Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-07-15
The Locked Out Employees at Carne,
gie's Works Repel Pinker-
ton Invasion.
A Great Battle is Fought, in Which
Many Men are Killed and
Wounded.
Weapons of All Kinds Used-Pinkar
ton in Danger of Being
Burned Ont.

PITTsBURe, Pa, July Ga bloody
battle between Pinkerton detectives
and the lockedout employees at Home
stead occurred at 400 o'clock this morn
ing Twelve men were shot and q
number will probably die; among the
wounded, it is reported, were five
PinSerton men.
At an early hour this morning 800
Pinkerton detectives arrived in Pitts
burg from the East They were quietly
marched to the Monongahela river,
where they were loaded on barges and
shipped to Homestead at 2:15 this
morning. The news of their arrival
spread rapidly and when the steam tug
Tide, towing the barges, arrived at
Homestead there were 5000 people
waiting to meet them. As soon as the
Pinkertons attempted to land they
were met by firm refusal from the
men and the battle followed.
The Pinkertons opened fire and at
the first volley two worLmen fell. This
snraged the cre wd and they bore down
upon the Pin srtons with resistless
force. Nobody stopped to inquire
whether the new corners were deputy
sheriffs, Pinkerton detectives or non
union laborers. After the exchange
of shots the crowd grouped on the bank
fell back, climbed over the heap Of
rubbish and rushed toward the big
trestie leading to the Pemicky railroad
bridge.
Probably three hundred men stood
their ground and returned q
desultory fire with their revolvers at
the inva3ers These shots did little or
NO apparent damage, and the plucky
band, finding their weapons inaffect-
i've. slow y fell back before the wither-
Ing fire of the Winchesters.
The first shot of the engagement
came from the barge, It was aimed at
. big Hungarian who stood at the
waters edge. The ball went wide of
the human target, butt was the signal
to the Pinkerton men to begin and for
full ten minutes they continued to
FIRE.
The first man to fall was Martin
Merry, heater in one of the mills.
He was shot In the left side and fell
face downward on a pile of ashes.
Close beside Merry stood big Hun
garian. He stopped over Merry's pros
trate body, and as he was in the act Of
raising him he staggered and an in
slant later fell by the side of his COM
rade.
This bloody spectacle reused the
dropping spirits of the crowd, and with
a hoarse cheer half a dozen men rushed
to the place where Merry and the
Hungarian lay. They picked up the
bodies and carried them behind the
trestle. One of the rescuers, a Welsh
man who refused to give his name was
shot in the left leg just as he raised
Merry's head from the ground.
Merry and the Hungarian were carried
over the trestle work to the Pemicky
tracks and then taken to the office of
DR.. Purman on Dixon street The
doctor after hasty examination an
nounced that both men would prob
die.
Five more of the strikers were
ously, but they were spirited away by
their friends and it was impossible 10
get their names The shots of the
strikers were also we'll aimed, as four
Pinkertons are reported dangerously
wounded. The Plnkerton men did
not land and another encounter mar
occur at any moment. Excitement is
1T fever heat at Homestead.
At IL a. m. the strikers fred a car of
oil standing near the works on the P.
V & c. road for the purpose of firing
the boat in the river. They expect to
set the river on Are. The men placed
. cannon on the hill on tho north side
of the river and fred into the boat.
Balls and pieces of iron were used, and
at every shot the boats side was pene-
trated and pieces thrown into the air.
No move was made to stop the shoot
ing. Not soul could be seen on the
boat and no word could be got from or
to it.
At 1o:4o o'clock it was reported that
the boats were ablaze. The strikers
had sent out barges of oil, which floated
down toward the Pinkerton boats.
Firing was going on both sides Of the
river. At II o'clock nine men were re-
ported killed, among them the captain
of the Pinkertons, who was
wounded early in the fight.
The number of wounded was variously
estimated. It was said that it would
reach twenty at least, and that num-
ber of these would die. The detectives
at the house of the Pinkerton forces
were hemmed in and at the mercy of
the workmen, who held the position Of
advantage on the bank. At 1l:1O the
Pinkerton men withdrew from the
sct n and started down the river
The strikers claim at least five men
on the boat were killed or fatally liz
jured. One man also says he saw six
fall The captain q he Pinkerton
force rs thought to have been killed.
All along the river and railroads
men are stationed to watch and give
warming of the approach Of any trains
or boats
The attempt to set fire 10 the barges
did not prove successful by the raft |
process and another attempt was made.
From the converting department. of the |
mill to the edge of the river where the |
barges lie moored runs o switch. On |
this was run car filed with barrels |
of oil, lumber and waste. To this a
lighted torch was applied and the car
cut loose. The flames sprang up dis
lance of hundred feet, while great
of smoke rolled heavenward.