a leader, had served two
terms in the penitentiary. I knew him by sight. He appeared to be a
leader. He was not a railroad man, and I do not think ever had been.
Q. What was his name?
A. He was killed on Saturday morning, by the Philadelphia soldiers,
and, probably, I had better not name him. He amused himself up to
Saturday morning annoying everybody, and was shot on Saturday morning.
I became satisfied, that no force I had or could convene could hold
that crowd there then, or the crowd that would likely be there in the
morning. So I telegraphed to the Governor.
Q. What time was that?
A. It was after midnight. I suppose, about two o'clock.
Q. Friday morning?
A. Yes; I suppose so. I cannot give the exact time.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. It was during that night?
A. Yes; about two o'clock. I telegraphed to the Secretary of the
Commonwealth and to the Adjutant General.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Have you copies of those telegrams?
A. I think I have in my safe.
Q. I wish you would give us copies of them?
A. I will do so. I received an answer sometime after that that he had
ordered General Pearson to call out one regiment of volunteers to
assist in putting down the riot.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Who was this from?
A. I think from Secretary Quay or the Adjutant General. General Pearson
then was ordered to call out the regiment here--the Duquesne Greys.
They were called out to be in readiness at a certain hour in the
morning. Afterwards I walked down to the city hall, and found about
thirty men there, and a number of them were trying to get home as fast
as they could. About thirty of them I saw in uniform at the city hall.
During the forenoon of Friday, I went with General Pearson and some
others, out through the mob or crowd at Twenty-eighth street, and along
the line up to Twenty-eighth street, and up to Torrens station. There
was a large crowd also, and very boisterous, and apparently very
determined. I talked to them, and urged them to disperse, but they
hooted and jeered. They did not use quite so bad language, but there
was plenty of it, as they had done the night before. They told me they
would wade in blood to their knees before they would disperse, and that
it was blood or bread with them. I also read a proclamation to them,
purporting to come from the Governor, and they hooted and jeered at
that, and said they did not care, that they were going to stop those
trains and had stopped them. It was then about eleven o'clock, and they
said at that hour the railroads over the whole country are stopped.
General Pearson attempted to address them, but they hooted and jeered
at him. I believe he offered to buy a car load of bread and bring it
out to them if they would disperse, but they said it was blood or bread
with them, and they would not disperse. One young man that appeared to
act as spokesman of the crowd while General Pearson was talking to
them--I went to him, and asked him why he was acting in the way he was,
and why this crowd was here. I am going to give you his answer: He said
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company has two ends, one in Philadelphia and
one in Pittsburgh. We have determined on a strike, and in Philadelphia
they have a strong police force, and they are with the railroad, but in
Pittsburgh they have a weak force, and it is a mining and manufacturing
district, and we can get all the help we want from the laboring
elements, and we have determined to make the strike here. I said to
him: "Are you a railroader?" he said "No. I am a laboring man and not a
railroader." I then asked him his name. He said: "It might be John
Smith and might be John Jones, but I am not here to tell you what it
is." I said: "Where do you live?" He said "In the eastern part of the
State." I advised him to go home, and not engage in this bad business,
but he said he intended to see it through or leave his corpse here. I
might say, at East Liberty I warned them to disperse, the crowd, and
when they refused to disperse, I warned the women and children to
disperse--that the military would be there in a short time, and
probably somebody would be hurt. I warned all having no part in the
riot to get out of the road. The women answered me that they were there
to urge the men on to do what they wanted. Who the women were I do not
know, but they answered me in that way. That was in the forenoon of
Friday. About noon there was a request sent to me to send some of my
deputies with the railroad officials. I understood they were going to
try to move the trains on Friday afternoon. I detached Major Boyce, and
told him to take as many of my deputies as were necessary, and go down
to Union depot. He started after a while, and came back, and it was
reported to me that they had decided not to move any trains that
afternoon. Consequently, he was not needed, he said. On Saturday--the
forenoon of Saturday--I was called on by James Richardson, a
constable--I do not know in what ward he is constable--I generally see
him here in the Second ward--he is an old constable for many years in
the city--he called on me and said that he had some warrants to arrest
some parties who were leaders of the riot, issued by Judge Ewing,
president judge of our court of common pleas No. 2, and that he wished
me to go with him and take what assistance I could, to assist him in
arresting some of the leaders of the mob. I immediately detailed ten of
my deputies to go out and try to raise a _posse_. They started out
and reported to me about one o'clock, and they had some eight or ten
men with them.
