Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-11-12

CHICAGO, November 11th.-The situation
at the stock yards this morning shows i'm
provement. Ali packers report their forces
increasing, and among the applicants who
worked to-day are several old men. Con-
trary to general expectations, the army of
workmcn which was engaged by Fowler e.
Co. in New York last Monday, arrived at
the yards and reached their employers
establishment without any molestation.
| THRILLING WITH LABoRERs.
CHICAGO, November 11th.-It is believed
that the great strike at the stock yards is
nearing an end. 1t is reported on Change
that Powderly has ordered the men back
to work. The same report is current at
Armour's downtown office, although they
have no official confirmation of it. So
many new men have come in during the
past few days that the packers say they
need no men now.
| DISCREET Mr. PowDERLY.
| PHILADELPHIA, November 11th.-Pow-
derly again declined to be interviewed on
| the Chicago beef and pork butchers strike.
He stated that Messrs. Carleton and Barry
| had full charge of affairs in Chicago on
| behalf of the General Executive Board, and
] in view of their better knowledge of the
situation he did not care to discuss any
branch of the subject with the meager in
formation he had at hand. He would
neither deny nor admit that he had sent an
order to Chicago directing the men to
return to work on the ten-hour basis.
| No CHANGE IN THE SITUATION.
( CHICAGO, November 11th-P. M.-The re-
port telegraphed from here to-day that the
strike was at an END was based upon direct
information from the packers. At 10 o'clock
| tonight information is received from the
| same source that the report proves to be
| without foundation.
| j. G. Hately, member of the Executive
Committee of the Packers Association,
says the statement that the strike had been
declared off by the Knights of Labor was
| mistake. He does not undertake to ex-
| plain how the mistake was made, and can
only say that shortly before o'clock P. NJ.
| the packers were in receipt of information
which, though not official, was considered
| by them reliable. Messrs. Barry ard Carle-
| ton, members of the knights of Labor Gen
| eral Executive Board denied to the report
ers this evening that there had been any
| change whatever in the status of the strike.
| A meeting of strikers is in session tonight
at the yards, which is being attended by
Messrs. Barry and Carleton.
| LATER-wHAT THE KNIGHTS SAY.
Before entering the hall at P NJ, Barry
| and Carleton were seen and questioned
| concerning the reported collapse of the
strike. They denied emphatically that
| there was any truth whatever in the state
ment. Carleton, who arrived this morn
| ing, as the representative of Powderly, to
investigate the situation, said that, so far
from the strikers having surrendered, they
were full of enthusiasm and confident of
| ultimate victory. So far as he had been
! able to ascertain to-day, there was little or
no probability of the strike ending till the
men had won their point-namely, that
the packers concede a technical recognition
Of the principle of eight hours work for
| eight hours pay; or at least allow the
| matter to be arbitrated. The statement
that Powderly had wired Carleton to order
| the strike off, was lie on its face. Carle-
/ ton had only arrived in Chicago this morn
| ing and it was absurd to suppose that he
| would be peremptorily commanded to end
| the strike without being given any time to
| fulfill the mission which had brought him
| here
HOW THE REPORT GOT OUT.
The news concerning Powderly's alleged
telegram had been received in Chicago over
| the speculators' private wires, and both
| Carleton and Barry declared, without re-
serve, the belief that the report saying the
strike was off had been gwen out solely for
! stock -jobbing purposes.
A Philadelphia Catastrophe.
| PHILADELPHIA, November 11th.-An ex-
plosion occurred in the cigar-box manu-
| factory of Henry II. Sheep & Co., Randolph
street, this afternoon, which blew out the
rear wall, badly injuring a number of
young men, women and girls, and imper-
ling the lives of over 100 more. The man
| ufaetory is threestory brick structure,
| with depth of 100 feet. In the rear are
| located a number of sheds for storing lum-
Der used in the manufacture of cigar boxes.
The first and second floors were used as a
| planning mill and carpenter shop, and on
| the third floor were employed about fifteen
girls in pasting paper Innings in the boxes
Just before the explosion the engineer
started up steam by throwing large guam
| tity of saw-dust on the fire under the
| boiler, from the saw-dust bin, which was
located a short distance off, and then
started to Randolph street in front
of the building. The engineer states
that he had been there but few moments
when he was started by loud report,
which was followed by the upper portion
of the rear wall falling out, and the screams
of women in the upper story. Bricks were
| flying in all directions, and less than a
minute afterwards the whole rear portion
of the mill appeared to be in flames. The
| greatest excitement existed among the
hands employed in the building, especially
| the females. Some of them ran for the
stairway leading to the street, while others
ran to the windows and few started to
climb out, but they were prevented from
| jumping to the ground by their COM
paniors. During all this time the flames
were spreading from one floor to another,
and crowds attracted by the smoke and the
screams of the women blocked the street
| but the excitement among them was so
great that they appeared powerless for a
| long time to assist them. Finally several
men ran into the building and succeeded
in getting them out. The excitement
among the people was increased when the
girls and young women appeared in the
street, some bleeding and others badly
burned. The fire burned stubbornly, de-
| spite the efforts of the firemen to check the
| flames, and in a remarkably short period,
| owing to the infammable character of the
contents, the two upper stories of the
| factory and the shedding in the rear were
| ablaze. One girl, Carrie Bruner, aged IS,
! is missing, while many others received in
| juries more or less serious.
ONE BODY FOUND.
LATER-The fire was gotten under con-
| troll after having destroyed almost the en-
| tire building. The livery stables of J. NJ.
TRULY and A. G. Creswell, at the rear of
| the cigar-box factory, were blown in and
some fifty sleighs were crushed to atoms.
About two hours after the fire had been ex-
| tinguished the body of Carrie Bruner, aged
30, an employe, was found in the third
story of the factory, buried under steam
pipes and heavy timbers. Her body and
clothing were but slightly burned, and her
death was in all probability caused by the
heavy timbers falling upon her when the
explosion occurred. Some fifteen persons
were more or less seriously injured, but it
is thought that none of the injured will
die, with the possible exception Of Annie
| Woefner, who received severe burns about
! her face and body, and also sustained in
juries from flying timbers. The injuries
of the others were burns and bruises sus-
tanned in jumping or falling from
| the upper stories. The girls were all taken
| to their hores, and the men and
boys to hospitals. A few of the latter
were able to get to their homes after their
| injuries had been dressed.
The asserted theory of the origin of the
| explosion is that after the engineer had
| banked up the fire in the engine the back
\ draft had blown the flames out so that they
had communicated with the sawdust in the
bin, and the flames shooting upward