Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-14

In IHE DISPATCH. he SAID tnat Qurlnj
his own visit In the forenoon he receive,
from the Advisory Board no positive assur
ance that the deputies would be let into tn
works, but he thought they would be ad
mitted. He then told of his sending out
on the day following, 400 notices to Pitts
burg citizens to appear and act as deputies
and that only 20 finally responded.
"Did you make any further effort to aug
ment your forcesf"
"No. sir. except to try to get the service o
the men whom had served. Every persoI
just point blank refused to CO."
Called Upon Governor Pattison.
"What did you do thenf.'
'Then 1 called on the Governor for assist
ance"
At this point the Sheriff was asked ant
promised to furnish copies of his CORE
spondence with Governor Pattison.
The Sheriff said the Homestead commit
tee offered to furnish from 100 to 500 men t.
guard the mills, and Mr.. Boatner asked,
"Didn't you think that was o safeguard
that they would keep everybody out?'
Sheriff McCleary replied, ''Yes, 1 thought
they would, including the owners of thu
| mill"
| In regard to the duties of ex-Sheriff Gray
when he accompanied the Pinkertons up the
river on the morning of July 6, the Sheriff
him and sent along for the express purpose
of commanding the guards to go away il
their landing provoked a breach of the
peace. Under no contingency was he au
thorized to swear in the guards as deputy
| sheriffs
| Mr.. Boatner asked: "On what ground did
| the people here refuse to serve as deputies?
"The majority of them said they were not
| going up there and take the chances OF
being shot. I think would have met with
such resistance that I would have been un'
| able to do so."
have roS Seen snah FieSys yS' and your posse would
81 don't say we would have been killed.
but we would have been driven away"
Thought 1t Was No Use to Try.
"Could you have been driven away If you
| would not So?"
81 did not get sufficient force that ]
thought there was any use in trying"
In answer to questions by Judge Oates
the Sheriff said that he had insisted upon
the writing of the last sentence of a letter to
Captain Rodgers, in which Captain Rodgers
was informed that ex-Sheriff Gray was to
have control of all action in case of any
trouble.
In answer to questions by Judge Bynum,
Sheriff McCleary said that he had not gone
to Homestead on the day of the riot until
midnight, when he went with a special
train and brought the surrendered Pinker-
ton men back to Pittsburg. He said that
he had been asked to do this by President
Weihe of the Amalgamated Association.
Samuel B. Clulev, ex-Sherif of ALE
gheny county, was then sworn, and told the
story of his visit to Homestead on July 8.
He said that he was informed by the Sheriff
that there was not likely to be any resist
ance to the putting of men into the mill;
but as related in THE DISPATCH of July
they were met by a mob which prevented
their approach to the gates.
Cluley Recognized d a Shotgun.
Mr. Cluley said that no positive resistance
was offered to him, but that he was told that
no deputy sheriff could go into that mill
alive. Most of the men, he said, were armed
with clubs, but he saw one man affection
ately fondling a shotgun.
This statement by Deputy Cluley, made
in his most serious vein, was received with
laughter by the committee and the auditors.
Captain Rodgers was recalled, and said
when the Little Bill returned down the river
at about II o'clock, they saw attempts being
made by the workmen on the shore to set
fire to the barges by pouring oil into the
water and setting fire to it. The wind, he
said, was blowing the wrong direction and
the barges were not ignited. Colonel Gray,
he said, remained during the whole event
on the Little Bill and made no attempt to
take charge of the guards or direct their
actions.
In answer to questions by Judge
Oates, Captain Rodgers said that six men of
the guards, one of whom died, were wounded
in the first volley, and were conveyed by
the towboat to Port Perry.
Knew Where They We're Going,
Mr.. Bynum asked questions for the pur-
pose of discovering whether the Pinkerton
men knew where they were going.
Captain Rodgers said that, on the way up
the river, he heard them freely discussing
Homestead, and asking where it was and
how long it would take to get there After
the boat was started up the river, he told
the crew of the Little Bill where they were
going, and said that all who did not desire
to 60 could get off at lock number one.
Four or five men got off at that place.
President William Weihe, of the Anal
gamated Association, was sworn and was
questioned by Judge Oates. He said that
the sliding scale for the Homestead mill
was adopted in 1889, and was based on the
414 steel billets, as they were the most
staple article in the market. Mr..
Weihe said that the compromise of 1885, by
which the men accepted the FIRMS pro-
posal of $25, affected most of the men in the
mill Mr.. Weihe explained how the wages
were agreed upon under the sliding scale.
For six months the selling price at the time
of signing prevailed, and at the end of that
time the average price for the six months
prevailed for the next three months
Prefers Voluntary Arbitration.
Mr.. Weihe was asked by several men,
bers to give his opinion concerning the
creation of q compulsory court of arbitra-
tion, but he was non-committal. He thought
if the entrance into arbitration were volun-
tary that the results might be satisfactory,
but compulsion all the way through he did
not favor, because he had been trained in
the courts of the Amalgamated, which.de-
sired to secure friendly relations between
employer and employe. Mr.. Weihe stated
Being asked about the Homestead situation,
Mr.. Weihe confessed his ignorance of the
situation there and said that scale matters
were originally left with the workmen in
each mill
The President was asked by Judge Taylor
what was the view of the men who inter-
fered to prevent the operation of a mill
from which they were locked out; why the
thought they had a right to take
OF the mill. To this President
Weihe was unable to answer, except that
the Amalgamated Association did not teach
any such right, and was throughout q
association.
A NIinimIm Saves the Market.
Mr. Weihe then went into an explana- |
tlon of the reasons why there should be a |
minimum scale. If there were not such a |
scale, ne said, big firm could cut and de- |
moralize the market, and not only cause a |
steel war, but could reduce the wages of the
workmen to low limit. Attorney Knox |