The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-08-01
PICTURE OF PITTSBURGH.
4 Pittsburgh Journal Holding the
Glass 10 Pittsburgh pcOpIe-Ihe
Mob the Creature of Pitts
burgh Public Opinion.

Pittsburgh Evening Telegraph.
The most alarming feature of the Crisis
was the amazing mental and moral
blindness, which, IN certain communities,
AID notably So ia Pittsburgh, seemed to
nave taken complete possession of the
people. A Pittsburgh man IN New
York, Boston, Pniiadeiphla, Chicago or
st. Louis to-day, or, for that matter, any
where that ur may be found away IRON
home, Is All object of the most me.ancho-
~ interest and is apt TO be looked upon
either rs an incendiary in disguise or MS a
species OF moral idiot.
At sundowu last Saturday evening the
people OF this city knew that reign OF
mob law, with all lts fearful horrors, was
about to be lnaugurated; and yet, what
did they do to prevent the destruction
OF life and property which everyone
knew to be inevitable? Nothing. abso-
lutelv nothing! More than that, they
went TO their homes and retired TO thor
beds, and slept-aye, snd sept While
the little band of brave men, who had
come hiLhcr NJ the demand OF the consu.
tuted authorities to protect their lives
and property, TO restore order, TO re-es-
tablish the maintenance OF law and RAISE
the embargo on trade, which was Grip.
ping every industry, taxing money out
of every tax-paytr's pocket and taking
bread from the mouths OF the hul CRY,
were shut up III kennel, surrounded by
An Infatuated mob OF bowling tiends
shr.eking tor their blood and using
every element OF destruction, the torch,
the bullet ard the bludgeou. And tie
next DAY, when these same men were
driven bv the flames into the streets and
were murderously pursued by iiehdish
wretches 10, man went forward IT,
their rescue or defense. Aye, they wee
scarcely offered n cup of cold water with
which to motsten their parched lips and
quench their raging thirst, eugeuder,d
bv Imprisonment In M atmosphere OF
smoke and flame!
And then what was done towards sup
pressing the infamous work OF the red
handed murderers, who, with such dia
boical cooinesS and systematic daring,
we're destroying millions OF valuable
property, lcveling some of the Proudest
monuments of commercial industry and
importing the existence OF the whole
city? For twelve hours the storm 81
arson and pillage reigned IN nj ~
tr1ghttul fury, and then now feeble and
ineti eCtive WAS the response 10 the call
to duty, prompted simply by the first
law OF nature, VIZ, selt-preservation. The
city was at the mercy OF the mob and
on y escaped because oyerwrought humsn
nature, in the persons Of the motors snd
pillsgers, could go no further.
There was csuse Tor all tins amazing
apathy and suicidal suspineness. And
we find II right here: Fanatics, preju-
dice against capitalists ana mistaken
sympathy with men who had placed
themselves outside the pale OF the law
protection, and were detisntiy resisting
the execution. OF Its cardinal mandates.
Whom the gods wish to destroy
they first mske mad, wsS never
more strikingly illustrated. Sowing
the wind and reaPing the whIrI.
wind" WAS never more terri.
bly, realized. The very moment the
strikers at Twenty eighth street torcibly
compelled engineers. under threat Of
their lives, to abandon their freight
trans, and thereby interrupted ieslu.
mate traffic, they were clearly violst9rs
of the law. They had perfect right to
stop working, but they had no hight to
compel other men ST. to do, al q in doing
so they rendered themselves hsble. IN
der the common law and under the
statute law OF this State, to be indicted
a. common ellous.