Q. On Saturday?
A. Yes; some of them appeared willing to go provided they were paid in
advance, and others were willing to go--that is, appeared willing to
go--under any consideration. We started and went down as far as Union
depot, and I think by the time I got there with this _posse_ my
deputies had got up; they had all forsaken me and escaped except about
six. We met Mr. Pitcairn there, and some of the other railroad
officers. They told me they wished me to assist Mr. Richardson in
arresting those parties, and that a division or a regiment, I do not
know which they called it, of soldiers from Philadelphia would protect
me. I went up with Mr. Richardson and Mr. Pitcairn, and another
gentleman whom I saw giving his testimony here the other day; I do not
know his name. We went up to Twenty-eighth street, and Mr. Pitcairn
told me when we got to Twenty-eighth street, that he could not see the
parties for whom the warrants were issued. I replied to him, that then
my duty in that respect was ended. If he could not point them out that
I could not arrest them; that I did not know them. I had seen the list
of names, and I did not know any of them. I passed through the crowd,
and they hooted and jeered at me for a mile, I suppose, but they
offered me no violence. I went clear through the crowd and came and
turned back through a portion of it. The military were bringing up a
Gatling gun and placing it in position. I came back to the side of the
Gatling gun. The military were formed into what I would call three
sides of a hollow square. Shortly after that, or previous to that I
might say, as we passed up, General Pearson was at my side, and a man
who appeared to be a kind of leader of the crowd was on our right. He
was very noisy and very boisterous, and God damning Pearson for
bringing out his double-headers, and General Pearson just pointed at
him and said, "That man will cause trouble after a little, I am
afraid." The man saw him pointing. In some little time he came me--he
forced himself through the lines of the military and came to me--and
said, what had I against him? I said I had nothing against him, so long
as he behaved himself. He asked what General Pearson had against him. I
said I did not know. I did not hear him say anything against him. He
said he was a friend of Pearson's, and had nothing against him, but
that he was God damned if he was going to be pointed out that way in
the crowd, that he had friends enough there to wipe us both out. I told
him to get out. He said he would not go. I put my hands on his
shoulders, and he was then thrown through to the crowd by one of the
officers, He there became very noisy.
The military came up through the crowd in front with arms apart, and
the crowd stood still, refusing to get back. The soldiers were then
ordered to charge bayonets. Then somebody cried out in the crowd to
hold their position. They came up at a charge bayonets; but a number of
their guns were seized by the mob, as you might call it, and at this
time, any number of stones were thrown. I saw one soldier get struck
with a piece of coal on the forehead, just peeling his forehead, and he
fell to his knees. About the same time there were three or four pistol
shots fired from the crowd into the ranks of the soldiers, and, as I
said before, any quantity of stones and clubs were thrown. Then the
firing commenced by the soldiers, and it ran along around two sides of
the square. It was a kind of running fire without an order to fire. It
put me in mind of a pack of shooting crackers, when you set one end on
fire one report would follow another. Some parties were killed and a
great many ran away. I waited some half hour or more there. The
soldiers then retired towards the round-house, and I returned to my
home.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What time did this firing occur?
A. In the afternoon about I should judge between four and five o'clock.
I think it was near five o'clock.
Q. Did you remain home during the night?
A. I did not. I came down to my office, and remained there.
Q. Go on and relate your movements during the balance of the night, and
Sunday and Sunday night.
