GENERAL MOVEMENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
Difficulty at Erie—Rioters near Bethlehem—Sunbury Strikers—A Rabble at
Altoona—Meadville Militia—Mauch Chunk Characters—Lebanon Valley
Villianies—Marietta Marauders—Wilkesbarre Disturbances—Shenandoah
Colliers—Hazards at Harrisburg—Scranton Miners—Hazleton Isolated—The
Johnstown Murders.
While the attention of the whole country was concentrated on the
momentous events happening in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Reading,
Fort Wayne, and St. Louis, there were events of scarcely less
significance taking place in all the considerable towns and cities
throughout the entire State of Pennsylvania. Laborers in mills and
factories, founderies, and mines, all over the State, were in a state of
feverish excitement. The great masses of men engaged in the anthracite
coal regions of the Eastern Slope, the miners of the bituminous coal
fields of the West were all profoundly agitated by the events taking
place throughout the Union. The employes of railroads in various parts
of the State were in the closest sympathy with the objects aimed at by
the strikers on the Grand Trunk lines, and in a time of such
overpowering anxieties and excitement, they could scarcely be expected
to remain quiet. Accordingly we find that in many places the inhabitants
were called upon to endure sleepless nights, on account of the general
social disturbance, and their anxieties as to what would be the end of
it all.
The Atlantic Express on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad
arrived at the depot in Erie, Pennsylvania, from Chicago the morning of
July 24th, and was abandoned by the men. All trains both east and west
on the Buffalo division were run upon a siding and left there, much to
the disgust of about three hundred through passengers. The train
consisted of four heavily-laden fast mail cars, and four passenger
coaches. The strikers were anxious to forward the train to Buffalo, and,
for this purpose, fired up an engine and put on an engineer and fireman.
Orders were received from the Superintendent of the road to hold the
train at Erie till further notice. A meeting of the strikers was then
held. A telegram was by them sent to President Hayes, informing him that
the Railroad Company, and not the strikers, were responsible for the
detention of the mails. Another effort was made to take out the train,
but the attempt was frustrated by the Sheriff, who had been ordered by
the Superintendent to prevent the strikers from taking out the train
against the Company’s orders. The Mayor and other city officials, with
special police, went to the scene. Addresses were made, and finally the
strikers gave up the contest, took off their engineer and abandoned the
train entirely. Among the passengers were about sixty women and
children, who had suffered intensely from the inconvenience they had
been put to. On the Erie Division of the Lake Shore Road passenger
trains were run as usual. That evening the mail matter upon the cars,
about fifteen tons in all, was unloaded from the cars and taken to the
post office.
Superintendent Polhemus, with his party of repair men, and their escort
of coal and iron police, arrived at Odenwelders, Pennsylvania, July
24th. They had gone to repair a turn-table at that point. They were met
by a large and excited crowd, who drove off the repair men, Mr. Polhemus
addressed the mob with a conciliatory speech, but they replied by
informing him that he was at liberty to walk back to Mauch Chunk with
his force. The men then ran his engine on the side track and drew the
fire.
The Philadelphia and Erie trainmen struck at Sunbury, Pennsylvania,
Tuesday night, July 24th. They compelled the shop hands and machinists
to strike. The excitement was great, but no overt act was committed.
The strikers at Altoona during the 24th were very quiet, although they
were successful in keeping a couple of local trains from starting out.
In the evening at five o’clock a train of soldiers arrived _en-route_
for Pittsburgh, when the strikers congregated on the railroad and
attempted to keep it from starting, but the train got off, and while it
was moving out the strikers threw stones and fired a number of shots at
it. Several soldiers returned the fire, but no one was hurt.
At Meadville, Pennsylvania, July 26th, orders were issued by General
Hodekoper for all companies of the Seventh militia to report at Franklin
to avoid a conflict or the detention of trains, as was the case before.
The Meadville companies marched out to the city limits, where wagons
were in waiting to convey them overland to Franklin. They arrived
safely. The Greenville, Sharon, Conneautville and Erie companies also
went by wagons. The Cony company attempted to go by rail, but were
delayed by the Oil Creek Railroad strikers, and therefore left the train
and took wagons. The Oil Creek Greys marched also to camp. The division
had one thousand men at Franklin, fully armed and equipped, and ready to
move in case of an emergency.
The men on the Lehigh Valley and Lehigh and Susquehanna roads were all
out, and all trains stopped running at Mauch Chunk on the 27th. The
Lehigh Valley officials discharged all their men connected with the
strike, and paid them off at once.
The miners at Summit Hill, struck July 27th. They demanded an advance of
twenty per cent. They marched from one mine to another, with loaves of
bread stuck on poles, and afterwards congregated in front of the
Company’s office when they demanded their pay. The Sheriff and Chief of
the Police Burgess issued proclamations enjoining order, and warning all
persons of the consequences of acts of violence.
