Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1877-07-28
qRE RIoP AF PIrrsBuRe.

firing cXasperatcd the crowd which immeil-
atcly gathered reiHforceslcuts from the rolling
mills, coal mines and various other establish
ments, and especially consisted of all the low
est drcgs Of society, men out Of work aud
those who had nothing 20 lose. \ brielrcsume
Of what has taken place since will afOrd bet
ter understanding Of events. The mob seemed
o. take possession Of the city as if by magic.
and threatened % massacre the entire regiment
of phladelphians Had the soldiers stood up
manlUlly to their duty at this time, and dis
persed the mob, and enforced orders as they
could have done, the loss Of millions Of prop
erty would have been avertel the spirit Of
anarchy which will forever disgrace this city
have been quenched, and q fatal blow struck
40 the prevailing disorder. The soldiers. how
ever, made retreat by order of their officers,
and retired to one Of the round houses leaving
the city in possession Of the mob, which inn
mcdiatcly commenced 20 break open gun shops,
ransack arsenalS aud gather arms from all
quarters, even taking possession Of lIutchin-
sons battery They then surrounded the
rouud house where the soldiers were stationed.
and placing cannon in position fred on the
round house, making breach in the walls
An attempt 70 rush in was met 10y u volley
from the soldiers, and the announcement that
the Calling guns would be used to fire on the
mob caused precipitate retreat, which, had
the soldiers followed up. might have cnectually
ended the resistance Bu, the fact that the
soldiers remained stationary aud that reinforce
meuts were arriving for the mob every mo-
meut treasured the latter, who returned TO the
attack Unable TO drive the soldiers ont they
resolved 90 burn them out, and the torch was
Immediately applied IN a manner that equalled
the palmieSt days Of the Paris commune
Thousands Of loaded freight cars, filled with
an kinds Of produce and merchandise, oil, etc,
stood on the tracks, and in a moment almost
tie entire lot was a mass Of flame The fire
department Immediately came to the rescue
but were driven of by tie mob. The scene at
this time begsars all description. The lurid
flames shot up 10 all directions and lighted the
city Tor squares around while the clouds Of
dense smoke. in which the flames seemed to
bury themselves were apparently resolved into
h1bsobluS and all manner of fends Men
and women were utterly lost 10 all and ran
about with flaming torches, setting fire 10 rail-
road property wherever il could be found
Burning cars were then pushed on 90 the round
house and Immediately that was on fire. The
building burned slowly and every effort was
made By the mob 90 increase the effect Of the
flames. Ats 4. NJ the building was burning
down rapidly, aud the soldiers were in immi-
ueut danger Of being roasted alive, when for
tuuately tine crowd withdrew, and the military
Immediately filed out. and marched for the L.
$ arsenal The mob soon discovered their re-
treat nd followed. Stray shots were fired
both sides. When the troops reached the ar
scual the Commau1 aut refused 20 admit them,
SAYING DE had no force 20 protect the build
ing. The troops continuing their fight, broke
up into small companies aud scattered in every
direction thus Guiding the mob. Several were
BILLED aud no mercy was shown whenever one
was found. 10 the meantime the awful scenes
40 the railroad were continued and the fire was
extending along the line. A scene of pillage
now commenced aud thousands of men. wO-
men and children, most of whom never had
any connection with q railroad, broke open
cars with axes and other implements and car
5igl away hundreds of thousands Of dollars
worth If property. Al kinds Of plumber
being car,el away, from kid gloves. family
Bibles, etc, 20 barrels Of -four aud all kinds Of
provisions. This scene OF anarchy continued /
AN the forenoon. and no effort was made 10y
NlN NAt..'AN1 ga Al.e -hAhANA ~ NtNAN AZ L nc
militia Of the city disbandei and the people /
generally seemed to have lost all sense and de- I
ccucy aud made no effort to check the uubri- |
lled passions Of tho c0mmuustic mob. FL /
ually az noon a meetiugof citizens was called, /
90 which large number responded. A COM .
mi,tee was appointed % wait on the rioters, as
though a mob. which had shown itself bereft F..
of al, sense, would De likely to listen to a
committee. OF course the rioters paid no at /
teuti1n % the committee, and continued on in /.
It's work Of destruction. The meeting was re- /
assembled at o'clock, up 20 which time the
peacC-loying citizens had stood on the hill /
side and quietly watched a scene that will |
eycr.lstingly disgrace the city, besides mark F.
ing untold loss on its industries. The fact that /
most Of the work Of destruction was carried /.
GA by o low rlbble, among whom were scarce /
Is any railroad men, is a sufficient c0mme1ta- +
~ that 10 was a purely waut0n spirit and not /.
an organized desire for revenge on the railroad .
company During the afternoon the Union 1
depot, with the hotel and adjoining railroad /
property was entirely destroyed by FIRE, while /
The freight depot of tie p. c. IS st. L. r. r., /
adjoining was pi.,lgcd and freight Of citizens .
.t Iittsburg broken open and carried OF, after .
which the torch was applied and the building .
with Tie compauys general offices adjoining .
burned to tie ground The fire department .
continued on duty, but We're not allowed 10 .
throw any water on the burning structures.
though they were PERMITTED % save property
belonging 20 private citizens, nevertheless
several dwellings, etc, were burned The
nilrya! buildings destroyed are as follows:
Two round houses one machine shop, super
u,cudcuts Office, car repair shop, blacksmith
shops, two or three oil houses, Union Transfer
depot and offices, dispatcbcrS Office powder
house, Union Depot Hotel, Panhandle railroad
engine house general offices and freight depot.
and tho freight ,Gice> Of Adams Express Com
lauy, and Tie immense grain elevator. corner
ot Grant aud Washington streets. After COM
Tle'.uc their GeudisL work aud loading them
selves with p,under, the mob began 10 dispersc
eui 40 this hour 90 the evening the city Is
comparatively quiet The loss here within
tlc pas. tweuty-tour hours can only he esti-
mated. Along the Pennsylvania road from
,lc Onion Depot cat, the numerous tracks
were d..cl with cars these were burned from
l,i.vlIe, Iljr,y-tljri streetto Thirteenth street
q distance OF twenty blocks Il is estimated
that . 600 cars loaded with ore, coal, and all
kinds 90 merchandise were totally destroyed
A.l these, together with 1875 engines, building.
lul other property destroyed, swell the Penn
.y.oun Railroad ComVany's losses 90 an az
-reSate amount that is various,y estimated at
from three TO five million dollars. At the adj