A. All that night, and Sunday and Sunday night, I remained in the
court-house here. I was useless and powerless, and they were hunting me
to murder me. On Monday morning, I went to my office door, and a
drunken creature was leaning there, with a revolver in his right hand,
hunting for the sheriff. I asked him what he wanted with him. He said,
I want to see him. I said you can take a good look at him now, and,
with that, I took him by the collar, and kicked him down the steps. I
have not seen him since. I might have stated, that on Thursday night,
(the first night I went out into the crowd,) there were shots fired
when General Pearson and I went out there first. I do not know whether
they were fired at any person in particular. I think that they were
intended to alarm more than anything else.
Q. When Mr. Scott came to your house, on Thursday night, to inform you
of the riotous proceedings, did he advise you to consult with your
counsel before going out?
A. No; he said it probably would be necessary, before I got through, to
see my counsel. I told him that I could not see him then, that he had
returned to his home, in the Nineteenth ward, Pittsburgh, and it would
be impossible for me to see him at that hour of the night. I told him I
would see him at an early hour in the morning.
Q. Did he tell you why it would be necessary?
A. No; I do not think he did, particularly--not to my recollection. He
said if I became satisfied, in my own mind, that I had not sufficient
force to remove the crowd, that it would be my duty to call on the
Governor for aid, and he wished me to be satisfied in my own mind.
Q. How many of your deputies did you take with you that night?
A. Only one--Mr. Haymaker.
Q. Did you call for any posse that night?
A. Not that night.
Q. You did not call for any posse before telegraphing to the Governor?
A. No; I did not. I will say this here, that although I was called on
that night, I was aware pretty generally what was going on in regard to
the strike previous to that. It could be heard on the street--parties
were saying--the strike before this had occurred in other parts of the
United States--and they would say it will be here--it will be here in a
day or two. I could hear the remarks passed. Not only that, but every
avenue of the city, for a week before, had been crowded. There was a
very considerable travel by strangers coming to the city. The city was
full of strangers at the time. There was no railroad or wagon road but
what you could find on it a class of people traveling that you had
never seen or heard of at all before, and they were coming into the
city. The city was full of them. This I have not heard any other person
remark but myself, but it is the fact of the case. On all the railroad
trains you could see men coming in, riding on the tenders, or on the
cow-catchers, or any way at all--on the steps, or any way.
Q. What days?
A. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I will give another little fact.
This morning a lady came to my office, asking me to solicit
transportation for her over the Pennsylvania railroad to Philadelphia.
She wished to get a pass. I asked her why, and she said that she had a
son living in Chester county who had come here and mixed himself in
with the riots, and had laid out and slept out until he had got a cold,
and that he now was dying with consumption, and she was poor, and
wished me to solicit the Pennsylvania railroad company to give her a
pass to go and see him before he died. She lives here, and her son is
married and lives in Chester county. She lives nearly across the street
from where I do. But I didn't know she had this son, though.
Q. As soon as you returned on Thursday night from Twenty-eighth street,
you telegraphed to the Governor?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Had you become satisfied, then, that it was necessary to call out
the troops?
A. Yes, sir; I had. The riot had assumed--although there had been no
actual outbreak, except the striking of Mr. Watt--had assumed such
proportions then, that it would have been folly for me to attempt in
this city to have got a posse to remove the crowd. I might, if I had
had time, have got the rural districts of this county to assist me--I
might have got a force there, but then it would have been a worse
slaughter than what it was. But in this city it would have been folly
for me to try it. I knew the feeling of the people.
Q. Did you make any effort on Friday forenoon to raise a posse?
A. I did not. I viewed it in this way. That, when I had called on the
State authorities, and the State authorities had responded, that that
relieved me of that responsibility of calling a posse. In fact, I
considered the idea of a sheriff of any county calling out a posse
almost as an obsolete piece of law to-day. The time was, when the
military were under the control of the sheriff, but it is not so now.
Q. Do you know what the law is in regard to calling out the militia to
suppress a riot?
A. I have read the acts of assembly.
Q. You knew what they were?
A. Yes.
Q. You knew what was necessary for you, as sheriff, to do before
calling the militia?
A. Well, any citizen can call on the Governor for aid--any responsible
party.