At Lebanon, Pennsylvania, July 23d, a large crowd of people congregated
at the depot in the evening to await the arrival of the passenger train
from the East. The militia had all then left for Harrisburg. Several
fights took place between militia and citizens. Freight trains arrived
from Reading via Auburn and Prince Grove. The excitement was abating. No
passenger or freight trains arrived then from the east or west on the
Lebanon Valley Railroad. The trains on the Lebanon and Fremont Railroad
were undisturbed.
At Marietta, Pennsylvania, July 23d, the firemen, brakemen, and other
hands employed upon several branch lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad
struck. The strikers intimidated all railroaders from running the
freight trains. Three loaded cars were thrown from the track near
Chiques, on the Columbia branch, and rolled into the Susquehanna river.
A large body of tramps who had collected in the woods near Marietta took
advantage of the unsettled times and proceeded to carry on organized
outlawry. The malcontent railroad men formed in procession and marched
from point to point, stationing patrols wherever there was a possibility
of the non-union employes attempting to take a train out. The number of
strikers increased by the accession of train hands from other divisions
of the road. The strikers were well armed, and many of them amply
provided to fight with the military. An attempt was made to destroy a
signal tower just below Columbia during the morning, but the fire
started by the rioters died out after the incendiaries had gone. Some of
the leaders in the Baltimore and Pittsburgh riot arrived, and endeavored
to prevail upon the other dissatisfied men, not connected with the
railroad, to join in the strike. Much excitement prevailed, and the
arrival of the troops was awaited with great anxiety.
A band of twenty strikers from Easton, reached Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,
July 25th, and congregated at Bethlehem Junction. At ten o’clock when
the passenger train on the Bath branch of the Central Railroad of New
Jersey was ready to start for Bath, they took possession of the train,
uncoupled it from the engine, and warned the crew that if they undertook
to run the train through, they would do so at their peril. A large
number of citizens came to the rescue, and while Despatcher Steinman was
holding consultation with the strikers, the train was recoupled and
pulled out very rapidly. The strikers made an effort to uncouple the
last car but failed. W. S. Polhemus, Assistant General Superintendent of
the Lehigh and Susquehanna Divisions of the New Jersey Central road,
arrived there in a special car with a squad of the Coal and Iron Police
under Captain Williams. A crew was made up, and the through car from
Philadelphia to Mauch Chunk was taken by them to its destination.
Events culminated at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in a general strike of
the railroad men and miners on the 25th of July. All day long meetings
were held by them in different portions of the city. At some of the most
important, newspaper reporters were refused entrance. Every application
for admission was thoroughly examined before the privilege was granted.
From those who attended the meetings it was ascertained that the main
business was the appointing of committees to wait on the officials who
resided there, and through them to make their demands known. Several
small companies of soldiers arrived at Wilkesbarre and were immediately
marched to the encampment at Lee Park. There were then nearly a thousand
soldiers in that city. At a late hour at night notices were posted up at
the Lehigh Valley Depot, designating what trains would be stopped the
next day. Up to noon everything went along the road, as usual, but this
was to allow the morning trains to reach their destinations. During the
afternoon one eastern bound freight train on the Valley road was
stopped, and the engineer ordered to run his train on a side track and
get off his engine. The order was obeyed. Nearly five hundred people
were assembled at that place at the time.
The situation in the anthracite coal region near Shenandoah,
Pennsylvania, had become very disquieting, and business of all kinds was
at a standstill on July 27. Since the long strike of ’75, the miners of
that region had been dissatisfied with their lot, and unfortunately
their grounds of complaint had become more palpable with the lapse of
time. Prior to 1875 the average wages of miners were very large, ranging
between one hundred and one hundred and fifty dollars a month a piece,
but since that time wages have been steadily decreasing until a good
miner could scarcely earn in a month what he considered pay for a fair
ten days work three years ago. Their dissatisfaction would be easily
understood. At the market price of coal, labor was worth nothing,
although the laborer is said to be worthy of his hire. No strike had
occurred in Schuylkill County, though in several parts the miners were
pretty evenly balancing upon the question of “strike or no strike.” The
most intelligent among them were not in favor of going out, saying that
half a loaf was better than no bread, while others more obtuse said: “We
might as well die at once as starve by inches.” The majority of the
workingmen of that region were hot-headed in the extreme, and as a rule,
looked after they had leaped. On account of the numerous railway strikes
there had been a great deal of excitement among the men, and in various
parts of the county parades were inaugurated for the purpose of creating
sentiment in favor of the strikers and those who contemplated joining.
There were several demonstrations there, and to protect themselves
against what might possibly occur through the efforts of demagogues, the
citizens organized a home guard. In this they followed the example of
the citizens of Shamokin, the coal centre of Northumberland County. This
was the place where the mob endeavored to inaugurate a scene of riot and
bloodshed, but were happily defeated in their object. In Luzerne County
the miners were out in several districts, and this may be placed to the
credit of the strikers on the Lehigh Valley and Jersey Central
Railroads, though the miners of Luzerne earned much lower wages than
their Schulykill County brethren. Fears were entertained at Shenandoah
that the Luzerne men might visit Schulykill, and if that fear was
verified, trouble would probably result, as the miners of Luzerne were
perfectly aware that whatever misfortune happened Schulykill was money
in their pockets.
