The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-11-21
By Vote of 1e1 TO 81 the Members Of the
Amalgsma,ed Association Decided 10 De-
clare the Bitter struggle Ended.
Two Millions in Wages Lost, and Thirty.
Five Lives in All Sacrificed.
Costllest Strike The Country Has Known
Much Ill Feeling Among the sympsthetie
Workmen of the Lawrenceville Mills.
END OF THE HOMESTEAD srnrkE.


Declared or Yesterday by the Am ssmstsd
Assoeistion-A Costly Struggle.
PiTTsBuRe. Pa, Nov. 20-Tbe great
strike at Carnegie's Homestead steel " orks
has been declared off. After five month";
struggle, which for bitterness has. probar
bly,, never been equaled in this country.
the army of strikers finally decided to-day
to give mp the fight. This action was tshep
at q meeting of the lodges of the Amalgs-
mated Association at Homestead this after
noon. the vote standing l0l in favor OF de-
clariDg the strike OF. and 81 against II.
Among those present at the meeting
were vice-president Carney, Secretary
Kilgallon. Treasurer Madden and David
Lynch, of the advisory board. The of1icisls
addressed the members, and in plain words
told them the strike was lost and advised
them to take steps 20 better their condi.
tion. The remarks m ct with considerable
opposition. but when the vote was taken 10
showed q majority of ten in favor of declar-
ing the strike of.
Those who were in favor of declaring the
strike off were jubiIant. while those whe
were against it were badly put out. Most
of the latter were men who were obstinate,
and many of them were men who had
either applied for positions In the mill and
had been turned down or felt sure thas
their names were on the company's black
list and could not get positions.
A member of the advisory board said to-
day that he had been trying to get the
strike declared off for some weeks. as he
knew il was lost, and it would have been
e.
of them could have gotten their pIaces
back. Those who cannot get back are in
| q bad fix. as the relief funds will be stopped
and many hundreds have nothing to live
on. The people in Homestead, especially
| the business men, are highly elated over
| the declarations TO call the strike of. for II
| it had continued much longer it would
have ruined tae town. Many business
| houses have fallen into the hands of the
| sheriff since the strike began. but business
Is xpected to resume Its normal condition
|, soon.
| The Homestead strike has proved one Of
the most disastrous in the history of the
| country. 1t originated from reduction IN
| wages IN the edepartmentsw W here mem bers o.
| the Amalgamated Association Of Iron and
| steel-wcrkers were employed. The hitch
| was on what is known as the aiding scale
| 1t is . ecale which requisites the mons
wages by the market price Of steel billets.
| Nearly every mill in this Vicinity signed
| the scale, including other mile of the Carr
| negie company. At the refusal of the firm
| to sign the scale for the Home
the members of the Amslgamsted
| Association and they were joined By
the mechanics and lasorers who struck out
| of sympasny only, their wages not being
| reduced. The strikers were determined TO
keep neu.unIon men ont of the mill and
| adopted military discipline. The storv OF
| the arrival aud bloody fight with the Pin.
kert0ns on July o, the subsequent riotouo
| proceedings. and the calling out of the Ma
tional Guard. and it's departure after three
| months duty is too well known TO repeat
| For four months the mill has been rum
| ming almost as we'll as before the strike.
| but until within the last weak, the strikers
| have steadily refused TO admit defeat
| The news OF t0-day's ae ti0n WAS received
| with dfsmay by the strikers IN the two
| Lawrenceyille mills of the Carnegie Conn.,
pauy. These men were sympsthstie strik4
| ers and won't ont when the men at Beaver
Falls and Duquesne struck. The Duquesn1
| men gave up the fight in three weeks and
| the Beaver Falls men decided TO 20 back
yesterday. The Lawreneeville men. how
| ever. were steadfAst and had no intention
| of giving in. They are now IN the position
of striking for no cause. They are very
| angry at the Homestead man. and will
probably declare the strike off tomorrow.
The strike at one time involved nearly
| ten Thousand men, and the loss wagea
| will reach, it is said. in the neighborh0od
of S3.O00.000. Then there is the immense
| loss to the firth. which cannot he estimated.
but which conservative people put at az
| least double the amount lost by the meh IN
| wages 10 this con be added nearly o half
million dollars paid to the state troops end
| the costs to the county of Allegheny for
| the riot, treason and other cases
growing 0at of the strike. At least
tbirty-hve deaths were directly OF
indirectly caused by the strike. Besides
those killed in the battle of July 0. many
| soldiers con tracted fever, which resulted
| fatally, one soldier was shot accidentally
by q conlrade. another was killed by the
| ears. one striker committed suicide, one
| was drowned. one was killed by the oars,
several ngn.uDion men died from fever,
| and several were killed in the mill. and one
| WAS murdered by another n0n-unionist
The attempted assassination Of Chairman
| FrIck, of the Carnegie company, is also in
directly credited to the strike.