By Mr. Reyburn:
Q. What is your full name?
A. D. Leach Reynolds.
Q. Where do you reside?
A. At the time of this trouble I resided in the Twelfth ward, on
Thirtieth street.
Q. What is your occupation?
A. I was conductor on the road at that time.
Q. Do you know anything of the causes leading to this strike?
A. Yes, sir; the more important cause of it was the abuse of the men by
the petted officials, such as despatchers, and so forth, and the
double-headers.
Q. What do you mean by the petted parties?
A. It is just this way: They have a set of men that are posted, not
only in Pittsburgh, but at the principal stations, whose duty it is to
give the conductors orders, what they shall do with the cars, what cars
they shall set off and take on, and they can either give a man a nice
train or a train where there is no work to do, or they can give all the
work to one man--one man they give all the work to do, and one man they
let go behind with nothing to do. It caused a great deal of
dissatisfaction, and a great deal of growling. As sure as a man did any
growling, that man would be discharged the next trip.
Q. Are you employed by the railroad now?
A. No, sir; I left the road on the 16th August.
Q. Were you present on Saturday, the time the troops came in collision
with the crowd?
A. I was.
Q. State what you saw?
A. I went up there about half-past one or two o'clock in the afternoon,
and saw the crowd that was standing on Twenty-eighth street, and didn't
like the looks of it. There was some rather rough characters there. I
do not know who they were, and where they belonged. I then took up a
position in the hospital grounds, about one hundred yards from the
track, one side of a tree that stands by the fence, so that I could
fully see and observe all that was going on. The report was that they
were going to send a train out, with lots of militia, and General
Pearson on the cow-catcher. I was waiting to see if the train succeeded
in getting through the crowd. The Philadelphia troops, as I was going
up Twenty-eighth street, came in. I believe the second section was
coming in at the time I was going up. I remained up there, I presume,
all of two hours before the Philadelphia troops came up the track. I
was looking in so many different directions that I could not tell you
whether General Pearson and Pitcairn, and the sheriff, was in front of
the soldiers or not. I saw the entire body of them as they came up. I
do not remember of any persons or citizens of the Commonwealth in front
of the militia when they came up and formed their hollow square. Then I
saw Mr. Pitcairn plainly, and, also, General Pearson. Sheriff Fife I
did not see. At the time they formed their hollow square, they threw
out a platoon, as has been described, but across the front end of the
square. That platoon undertook to chase the crowd back off the railroad
tracks, off Twenty-eighth street. They refused to go back, and, of
course, that is where the riots began. The soldiers tried to drive them
back by shoving them back with their breasts. They refused to be pushed
back. Then they undertook to charge them back with their bayonets.
After that they fell back a step or two, and I heard the order to fire,
and they did fire with good effect. About that time I took up over the
hill, and came down the other way, a few minutes after the fire. I
presume I was about fifty feet from the front end of the soldiers. They
were then moving around somewhat, and I asked one of the railroad boys
if he had seen any of our boys fall. He said there was three or four. I
asked him if any of the soldiers were killed. About that time there was
a gun went off--I think it went off in the air--and just then I seen
one of the conductors coming down with his arm resting on his coat. He
had taken his coat off, and I went over to and asked him how bad he was
hurt. He said his arm was weak, so that he could not hold it up. I
assisted him down to Penn street, and put him in a grocer's wagon, and
took him to Doctor Clark's, and went to my own house and told my wife I
was not hurt. I didn't find her there, I found her on Penn street. I
put her in a baker shop, and then went off to look for some more
friends. About this time they threw the platoon of soldiers across
Twenty-eighth street, and I supposed they were going to fire, and I got
into a hotel where I heard there was some wounded, to hear who they
were. There had been some there, but they had been removed. I
afterwards saw them bringing down an old gentleman, Mr. Stockel. I went
home that evening, got my supper and remained at home until, I presume,
it was three o'clock. Then I took my wife and started down to see. At
Twenty-eighth street the crowd had got so dense that I went into a drug
store, and while I was in there, a whole party went by, with a drum
beating in front of them. They were whooping and hollering. I don't
remember that there was any firearms in the party, but I know they had
a big drum, and were pounding on that. As soon as they got by, I says,
I will take my wife home. I took her home, and after I got there, the
neighbors and her together persuaded me to remain there, and the
consequence was I didn't go away from my own door stoop that evening. I
went to bed, I presume it was about half past nine o'clock, and on
Sunday morning, I presume about two or three o'clock, she tried to
awaken me to tell me the Pennsylvania railroad property was on fire,
but she could not get me awake, and later in the morning, when the
Philadelphia soldiers were going up Penn street, they formed a platoon
in front of my house. I started out to hear where they had gone to, and
found out that they were gone up the street.
Q. Did you see anybody fire on them?
A. No, sir; I didn't.
Q. Was there any talk of resisting these soldiers in clearing the
track, and preventing them from running trains?
A. You might hear men talking of a great many things, but nobody could
imagine what they were going to do. Nobody had any firearms to resist
anything with. They were asking the question, that there were one
thousand five hundred Philadelphia soldiers coming, and what are you
going to do with them?
Q. The crowd resisted the soldiers, did they, when they attempted to
clear the track?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. The soldiers did not use any more force than was necessary, at
first?
A. No, sir; they did not use any force at all, but simply pushed ahead
with their breasts.
Q. Tried to push the crowd back quietly?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see any stones thrown?
A. I saw one that I took to be a clod of earth, about the size of my
hand, thrown from the west side of the watch-box from the side of the
hill, down into the soldiers. That was the only stone I saw thrown that
day.
