River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-07-11
SHOT TO KILL.
Conflict Between Strikers and Police at
Duluth-One Man Killed aud Many
Badly NYonndnl-

Conflict between Strikers and Police at
Duluth-One Man Killed aud Many
Badly Wounded.
DULUTH, Mimi, July S-The street la
borers strike eliminated Saturday after
noon in adesperate street battle between
the strikers and the police, in which re-
volvers We're freely used 1t Is a difficult
matter 70 get at the true facts concern
ing the number of dead and wounded
among the strikers. Many OF them were
taken away during the battle and
could not be traced to their homes or
boarding places. From what can be
learned at the hospitals and prom
inent boarding houses, however, a fair
estimate OF the wounded would
he twenty Eve and several more
seriously injured than was at first
supposed. Ii is not positively known that
more than one man is dead, Ed johnson,
aged - The death OF NJ II Mack, aged B,
and Tom Fitzsimmons, aged Is, Is mo-
mentarily expected IL is probable that all
others viii recover.
OF the police, all are doing well, and sew
eral have returned to duty limping slightly
or carrying an arm in asling 1t is settled
TO the satisfaction of every body that the
strikers were the aggressors the police not
having fired until they were charged upon
by the strikers.
Lag Tuesday 1000 men were employed
on street and sewer improvements at 81 80
per day, but then 800 struck for an adj
vance OF p cents per day. The contractors
refused To accede 20 the demand and the
strikers have since assembled daily and
marched through the city, trying to in
timidate the other laborers to Join them
There We're many recruits each day and
the mob finally increased TO z, 500 or !, 900
There had been ugly rumors of the de-
termined attitude OF the strikers all Satur-
day and preparations had been made by
the police department for any emergency
At I 80 y. m Superior street between Six
teenth and Seventeenth avenues west was
lined with strikers and spectators, per-
haps 900 in all This number was grad
ually increased until the thOroughfare
seemed black with men. Officer Clements
who was on duty there, recognized many
of the men as those who were among the
mob that raided the police on Friday
and anticipating trouble from them
he telephoned the officers at the
West End headquarters 10 turn out and
guard the men who were at work in front
of the National iron works The police on
duty at that time numbered twenty-four
the greatest number at any one time dur
ing the day being only twentv-seyen. From
2:30 until o'clock the police experienced
no trouble with the strikers, and many of
the spectators went away thinking the
trouble was over for the day. 80
At 4 o'clock the head of a new line OF
strikers was seen on Third street coming
around the corner OF sixteenth avenue
west Twenty minutes later they halted bn
the corner of Twentieth avenue and Supe-
rior street, where they were addressed by
one of the ringleaders, whom they
cheered Justify The police, noticing this
marched in a body from the National iron
works along Michigan street TO Twelfth
avenue, where they halted They had left
only two or three officers to guard the
working-men. Soon after reaching Tween
tieth avenue they heard yell
from the strikers. who had been
afternoon. It seems that they had taken
advantage of the absence of the police to
drive the working men out of the trenches.
Their yell was answered by the lar er body
of strikers at Twentieth avenue, who i'm
mediately started on a run. The officers
also fastened toward the trenches at
Eighteenth avenue.
The first assault of the day occurred
when the strikers began throwing rocks at
the officers 1t is said by some that officer
police fired on the mob. The officers, who
had formed in two squads in front of
the Peterson and KoH blocks, com
menced firing with revolvers right and
left This was returned by a volley from
the strikers Shots continued to be ex-
changed for fully thirty minutes, showing
that the strikers were well armed The
police stood their ground but their oppo-
nents were scattered A band of nearly 100
men were fortified behind the bTeastwork
Of dirt which had been thrown up from the
sewer and at every opportunity they
jumped up and fired at the police. who
made good target at close range. In a
short time Captain Mclaughlin put them
TO flight In the meantime the police had
kept up a constant fire on the strikers who
were on Superior street, and with deadly
effect Many who were nothing more than
spectators received serious injury A boy
OF Is named Tom Fitzsimmons was shot in
the abdomen He was picked M by another
spectator and in another moment the latter
had finger shot off. EdJohnson, who came
here from Michigan Just six days ago had
run forward from Superior street to throw
stones at the police He turned and when
half block away was shot through the brain
by a bullet from rifle in tficer Bensons
hand Houses for two blocks were com
pletely riddled with bullets, the same pane
of glass in many instances having a half
dozen holes The police after awhile were
REINFORCED by Company X, State militia,
who did good work in clearing the street.
During the fray the policemen stood their
ground like heroes and poured steady
and CALLING fire into the crowd of strikers
Between the ranks of police and strikers
Duluth's intrepid mayor, John j. Suthpin,
pushed his way and the firing ceased. He
told the strikers to clear the streets and 60
to their homes Hundreds lodged away
around the corners Of adjacent streets and
then a rush was made by the strikers TO
carry of their wounded
The following ringleaders have been ar
rested: Eric Lundgren, Joseph Frank,
Carl Carlson, Swan Hendbom, Adolph
Phick
Every thing is in an unsettled state; pc
lice and militia and scores of specials are
patroling the west-end streets. All
saloons are close in that end of the town.
The houses on the north side of Superior
street, from 1913 to l705, are riddled with
bullets and plate-glass windows are full
OF bullet-holes. At 1905 a large number Of
rifle shots pierced the building the people
taking refuge in the cellar stairway while
the shooting lasted.
a servant girl visiting in a Finnish settle
ment heard a number of men telling about
arrangements TO burn some buildings She
told the sheriff, and one of the men has
been arrested and the houses desi mated
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