Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1892-07-16
BULLETS AND DYNAMITE


WALLACE, Idaho, July 1s. = The
strained situation in the Cour d'Alene
labor troubles eliminated early Monday
morning in a pitched battle between
the locked-out union miners and the
guards at the Gem and Frisco
mines While it is impossible to
give the complete list of the
dead and wounded, there is grave
reason to believe that between thirty
and forty men lost their lives. Six are
known to be dead and large number
are injured. The explosion of the mill
| at Frisco, it is believed, caused much
greater destruction of life than as yet
has been definitely ascertained.
For months there has been a lockout
of the miners in the Ceur d'Alene Sec
tion. The fight Monday morning re-
| suited in the destruction of both the
Frisco and Gem silver mill adjoining
Gem City. Dynamite was used, wreck
! ing the structure and machinery and en-
failing great loss. The mob is in
full swing and nobody among the
authorities in sight is able
to combat the rioters The
| mills destroyed were constructed
at a cost of $2OO,OOO They were in
| possession of the United States marshal
and his deputies. A. M. Esler, the
| superintendent, was known to be COM
| ing with $50 rifles. A furious battle
| ragged, the soundc of arms being inces-
| SAINT The union strikers won the first
battle, causing the non-union guards
to surrender both the Frisco and Gem
mines. They are now in complete pos
session of the field, holding sixty dis
armed guards under arrest at Union
hall.
In the morning at 5 o'clock miner
from Gem started for Burke. When op-
| posite the Frisco mine he was fired
upon. He ran back several hundred
yards to Gem, where the shot was
heard, and soon the miners in town
gathered with arms. They marched
in a body toward the Frisco mill,
located directly in front of the
mine. When scarcely within rifle
range a volley from the Frisco mill
greeted the miners, and lead whistled
all about them. They scattered and
regular battle ensued. One miner and
one non-union man were killed and
perhaps six wounded during the en-
gagement
The miners in the meantime went
around the mills up the canyon above
the mine, loaded a Union Pacific car
with $50 pounds of giant powder and
sent the car down the track toward the
Frisco mine. Directly in front of the
mill an explosion occurred, shattering
the mill to splinters and making it a
complete wreck. The non-union men
then showed the white flag and surren-
dered They were marched down to
the Miners union rooms and guarded,
no indignitics being offered after the
surrender.
While the fight was going on at
Frisco the Gem guards suddenly began
firing volley after volley into the town
of Gem, riddling the buildings with
bullets John Wren, a citizen, was shot
through the arm and Gus Carlson. a
union miner, was shot and killed. At
tempts to recover Carlson's body were
met with volleys from the Gem breast
work, and when the the body was re-
covered an hour afterwards Carlson
was dead, having been shot through
the breast. No shots were returned
from Gem until the armed miners from
Frisco, half mile above Gem, re.
turned.
At o'clock a truce occurred, and the
sheriff, district attorney and United
States marshals appeared on the scene.
The train was stopped by armed guards
at the Gem mine, the sheriff
took the mail on his shoul-
ders and passed on to Gem.
| Tho CrIl rIs 1aualal ,.;A af l.;
dropped them when they learned his
identity. AT Gem several hundred men
were huddled in the street with rifles
and revolvers. Peace negotiations
were Immediately set on foot and a
truce declared and at 13 o'clock the
mine force surrendered to the union
men.
The number of killed, so far as can
at present be learned, is six, and ten
wounded, though there may be bodies
under the Frisco mill. Two of the
killed are Gus Carlson and Harry Cum.
mings, union miners. The others are
non-unlon men, names unknown.
Frisco and Gem We're the only non
union mines in the east end of Ceur
d'Alene. There is still considerable eX.
citement everywhere, but no further
trouble is expected. About sixty men
in the mine surrendered.
The cause of the strike was the de-
mand of the union miners of the district
for $3.50 day for every man working
under the ground The mine owners
held that unskilled laborers should be
paid only S3. When the miners refused
to accept the scale the mines were
closed The owners declared excessive
freight rates were the cause of the re
duction. The lockout was begun Apri
by the Mine Owners association, anc
5000 union miners were thrown
! out of work. Since then the
mine owners have been making
a struggle to run their mines Will
non-union men and guards The
tension has been intense for month
and the opinion has prevailed that only
n spark was needed to start the flames
of riot. The example at Homestead
] and the decision of the United States