The strikers at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, stopped all trains on the
evening of July 25th. A mob numbering four thousand filled the depot and
streets adjacent, but there were few railroaders in the crowd. There was
a disposition manifested to allow all passenger trains to pass, and a
number passed both east and west. The freight trains had all been
stopped, and none were running. The Reading employes struck that morning
and ran the freight engine into the roundhouse. The city was filled with
rough looking men drawn there by the strike, most of them being tramps,
and trouble was feared by their depredations. Eight hundred troops,
comprising General Schofield’s division were encamped in the vicinity of
the arsenal guarding Government stores. They came that morning and
consisted of nine companies from Schulykill County, two from Lebanon,
and one from Harrisburg. A number of Philadelphia soldiers started from
Altoona for home on the evening of the 23rd. Some of them left the train
at Bell’s Mills, and some among them the First City Troop, came as far
as Rockville, where they disembarked because they learned they were to
do guard duty at the arsenal. It was a fact that the First City Troop
left Rockville and walked home by a roundabout way to avoid the city. A
number of soldiers who came from Altoona, were disarmed by a mob without
offering any resistance. The Pennsylvania railroad officials at
Harrisburg were powerless to prevent the strikers from stopping trains.
Their hands were tied, and there was no military or civil authority to
help them. A crowd which crossed the river in search of Philadelphia
militia-men reported coming towards Harrisburg, returned to that city
about seven o’clock in the evening with twenty-three men of the First
and Second Regiments as their prisoners. The captives were well fed and
treated courteously by the strikers. Captain Snowden and thirty-two men
of the City Troop of Philadelphia, were found a mile outside of the city
and conducted to the State Arsenal, where they were quartered. At ten
o’clock on the evening of the 23rd, the mob forced an entrance into
Altemeir’s gun store on Second street, Harrisburg, and seized a quantity
of firearms. Mayor Patterson addressed the crowd and induced them to
return a part of their plunder. Intense excitement prevailed.
The entire Lackawanna region was idle by the 30th of July. A short time
before, this region sent nearly 150,000 tons of coal to market. It now
ceased to send any.
The miners of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company quit work, and those
of the Pennsylvania Coal Company were in enforced idleness on account of
the destruction of a head-house and bridge on their gravity railroad.
The head-house, which was situated in the woods east of Scranton, was
burned down by a mob which surprised the watchman and tied him with
ropes to a neighboring tree. They saturated the wood-work and set it off
with a match. It made a fierce blaze which was plainly visible at
Scranton. The destruction of the head-house caused a complete stoppage
from Hawley to Pittston. It was not the work of the Company’s employes,
but of outside persons who took that mode of forcing the strike upon
them. The Pennsylvania Coal Company had recently been working on full
time at their mines, and the best of feeling existed between themselves
and their workmen. The latter were indignant at the dastardly act. The
prospects are that the burned property will not be replaced until the
dispute between labor and capital is settled.
A bridge on the Company’s road was burned at Spring Brook. It was
promptly replaced, and within three days it was again destroyed.
At Mill Creek, on the Delaware and Hudson Road, a band of six hundred
miners surprised a loaded coal train on Saturday, and forced the men to
abandon it. There was not a mine worked in the valley on the 30th of
July, and all railroad communications with outside towns were thoroughly
blockaded.
Mr. John Brisbin, of New York, went to Scranton to consult with the
local officers of the corporation, but no effort had been made to
recover control of the railroads or mines. Governor Hartranft had
transferred to Mayor McKinne the services of the State militia, but the
Mayor declined, as he did not want to shoulder the responsibility of
calling out the military. The city became very much excited over a rumor
that the regular troops were going there to protect the men at the mine
pumps in order to prevent the mines from flooding. A strong company of
old soldiers was organized for the protection of life and property, and
every man slept with a musket at his bedside ready to rush out at the
sound of the gong.
The strike on the main line of the Lehigh Valley road, July 26th,
resulted in a stoppage of nearly all trains on the Hazelton branch. An
engine and mail car went to Tomhickon and conveyed the mail and a few
passengers from Sunbury. A committee of strikers went down from
Wilkesbarre and induced the employes of the Hazelton division to strike.
The committee proceeded to Weatherly. The coal trains on the Beaver
Meadow and Mahanoy divisions were running, but on account of the strike
on the main lines, coal trains could not get beyond Packerton.
When the detachments of the First, Third and Fifth United States Regular
Artillery, commanded by Colonel Hamilton, which left Philadelphia the
26th, reached Johnstown, on the Pennsylvania road, the train was stormed
and fired into by a mob at that place, and several of the soldiers
wounded. The regulars disembarked, and a fight ensued in which a number
of persons were killed. Troops were massed at that point. The new
Twentieth Regiment, composed of veterans, left Philadelphia fully armed
and equipped for the scene of the fight.