The Red Cloud chief., 1892-07-15
THE HOMESTEAD TROUBLES.
Scenes snd Incidents Connected with the
Battle ut the Homestead Iron Works.

HoNssrnAp, Pa, July T.--As when q
battle lulls, the singing of mimic balls,
the bursting Of shells and the rvar Of
the cannon become desultory. M tho
fierce fight which broke with the dawn,
took mp the morning hours and reached
far into the afternoon became only q
skirmish by 3 o'clock n m.
Thousands of relatives and sympa-
thinsrs with the strikers and hundreds
of curious flockei IN the Carnegie plant,
the immense bone Of contention In the
great struggle, and ccntcrcd their optics
on the two white borgcs, hugging the
steep banks which sheltered the hated
Pinkcrtons.
Fear of the bullets had kept them
back since the fight of the early morn
ing, and even % they slipped from
N point of vantage to another, duck-
ing their heads ut every stir of the wind,
fearing u stray shot.
The Pinker.ons werp very much hors
de combat. and their warning became
purely passive. Three times they ran
mp the white flag of truce, but wero
answered with dcrisivc cheers and
more offcnsivenesa Tho strikers had
the cannon which they tried To train on
the boats but each shot few wide OF tho
mark.
Finally the cannon burst and then
they rcsorted to dynamite. Great
chunks of IL were thrown mt the boat,
The most of which only splashed tho
water. Occasionally II struck the roof
but exploded upward and only left a
white wreath Of smoke. One lucky
shot struck the stern Of the barges and
made n gaping opening which served as
IN objective point for future throws.
but always missed. Other shots ripped
great sections off the oaSen deck.
Previous TO this they had tried to fro
the boats by pouring oil on the winter
and igniting 1t, but after wasting about
half n tank they gave this up us futile.
They o o u long section Of hose and
tried to pipe the Carnegie company's
gas TO tho boats to blow up the COM
pany's protectors. Time and again they
tried 1t, each proving n failure, while
the spectators and strikers awaited the
result with batcd breath.
All knew that II meant death to the
deputies. II not blown up or burned
TO death they would be shot down like
dogs. From behind ~improvised breast
works of abandoned machinery, build
ings, scrap iron, etc, sharpshooters
were ready to NOW them down while
men with revolvcrs were ready to rake
them II II became u fight Mt short range.
At even n slight hope Of swimming
to the other shore were stationed men
ready W pick them up Meantime the
Pinkertons were huddled undcr dock,
dragging In their dead and caring for
the wounded, awaiting what seemed
their certain doom, MS all overtures Of
surrender had been refused. They
dared not act on the defensive, ~ that
would have brought the wild crowd OF
men fighting for the bread and butter
of thor wives and children thirsting for
revenge for the murder OF their breth-
rem down upon them.
'"rhey give no quarter; we will give
nonc," was grimly passed from Up to
lip.
just then there was n shout and down
tho Pemickey trcstle there marched
1000 brawny sons of toll, waving mt
their head their country's flag. They
were workmen from the Jones & Laugh
lin mill coming to tender sympathy and
encouragement to their locked out
brethren.
At this juncture the giant form Of
William Weyhe, the cx-president Of the
Amalgamated association, doomed in
view. He was accompanied by Presi-
dent Garland and Vice President Me-
Every. Wcyhe came with a truce prop
osition from Sheriff McCleary. lie Oh
fered to send n BOAT md tow the bargcs
away II the men would stop firing.
For once Weyhe failed to influence tho
men and they angrily renewed hostili.
ties. Finally they agreed TO accept the
proposition II the Pinkcrtons would
give up their guns and anmu.
milton. After o conference with
the other nmalgamated leaders,
President Weyhc left for Pittsburgh to
again confer with the sheriff. But his
attempts TO bring about q peaceful
climax were unnecessary. At $3.50,
after being penned up like sheep and
undergoing fire since morning, the Pink
crtons again, for the fourth time, ran
up the white flag. This time cooler
counsel prevailed. The Pinkertons
were marched of the boat to the rink
and locked up.
When the defeated Pinkertons sur
rendered the leaders of the workmen
! proposed to protect the property left ON
board the barges. In this they con-
tracted for more than they could fulfill,
for no sooner had the detectives reached
/, the river banks tha n the barges were
charged on by a crowd Of men, women
and children. Despite the efforts of
the cool headed leaders to keep their
promise and their protests against pill
lage and destruction, the mob rapidly
| took possession OF all on board.
During the looting OF the boats, and
in the confusion, two men accidentally
| shot themselves, one fatally. When the
!, crowd had searched out every article
of value, kept what they could use and
destroyed what they could not, and af-
, ter surveying the late man Of Wal Of