The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-07
THE RAILROAD STRIKE.
A Freight Train Tumbled into a
Ditch in Missouri.
Views Of a Prominent Knight Of
Labor Upon the Situation.

On the ed the great railroad strike On the
Gould system of railroads in the Southwest
had assumed most serious aspect, and
threatened to extend to other roads. At
Sedalia, No., F.. K. Sibley, division superin-
tendent of the Missouri Pacific, attempted
to move q freight train. A large de-
tail of police was in the yards and
no resistance was offered until the train
reachod the city limits and Sheriff Murray
took charge. The local police stepped off
the train and few deputy sheriffs stepped
on. The bell was rung and the train started
east with full head of steam. About three
miles from the city, while going at the rate
of twenty miles an hour, the engine and five
cars were ditched and a half dozen other
car, wrecked and destroyed. The engineer
and fireman appear to have been on guard
and jumped off before the engine left the
rails. An officer, one Mason. and man who
had volunteered to go along as guard, We're
caught in the wreck and badly injured. 9th
ers who were OH the tender and the
cars next to the engine were, danger
ously injured. The wounded were
quickly carried away. At G P. H. some 1900
persons had walked from the city to the
scene of the wreck. The engine was lying
on it's side in editch badly damaged. There
was little left Of the cars except kindling
wood and the freight was total loss. 1t
was charged that strikers or their sympa-
thizers caused the accident, but this they de-
MED. Vice-President Hoxie was at once in
formed by telegraph OF what had occurred.
At st. Louis an attempt was made to send
out freight train of twenty cars. Engineer
Study and Fireman Barrett were on the To-
comotive As it backed down from the
shops Barrett jumped off and detective
took his place. There were fifty police
men in the yard besides tie detec-
tives in the employ Of the
company While the engine was being at
ta:hed some one pulled pin in the middle
only ten cars. AS it backed up again the
strikers swarmed into the yards AMI turned
the switches and the engine and half the
train were run half mile across on another
track. Pins were again pulled out and the train
cut into half dozen SO :tions. One of the
detectives on top of car saw man about
to draw pin, and pointing revolver at his
head ordered him to stop. The man sail:
"Shoot away" and walked deliberately be-
capped. BY this time crowd of thousand
persons had congregated on Tryon Avenue
bridge, cheering the strikers and hooting the
poli:e. The attempt was abandoned and no
arrests were made.
At Atchinson, Kansas, $50 men, masked
and otherwise disguised, went to the Central
branch shops, drove the fifteen watchmeu
into the oil house, took possession of all the
remaining engines and disabled them. The
next morning q freight train came in from
Hiawatha and ran down into the lower yards
followed by great crowd of strikers. 1t was
guarded by a city marshal and squad of police
until it reached the city limits. AS soon as
the officers left it the strikers Immediately
took possession, set the brakes and stopped
the train. The engine was killed" disabled
on the track, anu the train hid to be hauled
back by switch engine The switch engine
was then "klled." The men who captured
the train had been served with injunctions
by the United States marshal.
One of the leading Knights of Labor at st.
Louis was asked if all the Knights were to be
called out He replied: 'I hope it will
never come to that The present fight is only
against the railroads. We will wait couple
of days, perhaps three or four, in the hope
that some way of escape from the conflict
may show itself, and then if the situation
remains unchanged for the better every
freight train on every road running out of st.
Louis, and every freight train on every road
running out Of Chicago will be stopped.
Some 5000 men now employed on roads
centering in Chicago will stop work. They
will have no brakemen, no firemen, no
lers in the freight house, and with engineers
and conductors alone they cannot move their
freight. We will leave the trackmen and
enough men to run the mail trains and
few accommodation trains, but not q
wheel of single freight car can be turned
until the Knights of Labor, the great labor
organization of the country, are recognized.
1t is O matter of nece ssity to U.s. II
we fail after calling out the Knights on the
roads ,centering in st; Louis ;; and Chicago,
the order will be extended to all Eastern and
Southern roads, embracing the entire coun-
try, and if it comes to the worst, the strike
will be made to embrace every large manu-
factory and every large business industry
in the country. Defeat means enslave
ment, and death is preferable. ]
don't mean to say that all the wrong in this
fight has been on the side Of the railroad
company and all the right on our side; not
at AL TO tell the truth, l think it was
grave mistake to order that strike against
the Missouri Pacific without first laying
our grievances before the company and
asking that they be heard and righted.
That was serious mistake, almost an un-
pardonable blup1er but the mistake once
made, and the matter having been carrie so
far. ali issue having been made against the
Knights of Labor, we cannot 60 back on it,
but fight it out to the end
The Knights Of Labor issued reply to
Vice-president Hoxie of the Missouri Pacific.
1t was agreed, they say, to submit Their
grievances to the governors of Missouri and
Kansas on the understanding that they would
arrange a meeting between Mr. Hoxie and
themselves. They condemn the action of
the governors in publishing Mr.. Hoxia's
propositions before they were per-
mitted to SEE them, and they repudiate tier
conclusions that the Missouri Pacific had not
violated the agreement Of March 10, 1885
They say Mr. Hoxie simply wants trouble;
that he is melting it, and making an innocent
public pay the price Of his peridy. How
lonp they AK Will the nllhlic consent to let