Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-08-25
THE STRIKE SPREADS
MORE SWITCHMEN STOP WORK AT
BUFFALO,.

The Soldiers Fire Into a Mob That Was
Attacking Nonunion Men. with Fatal
Results-Grand Secretary Debs Says the
Firemen Will Not Strike.
BUFFALO, Aug. 4.-The "cruel war;" as
it is now called both by the soldiers and the
newspaper correspondents, is still in evi
dence. The events of the day, while not
altering the real situation, which is the fail
ure of the switchmen's strike, have been
more numerous and exciting than for sew
eral days.
On the side of the strikers the material
events of the day have been the accession
to the ranks of the switchmen of the Della
ware, Lackawanna and Western and the
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg, which
completes the tieup, if such it may be called,
of all the roads centering in Buffalo. The
men Of the latter road who quit work are
not numerous, and their action does not cut
any figure, as the road terminates in Buffalo
on the tracks controlled by the Buffalo
Creek Terminal company, whose men were
already out. Its only significance lies in the
AeSe eiab oiiO AtOeAcoOtl anu Is but
great soft coal carrier for this and the VI
lakes territory, and with it in the strike al
the coal roads centering at the port of Buf
falo are involved.
The Lackawanna addition to the involved
roads is OF more Importance as its tracks
and trestles are numerous and will have to
have protection if there is continuance OF
the tieup. In addition to its loading trestle
at the mouth of the harbor and it's exten-
slve freight docks at the foot of Main street
along the water front, it has big storage
trestle east of the city line in Cheektowaga,
In about the same location as that of the
Lehigh Valley, which has been under guard
of three companies of the Seventy-fourth
regiment for the past week, this post being
an isolated one about 31s miles east of the
city line
A Striker Shot.
All reports to the contrary, up to this
time there have been but two cases where
strikers or mischief makers have been actu.
ally hit when shot at by the troops. How
ever the Twenty-second regiment, sta.
toned at the Tiff farm, where the Lehigh
Valley docks are located, had brush with
strikers, one of whom was shot and so badly
wounded by soldier that he is likely to die
The affair grew out of assaults on non.
union switchmen and several arrests were
made. The soldier who did the shooting
went with the police to make statement
and was himself made prisoner AS may
be imagined, Colonel Camp was not long in
making 1t evident that the Twenty-second
regiment did not relish such treatment by
the civil authorities, and when General
Doyle told him to take all the men he
wanted, recapture his soldier and take
possession of the police headquarters II
necessary, the order was obeyed with
alacrity and things looked decidedly inter.
esting large sized incident was spoiled,
however, when the police released the
soldier before his comrades arrived to res.
cue him.
The military authorities have their hands
full and the work is of the disagreeable
sort, but the soldiers are attending to their
tasks In fashion that is surprising. When
the large number of men and their un-
familiarity with the work in hand is con-
sidered, the fact that there is not more
trouble by reason of the annoyance and
taunts to which they are subjected is
worthy of remark.
Rumors as to the retention and withdraw.
al Of the troops are more than numerous,
and in a talk with General Porter the Unit
ed Press was authorized to say that he pro.
poses to retain the present force here until
1t is fully evident that the civil authorities
can protect lives and property in the proper
manner This conclusion has been reached
after most thorough inspection of the sit
uations and the stations of the troops in
detail. General Porter who reports to
Governor Flower every day as to the out
look, is now firmly convinced that there will
be no material change in affairs for some
dnUa mot
make the statement las to the retention of
the troops) just as emphatic as you please"
The Conference of the Chiefs.
1t may be assumed that the men will all
be here until the close of the week at least,
unless the strike is sooner declared off. On
this phase of the question the expected
meeting this afternoon between Messrs.
| Sweeney, Sargent Clark and Wilkinson,
| of the switchmen, firemen, conductors
and trainmen is expected to have an i'm
portant bearing, and there is no ground to
change the belief of twenty four hours ago
| that the three last named orders will find
no reasonable ground for joining in gen.
eral strike. Reports that the local firemen
have decided to strike and have made thei1
wishes known to Grand Master Sargent re-
questing him to take their view of the case
at the conference are not yet traced to any
reliable source
Debs Says the Firemen Won't Strike.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind, Aug 24.-Grand Sec
retary Debs, of the Brotherhood of Loco,
motive Firemen says that no strike of the
fremen at Buffalo could be legally ordered
under the existing conditions without CON
ficting with the constitution and laws of
the order. He was very sure that the men
would remain at work and declared that
sympathetic strike was out of the question.
Governor Eagle Very Low.
LITTLE Rock, Aug. 22.-Acting Governor
Handy received a telegram saying that
Governor Eagle Is in a critical condition.