, 1877-08-18
From the Pittsburgh Post. |

thousands who would he indignant at
the appellation, piled the vocation ot
robbery from the time Of the commence
ment of the burning of cars and through.
out the whole of Sunday. EyeryNher
men, Nvomen and children could he seen
Juggling armfuls OF every variety OF goods,
in all directions. In this the colored
troops, male and female, labored "nobly.'
In the presence Of the thousands Of spec.
tatOrs who lined the hlllsidcs and hill
tops, these vultures broke into cars and
carried off their contents Flour, whisky,
bacon, cheese, tobacco, and almost every
description of goods were thrown out,
while hundreds carried them Off the
most industrious being women. In many
instances men rolled and tuggcd upon
barrels of flour unil they reached the
top Of the long and steep Hill overlook
ing the railroad yards. Many swcated
over boxes OF cheese, rolls of leather,
armfuls of tobacco, etc, while chairs and
even unfinished buggy wheels were tOtcd
up the incline. During the afternoon
the boldness of the thieves became unex-
ainpled. Hams, shoulders, sacks OF
flour, and other articles were carried by
innumerahle people through The most
prominent thoroughfares, and some men
stopped to rest with their burdens IT the
city Hall. On Smithtield street men
could be seen rolling along barrels of
flour, and sitting upon them occasionally
to rest with as much unconcern as if they
had paid the highest market price tor
the property. During the burning Of
the Union depot there was grand rad
by tho thieving brigade-mcn, women,
ana children-upOn the cars at the Pan
Handle and Adams, express dcpots,
Grant street From thence they rushed
in all directions with many kinds Of
property. One Irishman emerging with
ham and u suck of flour was heard to
remark that this was the "bulliest strike
he had ever SEEN" Behind him was IL
woman struggling with fresh new box
labeled Irish Soap At half past l2
O'Clock &Iyor Mccarthy, at the head OF
about twenty policemen, visited the
scene Of the depredations, in the yard OF
the Central road, to put stop to it but
they were driven away. The crowd at
first scattered at the approach Of the
knights OF the mace, but they always ran
with full arms. The Mayor stood on
Liberty street encouraging the officers to
their duties, when one Of the crowd ap-
preached and collared him, with the re-
mark that "You are the friend of the
workingman and'we are friendly to you.
But let me tell you that if you remain
here you do so at the peril OF your neck"
Then the crowd turned on the policemen
and drove them away, but did it with
out violence.
Many oil the thieves were arrested
while pouring along the streets, and the
Central Station House this morning pre-.
sented the appearance of a suffers estab'
lishment IN war times. Hams, soap,
butter, eggs, cheese, hardware, bedding,
cushions, sleeping car furniture, whips,
high.wine, and almost every description
of household articles were stolen. One
car laden with whips, which was stand
ing in the Pam Handle yard, at the side
OF the depot, was broken open, and for
the want of something better to steal,
many numbers OF the crowd appropriat-
ed the whips to themselves. Different
persons inquired why the Mayor did not
have the plunderers arrested, and that
official promptly replied that the Jail
would not hold halt the number. 1t
was simply impossible to prevent the
pillsting, and during the greater part OF
the entire Lords day the city was sbso-
lutely given over to the plunderers. 1t
should be remembered, however, that
the thieving was confined to freight
gouds.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, as the
Committee was proceeding to the citi-
zens' meeting on Market street, a we'll
developed old soak was discovered rolling
barrel of whiskey on Wood street, near
Fifth avenue. In trice, he was tumbled
over, and the head of the barrel knocked