Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-10-20
SAVAGE PINKERTON MEN
FIRE ON A CROWD WHEN LEAVING
THE CHICAGO STOCK YARDS.

One Man Fatally wounded-One Hun
dred and Sixty Pinkerton Men and Forty
''scabs" Locked Up for the Crime-In-
tense Excitement = Situation at the
Yards-Strikers Not Working.
CHICAGO, Oct 20 There was bloodshed at
the stock yards Tuesday. About u O'Clock
Lake Shore train of seven cars left Armour
& Co s packing house On board the train
were forty of the imported men and about
100 Pinkerton men on their way back to the
city. The train pulled around the Fortieth
street track and no demonstration was made
by any of the strikers until Halsted street
was reached. There quite crowd was as
sembled, and some boys laughed and jeered
at the men on the train
Arriving at the stock yards "Y" at Thirty
ninth street, it was found that the track was
blocked by a freight train. The train was
backed up to the terminus until the freight
cars could be moved off the track Here an
other installment of Pinkerton men boarded
the train, and it once more started toward
the city.
As it passed through the crowd at Halstei
street the men were again greeted with jeers,
when large, stout man, with a red face and
clothed in the rinkcrton uniform, stepped
cut On the back platform and fired his re
volver into the crowd. This was the signal
for general volley and fifteen or twenty
Pinkerton men began to FIRE their rifles from
the windows Fully thirty shots were
fred The fences and shanties along the
track were marked with bullets.
Terence Begley, a contracting teamster,
prominent and weli-known citizen, was lead
ing his horses up the street, when he was
struck i'll the abdomen on the left side by
rifle bullet II made a ghastly wound and it
is doubtful if Mr. Bergley can recover.
The greatest excitement prevailed, and
threats of all kinds were made against the
Piukertun men.
The facts about the shooting were promptly
telephoGed To the city police Officers from
the central station. the armory and the
Twenty second street station boarded the
train when it reached Twenty second street.
Every one of the Pinkerton men-l60 in all
and the forty nOn-union men were placed un-
der arrest. The train was stopped at Harri-
son street and all of the prisoners locked up
at the armory.
At O'clock Tuesday afternoon William
Pinkerton came to the armory and asked all
of his men who had done any shooting to
step forward. -Four men-Robert J. Bar
tram, X, II. Loomis, Guy SEWERS, and En-
mons Shaw admitted having fired off their
rifles. Three small boys who were at the
scene of the shooting also came to the station.
They identified couple of Pinkerton men
named Joseph Hill and Walter Andrews as
having done some shooting, and these two,
with the four who had admitted their guilt.
were locked up, the other Piukertou men
being set free
The Pnkert0n men say that the strikers
made the assault first with stones and then
with revolyers, and that they made no at
tack until they had been fired upon. Can't.
Markey said that the Pinkerton men did the
first shooting, and without any provocation
whatever
William A. Pinkerton says he has ample
proof that his men did not fire upon the
crowd until they had been fired upon.
Charles Beck, one of his men, who was in
the car ahead Of the one from which the
shooting was done, says the crowd fired at
least five shots before the fire was returned.
One of the bullets passed through the car and
imbedded itself in the opposite wall Bricks
and stones We're then thrown until the side
of the car was well battered up. Mr. Pink
erton says the men had been the subjects of
constant assault and abuse while in the
yards, and two of them are now laid UP with
wounds that may prove fatal
About a. m Tuesday loud shouting was
heard near the sheep market. Large crowds
of idlers and others were at once attracted.
Two well dressed men who had been walking
along, not molesting or speaking to any one
were attacked by infuriated strikers. and
were kicked, knocked down and rolled in the
mud and called ''scabs" They es-
capped into the Exchange building fol-
lowed by part of the crowd There they
were taken charge of by the Lake police,
who escorted them to the street cars. One of
the victims was gentleman named Root
who was sight seeing The other was
Michigan newspaper correspondent, who re
fused to give his name
A PinkertOn man also came to grief The
uniformed individual was fast asleep in a
Lake Shore dummy-car at the station He
was also very drunk. Some one espied him
and informed the crowd The car was
quickly invaded and the sleeping man awak-
ened by slap in the face delivered from a
hand Of the size and weight of ham This
was followed by cuffs and kicks which soon
used the poor fellow up He was finally res
cued and taken across to the station house in
thoroughly demoralized condition though