The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-11-27
PETTY VIOLENCE BEGINS.
A CRITiCIL STAGE REA CRED IN THR
LEHIGH TILLEF STRIFE

New Jersey will 60 TO hiindeiphta To-
day to Try 60 Make settisnent OF the
strIkc-They viii visit Pre- .ident wilbur
~ re Does Not Meet Ther-Msny Trains
ON the LehIuh System stoned, Especially
In the VIcIuIty OF wnkesbarre-Crey-s Of
Freight Trains FriEhtensd fror Work.
W11KEsBARRE. Nov. 2O.-The mon and boys
who have been thrown out Of work by the Lee
high Valley strike are getting more trouble
some. and 1t IL possible that tho railroad of
ncials were right last night when they pre-
dcted serious things. n prediction. by the way.
which thoy took back to-day less thun half an
hour before trou bic did really begin. Onthe out
skirts OF Wikcsharre and at Sugar Notch and
Coxton at intervals during the afternoon there
have been rows. which very little work might
have increased to actual riots. Trains and en-
gincs have been stoned. windows smashed.
and boilers injured: signals have been de-
stroyed and mon intmldated. Tonight ten
| extra policemen are on duty guarding the
Lehigh Valley Railroad station and a crowd
OF 800 or 400 persons ia there at this hour. y
| o'clock, shouting and skynrklng The peo-
ple in it don't appear to he in ugly temper. but
many Of them are ready to partake Of any littls
devltry that may lie suggested.
| 1t is not likely that there will be serious
| trouble tonight however. The crowd is MAIDS
| up chiefly Of laborers There ARE few strikers
| among them. but not many Tho majority OF
| strikers arc holding II mass meeting at
| Music Hall. whore the speakers are coun-
| selling peace and predicting victory. Those
OF the strikers who are at the station
are particularly bold in their efforts to
| induce non-union men TO leave the COM
| rany's service. Some OF them have gone
| so far even as to pull mon away from the very
| door Of the Office Of the superintendent In tho
| effort to entico them away. Thoy do not offer
to more than argue with the men and offer
| them Inducements, such as tickets home and
| little cash or liquor.
| The trouble this afternoon extended all the
way from Sugar Notch to within half mile Of
| the Wilkesbarre depot and from the Coxton
yards to the Lackawanna and bloomsbury
Junction. 1t seemed. to break out at about
tho same time In the afternoon. soon after
| o'clock Superintendent Esser had Just de-
clared in his Office that everything was lovely
! and that there wouldn't be any trouble Mt all.
when he got despatch from the operator at
! Sugar Notch telling him that big crowd had
| gathered at tho station there and was in n
| threatening mood. The operator asked that u
force OF deputy sherifTs be sent there as soon
as possible.
| Sugar Notch Is six miles east OF here. 10
| lies Mt the foot OF the Wilkesbarre Mountain.
and Il is the beginning OF the deepest grade on
! the line OF the LehiGh Valley. IL is in the
|
| built over coal mines. The people who live
| there. with the exception OF several railroad
| men and the women and children. work in the
| mines and breakers. Some OF the breakers
| are tributary to the Jersey Central Railroad
! and some to the Lehigh Valley. The Lahigh
! breakers have been shut down since the strike.
To-day being sunday the Jersey Central break
ers were shut down. too and every man.
woman. and child in the village was idle.
The Lohigh road now being considered
their common enemy. they started to amuse
| themselves. The Lehigh had started four
| freight trains out OF Mauch Chunk in the
morning early. and they got down the noun
tain on this side to the Notch Just after noon.
| Shortly after the frightened operator sent the
despatch to Superintendent Esser, the crowd
| moved down to IA place near the station. but
in the direction OF Wilkesbarrs. There were
lot OF railroad coal cars on the side track there.
| and the boys swarmed over these. When the
| first OF the freiGht trains came along the men
| and women in tho crowd danced and howsd
and yelled. "Scab. Scab" as the engine came
by. and the boys followed it up with a shower
! OF coal.
The men on the engine lodged below tho cab
| windows. which were smashed. The engi-
neer put on more steam and the train pulled
! along Then the cabooss came and there
| was another voley. and more windows were
| broken. Tho cars tho boys were on at this
| time were hlled with nut coal. That wasn's
big enough in size to suit them. and they ran
| along until they got to a ear that held stove
and furnace coal. They were there when the
second train came along. aud they threw the
| larger missiles at the crew Little damage be-
sides smashing tho Windows WAS done. The
| third and fourth trains came up and the ston-
! ing continued The trains got to tho outskirts
| of Wilkesbarre about o'clock in the after
| noon. and they looked as II they had passed
through a tornado or battle.
Superintendent Esser had suppressed the
message ho had received and tho people In
| and around the station didn't know or I'm aGins
| anything serious was going ON until the first
| train pulled UP. The crowd then numbered
nearly 200 persons There were four city po-
| licemen on duty besides tho regular Lehtgh
| policeman, who is moro than six feet tall and
weighs close to 800 pounds. The police drove
the crowds off the station platform Just as the
people began to notice that the windows in the
engine cab had been smashed and that the
half dozen men on the engine Looked nervous
There was one car on the train to be shifted
STOP 1'' Was SsT made to do it. passenger train
came In from the lackawanna and bloomsbury
oil the crowd succSeded in getting back on the
platform on the plea that they were passen-
Passenger, AMI rs il crossed the street rust
above the depot there was shouts OF Sesb,"
fireman. from force OF hanlt probably. lodged
when several men shook their fists At him.
There was second engine and cahoose at
tached TO the roar Of this train. and the DEM
| Onstratlun OF the crowd continued until they
| Ware n.y. Ten minutes after tho train had
| gone a second one pulled In. Ii was COM
! POSED Of empty cars. ana the absence Of win.
| duws Ia Tho engine eat vas So noticeable that
/ the people began 10 smell "a mouse.
| One OF the crew lumlol OF the engine on the
| crossing and declared that hu had quit. He
| was surrounded ami he told about the row at
| the Notch. lie sad he wouldn't work another
| DAY IL H. could get trans pOTtatIon home, and
| lie was taken on 10 the headquarters, where
| he rOt that. 1t was from this man that the
| croSd heard that there wsro more freight
| trains coming. aud a hundred Of them started
| down the track to meet them The second
| train went on, Il was noticrd that It was XsrL
| short and that 1t had no cabOose. Half
| a milo down from the station il could
| Le seen that, there was block OF
| men were encountered swearing mad, One
| took red nag from his pocket and said.
| What in hlazss have got this for and he
| threw il away and trampsd on it. The men
| We're held up They said they belonged TO the
! freight train that had gone on ahead. Some
body mad Jumped aboard OF 1t In the middle