Q. But you knew what was necessary for you to do as sheriff?
A. I think I did. I might have been mistaken.
Q. You thought that you laid sufficient ground for calling on the
Governor, did you?
A. Yes; this riot had assumed such proportions at that time--it had
gone so far, and such a crowd was there, of all the rough elements of
society, that no posse, raised inside of three or four days--and then
it would have had to be collected from all parts of the county--could
have removed it.
Q. How large was the crowd that night?
A. Well, I cannot tell you that, because the cars not loaded with
freight, as I said before, were all occupied. Some had four or five in,
and some ten or twelve in. I cannot tell how many cars were full. At
Twenty-eighth street, I judge that a thousand persons were there at
that time, and all along, from Union depot to Twenty-eighth street,
they were scattered.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. Those cars you saw the men in, were they regular freight cars or
caboose cars?
A. I saw them in both. One thing other I wish to impress on the
committee, and that is this: I see that other evidence--by reading it
in the papers--places those warrants for the arrest of those parties on
Saturday, in my hands. It is not the case. They were in the hands of
James Richardson, the constable, and I was only acting as a guard to
assist him.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Was he not appointed as one of your deputies?
A. No; I told him I would go myself, and give him some of my men to
assist him. I took thirteen of my regular deputies and myself to assist
him, and some other men not regularly connected with the office. The
names of some of them I cannot recollect.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Would it then have been possible to have arrested those men?
A. No, sir; not unless the military had done it. Probably, General
Brinton might have been able, but I do not know. There was about a mile
of a solid packed mob.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. On Saturday?
A. Yes; the day we had the warrants.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Friday?
A. On Friday there was a large crowd. It was continually increasing. It
increased from Thursday, and kept on increasing all the time, on Friday
and Saturday.
Q. Were they all taking a part?
A. No; a portion were lookers on, but the sympathy appeared to be all
with the strikers. But I must say, that I did not see many of those
strikers. After we had gone out to Torrens station, I asked Mr.
Pitcairn how many men he knew in those two crowds, at Twenty-eighth
street and Torrens station, as belonging to the road. After studying
awhile, he said: "Well, really, I think I only know four."
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. You say the sympathy of all those gathered around was with the
strikers?
A. It appeared to be.
Q. How extensive was that sympathy--to what extent was it carried among
the people?
A. It was very extensive. In fact, I do hardly know any person whose
sympathy was not with them. It went so far that on Saturday night,
after the firing, parties were coming to my house and telling my family
that they would be murdered or burned out before morning. My wife
became alarmed, and in the street where I lived she could not get
protection in any house. They would not let her in.
Q. Why?
A. Because they blamed me for being at the head of the soldiers, and
for causing the killing of innocent parties. That was the reason they
gave her--that they did not think they would be safe in letting her in.
Q. What street is that?
A. Washington street, Pittsburgh.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. On Thursday or Friday was this crowd boisterous or destroying
things?
A. They were not destroying things. On Friday they were stopping all
the trains coming in--stopping trains, and then hooking on locomotives
and running the cattle cars, for instance, to Torrens station, and
letting the cattle out in the field. In fact, Mr. Pitcairn will
remember that we were ordered out of the locomotive that we were on, to
let them run cattle out.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Not on Thursday and Friday, but after the firing occurred, how was
the sympathy?
A. I think the sympathy was with the strikers from the first. I feel
satisfied it was. But I am only giving you my own opinion.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. But you give that opinion, having formed it after intercourse with
the people, and after being in the crowd?
A. Yes; I talked with a great many of them, and they appeared to think
it was a hardship to reduce the wages and the numbers of the men, and
also, once in a while, they would bring in this freight discrimination
question.
Q. If you had had the warrants on Thursday night, could you have
arrested those parties?
A. If I had had a posse of two hundred or two hundred and fifty I
probably could have arrested them, but probably there would have been
somebody killed. I believe on Thursday morning if I had had the number
of police that Mayor McCarthy had, I could have arrested the leaders,
and put in prison the disorderly parties, and that then the trouble
would not have assumed the proportions it did. That is only my own idea
of it.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Could it have been done on Thursday?
