Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-04-11
EAST ST. LOUIS.
THE FIRES FRIDAY NIGHT AND THE
SITUATION YESTERDAY.
The Property Burned Disposition Of the
Troops-The Hotels Boycottei-Cause
Of the Shooting.
IBy telegraph to the Dispatch

lBy telegraph to the Dispatch.l
EAST ST. LOUIS, April l0.-rhe
tTack-scales and scale-house Of the Cairo
road were burned. Some further damage
occurred in the Cairo Short-Line yards,
! further out, but its exact character has
not yet been learned. Ii was the evil
dent intention to destroy the car-repair
shops and round house Of the Cairo road,
and the early presence Of troops alone
prevented il. Groups OF men stood in
or near the vicinity Of the fires, but
there was no effort to subdue the flames
or to save any Of the threatened pro-
perty. This all devolyed on the sheriff.
q few railroad-shop men, three or four
OF whom tenaciously remained on duty,
and the troops. A detachment Of tn
Danville battery arrived this morning
TO take charge Of the Calling gun
brought from Springfield. Company 6.
Fifth infantry, from Virdun, arrived at
/ o'clock this morning, making nine
companies Of infantry and gun de-
tachment constitute the force on the
grounds.
FOUR DISTINCT FIRES,
Four distinct fires were in progress
at the Louisville and Nashville yards,
on the side track Of the Illinois and St.
Louis. and at two points on the Cairo
Short Line. The incendiaries who light
ed the fires on the latter road procured
from one Of the cars several barrels OF
oil, which were emptied to commence
the blaze among the cars. The entire
work Of vandalism indicated knowledge
and generalization, with no one to lend
a staying hand 10 stop the destruction
until detachment Of troops put in an
appearance, and then the fires were
confined to- comparatively narrow area.
The work Of the soldiers, in this respect
at least. proved very effective. The
general manager OF one of the roads
who witnessed the scene Of last
night declared that the property
OF all the railway companies would posi-
lively have been wiped out before morn
ing but for the interposition of the SOL
dieIy. The hotels of the city and all
proprietors Of shops have been warned
not to entertain or harbor any Of the
soldiers, which is the occasion on their
part for the closing of all hotels with
the exception Of the Marlett House,
which has been taken as headquarters
for the officers commanding the troops.
This afternoon large crowds assembled
on Broadway, and the troops did not
in any way cause their dispersion. They
have failed to make any demonstration,
and there is not deemed any likelihood
Of serious collision, although such ah,p-
pening is not deemed impossib by he
local officials.
DREADING TIE NIGHT.
The chief dread is night. To protec
miles Of railroad-cars from the torch
will require, in the opinion Of the
commanding officers who have been
over the ground, larger force Of troops
than is now on the ground, as even now
squads are widely separated and are in
very small detachments. As an illus
tration Of the predominant feeling, the
Cairo Short-Line Company will be COM
PEELED to send its yard-workmen fifty
miles out from the city to escape the
boycott with which hotels and boarding
houses are threatening for harbOring
non-strikers. The coal-miners along the
entire line of the Illinois and St. Louis.
400 in number, have gone out, carrying
out the purpose Of the knights Of Labor
in carrying the fight in that direction.
TIE sheriff and two of his deputies
who were at the scene where the shoot
ing occurred yesterday on CahOkia
bridge state that the crowd was warn
ed three times in succession TO disperSe,
but ieered and threatened the officers.
The evidence seems conclusive that the
strikers kept throwing missiles at the
yardmen in the Louisville and Nash.
vile yard all the morning, growing
holder all the while, and it is stated on
behalf Of the deputies that the actual
firing commenced after a shot had been
fired from the crowd or from the house
in the rear.
COWBOY FIREMAN.
The chief firing on the part Of the
deputies appears to have been done by
a character known as Cowboy Fire