Middletown transcript., 1877-07-21
Strike on the B. & 0. Railroad.
R1oTIEo 8 BLoODsHED.

duction Of ten per cent. in the wages
Of all the employees Of the road. Thi'
reduction many Of the hands refused
to submit to, and number Of the fire
men ofthe freight trains, some forty OF
more, led off on Monday in strike
deserting their engines and refusing to
work. Their example was followed
by many Of the freight engineers and
brakemen, and the business of the road
was seriously interrupted. The CHIEF
seat of these rebellious operations was
Martinsburg, West Virginia. AT that
place the freight trains from the West
were stopped, and large crowd Of the
strikers gathered at the railroad sta
ton to prevent the movement Of the
trains. The officers Of the railroad
company appealed to the Governor Of
West Virginia for troops to defend
their property and protect them in the
operation Of their road. In answer to
their request Governor Matthews des-
patched a company Of seventy-five mil
itia to Martinsburg. Under their pro
lection an attempt was made to move
one of the freight trains. The strikers
resisted and fred upon the troops
wounding one man. The fire was re-
turned, and one Of the rioters was kill
ed and two or three wounded. This
created the most intense excitement,
and a vast crowd Of the striking work
men and their friends gathered in and
around the station with arms Of various
kinds threatening destruction to the
operatives who had refused to join in
the strike. The state militia were
found to be in sympathy with the stri-
kers and were withdrawn. The Gov
ernor then despatched a company Of
riaes-forty men-to the scene, and
called upon the President Of the Uni
ted States for aid in quelling the insur-
rection. The President at first refused
to interfere, but on being convinced
that the riot could not be suppressed
without aid from the Government or
dered several companies Of Regulars"
from Washington, and the garrison Of
Fort McHenry to the scene, and issued
a proclamation commanding the riot
ers to disperse. Thus matters stood on
Wednesday night. The situation at
Martinsburg had become exceedingly
desperate. The rioters had possession
of the town and had blockaded some
Of the streets and fntrenched them
selves behind earthworks, prepared to
resist the approach Of the troops or the
of the trains.
On Thursday morning the 9. S.
roops proceeded, by rail, to Martins
burg, and after the Presidents procla-
nation had been distributed among
he rioters, the troops were marched to
IL railroad station. and with fixed |
,ayonets advanced against the crowd
them back and clearing space
round the engines and along the track.
The engines were then started and
lowly moved out of the station accom-
ianied and protected on each side by
J. S. troops. In this way one train
ach way was gotten off and passed out
f the dangerous district and went on
beir way east and west. The crowd
made no violent resistance to the troops
nd 50 far, or up to the latest reports,
remains quiet at Martins
urg.
THE STRIKE BECOMING GENERAL.
On Thursday afternoon a general
lovement was made in favor Of the
rikers all along the line. Up to that
me it had only been participated in
y hands on the freight trains, but on
nat afternoon conductors, fremen, en-
ineers, brakemen, track hands, and
ven some telegraph operators, were
,und to be pledged to the strike, and
is now believed that it extends along
le whole line-from Baltimoreto Chi
ago and St. Louis. The employees
the Pennsylvania Railroad have
lso struck and stopped the passage Of
Il freight trains at Pittsburg, and the
usiness of that road is seriously inter
lpted.
The strikers are everywhere defiant
nd express themselves as determined
, carry their point. They claim that
ley are all organized and pledged to
ONE COURSE OF ACTION,
nd that is to prevent the operation Of |
ne road until their demands are com
lied with. They will commit no vio-
.nee, they say, so long as no attempt is
lade to move the trains, but they will
ssist all such attempts with their lives.
hey openly threaten to obstruct, or ]
ar up, the tracks and to freupon the
aims from the hills along the road.
he numbers Of the strikers are hour !
increasing and much further trouble
feared. So vast are the proportions {
hich the movement has assumed that
is now regarded as great railroad
and is so styled. New de- j
elopments are anxiously awaited.