Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-04-10
THE PISTOL IN PLAY.
4 BURLINGTON SWiTcHMAN DOES
SOME RECKLESS WORK.

| Claiming That His Enemies Were Stonin,
Nothing to DO with the Trouble-A Run
ming Fusilade and "a Lively Chase for til,
shooter-Strike Notes.
CHICAGO, April 1O.-The revolver came int
play in the 70" strike Monday evening, the
shooter being a 20" switchman, and the vic
tins, if tho switchman's story is true, being
as usual, persons whom he didn't shoot at,
and who had done nothing to modest him
The switchmnn, Charles Somers by name,
was in the cab of "Q7 engine, which had
taken train of cars to the Wabash yards al
Furty-eighth street. and was returning to the
city
Pedestrians who happened to be near when
the engine went over the Forty seventh street
crossing say that the engine was going at q
high rate of speed. Just as Forty seventh
street had been passed there was a sharp ~
port from the cab of the rapidly rolling en-,
gine, and John Boylan, who was just return
ing from his work, fell to the ground with a
bullet in his groin. Before the people in the
neighborhOOd could recover from their sur
prise the engine had whrled around the
curve and was bearing down to the city at
lightning speed. Forty-third street was
then the flaming headlights showed the Root
street crossing. Over the crossing went the
"Q' engine with the inmates of the cab hang
ing out of the window. Crack went re-
vOlver and Michael Walsh, who had CHANGED
TO be passing, was shot through the leg, and
fell heavily to the ground. Not stopping to
see what had been done the engine moved on
In the meantime the police had been informed
of the shooting of Boylan, and several
officers left the station house to intercept the
engine. They reached Root street just as the
engine rolled by and the second shooting oc-
CURED Several empty engines We're close
10y and Officers Murphy and Jones, boarding
IA Chicago n Alton engine, started in pursuit
The race was decidedly interesting With
whistle blowing and crowded to its utmost
capacity, Tia" Chicago a Alton, whose men
entered with vest into the pursuit, slowly
gained on the %" and at Thirty-iirst street
drew even and halted the %"
officer Jones and Murphy boarded the 90"
and at once placed Somers under arrest. He
freely admitted the shooting. The investiga
ton showed that two chambers of one of his
revolvers were empty, while the second one
was full He was at once removed to tho
Lake police station, where he made state
ment of his side of the story. He said that he
had taken train of cars from the 20" yards
to the Wabash yards at Forty-eighth street
1t was then o'clock. On entering the yards
the switchmen hUmned his engine in by run
ming cars down on the same track. About
O'Clock he managed to get out of the pocket,
and as engine pulled out on the main
track he was greeted with shower of
stones, pins and links from swtchmen
secreted about in cars. A second volley fol
lowed the first, and the windows in the cab
were shattered. The fusillade was continued
until Forty-seventh street was reached, when
the first shot was fired. At Root street, when
he fired a second time, he claims that switch
men or sympathiZers "rOcked' the engine
Somers regretted that anybody had been
hurt, but in the face of circumstances he feels
that he was justified
The condition of the wounded men is seri-
Gus, and the doctors are very reticent as to
their recovery.
Six weeks ago Monday the great Burlng
ton strike began, and it has cost fully 81 1000
0G0 to both sides, to say nothing of the cost to
the public. Both sides expressed themselves
confidently Monday, 1t was said at the en-
gineers' headquarters that seventy five em-
ployes at the general office of the company
had been discharged and 50 per cent. of the
operatives in the keokuk shops.
Speaking for the company, Paul Morton
said, regarding discharges: at is true that
we ar curtailing the expenses wherever we
see an opportunity to do so, but there have
been no wholesale discharges such as you
speak Of