The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-08-05
mass of men who crowded around Lucas
Market and applauded incendiary speeches
contained but few who earn their bread


Market and applauded incendiary speeches
contained but few who earn their bread
BY HONEST LABOR.
Comparatively few railroad employees in
habit st. Louis. All the roads running East
have their real terminal points in East st.
Louis, and it is there the operatives reside.
The machine shops of the Iron Mountain
road are in Carondelet, so that all the railroad
men having houses in this city are those of
the Missouri Pacific, the Union depot crews
and the train men of the several Southern and
Western roads. OF these the Missouri Pacific
at once made terms and settled all con-
troversy and the Iron Mountain and Kan
sas City and Northern had never re-
duced wages, and hence the men
had no cause of grievance. From this
it will be seen that the uprising In st. Louis
was not a railroad strike. 1t was simply
demonstration gotten up by a few designing
men and mob of idlers and vagrants, who
regarded the time as propitious, because of
the railroad strike, for putting into effect
schemes to appropriate other peoples prop
erty to their own use. The workingmen held
aloof and watched closely the course Of events.
They sympathized with the movement to
some extent because it promised them better
wages, but they did not care to commit them
selves to it until they had some tan
gible proof that this promise would be
fulfilled. The real workingman is conserva-
tive and circumstances compel him to be So
He cannot afford to imperil his own safety,
and ieopardze the bread of his family by
joining in movement that only promises to
better bis condition after going through q
course of violence and lawlessness. The
DEMOCRAT correspondent made carful in
quiry during two or three days of the
troubles among the gangs gathered at the
mob's headquarters for mechanics and honest
laborers, and found but few. AS rule
the answer was something like, II did work
on the levee Tor elsewhere), but quit
cause they wouldn't pay enough" Very
rarely was man found who could say he was
at work when the troubles began. In city
Of this size there are naturally large numbers
OF IDLERs, vAGRANTs, TRAMPs AND RoGUEs,
and these men made up the audiences at
Lucas Market and the organization at Schuler
Hall. The purpose that animated all of them,
except very few families, was plumber.
They hoped to bring about such state of
anarchy that they could rob and piIlage with
out fear Of arrest, and it only needed show
of authority, backed by the police force,
to dsperse them at any time. They had
no arms, and the boast that 1000 stand of good
rifles had been received was simply made to
still further frighten the authorities This is
proven by the fact that less than 100 police
men under two brave captains routed the en-
tire mob and scattered it so that no effort was
made to reunite the fragments. The soldiery,
as we call the civilians who had organized,
had no more to do with the capture of Schu-
Ter Hall and dispensing of the mob than the
man In the moon. The police needed no sup
port, asked for none.
Some of the mushroom colones and gen
erals, who jumped from counting room into
shoulder straps, have appropriated to them
selves the credit and glory of the bloodless
victory and statements to this effect have
been sent abroad and published, but the
truth is the police did the work and do not
think they accomplished any very great feat,
either.
AS reports have been telegraphed from your
city to the effect that efforts are being made
to organize q strike there, the points given
above as to the composition of the mob the
causes that united it, and the ease with which
it was subdued, may prove of some value, as
the movement in New Orleans, if it is ever
inaugurated, will very likely be of q similar
character to that of st. Louis.
THE NEW NARROW GAUGE.
The leading merchants Of this city recently
held a meeting to consider the subject of the
narrow gauge road from st. Louis to Western
Kansas and Colorado, the details of which en-
terprise were given in full in the DEMOCRAT a
few weeks ago. An immense area of the finest
producing country in Missouri, Kansas and
Colorado has no Southern outlet of any kind,
and the people have determined to construct
a narrow gauge railroad connecting them
with St. Louis.
At a convention held in this city a few weeks
since the project was planted fairly on its
feet, the counties along the proposed line
agreeing to build the road through their re-
spective borders If st. Louis would furnish
means to construct the western end. At the
meeting of merchants the project was heartily
indorsed, and the means necessary to do all
asked of st. Louis subscribed at once. Hence
it is fair to presume the work of construction
or two at most the road will be in operation
This enterprise is referred to again because
it promises about as much benefit to New Or
leans as to st. Louis. The railroad will run
for hundreds Of miles through ore of the
finest grain producing sections in the world;
a country where corn is often used for fuel be-
cause it cannot find market Stock of all
kinds, and bacon, are also among the pro-
ducts, and all these will find an outlet over
the Great Father of Waters to New Orleans,
at very low rate of transportation.
THE ST. LOUIS JOCKEY CLUE.
The long -talked-of scheme of another
racing association in st. Louis, was practi.
cally inaugurated last night by the election
of officers. A large tract of ground, not far
from the fair grounds, has already been pur-
chased, and will be inclosed next week. The
gentlemen who have undertaken this enter
prise are all very wealthy, and they promise
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