Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-04-15
ANOTHER BLOODY Rror.
Deputy Sheriffs Fire Into "a Crowd
OF Strikers, killing Three Men
and WOundTng Several Others.

le Dl0OdShed has been 1nnuguruted at East 81
l. Louis, and, although serious results wer
1f not unlocked for, few were prepared TO
n the sudden and torrible manner In which
u came. For several days past the demon
:, stratlons that were made on the part OF the
y , strikers and the fact that the freight-house.
/ and yards OF the railroad companies were
'. being filed with hired deputy sheriffs con.
= yinced the more cool-headed that nothing
o short Of miracle would prevent bloody
v riot. Sheriff Ropriquet apparently ex-
= hausted his resources in his endeavor to
! ! provide the force that was necessary. Yes
terday he had posse OF 200 men there, but
: In the evening he sent them back to Belle
Q Vile, only 10 out of the 200 remaining. The
Q failure OF the posse to put In nm appearance
D this morning did notdisconcert the railroad
officials In the least, as they relied On the
assistance OF their own men, who had been
/, sworn In as deputy sheriffs and armed with
! Winchester rifles and revolvers, This
! means Of protection was first determined on
by the manager Of the Louisville & Nash
Vile, and the other roads resorted to the
, same means. Eighteen of these deputies
patrolled the Chicago d. Alton yards; the
Chicago, Burlington Il Quincy had 80; the
Ohio d mississippi II, and the Vandalia
about dozen.
In order to prevent the possibility of a
mob entering the yards three armed depu-
ties guarded the points where the Ohio a.
Mississippi and Chicago l. Alton yard tracks
intersect the main lines, and no one was
allowed in the yards unless he held per-
nit from the superintendent. In front of
| the freight-houses on the island guards
were stationed. At the intersection of the
Chicago, Burlington 4 Quincy and the Chi.
cago Il Alton tracks breastworks of ties
/ were constructed. at the Louisville u Nash
| Vile freight-house an immense breastWork
was formed Of barrels, and behind each bar
ricade were stationed several men armed
i with Ninchesters.
| About 2.lb p. IN to-day crowd consist
| ing ol from 100 to 100 men, mostly strikers,
were gathered at the east end of the
CAhok IA Creek bridge, near the Louisville
~ Nashville railroad truck. They were
| watching the operations of Louisville Il
| Nashville switch engine, and, as it passed
and repassed them. jeered the engineer and |
/ crew who were attending to the switching. |
Opprobrious epithets were also applied but |
were not noticed by the switching crew. |
| This continued for some time, the strikers |
seeming to become more and more excited. |
Watching this scene were five deputy |
| sheriffs, two Of whom were armed with |
| Winchester rifles and three with heavy navy |
revolverS. They were standing on the /
Louisville q Nashville trestle, about 20 feet |
from Cahokia bridge. They nervously /
watched the action of the crowd and /
finally rushed forward. They were Joined /
by about 10 other deputies, and, losing |
all control OF themselves, fired promiscu-
lowed was appalling. The crowd broke and /
| ran in all directions, uttering maledictions /
| as they retreated. Notwithstanding that the /
strikers were in full retreat the deputies /
pursued them in the direction of the bridge, |
shooting while In pursuit. At least 150 shots |
were fired. Two men fell in their tracks on
the bridge, while one was seen TO topple
| over into the Cahokia Greek.
