The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-04-05
Nine Lives Lost in Yesterdays
Battle.
The War Seems to Be On in
Earnest.
SLAUGHTER CERTAIN
Unless the Troops Come to the
Rescue.

USToNTowS, Pa, April Sit would
take columns to tell in detail the ex-
citing events of yesterday, the third
in the big coke strike now on in the
Connellsville region At least nine
lives have been sacrificed during the
past twelve hours. Unless the strong
arm of the military interferes the
dead will be counted by scores to-day.
So much excitement was never known
in the region, and people everywhere
are excited and apprehensive of graver
dangers The rioting began early
yesterday morning. but the climax
was not reached until at o'clock,
when body of strikers numbering
several hundred marched on the
Davidson works of the H c. Prick
Coke company at Connellsfeld, Fay
cite county, where men were work.
ing The strikers had been there in
the morning to get the men out, but
no one was working.
In the afternoon when they re-
turned deputies had been placed to re-
preached they were ordered to STOP
They came on and tried to get at the
men on the ovens The deputies fred
The strikers returned the fire and
charged, driving the deputies and
men from the plant Chief Engineer
4
in the tipple of the works The
strikers followed and shot him in the
back of the head. They beat him and
crushed his head with stones and
threw his body from tipple window
to the ovens forty feet below Then
they attempted to fire the tipp1e, but
left when they saw the deputies re-
turning with large force from Com
nellsvi1le.
Hearing of Paddoclz's murder hun
dreds came to avenge him The pur-
suing party. in command of County
Detective Frank Campbell, overlook
the strikers half a mile from Davidson
and opened f1re on them. The strikers
fred in return, but ran on Three
strikers fell. one being killed in the
ARRAY, shot through the body and two
others were fatally wounded An
other of the strikers who got the start
of the main body was shot by dep
uty. He was also killed instantly, the
ball penetrating his neck Eleven
strikers were captured where the first
battle took place, and the pursuing
party kept up the chase until Dawson,
point several miles distant, was
reached, where fifty three more of the
sta ilxers were captured
All the efforts of the deputies and
more leve1-headed citizens were re-
CURED to prevent the Iynching of the
eleven who were taken back to Con-
nellsville. The law-abiding element
had their way and at 3 o'clock spec
ia1 train arrived here with sixty-four
of those who were in the mob who
killed Paddock A great crowd
greeted their arrival and amid cries
of Lynch them" the prisoners were
hurried up a back street to jail A
large body of strikers were present
and made a rush to rescue the prison
ers, but were held back by the big
crowd and the deputies
At the Mayfeld plant of the Nc
Clure company two men were fatally
shot during the day. The strikers
charged the men at work in the morn
ing but were driven off by the depu-
ties after a striker was shot through
the body. In the afternoon they re-
turned and renewed the attack There
was much firing and q deputy was
fatally wounded.
At riot at the Painter works the
women beat a workman fatally.
Sheriff Wilhelm has called on Cover
nor Pattison to order out the national
guard The sheriff and his deputies
are helpless. Unless the national
guard are in the region soon, there
viii be more bloodshed- The strikers
have planned a mammoth raid from
one end of the region to the other for
to-day, and nothing but the militia,
and plenty of them, can prevent great
loss of life and destruction of pro-
perty.