A. As I said before, I was out of Pittsburgh part of Thursday. I was
called away on business.
Q. But from the time you became acquainted with the difficulty first?
A. On Thursday morning I saw the crowd gathering around, and I think
then if I had had a force and had been called on to anything with the
force that Mayor McCarthy had, I think I could have done some good, but
on Thursday night at one o'clock, I do not think it could have been
done.
Q. When those messages were brought in and read to the crowd as coming
from other parties, were there any messages sent out to them in reply?
A. Not to my knowledge.
Q. No responses were made to them?
A. There was considerable cheering.
Q. But were any answers sent?
A. No.
Q. Did those messages come in answer to messages that had been sent
out?
A. I cannot answer that. I have given you about the purport of the
messages. Probably if General Pearson shall be called he might
recollect the purport a little distincter than I have.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Were those telegrams?
A. I think not. I didn't so understand it.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. There appeared to be an organization?
A. It looked to me in that light very much.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You stated one was from Wilkes-Barre?
A. Yes, and one from the Monongahela valley, and there was also one
from Mansfield--that the coal miners there would be in in the morning.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Had you knowledge of any organization prior to this time?
A. Nothing that I could assert with any distinctness--nothing only
rumor--while I firmly believe there was. Now I will give you another
fact or instance to corroborate my theory: Some five weeks after the
riot I was in St. Paul, and the mayor of St. Paul had gathered up
thirteen tramps in a cave on the bank of the Mississippi river. I was
at the hearing, and each one had a traveling sack or satchel, and they
examined these satchels and there were goods like silk handkerchiefs,
and so forth, in them. The mayor asked them where they got them, and
they said, at Pittsburgh at the time of the riot, "How did you know
there was going to be a riot there." "Oh! we knew it, and we were
there." If you will telegraph to the mayor at St. Paul he will
substantiate the fact.
Q. In regard to the extent of this sympathy with the strikers that you
spoke of, I would like you to explain a little more upon that subject
as to the extent of it, and as to what classes of people sympathized
with the strikers?
A. The whole laboring class, so far as I know, were with the strikers
in their sympathy.
Q. The entire laboring class?
A. Yes; I think so. Do not understand me to say that they were in
sympathy with the riot. They were in sympathy with the men on account
of their wages being reduced.
By Mr. Yutzy:
Q. With the railroad strikers?
A. Yes.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. But they were not opposed to the railroad company?
A. I do not know that, but it was just this way that the railroad men
had their sympathy. Then there was another sympathy of the merchants to
a certain extent with these men. They believed they were not paid
right, and that the railroad company were not doing----
Q. Among what class of merchants?
A. Our better class.
Q. The entire classes?
A. No; but a portion of them.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Was it sympathy with the strikers, or only prejudice against the
railroad company?
A. I think they had sympathy and prejudice both.
Q. Do you think that any responsible portion of the people of
Pittsburgh, whether laboring men or others, sympathized with the
rioters after the difficulty had become a riot?
A. No; I think not. I would say here, that the responsible portion of
the people of Pittsburgh were not in sympathy with the riot, but I
would say, further, that it took a certain amount of riot to bring them
to their senses. Something has been said in regard to seeing my
solicitor. On Friday morning, I did see him at an early hour, and
stated to him all I had done, and what I had done, and he advised me
that I had done just exactly what he would have advised me to do. He
stayed with me nearly all day Friday and Saturday. Before going up to
Union depot in company with him, I walked down the street, looking for
a posse to go along, and among other places we dropped in, was Air.
Hampton's office. They two consulted, and both decided that I had acted
in the right way. I am only satisfying you in regard to that. Those
gentlemen, both, can be had at any time.
The following are the telegrams referred to in the foregoing testimony
of Sheriff Fife:
PITTSBURGH, _July 19, '77_.
To Hon. JOHN LATTA,
_Lieutenant Governor of Penn'a._:
I have forwarded the following dispatch to his Excellency Governor
Hartranft, at Harrisburg. Learning that he is absent from the
State, I forward it also to you for such action as you may deem
your duty and powers render proper.