The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1877-07-26

Liberty street. Ia very lew moments tney
quickly formed in line and marched mp Il
Thirty-third street. and thence to Pcnnsylya
MIA avenue and Butler street. Their objec
was 10 reach the United States arsenal on But
Ter street, where they expected 10 obtain shei
: ter While turning into Butler street. however
the leader of the mob had discovered their re
treat. and fully LOCO men fully armed ane
supplied with ammunition, followed in pursuit
Some of the troops fired at the citizens, either
accidentally or Intentionally, as they moved
along, and this added fury TO the cry for re
! venge. When they reached the arsenal, the
commandant refused TO admit them. lie had
only ten men, and would be powerless to hold
} the place il the mob should attack it. The
main body OF troops continued to march up
Butler street, the fusilade being kept upon
them by the mob as they moved forward.
One of the shots fired killed one of the soldiers
before they reached the arsenal, and nearly
opposite the cemetery gate, fully a mile above
the arsenal, others were killed and were left
dying on the sidewalk. They continued their
! flight and crossed over to the north side OF the
Allegheny river on the Sharpsburg bridge,
the mob following them as rapidly as possible.
After reaching the north side the troops scat
: tered, and that way the mob was divided into
very small bodies. In the meantime the city
was in state of anarchy. Thousands who
had not joined IN the pursuit of the fleeing
troops gathered about the burning buildings
and trains and assisted in spreading the flames
wherever they had not been applied. BY
seven o clock the fire had extended from Mel
vale station TO Twentieth street, and enveloped
hundred of cars, extensive machine shops, two
round houses. depots and office Of the Union
Transfer Co., blacksmith shops, warehouses,
and the numerous buildings making up the
! terminal facilities Of this mammoth corpora
ton. In the round houses were one hundred
and twenty-five locomotives, which had been
housed in consequence of the strike. They
fnta oil ptrf fho i'm
mensc loss which will be sustained in this
item alone is but trife to the aggregate dam
age done.
Pitsburg, July 22-While hundreds
were engaged in firing cars and making
certain the destruction of valuable build
ings at the outer depot, thousands Of
men, women and children were engaged
in p tagging the cars Men armed with
heavy sledges would break open the
cars, and then the contents would be
thrown out and carried off by those bent
on profiting by the reign OF terror exist
| ing. The street was almost completely
blockaded by persons laboring to carry
off the plumber they had gathered togeth-
err. In hundreds of instances wagons
were pressed into service 20 enable
thieves to get away with goods.
From the time the military fed up to
3 o'clock in the afternoon no effort had
been made to check the riot other than
the meeting OF citizens referred to. The
men worked very quickly. A most no
ticcable fact was that so few Of the rail
road employees were engaged in the work
of destruction. At $3.50 p. m, burn
ing car was run down grade under the
sheds surrounding the union depot. Up
to this time it was hoped this building
would escape, but the mass of pine lum
Der used in the shedding over tho tracks
were soon a sea of fire. While the fire
was raging here the mob pillaged the
freight depot of the F., G. & st. l.. rail
road, which was in close proximity. The
freight received for shipment was brok-
en- open and the valuable contents car
ried off. After plundering the depot for
an hour, and when the -four, hams and
all kinds of provisions had been carried
away, the torch was applied and soon
the vast depot and the company's offices
adjoining were q mass Of flames.
When the Union Depot building was
fired, followed by the Pan Handle Of
fees, panic seized the citizens who bad
up TO this time calmly folded their arms |
and looked on. 1t was feared the con-
fagration would sweep the portion of
the city south of the Pan Handle Rail
road tracks, as many Of the buildings
were small frames, as dry as finder. At
this juncture the fire department of AL /
leghany, which had been held in readl- /
ness in case of an outbreak on that side I
of the river, was summoned to assist.
The Pan Handle Railroad building was /
the last one in tho line, and the Ale
ghany department was placed on Sew
enth avenue TO chock the progress of
the flames in that direction. When this .
last building was fired the whole terri
tory between Seventh avenue and Mill
vale Station, n distance of three miles,
was mass OF flames, the railroad CON-
panies' property being all between the
south side of Liberty and tho bluff hill,
extending from seventh avenue TO Mill
vale.
The railroad buildings destroyed were
Two round bouses, one machine shop,
uperintendcnt's office, car repair shops,
shop, three or four oil houses,
union transfer depot, and the offices of
The Pullman Car Company, laundry and
Offices, dispatcher's office, Power House
Union Depot Hotel, Pan Handle rail
road engine, general offices and freight
iepot, and freight depot of the Adams
Express Company.
About O'clock fire from the Union
Depot communicated TO the immense
gram elevator at tho coroner of Grant
Ind Washington streets, which contained
! large quantity of grain. The destruc- I
ion of these buildings seem TO satisfy
he rioters, as they began TO dispense. :
While they were burning, most of those !
vho had deserted the crowd loaded L
themselves down with piunder, and
vended their way homeward.
At an adjourned meeting Of citizens :
leld this evening vigilance committee "
vas organized to prevent further destruc.