Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-14
Too Many for the Troops
THE HOMESTEAD INVESTIGATION.
Statesmen Obtain Lot of Varied In
formation.


Statesmen Obtain Lot of Varied In
formation.
PITTsBURG, July l4.-When the congress
siOnal committee resumed its investigation
yesterday morning Frick continued his
testimony, giving further details of the
employment of the Pinkertons. He eevaded
question as to his direct responsibility
He closed by going over the table of wages
paid the men, and Boatner asked if the
amount paid the men was for themselves
and when Frick said, "Yes, sir" Boatner
said: well, those are the highest wages
ever heard Of" Captain Rogers of the
steamer Little Bill, detailed the trip to
Homestead. He said James H. Gray accom-
panied the party as a deputy sheriff. There
were boxes of rifles on board, bat they
were not unpacked at the start The
barges had nothing but the ordinary sheet
iron lining, the same as all barges. Asthe
mill men ran along On shore firing on us
twenty-five minutes before we landed the
Pinkertons unpacked the arms"
Sheriff McCleary's Statement.
Sheriff McCleary was the next witness
He said: l was notified by Knox and
Reed that there would be a strike and
that they had arranged to get 800 Pinker-
ton watchmen. They asked if l would
deputize them. l did not reply until
had seen my lawyer, Mr.. Petty, and sug-
gested that they get watchmen: l then
told Mr.. Petty to tell Knox and Reed that
if the Pinkertons were to be watchmen
and were to be in the mill, which might
be in danger, | wanted to be Judge of the
contingency. Afterward / was served
with notice that l must protect the
Homestead property On Tuesday, July
5, started out to secure deputies, getting
twelve. My deputies were kept out of the
works." He then related his experiences
with the strikers substantially as they
have been reported IN these dispatches.
President Weihe Examined.
Weihe, president of the Amalgamated
association, was the first witness sworn
for the iron workers. He explained the
working Of the sliding scale" but added
nothing to the two statements-O'Don-
nell's and the advisory committee's-which
have been printed in these dispatches, as
to points upon which the men differed
with the company. Taylor asked why the
men thought they were justified in taking
possession of the mills, and Weihe replied
that he did not think any Amalgamated
man thought SO. To questions as to the
practicability of statutory arbitration
Weihe, though saying he thought it would
come to that, evidently did not approve
the plan.
O'Bonnell Gives Testimony.
Weihe sad the trouble was that the
manufacturers would not show what the
exact cause of production was and then
added that if there were no min:mum,
the big firms could cut rates, to which
Counsel Knox replied, "The firm comedies
the justice of minimum" Then Hugh
O'Donnell took the stand and detailed
the actions of the Homestead people, say
ing that guards were set around the mills,
but told not to use force, but to keep
everybody out of the mills by "peaceable
MEANS" He didn't remember exactly
what took place between himself and the
sheriff, but didn't think McCleary de-
maDded possession of the works.