Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1892-08-16
Labor Troubles.

The convict lease system, which had
occasioned the lawlessness of the Coal
Creek miners at Briceville, in Ander-
son county, Tenn, about this time last
year, is again the melting cause for
riot and lawless outbreaks in another
district. Mutterings and threats OF this
have filled the air for months, and cor
respondents who were on the grounds
at Briceville freely stated that there
was a perfect organization OF all the
free miners in the States of Tennessee,
Georgia and Alabama, who were sworn
10 rid all the mines Of convicts. a
squad of guards, formerly on duty at
Tracy City, Tenn, who had taken the
released prisoners from there to the
penitentiary at Nashville, were en-
route to Inman yesterday to reinforce
the men protecting the prisoners there.
At Whitwell the train was stopped on
a trestle and the reinforcement cut OH !;
then movement was made on lnman.
No resistance was made, and % con-
yicts and 81 guards were taken prison
ers by mob of free miners, led by one
r. P. Rclton, the party having left
Whitwell secretly Sunday night. The
prisoners were marched to Victoria,
loaded on cars and hauled away by the
switch engine. The stockade was not
burned, and no damage was done to
the property of the company. Work
has been suspended by the company,
the free miners having been missed
from the village. The convicts were
taken to Bridgeport, Ala, and from
there sent via the Nashville and Chat
tanooga Railroad to Nashville under
the charge Of Eth. B. Wade,
State superintendent Of prisons.
Sheriff Morrison wired Gov. Buch-
anan the facts in the case yesterday,
and was ordered by the Governor TO
summon a posse and protect the COM
pany's property. The sheriff says the
people are so much in sympathy with
the miners that cannot get force.
He does not know any ofthc men in the
mob, and has little to say He has adj
vised the Governor that he (the sheriff.
is utterly helpless to do anything to-
wards bringing members of the
mob to Justice. Governor Buch-
anan announces his determination
to use every lawful means in his power
to preserve order when the application
in proper and legal form is made to him
by the civil authorities.
The switchmen's strike on the Le-
high Valley Railroad occasions no APP
prehension as to the outcome, .tlen i'll
numbers more than sufficient TO fill the
places of the strikers have been Sc
cured, and thus far there has been no
absolute stoppage of traffic. The Read
ing Railroad Company has offered a re-
ward of 5000 for the apprehension of
parties doing damage to that company's
property. President Mcleod says that
no concessions will be made to the
striking switchmen. The special po-
licemen who had been sworn in to pro-
tect the railroad property at Cheektow-
aga yesterday threw away their clubs
and Sheriff Buck bowed to the inevita-
bic and went back to Buffalo to call out
the militia. The first battalion of the
Sixty-fifth regiment left Buffalo at one
o'clock yesterday for the Cheektowaga
freight yards. They will be followed
by the second battalion and both bat
talions of the Seventy-fourth regiment.
1t is said that the New York Central
and West Shore switchmen at Buffalo
will quit work unless the difficulty be-
tween the men now on strike and
+1o;r p,p1ouooc ic o6it,ctad