River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-06-15
The CANAL RIOTS.
Illinois state Troops Ready te Prevent
Further Trouble at Lemont-Gov. Alt
geld Visits the Scene. and After an In
vestigation Declares That the Shooting

Illinois state Troops Ready to Prevent
Further Trouble at Lemont-Gov. Ait
geld Visits the Scene. and After an In
vestigation Declares That the Shooting
of Strikers Was Unwarranted.
LEMoNT, ILL.,, June l2.-Nearly 1000
state militiamen are scattered along the
route between this town and Lockport,
in command of Col Judd, of Chicago,
and Col. Bennett, of Joliet 1t is not
likely their services will be needed.
The soldiers are patrolling the right of
way of the canal.
Gov. Altgeld arrived here at $3.50
o'clock Saturday afternoon from
Springfield and at once began per-
sonal inquiry into labor troubles exist
ing along the drainage canal and which
resulted in Fridays flow of blood.
The governor listened attentively
TO the stories of twenty or more
persons who were either witnesses to
Fridays battle or were among those
who were wounded. The investigation
lasted nearly three hours, and at its
conclusion the governor made the fol-
lowing statement:
II received a message late Friday night
Of Du Page county and by Mr., Gilbert, the
sheriff Of Cook county, evidently sent from
Gilberts once in Chicago. stating that there
was a riot here, that number of men had been
killed, that sheriff's deputies were not
able 70 maintain peace and order and
protect life and property, and that
a mob OF about 5000 strikers was threatening
violence, and that they called on me TO order
out the militia TO protect life and property.
telegraphed to the sheriff OF VIII county and
10 Gilbert asking how many deputies they
had sworn in and whether any one had been
hurt other than the strikers. The sheriff
of wan county replied that he had about I20.
] got no response from Mr.. Gilbert until
Saturday. Belle ing the telegram signed by
the three sheriffs stated the facts correctly
ordered out the Second and Third regiments
and one company from another, and at the same
time Adit Gen Orendorf, with an aide, started
for Joliet This was about midnight and by :
O'Clock Saturday most of the troops were on
the ground, and will say responded with re-
markable prOmptness
81 arrived here about 3. 80 Saturday afternoon
and have been making inquiries | learned
from the deputy sheriff of Cook county that in
fact up TO the time the telegram was sent there
were no deputies for Cook county and that the
sheriff sent down twelve special and eleven
regular deputies. have talked with men who
claimed TO represent the contractors and sent
word to each that would like to meet him and
get his version. 1 went down to the scene of
the shooting and talked with number OF men
not Interested and especially some railroad
men working the tracks of the Santa Fe
railroad, who saw what took place and gave me
a full account OF the affair. One of their num-
Der was shot
THE information | get thus far tends Oshow
that there has been no rioting or serious dis
turbance here for week until Friday, and the
only violence used was by a number of men,
both eoiored and white. who had been brought
hnr IN nf
the south and who were armed by
him with rifles and who opened fire upon
some strikers who were walking along the tow
path of the old canal, and were not making any
demonstration. and were not going In the direc
ton in which the new work is being done The
moment the firing began the men on the tow
path began TO run northward and were
followed by these men with rifles for the
distance of about mile, and they
kept shooting the entire distance, kill
ing and wounding from fifteen to
twenty men. as is claimed. These men were
shot all the way along this distance of a mile.
Among others mortally wounded was laborer
on the Santa Fe railroad, who was quietly eat
ing his dinner when he shot by the side of
tine track nearly mile north OF and away from
the point where the shooting first began.
"In short. the only men who seem TO have
violated the law Friday. and that In cold blood
were the men who lad been armed by this con
tractor and who did the shooting have been
told by some gentlemen, claiming 20 give the
other side of the story, that the con-
tractors claim that some Of the strikers
had fired over at them. This Is not
m harmony with the statement made
by the railroad people and as l am
now advised, that no contractor claims there
any necessity az following the men who
were running and shooting them down after
they had run mile. Iexpeet to make further
inquiry, and will do what l think the Law res
quires at my hand IT, after looking more fully
into the situation, conclude that the law re-
quires me to keep troops here l shall do so; if
not they will be taken on
Gov. Altgeld went TO Joliet, where he
summoned the various contractors, and
a conference was held on Sunday with
view to getting at the bottom of the
trouble. committee of the strikers
was also present. The contractors all
said that their men had made no de-
mand for an increase in wages
and were willing to work If the
quarry strikers could be kept away.
The strikers asserted that the contract
ors Disseminated against local men in
giving employment This the contract
ors ali denied and said they had favored
the local men.
-Four men are reported dead and three
others will probably die. Gregor Kilka.
a married man whocame to this place a
week ago, died at 8 a. IN. at his home on
Stevens street. Kilka had done no work
here. Friday he was forced to accom-
pany the strikers against his will. A
bullet of large caliber struck him in the
head and he was brought to Lemont in
dying condition.
1t was learned at noon that another
body had been found near Mccormick
camp. The party of Poles who found
the corpse say that it is the body of Ig-
hatz Asst. aged 20, and d resident of Lee
mont. Asst was shot through the head.
The uofficials are positive that the
body of an unknown man is lying in
the canal near Romeo. This man,
with Killxa, Asst and the unknown man
killed hear Romeo Friday, completed
the list of those known to be dead.
Supervisor Weimer has made prep
arations TO send three of the badly
wounded men to the Cook county hos
pital, where they can receive better at
tention than here. These three men
are: Michael Boyer, shot through the
liver; Michael Jaslaski, shot in left
lung, and Thomas Mereleshi, shot in
lungs. Aside from the dangerously
wounded men above mentioned the in
jured are resting easily and the doctors
fear no more fatalities among the list
Base Bail.
! The following table shows the stand