The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-08-19
BUFFALO RIOTS.
Striking Switchmen Wreck and
and Burn Trains.
A Passenger Train DeraiIed-Pins Pulled,
Switches Turned aud Men Beaten
The Torch Applied to
Freight Trains.

BUFFALO, N. Y, Aug. 15.-The strike
of Erie & Lehigh Valley switehmen is
serious. Riot and incendiarisn mark
its tidal wave.
Property belonging to the railroad
company has been destroyed by incen-
diary fires. men engaged in the peace
full performance of their duties in the
ccm2anv's service have been assaulted
and sent TO the hospitals, the movement
of trains has been seriously interfered
with and the lives of innocent persons,
who we're in no way connected with
the strike and had not even heard of 1t.
have been endangered by the derailment
of a passenger train on one of the roads
There had been more or less trouble
Saturday between the strikers and their
sympathizers and the men who are do
ing the strikers work and few desul-
tory assaults had occurred. Things be-
gan to put on a more serious aspect at :
o'clock yesterday morning, when a
series Of incendiary fires broke out
simultaneously in the Lehigh Valley
yards. Eighteen or twenty freight
cars filed with wool. cotton, hay and
various other merchandise, two passen-
ger coaches and two watchmen's houses
were burned among the cars of mer-
chandise. 1t took the hose from
three carts to reach the flames
from the nearest hydraut. The fire
men, however, prevented the destruc-
| ton of n great number of cars and the
! loss of hundreds of thousands Of dollars
worth Of property. The ears destroyed
were in the midst OF great number of
! other cars. The firenen uucoEpled q
number OF cars and removed them from
| danger A dozen or so of ears were
| thrown from the Lehigh tracks and a
| similar number from the Erie by mis-
placed switches
/ The first intImation OF anything
| wrong was when the coal cars were set
loose and demolished the water tank.
| Then the fires broke out simultaneously
| Capt. Writ. of the Eleventh precinct,
put force of a dozen officers in the
ward as soon as the alarm was given,
but they were unable to find any sus
picious characters.
That briefly is what had happened
up to daylight. But that was only the
! beginning. The strikers or Their
sympathizers have pulled pins, turned
switches and driven off crews. One was
assaulted at 3 o'clock, two others at II
and another later. One man was as
saultcd at the Western New York &
1 IL Il 10 on
way for the wrecker at the time anc
was turning a switch. The strikers
had turned switches and thrown si2
cars from his train before that HI
| was struck on the head and when tal1eI
to the hospital WAS completely dazec
and did not know what had occurred.
One of the most cowardly things done
was the throwing of switches under
! Messenger train No. II at william
street at 1850 last evening. Two pas
sencer coaches were de-ailed, but no
BODY was hurt, though many wers
badly frightened. Fifty men boarded
passenger train No. ut II o'clock thi'
morning, driving the employees off. The
crew finally succeeded in getting th'
train to the sta ton. The mob tool
possession Of the Seneca street switche
three or four times during the day ant
drove off the signal men
In the Lehigh yards at CheektOwag;
the scenes of the previous night wer
repeated 1t is plainly intimated b.
the Erie officials that workmen from thu
east have been engaged to take tn
places of the strikers. Three stalwar
policemen were stationed in the hall
way leading to the superintendent of
fee to-day.
The strikers say they are determined
to win the fight and say that the road
are losing heavily by not having men t.
perform the work OF the strikers. They
say the Erie is demoralized by tn
strike and that every sidetrack on IN
Buffalo division is completely blocked
Two trains of freight cars on siding
at Cheektowaga. the railroad suburb o
Buffalo, were burned last night Tn
Lehigh Valley called on the sheriff
for protection and he sent six deputie
to the scene. The police have yards il
seven out OF eleven precincts in the cit
to guard and all reserves are called ont
The strike has extended to Waverl.
and Saver on the Lehigh, and al
freight traffic CD that line is at a stand
still. A train of beef stands on an Fri
siding there, the switchmen refusing t
allow it to be switched to the Lehig
tracks The division superintendent
of the Lehigh has telegraphed t
Oswego for the sheriff TO come t
, his aid. although the men are mallin
, no demonstration. To-day it is ez
pected the Erie men will also 90 gu
and then all traffic through these town
will be at a standstilL. The men ar
non-conmunicative and their futuT
} movements arc unknown.
, Word was received at , o'clock thi
morning that train of forty-two car
, on the Erie road filed with fire me-
: charGise, mile east of Williams stree
IS now burning ferecly with no Pro;e,
= ton.
r At 80 O'Clock the passengers CT n
t Lehie. and Erie roads. which had bee
ditched at William street near the ci:
; line, were brought . the station i
Superintendent Brunn's Suecial tran
Clippings
Cyrus W. Field was the oldest honCf
!. airy member of the New York charabe
: of commerce. He was elected in 1858. a