Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-06-03
OUR CITIZEN SOLDlERY.
The Rodman Rifles and Company +
Summoned to the Front.
Gone to Spring Valley to Preserve
Order IN a Mining strike--- history
or the Disturbance.--The situation
at the Mines.


The appearance of the Rodman Rifles
marching up Second avenue at 1:3O
yesterday afternoon in charge of Capt.
Channon and headed by Maj. Abel and
wearing knapsacks and other parapher>
MALTA Of actual service. occssioned no lit
tie surprise among those who had not
heard that our soldier boys had been
SUNNI oned to tn e front and were now on
the tramp that meant business. The
boys proceeded up Second avenue to
Twentieth street and turned north to the
Peoria depot where Yardmaster Rains. of
the c.. r. I. s. p road, had a train of
three coaches IN charge of Conductor
Sheetan and pulled by engine Ats,
Engineer Hamilton, in readiness to move
at once to the scene of hostilities. The
boys were soon aboard and the train
pulled out for the mining city. Spring
Valley. amid the adieus, hearty greetings
and rrayerful wishes of great crowd of
relatives and friends who had gathered to
see the militia depart. Then came the
anxious inquiries where is Spring Val
ley?" and what is the matterf" sis il
anything serious?" etc.
The facts in the case as obtained by an
ARGUS representative, were, that shortly
after one o'clock yesterday morning a
telegram came to Yardmaster Rains, OF
the Rock Island road. to have train in
readiness to convey such companies OF
the sixth regiment to Spring Valley to
suppress the mining trouble, as Gov.
Fifer would order out. simultaneously
| with this order came one to Col. VIM.
Clendenin, of Moline, colonel of the sixth
regiment, from Adj. Geo. Vance, to send
to Spring Valley companies A, of Rock
Island, F, of Moline. and B, of Mendoza
as soon as possible. Yardmaster Rains
| got bis train together in short time and
by 2 o'clock was ready to move, but Col.
Clendenin did not get his message fol
several hours after it was received and
then it naturally took several hours to gel
the members of the companies together
and N readiness to proceed. The con.
sequence was that Mr. Rains had his
trsan ont on the track nearly twelve
hours before it could be started
Col. Clendenin notified Capt. ChannoI
of Company A, and Capt. Keisler OF
Company f. at once, and they started
out On search for the members of theiI
respective companies. Announcement
/ was made in the pulpits of the various
churches of the cities of Rock Island
and Moline, and by o'clock the militia
were seen hurrying to their armories.
At 30 the Rodman Rifles marched out
of their armory and proceeded to the
! depot. Following is the roster OF the
company as it started:
Captain-W.T Channon.
Lieutenants-Wm Stewart and E. M
! Cook.
| ~. ID SuaElCs
Rsmskill and James Johnston.
| Corporals- VIM. Johnson and Harry
| Simmons.
| Privates-G Fl. Bambeck, Jane.
Blak esley, A. M. Downie, r. Dumbeck
Herman Detjens. j. F. Grindell, G. s
Case, A. Holman, John O'Neil, L. How
ard, Benz. Petit, c. Blakesley. Geo. Nc
Donald, Fred Rinck. G. A. Spencer. Johr
Schmidt, d. B. Shaw, Albert Zeis, A. E
Cue, Waldo Lawhead.
The company was also accompanied b.
Maj Il. NJ. Abel. Regimental Surgeon
c. c. Carter. Chief Trumpeter Thos. H
Flynn and Color Sergt VIM Stafford
A Moline Col. VIM. Clendenin. Majo
Ed. Kittilson, Commissary John Hol
and company F, in charge of Capt
G. R. Keisler, with forty seven mel
boarded the train. The run was made tc
Spring Valley, seveutY.seven miles dis.
tant in two hours.
| AT SPRING VALLEY.
The place has a population of 5000
people, mostly made up of foreigners. the
pred ominsting class being Italians. 1.50l
of whom are miners in the mines of tn,
Pennsylvania coal king. W. L. Scott
The company operates four shafts an,
owns the majority of the houses occupied
by the miners, hut these it has been sell
ing to the miners, who have beef
paying for them on the installmen
plan, the company, however, secur
ing itself by retaining mortgages OF
the property. Trouble has been brew
ing for long time between the min
ers and mine owners, and for thre
MOI tbs the men have been, for tn
most part, out of work. A great mum
Der have become poverty stricken and
in the face of this. the company hav
ado pied a certain system of paying tn
miners for their work, which provide
for a reduction Of ten per cent in thei
wages, and great deal of work TO
which they receive no pay at all. Oh
the FIRST of May the miners struck, ant
the company has since began foreclos
ing the mortgages held on their homes
II seems, though, that no
SERIOUS DISTURBANCE
1