Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-08-15
Conflict of Civil and Military Au'
thority in Scranton.

the attack upon the Mayor of Scran-
ton, and the manner of the disper-
sion OF the mob by the Mayor S posse,
which the reader doubtless remem-
bers The mob was dispersed by the
posse firing into it. Anumber of the
rioters were killed.
Since then the Coroner of Scran-
ton held an inquest on the bodies of
the mob that were killed by the
Mayors posse, and the result or yer
diet of the inquest is, "Wilful muT-
der, against the members of the
Mayor posse.
Commitments were gotten out for
the arrest of the Mayors posse, the
object of which was to put them in
Jail. The military was informed of
the arrests, and at once detachment
of soldiers was sent to take charge of
the men who had been charged with
''wilful murder" by the civil authority
of Scranton. Their protection by
the military was deemed necessary,
as it was feared the mob would kill
the members Of the posse once they
got hold of them.
The Mayor of Scranton says that
he is responsible for giving the order
to his posse to fire in the mob:
"About " 10 o'clock / was in my
Office holding court when informa-
ton came that the mob were driving
the men away from the companys
shop and furnaces. In company with
Lieutenant Browne, of my police
force, / started toward the stores,
and in passing Washington avenue /
saw a largeand excited crowd around
the shops. Here also a young en-
ployee met me with request from
Mr.. Mckinney, saying that his daugh-
ter, who was the telegraph operator
at the company's shop, was inside
the building and should be rescued.
| walked hastily down through the
crowd some 500 feet, and found the
door fastened The young man then
said that it was all right As l was
going through the crowd 1 ordered
them to disperse, and when l found
the door fastened 1 attempted to re-
turn. l had proceeded about fifteen
steps when lot of half-grown boys
began to jostle me and one of them
struck me in the face. Immediately,
however, upon this several of the
working-men whom | knew as per-
sonal acquaintarces formed Gordon,
as it were, about me, but they, too,
We're about becoming overpowered
by the pressure Of the yelling mob
when Father Dunn came up. Imme-
diately he threw the authority of the
priesthood about me and ordered the
men to stand back and do me no
harm. In this way we made about
a hundred feet toward the avenue,
the crowd yelling and hooting all the
time. The leaders of the mob, then,
seeing the determined spirit of the
priest, made a rush at him, caught
him and took him bodily away from
my side. L was then about three
hundred feet from the avenue. every
approach to which was jammed with
mob of excited people. In the
meanwhile l had been pressed by the
crowd SO much that 1 gave the signal
to one of my men to ring the alarm
bell, which was the sign to the armed
men under my orders to turn out.
Before reaching the avenue the cor
don of friendly workingmen which
had protected me thus far from bodily
harm became disintegrated, and 1 was
at the mercy of the mob. But at
this moment also l saw my posse,
armed with forty rifles, marching
down the street, headed by Lieuten-
ant Browne, an old Confederate sol
der The crowd then surged up
against me with even more violence,
and. Twas struck several times. When,
however, the posse was Immediately
opposite me in the street. and within
twenty-five feet of me, l got the
worst blow of all on the back of my
head. Shots were then being fred
at my men, and one of them dropped
out of the ranks as though he was
shot. Then 1 gave the order to fire
as well as l could. 1 am perfectly
willing to assume the responsibility
of giving the command to fire
The men-the Mayors posse
charged with murder, have given bail
for their appearance to answer the
charge In court