A. Was the cause of the rest following. This Rye, one of the men you
had before you, his crew was to go out that morning at eight-forty.
That would have been the second double-header on the road. Of course,
there was a good many double-headers run over it, but it was to be
general. There was to be no single trains. When his crew said they were
not going out, we might as well quit this, as to be discharged after a
while, then the rest of the men coming in, they would not go out, then,
because the first fellows refused to go out on double-headers. If a man
would have wanted to go out, he could have. There was nothing to
prevent him, if he had a little courage.
Q. There would have been no bodily injury?
A. No, sir; if I had wanted to go out, I could have gone out or
anything else. The strike was conducted by intimidation.
Q. I understand you one fellow got struck with a link?
A. That was done by a party who was not really responsible for what he
was doing. He was a little the worse for his beer, or he would not have
done it.
Q. We had testimony that links and pins were thrown at engineers on
their engines--did you see anything of that kind?
A. There was one link thrown at this man that went to couple the
caboose to the engines on the Thursday morning, and he had no business
to couple a caboose, or they wouldn't have thrown any link. He belonged
down to the transfer, and was not a long road man.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Every fellow has his work, and if he undertakes to do anything else,
they don't allow him?
A. Just as affairs stood then, they didn't allow it. There was no
threat made. Another fireman and me sat down on a track and talked to
some of them--asked what they were going to do. They said nothing; only
we are not going out on double-headers.
Q. How did they come and take possession of the switches, and stop
trains from running?
A. They didn't stop any; they didn't have any men to go out with them.
A good many men deny that they had anything to do with the strike, but
they had at that time. They wanted their ten per cent. as much as
anybody.
Q. Had the order cut their wages down below what they could have lived
on, or could the men make fair wages enough to live on?
A. If the strike had not taken place that morning, there would have
been twelve engineers to go off, about ten firemen, and forty trainmen,
conductors, brakemen, and flagmen--that would have been fifty or sixty
men. It would have been only a week or so until they would have run
everything to Altoona, and that would have thrown out the east end of
the division, and then there would be nothing left for the strikers at
all, only when freight was a little heavy they would not have made
anything. A man never made much money unless freights were very good,
and he is running all the time, and is half dead--then he can make
money. That is in regard to firemen or brakemen; of course engineers,
with their big wages, they can make money.
Q. Was it your object, as strikers, to compel the railroad company to
employ more men than they really needed?
A. The object of the strike was to do away with double-headers and get
their ten per cent. back, if they could. If Mr. Watt would have come up
there that morning and said, all right, let them run single trains, the
thing would have been over in half a minute. No; they wouldn't do that.
They didn't think about their ten per cent. that morning. All it was
about was double-headers. After the strike was prolonged, then the ten
per cent. was more thought of.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. You informed the masters of those lodges that there was a strike
here in Pennsylvania, on the Pennsylvania, and he telegraphed back that
there would be strikes on all the roads?
A. No, sir.
Q. What was it?
A. There was a telegram came from Hornersville, on the Erie road, from
a man by the name of Donahue, to the master of this division of the
Firemen's Brotherhood, stating that they were all out, and wished the
Pennsylvania railroad men success. I believe that was it.
Q. Was there any understanding among the men that they were safe here,
in Pittsburgh, to strike, and not to be molested, and they wouldn't be
if they were Philadelphia men?
A. No, sir.
Q. In other words, that if the Philadelphia men came here they had no
sympathy with the strikers, and they would be apt to attempt to run
trains out, and take possession of the tracks?
A. No, sir; I have never heard anything of that.
Q. You don't know that this point was selected, then?
A. No, sir; it was only accidental the strike came about, and it was
through the double-headers. If the strike would have been to occur that
day, every body would have known it.
Q. Are you working now?
A. No, sir.
Q. Discharged?
A. No; I never was discharged. I asked for my time twice, and it was
refused me, and I never went to work one day. I went down to Pitcairn's
office to get a letter of recommendation--I wanted to go on some other
road--and all the letter he would give me was a note saying he
discharged me on account of reduction of force.
* * * * *
Officer White, re-called:
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. State what action the police officers took on Sunday to put down the
riot, and burn, and break into the stores?
A. I would state that on Saturday night, about the breaking in of
stores, I was at the office, and word came there that they were going
into Johnson's gun store. I was ordered up there, and went up there,
and the mob was then there, and I believe Mr. Johnson had handed out
two or three guns there, to keep the mob away until the police came
there. As soon as we got there, we closed the doors, stood and guarded
the gun-shop for a considerable time, until the mob went away, and
stopped them from going in there.
Q. Did you have any encounter with the mob?
A. No; not a good deal to keep them away?
Q. You made a show of force, and they dispersed?
A. Yes. Then we had word they were up on Liberty, at a place kept by a
man by the name of Shute. I found they had opened and cleaned it out. I
came to the office again, and was ordered down to O'Mara and Bown's,
and we found they had been in there.
Q. What did they take out--pretty much anything they could lay their
hands on?
A. I do not think it was for arms, for the purpose of going out to kill
the Philadelphians. I think it was plunder more than any thing else--a
general cleaning out--anything they could get their hands on--scissors
or anything else. There was a man came into the office with a couple of
pair of scissors he had taken from some one. I did not think he wanted
the scissors to kill any one with. They cleaned Bown's out
completely--knives, pistols, scissors, anything that was in the store.
Q. Do you know where that crowd was from that broke into Bown's store?
A. I could not tell. I did not know whether it was the party that had
stopped at Johnson's or not. There was a couple of hundred at Johnson's
trying to get in, and we kept them from getting in there.
Q. Do you know where they were from?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know of an alderman that was with them, from the south side?
A. After I had left Bown's store, a company happened on Fifth street. I
saw a gang of two or three hundred, and I saw an alderman with them.
Q. Anybody else you know?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who?
A. A councilman.
Q. Did they appear to be leading this crowd?
A. The councilman did. The alderman did not seem to take much part in
it. The councilman seemed to be at the head of it.
Q. What day was this?
A. Saturday night.
Q. Whereabouts does he live?