The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-08-18
FIGHTING WITH FIRE,
THE STRIKING sWITCHMEN AT BUF-
FALO BENT ON MIsCHITF.
Set Fire to Railroad Property in Many
Places, Doing Great Damage. Freight
Cars Consumed, Switches Thrown,
and Wild Cars Turned Loose.

BUFFALO, Aug. 14.-There is no
further Disgusting the fact that the
strike of the Erie and Lehigh Valley
switchmen is serious matter. Riot
and incendiarism mark its tidal
wave. Whether it would have prov
ed so very serious to the railroads to
have $50 or 200 men leave their posts
without warning is not now the ques-
ton. Property belonging to the rail
road company has been destroy FED by
incendiary fires, men engaged in the
peaceful performance of their duty in
the company's service have been as
saulted and sent to the hospital, the
movement of trains is seriously inter-
tered with and the lives of innocent
persons endangered by the derail-
ment ola passenger train on one of
the roads. Such is the predicament
up to midnight. There was more
or less trouble Saturday between
strikers and sympathizers and men
doing the strikers work and a few
desultory assaults occurred. Things
began to put on a more serious aspect
this morning when a series of incen.
diary fires broke out simultaneously
ia the Lehigh Valley roads yards.
Eighteen or twenty freight cars filled |
with wool, cotton, hay and various
other merchandise, two. passenger
coaches and two watchmeg's houses
were burned among the cars OF mer-
chandise. Firemen prevented the
destruction of a great number of cars
and the loss of perhaps 100000 worth |
OF property. The cars destroyed were
in the midst of q great number of |
other cars. The firemen I'M
coupled number of cars and |
removed them from danger.
"A dozen or so C were thrown from
the Lenigh tracks and similar num-
Der from the Erie by misplaced
switches.
Fires occurred at places where the
firemen could not successfully stay
the flames on account of the absence
of water, besides being difficult of ac-
cess to firemen. The water tank ada
cent to the coal trestle was smashed
and the engine taking water there
was wrecked by string of ten run
away coal cars that were turned loose
from the trestle. Fire was first dis
covered in The eastbound yards, east
of Dingens street. Here little office
building and two or three freight cars
were destroyed. At this time Yard
master Mead discovered flames in two
passenger coaches and turned in the
alarm. In the yards east of Dingens
street the fire ragged among
the cars of merchandise. 1t took
hose from three car lots to
reach the flames. The first intimation
that anything was wrong was when
the coal cars were set loose and de-
mollshed the water tank. Then the
fires broke out and Capt. Wurtz of the
Eleventh precinct put a force of a
dozen officers in the yard as soon as
the alarm was given.
Officers were unable to find the sus-
picious characters. During the day
strikers or sympathizers have pulled
pins, turned switches and driven off
crews. Three men are at the hospital
badly hurt. One of the most cowardly
things done was the throwing of
switches under passenger train No. II
at William street this evening. Two
passenger coaches were derailed, but
nobody hurt, though many were
badly frightened. Fifty men boarded
passenger train No. at IL o'clock thi
morning, driving the employees
off. The crew finally sues
ceeded in getting the train to the
station. A mob took possession
Seneca street switches three or four ,
times during the day and drove off [
the signal men. The strikers say they i
are determined to win the fight, and
assert that the roads are losing heavily
by not having men to perform the
work Of the strikers. They say the
Erie is demoralized by the strike and {
every side track on the Buffalo divis-
on is completely blocked.
Two trains of freight cars on the
sidings in Cheek Towaga, a railroad
suburb of Buffalo, were burned to-
hight. The Lehigh Valley has called
IN the sheriff for protection and he
sent six deputies to the scene. He
will swear in fifty more tomorrow Z
ne police have yards in seven out of. /
seven precincts in the city to guard,
nd all rasarvas wara oallad out