Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1894-07-19

succeeded in securing sufficient num-
Der to move few trains within TWEEN
ty-four hours after the strike. Two
weeks passed, however, before sem
blance of order was effected. Firemen,
switchmen, brakemen and many con-
ductors-in fact all organized labor on
the system-joined the engineers, and
fought, bled and died with them. An
attempt was made by organized labor
on connecting roads to boycott Burl
ington cars. For few days this ac-
tion seriously crippled the road. But
the courts now took hand and COM
PEELED connecting lines to receive and
handle Burlington cars. After a bat
tie extending over three months, the
last two of which the utter hopeless
ness of the struggle was manifest, the
engineers declared the strike off, Few
of the old men were restored to their
places. Very little property was de-
stroyed, but many lives were lost, at
least ten being recorded in Nebraska
alone. The financial loss on both sides
was enormous.
The great Carnegie strike of 1883
} brobe out in Braddock, Pa, in March,
the men refusing to agree to a twelve
hour day Three thousand men re-
) manned out four months and lost
$3.50 900 in wages, without any cores
ponding gain.
The eight hour question precipitated
the most extensive strikes of 1890.
They began on May day, with Chicago
as the center of disturbance, somc 26,
600 men quitting work in that city. by
concreted action the strike extended
from Boston to San Francisco, and in
volved at least 100000 men directly.
The battle was the entering wedge, and
although it failed of success then, it
was the means of bringing the eight
hour day into general recognition.
FIERCE CONTESTS.
The year 1892 approached the record
of 1877 in the number of persons in
volved and of lives lost. The first of a
series of bloody conflicts was that of
. the employees of the Carnegie mills at
Homestead, Pa. 1t began on June 30
and ended in disaster and defeat for
the men November %. The contest
was brought on by an order reducing
the wages of 1926 of the $500 employees
but all made resistance common
cause. All the men were looked out
by the company, high board fence
thrown up around the works and pre-
parations made to operate the plant
with new hands. At sunrise on July
6 the strikers sentries detected a
barge-load of armed men heading for
the works. They proved to be Pinker-
tons. An alarm brought the strikers
to the dock and battle ensued, end
ing in the death or capture Of the in
vaders. Then followed the reign of
the advisory board, daily scenes of
lawlessness, the calling out of 5000
state troops, the long and trying per-
Tod of guard duty, the attempted
shooting of Prick by Bergman, the
thumbing of Private Iams for express
ing approval of the attempted assas-
sination, the trial and conviction of
alleged conspirators and the collapse
of the strike and boycott after pro-
tracted seige of five months Conser-
vative estimates placed the loss at
100000, one-fourth in wages to the
men. At least thirty five deaths were
caused by the strike.
A desperate struggle was precipi-
tated in.August between free miners
and the employers of convict labor in
Tennessee. Knoxville was the center
of disturbance, which broke out on the
morning of the 18th. Four hundred
free miners took possession of the con-
vict stockade at Coal Creek, sur
rounded 800 convicts and sent them
under guard to Nashville. Attempts
to settle the difficulty by civil authority
were futile, the peacemakers being
arrested and disarmed. The state
militia was then ordered to the front.
Meanwhile the strikers, anticipating
the military, laid dynamite under the
tracks over which the train load of
troops was expected. But the military
did not ride into the trap. They
marched from Knoxville to Coal
Creek, stockade in which 5000 miners
were entrenched. A battle occurred
on the morning of August IS, result
ing in the rout of the strikers by 100
soldiers. Twelve miners were killed
and twenty wounded. After the bat
tie the courts paid their respects to the
rioters and sixty of the leaders were
indicted and tried.
Scarcely had this storm blown over
before the war of the Buffalo switch
men started. The cause of it was a
demand for an adjustment Of wages
and an all-around increase. From the
Lehigh system it extended to the
New York Central, the Lackawanna