Omaha daily bee., 1892-07-11
ROUNDING UP REPORTERS.
They Must obtain Permission from th
strikers to Stay in Homestead.

They Must OBTAIN Permission rom the
strikers to stay In Homestead.
HOMESTEAD, Pa, July lO.-Ope of the
curious episodes of the day was the roundup
of unbadged newspaper men at the strikers
headquarters immediately upon their ar
rival from Pittspurg. There were about
half dozen correspondents on the afternoon
train into Homestead, and Immediately upon
leaving the cars they were net b. several
polite well dressed gentlemen, and asked
what their business was in town. AS soon
as it was explained, the correspondents
were told to 20 right to headquarters, have
themselves identified aud get a badge, and
in order that there should be no mistake
about the direction, several volunteers came
along to show tho way. The whole thing
was done so quietly and with such a COM
plete air of good humor, that it was some
time before any of the reporters imagined
that there was anything like duress intended.
Even then 1t only dawned upon them gradu-
ally. When the little party was brought to
the headquarters it was found that Mr..
O'Donnell. who is the committee on press,
| was absent at rest. He had been up the
| whole o the preceding night. Nobody else
| could issue tho adEes and the gentlemen
| were advised that it might be inprudent to
| go away from headquarters without their
| Kept in Duress for Two Hours.
"Of course you can go If you WISH" said
| Mr.. Crawford, one of the committee, "put
| you NAV be subjected to annoyance and /
| would advise you to stay here until O'Don-
| nell has seen you"
The gentlemen all agreed to stay, and a
| few moments later some of the reporters
| gathered in and warmly recommended the
| most exact ooedlence to any advice rendered
| by the committee. The duress lasted about
| two hours before O'DUnnen appeared, and
| even then it TOOK more than hall an hour for
| the badges to be awarded, the committee
| being in anything out an amiable mood, one
| of them suggesting that the mode of identiti-
| cation was so loose that If the PinkcrtonS
were not fools they would be well repre-
| sented among the 50 called reporters.
| That there are at least a dozen Plnkcrtons
| IN the town is conceded by the committee,
| VINO thus explain the strngency of their
| press regulations, and stories are told OF the
| extreme vigilance with which every body is
| watched. One suspect last night was
| stripped TO his underclothinE, his papers
| closely examined and nothing being found,
| his money aud other things were returned to
| him, but he was taken to the track and
| pointed out the way TO Pi, tsburg He had
| aroused suspicion by lying about among
| several groups and one man had followed
him for hours before he was taken in hand.
| The patriots are by no means V oleut. They
| question stranger politely, but If he cannot
| give good account of himself he must leave
| the town at once.
| Homestead in "A State of Siege.
The fact is that Homestead is as much in a
state of siege as though public enemy were
| camped upon the heights around the town
ana their gunboats lying in the river. The
| civil law has given place to the martial and
| on the whole the latter is being administered
with less friction than one would expect