Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1892-07-15

hardly left the smoking barrel Oh 40S
mission of death ere it was followed by a
sheet of flame from a score of rifles in the
Pinkerton's hands. William Foy, who
stood at the front with his foot on the
gang plank, staggered and fell, his hie's
blood gushing out.
For moment the vast crowd was struck
dumb by the attack Only the groans oil
several wounded men we're heard. Ihe
echoes of the rifles had hardly reached the
neighboring hills ere the crowed repiied'
Ont from the semi darkness ofthe morning
flashed a wall of fire. The men on the
bank. too, had arms, and were using them.
The leader of the Pinkertons clapped his
hand TO his breast and fell, while several
other Pinkertons staggered back and were
carried inside the boat by their comrades.
At the first flash Of the Pinkertons
rifles many of the crowd took to their
heels. but close to the waters edge STOOD
about 200 of the angry men, firing their
reyolvers straight at the Pinkertons. Soon
the latter. unable to withstand sueh hre'
retreated into their cabin and fired from
under cover as quickly as possible "hen
the men on shore had emptied their re-
volvers. they retreated up the bank
greeting every shot from their enemies
with a defiant cheer.
1t is remarkable that among that vast
lot of Homestead men not gun was SEEM
but after the first attack messengers ne"
wildly to the town and in quarter oil an
bour. armed with rifles, shot guns, ,musKets
and everything in the line of firearms, they
were hurrying again to the scene oil battle.
The Pinkertons kept rather close uhuer
cover. but when the mill men came down
IN the water and asked for conference
one was readily given them. The spokeS-
men of the Pinkertons said they didn't In
tend working, and voice from the erowu
answered: "You fellows wouldn't WORK.
its against your principles" This evident
" ended the conference, as the speaker
shouted: "You fellows have been blowing
through the newspapers what you were
going to do, and in Is minutes VIC VIII
make landing and clean the grounds III
short order"
This. of course was greeted with de-
fiant cheer on the part OF the mn neh'
One old gray haired man shouted to the
Pinkertons: "0ur boys have just whipped
Won and we can do it again. IL You want
to fight we'll send the women down. aS
you're afraid to fight men,"
Nothing further was done by the PINK
ertons until after they had eaten breakfast
on the boat, when, at $50, they MADE
another attempt to land on the company
grounds but were again repulsed'
In this attack Henry Straigle and John
Morris. two well-kuGwn Homestead men,
were shot dead, while several OF the fihA-
ertons fell and were hustled out OF slgh'
nv their follows The mill men now TOOK
their position on top of the bank, "hiie
sk;lled marksmen were placed at every
sheltered point and with their iong-range
r;Aes nroaeeded to shoot down every Pink
erton they could sec.
Though there were fewer rifle shots
during the afternoon, and no one was XIII
| ed by the Pinkertons, 1T was scarcely d @ dess
| exciting time than the morning. Inc
| crowds about the railroads, the yards o
| the works and the river bank increased
| the greatest expitement prevailed ana ln'
| most infammatory uttefsnSes |e'e neaiu
| The universal demand was revenge ior tn'
| death of the men slain in the morning
The Pinkertons were ready to capitulat'
hv noon. but tho excited Homestead mel
wanted nothing less than their lives
Three times they showed white nag
their supposed object being to surrende
| and eat out of town. AS often was Tn
FLAG riddled with bullets or shot OIL IN
| stick on which it was upneli, from Tn
| shore. To
"They have killed our comrades Ee
us have their liyesl" , was an expresslo.
Of the water!" "Set their boats on hr
and burn the thugs alivel" and '"rhey ar
murderers No quarter, were cries ecno
ed eyerywere, and the 2,ooo or more me ne
who bys O'Clock had possession oil In
mill wards were disposed TO act upon tn
sentiments.
II was safe to walk through the yard
| at that hour, for the men in the barges ha
ceased 10 show fight, and if ever PlnkeI
ton man preyS they were propably cover
ing in the bottom of their craft, 1nvoKln
divine assistance to deliyef than .ror
| what seemed like most certain and mos
horrible death.
On the right bank of the river abov
them was q cannon which ever and ano
vomited G shower of slugs and missiles W
| on the iron roofs % the barges which alon
| protected them from destruction. Anoth
ar cannon was planted on the israedoe
!, side of the river and seemed the more pow
erful of the two threatening engines
death, for its yolleys of slugs, were heaVle
| and the aim of the an:ateur gunners
charge of it was better. How ElSI.y me
n were dead inside the two barges II was III
/, possible to tell, but no one seemed |
donbt that tie work o. the rinemeh ha
been most deadly. Bpt the millmen expe
rienced no relief in the burning desire to
|, revenge. and the most diabolical ingenuit
, and the most untiring energy were exert
| ed in the direction of bringing the mlser
which all knew to be hidden behind an
beneath thu sides and tops of the lowlyln
, barges to q ::GeTy oT 2 bloody end. WIN
| chesters. shotguns and musssts continue
to spit spitefully toward the low cfaft, q
answering shot coming at the rarest Inter
walls and the cannon were loaded and dis
: charged With unceasing regularity. Th
supp1y of ammunition possessed by tn
Homestead men il cisiEied to be inex
haustable. They had powder en4 shells /
abundance, plenty of guns, with more |
easy reach, and supply of dynamite t
fall back upon as last resource. IN
combined use Of dynamite and oil was be
J ing considered and prepared for when IN
| arrival of President William Ne.he sn
his assistants averted death from probabl
| nearly 800 men.
The firing OF oil tanks had been tried i
r the morning in the hope that the blazn
fluid would run down into the rlVer an
destroy the barges with their huma
freight The plan failed and the men Wh
framed it thereupon proved themselve
| most fertile in ideas of destruction. 1t wa
decided that they should dsinge the barge
with oil and then by means of Gynamit
cartridges or intiammable waste shot froI
the cannon, set them on fire. The PINK
ertons must then perish mlserably b
| drowning or fire, or come out on the pan
| to be shot down, as the men say the
| comrades were. There were plenty
facilities at hand to put this into operation
|, | Near the river were two tanks partly fille'
| with oil and the mill buildings near O
hand were stored with barrels OF 1t for us
in the machine shops or for filling tn
, huge tank in which great masses of stee
are tempered. The volunteer fire appara
81 ratus of Homestead was procured, connee
tions were made with the tanks, lines {
hose were run out as fer as possible with
ont exposing their manipulators to absC
lutely certain death, if the Pinkerton
chose to bring their rifles again into play
Streams of oil were soon running upon @