The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-08-20
SWlTCHM EN-



Road strike---Property Belonging to tho |
Company Destroyed by Incendiary Fires. |
BUFFALO, N. y, Aug, 15.-.There is |
no further Disgusting the fact that the |
strike of the Erie and Lehigh Valley |
switchmen is serious matter
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
coinpnny's service have been assaulted
and sent to the hospitals; the movement
of trains has been seriously inter-
fered with and the lives of innocent
persons whowere in no way connected
with the strike and had not even heard
of it, have been endangered by the de-
railment of passenger train on one of
the roads. Such is the indictment up
to the hour of writing. There had been
more or less i'll feeling Saturday be-
tween the strikers and their sympath-
izers and the men who were doing the
strikers work, and a few desultory as
saults had occurred.
Things began to put on a more serious
aspect at . o'clock Sunday morning,
when a series of incendiary fires broke
| ley yards. Eighteen or twenty freight
cars filled with wool, cotton, hay and
various other merchandise, two passen-
| ger cars two watchmen houses were
burnt. The fires occurred at places
where the tiremen could not successful
| ly stay the flames on account of an alb
scnce of water, besides the difficulty of
accession to the fires.
I The water tank adjacent to the coal
trestles was smashed and an engine that
was taking water there wrecked by
string of ten runaway coal cars that
had been turned loose from the trestle.
Fire was first discovered in the east.
bound yards, east of Dingens street.
Here little Office building and two OF
three freight cars were destroyed. AT
this time Yardmaster Mead discovered
flames in two passenger coaches, used
for the conveyance of worllmen and
turned in an alarm from William and
Dingens streets
In the yards east of Dingens street
fire ragged among the cars of merchan-
disc. 1t took hose from three carts to
reach the flames from the nearest
hydrant. The fremen however, pre-
vented the destruction of great num-
Der of cars, and the loss of perhaps
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth
of property. The cars destroyed were
in the midst of great number of other
cars.
The firemen uncoupled number OF
cars and removed them from danger.
A dozen or so of cars were thrown from
the Lehigh tracks and a similar number
from the Erie by misplaced switches
The first intimation of any thing
wrong was when the coal cars were set
loose and demolished the water tank
Capt. Wurtz, of the eleventh precinct
put force of dozen officers in the
the yard as soon as the alarm was given
The officers were unable to find any
suspicious characters. That briefly
is what had happened up to day
light Sunday morning. But thai
was only the beginning. The strilS
ers, or their sympathizers, have pulled
pins, turned switches and driven of
crews. Three men are at the hospita
badly hurt. One was assaulted at
o'clock Sunday morning, two others a
D II and another at 5 in the afternoon
The man who was assaulted at thu
g Western New York and Pennsylvani;
: crossing was on his way for the wreck
S er at the time and was turning a switch
o The strikers had turned switches ant
e thrown six cars from his train before
4 that.
S They say the Erie is thoroughly de
: moralized on account of the strike, anC
I that every side track on the Buffalo
y division is completely blocked. Tive
5 trains of freight cars standing on sid
2 ings at Cheektowaga, the railroad sub
;, urb of Buffalo, were burned Sunday
: night.
: The Lehigh has called on the sheriff
n for protection. He sent six deputies t,
, the scene and will swear in fifty NOR
! Monday morning. The police hav
/ yards in seven out of eleven precinct
h in the city to guard and all the reserve
: are called out. The man arrested Sun
# day for assault has been charged wit
|