Q. You were not near enough to tell who ordered the firing?
A. I could hear a great many words. I could not hear sentences, but I
heard the word, "fire," distinctly. I could not hear any conversation
unless it was in a loud tone of voice, but I heard, "fire," as
distinctly as you speak.
Q. Did the soldiers fire in a volley?
A. No; more like one soldier got scared and he fires off his gun, and
the balance follow suit.
Q. What was the objection to running double-headers?
A. It puts two men's work on one man for one man's pay. We had been
reduced so often that we thought they had got about as low as we could
live.
Q. How much did you average?
A. If I averaged full time, it was $70 20 per month before the
reduction. After that I got $2 45 a day, and never got a full month. If
you want to know all about their wages, I can tell you from the first
reduction. When I went on the road they were paying conductors $2 60 a
day.
Q. When was that?
A. The 21st February, 1872, I think. They were paying conductors then
$2 60 a day, and there was an order came out--or rather the men wanted
more wages, and the committee went to Philadelphia, and it was arranged
that conductors, who had been running trains prior to March 1, would
get $2 85. New conductors were only to get $2 45. When I went on the
road first I acted in the capacity of brakeman for about eight weeks,
and on the 24th day of April I took out my first train, and I received
$2 45 for that. I ran from the 21st day of April till the 16th of June
as extra conductor, part of the time running trains and part of the
time not. After the 16th day of June I got a regular train, and I ran
that for a whole year for $2 45, and from the 16th day of June till the
1st day of next January I received $2 70, which I was led to suppose
was a raise of ten per cent. On the 1st day of January an order came
out that we should be reduced, and that cut me down to $2 40. I could
not understand how a reduction of ten per cent. would take off more
than an increase of ten per cent., and I had an interview with Mr.
Pitcairn and the only satisfaction I got, that the company was losing
money. The 16th day of June my wages went up to $2 70, and that was the
wages I received up until the day of the last reduction, when they cut
me down to $2 45.
Q. You had been getting $2 70, and they cut you down to $2 40, then you
went to talk to Mr. Pitcairn, and he told you that the business was
bad, and they had to make this reduction?
A. I did not make any complaint. They reduced by tens instead of by
fives.
Q. What reason did he give?
A. He could not give me any reason, he said it was done on higher
authority.
Q. I understood you to say, he said something about business was poor?
A. He said that the company was losing money. He took into
consideration the different conductors, and they had different pay, and
the conclusion was that they were losing money.
Q. Then they reduced you?
A. They reduced me to $2 40 at that time. They ran the first year for
$2 20, and the second year for $2 45, and the third year for $2 70--so
the order was in the start out. I never happened to come in under the
$2 20 list, they raised me to $2 70, then they cut me down to $2 40,
and I had to work from June to January, at $2 40, and then went up
again to $2 70, on account of the year having expired.
Q. What was the pay of the brakesman?
A. Brakesmen originally received $2 00 a day, then afterwards they were
cut down to $1 80, and the last reduction brought them down to $1 65.
Q. Did you know what wages they were making on an average?
A. They, as a general thing, made pretty near only about $26 per month.
Some months a man can make almost double time, other months he could
not make so much.
Q. Did that depend upon his being attentive?
A. No, sir; it depended entirely on his business. A new man was treated
the same as an old man, so far as going out was concerned, unless he
was an extra brakeman. If he was regular, on a regular run, he went on
that train every time.
Q. Of course, if he was not there to go out, some one took his place?
A. If he was not there to go out, they always supplied a man in his
place--the crew was slim, I think, as it was.
Q. The man that was there always got his work?
A. I never lost a day on the Pennsylvania railroad by being absent,
unless it was voluntarily or freight was scarce. Sometimes freight was
scarce for a month, and they would have to cut one train off one day,
and once they sent me home in July, for a week. It was on account of
trade being very dull.
By Mr. Means:
Q. You are not in the employ of the road now?
A. No, sir.
Q. When did you leave it?
A. On the 16th day of August.
Q. Was there more of the hands left at that time?
A. The road was principally operated after the strike was over, by the
same that had been on the line before the strike, and I was among the
number, and about the time I stopped off, things began to assume the
old fashioned shape--one day they would want me and the next day they
would not, and I went to Mr. Pitcairn and asked him for an order for my
money, and he said it was not necessary to give an order to get me the
money.
Q. Quit of your own accord?
A. I suppose I would have been discharged if I had stuck to it.
* * * * *
William M. McKay, was recalled and explained to the committee the
situation of the room where the soldier who was sun struck was taken
into.
* * * * *
Colonel Smith, re-called:
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You heard the last witness describe the building, and the manner in
which he entered that building, and the way that he entered--where he
says he left the soldier was at the telegraph office?
A. It was not a telegraph office. [Witness explains the situation of
the rooms in the building on a plot.] This is the telegraph office, and
this is the train master. I presume by the description that was where
the soldier was taken. This is the passage connecting the main entrance
of the building with the telegraph office. This is the first floor--the
first floor above the basement--there is a basement under the telegraph
office, and the superintendent's private office is immediately over
this, on the second floor. The outer office of the superintendent is
there on the second floor, and the clerks here. Three on the first and
three on the second, and this is the trainmen's room, this is a sort of
counter here with windows where trainmen come up to get their orders.
Q. Was there a telegraph office adjourning this room where Mr. McKay
carried the soldier?
A. The room is connected. There is a door just here.
Adjourned until this afternoon, at three o'clock.