The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1886-04-17
THE STRIKE IN THE WEST.
Riot and Fires in East st. I.0uis-The Mill
tia Guardin. The Town.


The bloody occurrences in East st.
Louis on Friday, of last week, were TO-,
loved by hight OF pauic and terror.
The pacific appeals OF the leaders of the
strikers and the arrival of troops I'M
dOubtedly prevented a terrible riot, bnt |
the night was not far advanced when it |
was evident that there was still ground |
for public apprehension. Shortly after |
nIne clock box car near the Louisville |
and Nashville depot, in East st. Louis, |
was found to be on fire, and company
of militia and three engines from st.
Louis were summoned to the scene and
confined the tire to the ear in which it
started. Just as this fire was gotten un-
der control, it WAS found that four cals
on the Cairo Short Line tracks, about | )
miles distant, were on fire. They were
entirely destroyed. About midnight an
other fire broke ont. this time in the oil
sheds of the Cairo Short Line, and spread
to Il loug train Of freight cars, and next
to the round house aud machine shops,
which We're close by. BY this fire the
oil sheds, about p ears and the round
house aud machine shops we've destroyed.
\ fourth fire started in the Cairo Short
Line lumber yard, and communicated to
some ears near by, fifteen of the latter
being burned. Twelve more cars belong
ing to different lines We're also burr ed
near the southern END of the Cairo yards.
In all, during the night, over 80 cars
were burned, the Cairo Short Line lum
Der yards were laid III ashes, and the oil
house and scale house of the same COM
pany were destroyed. The total l.,ss is
estimated at $3.50, 900
There SCENE to be npduubt that all the
! fires were of incenhary origin. The st.
| Louis fire department was on hand an"
! it is said could easily have extinguiSheu
the fires, If the crowd had permitted
| them to do 50. The hose was cut at the
| fire, and while working at the second
Assistant Chief Gross was approached 10y
| a man ho SAID he represented a commit.
| tee which bad instructed him to inform
the fireman that they We're wanted in
| East st Louis. Assistant Gross there
tore withdrew his meu and returned to
st. l. 'uis, saying it was useless to at
tempt 10 do anything, as the strikers
| threatened the engineers and cut the
hose.
The militia were reinforced by fresh
arrivals during the night, and but for
| their presence the destruction of pro-
| perty would have been much greater.
They we're promptly lched to the vari-
Gus points of peril, but the territory to
be IN lrdrd is SO extensive that though
ten companies and gatliug gun lad ar
rived on Saturday, the Governor ordered
seven additional companies to report at
once. Al through the night the streets
were filled with panic stricken people,
who expected to see the flames spread
from the railroad yards to their resi-
denceS, and the city become the scene of
:. great conllagration.
Andrew Jones, u Knight Of Labor,
was among those killed in fridays trou-
BILE by the fatal voleys fired by the de-
putty sherif1s, thus adding one to the
death list. The eight deputies who are
IN custody i'll St. LOUIS. charged with
firing the fatal shots, refused Saturday
To return To fIdSU 81. LOUIS, without re-
quisirionS I. O. Hewlett, the leader of
! the deputies, made a detailed statement
| Saturday Of the eli cunstauces proceed
ing and attending the shooting, and posi-
lively asserts that the deputies were
! fired on first by the crowd after they had
exercised great !Orbearance and had en-
deavoled in every way to avoid trouble
! The executive board of the Knights of
Labor Saturday visited East ST. Louis
and they sent ID telegram to jay Gould,
in which they quote the louisville and
! Nashville railroads advertisement on
the 4 inst. for men to guard their pro-
perty who have plenty of grit and
! mean business. aud conclude 10y saying
| that jay GoulI, by his refusal to arbi
trate, is responsible for the lives of the
! people killed.
Business was entirely suspended in
East st. Louis Saturday, all the saloons
| were closed, all the small stores were
shu', and there was general apprehen-
Sion that the worst Was yet to come.
| Several strikers were arrested during the
day, one OF them, Alexander Sweeney.
| for drawing revolver on a sentinel who
! had ordered HIM to move on.
| The Cairo Short Line Company will be
| compelled to send its yard wOrkmen fifty
! mites cut OF L ISL IT, LOUIS To escape the
! boycott with which the hotels aud board
! ing houses tina; harbor non strikers are
| threatened the coal miners along the
entire line Of the Illinois and st. Louis
! Railroad have qult work, the strike be
| lug intended to cripple the Missouri Pa
ciiic Railroad
General Master Workman Powderly
says: The general executive board has
done rythlug possible for the settle
ment OF the railroad difficulty, and the
| responsibility for what follows rests en-
tirely upon others, and matters will have
| To IKE their own couI unless arbitra-
| tieL is consented to. If this is done, then
there will be no difficulty i'll bringing
this strike tG a speedy close. | believe
| the country will meyer agalr see SO for
milable IA strike, as employers have
! learned that the easiest way of settling
! disputes between labor and capital is by
arnItration--the corner stone Of The
| knights of Labor organization"