After the brief but bloody affair on the
narrow trestle bridge over the Cahokia, the
deputy sherllls, apparently terrified mt the
| deadly havoc they had committed, turned
westward and retreated precipitately |
| toward the bridge. Still occasionally firing,
they hurried toward the big incline, and
had almost reached the East-end BRIDGE
house, when they were overtaken by Mayor
Joyce OF East st. Louis, Officer Doud and
L. A. Canty. Mayor Joyce ut once ordered
the men to return to the Louisville d Nash
vile yards. "It's no use In us going" said
| one OF the deputies: 'we'll be lynched
| alive" "There is no danger of that"
Joyce answered. Il want you men to re-
tion." The deputies still refused, and
| Mayor Joyce, turning to Canty, said:
"Canty, want you to go back to town and
order every man on the force to report on
| the bridge for duty"
Canty started to return to East St. Louis,
and Mayor Joyce and Officer Doud re-
NAMED on the bridge, arguing with the
men. Finding the deputies obstinate and
unwilling under any consideration to return
over the bridge, mayor Joyce finally de-
| clared that In view of the conflict that had
occurred 1t was necessary for him to arrest
| the leaders of the posse, and an attempt
was made to take two of the men into GUS
tody. This led to a scuflle, in the heat of
which Joyce and Doud started down the in
cline with two OF the deputies. They had
gone less than 100 yards when the deputies
began firing. There were several people on
the bridge at the time. They were not
strikers but pedestrians crossing over. |
There was but a single volley, but when the
smoke cleared away man lay stretched, |
apparently lifeless, on the footwalk. He
was unable to speak, but he was recognized
as @. Il. Thompson Of No. 4021 California
avenue, st. Louis. When the deputies had
completed their second murderous assault |
they turned and, hanging together for pro-
lection, came across the bridge toward st.
Louis.
Officer Ed. Mahoney, who saw theslaugh-
ter, said that the strikers did nothing to
provoke 1t. The deputies opened fire before
the strikers had any opportunity to make
hostile movement. AS is usual In such
cases the non-combatants suffered most.
There was ouly one striker among the
wounded. The victims OF this unfortunate
affair are:
Patrick Driscoll, Wabash section; not
striker.
Oscar Washington. painter mot striker.
John Bonner, coal miner; not u striker.
Major Hickman, rolling-mil! employees;
shot In the head and shoulder and will
probably die.
Mrs. Joseph Pfeifrer, shot in the back
fatally wounded.
O. e. Thompson, st. Louis fatally
wounded In the abdomen.
Some of the deputies who failed TO make
connection with their fellows, who rushed
over the bridge, took refuge chased by the |
crowd, In the freight warehouse and offices
Of the Louisville and Nashville and barred
all the doors. The warehouse was sur
rounded by an immense crowd, who booted |
and yelled and urged the men to attack the
stronghold and drive the deputies out. Men
went among the crowd urgiug others to |
procure arms and shoot all the deputies
they could find. Some OF the deputies,
watching their opportunity, slipped out
and worked their way among the freight
cars unobserved. They left their guns be-
hind them in the freight-house and a |
Louisville and Nashville freight car backed
down alongside the platform and took
away the others to a place of safety.
The greatest excitement prevailed In East
st. Louis this afternoon, and the strikers
| were fast arming themselves, but the local
| executive committee OF the Knights OF |
| Labor were soon on the scene, attempting
| to persuade them to meet In Flannagan's |
| Hall, where they desired to advise them
against all further violence. The men Mt
| first refused to meet them claiming that
| they would be surrounded by the deputies
| and fired upon again, but II mass meeting |
Of the strikers, however, was held in front /
| of the city hall, and, after speeches by /
Messrs. Brown, Hayes and Bailey OF the |
general executive committee of tho Knights |
| OF Labor, who advised them to preserve |
| order and obey the laws, no matter how |
| great the irritation, the crowd dispersed, |
apparently resolved to take the advice thus |
| given. |
DEPOT IN FLAMES.
ST. LOUIS, April 9-Midnight.-Thr |
Cairo Short Line and four Louisville & |
| Nashville freight cars were burned in the |
railroad yards ut East st. Louis tonight. II |
is thought they were set on fire by the
strikers In revenge for to-dRy's troubles II
is stated that the Louisville q Nashvllle's
fine depot Is now burning. Three engines
have been sent from this city TO aid In sub
DUNG the flames.
la. nit is now stated that the fire was
not started by strikers, und that the damage
done will be trifiing.
How the Mayor of Sc. Louis Tried
TO Come 90 the Rescue with Fire.
Engines.
ST. LOUIS, April 10.-The following mes
sage was sent at o'clock this morning:
ST. LOUIS, April 10. w. Vance,
AdjutdRt General, East 81. Louis, M:
Your request for aid OF our fire
department Just arrived, 3.45 o. m.
In response TO an alarm at II O'Clock last
night and to request from Mayor Joyce,
three engines and one truck went 10 East
st. Louis and l followed quickly myself
remaining there until after / o'clock,