The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-13
,o,ton. corcma. an italian, was knocked down

cut n train intSo. and Switchman Denis McGin-
lev was stoned by tho mob OF angry men Tor at
i]ciinpting TO throw a switch. After stoning. him
the men set upon him ana beat him' MS nea"
On Sept = the shorifrs Of Luzerne, Carbon
and Schuylkill counties issued
commanding the strikcrst TO desist from Nioieheo
Wnder The proclamation. the riot act was
printed. This was printed in all, the papers IN
Inc three counties and was posted IN every Town
The sa Z day after the proclamation was is.
sued Michael Susk was beaten by the strikers
Such is tho record OF tho men who have been
striking previous TO the lnarSh 10 baLtllncr'
which led to, the wholesale killing oy ,nS uSp,
that arises here when the question OF whcther
or not the shooting by deputies was justified
S"lSi"T no pI pTopcT Ts " was "s'bi being in dPes sG'oS is Ito
question of the motive OF tho men; my
men say their motive was peaeet9i' a ,nn'
and that they meant by peaceful methods
10 induce the miners In the Lattimer
time In HARDWOOD to-day. 1t was Mt HARDWOOD
that The procession that came togriet was mane
troos, rn oven m'h ,SC s, itSm system Nta%O started. were
the men who forced the HARDWOOD miners 70 lult
work. In addition to forcing the liarw9oa men
Meadow, the Mcllinsvillc, the Cranberry, the
the beaver Brook, and the silver Brook mines
10 quit. AT the Silver Brook breaker, by the
way. tho breaker was Utmost wrecked. Ihese
promised to come to HARDWOOD and lead the
HARDWOOD miners over to Lattimer.
The Lattimcr mines arc owned by CALVIN Far
dee X Co., who also own the HARDWOOD mine. On
Thursday night. according to the story OF oheol
The Leaders, a young dl \ man mnet named He En ssid tbbeeyy
got word from the Lattimer miners that they
were ready to join them in n sympathetic strike.
HARDWOOD miners and the McAdoo miners would
come over and mako a demonstration, that
would afford the needed excuse.
The McAdoo men agreed to go the next day.
They did not keep their word, however, ana inc
Harwood incn were LEFT TO make the domonstra-
ton. Now, according, to, Englers story, they
started peacefully. with the American. flag at
their head. According to other stories the peace
was of another quality. Tit men with whom
TuE SCN reporter talked are trustworthy men.
men who have lived in the town for years. and
who expect to live there years longer. Ihey
said tbs mob began gathering ABOUT . D CLOCK
i'll the afternoon.
Fifteen or twenty men gathered in the streets
at iirst, and then the call was sent out for every
man in the town to report. The Huns and
very few OF the English speaking men respond.
ed. Most OF the English speaking men stayed
behind. These are the intelligent men of the
town, and they have not figured in any of the
violence except when they have been forced to
do So by the Poles and Huns and Slavs.
When the leaders of tho mob saw that these
men were missing they sent TO their houses TO
get them. A dozen women armed WIN clnos
and other weapons, one of them with an axe,
aided the men in the search. They routed men
out OF the houses. and when the wives OF the
men IDllOWeu lucIn Out. IlchuinR W NV ,'o'
to 80. they We're driven back. some Twenty-Five
or nifty men of the town escaped this conscrip-
ton bv leaping out OF the backs OF Their houses
After the mob had started. when the absence
OF these men was discovered. a detachment
went back after them, the same informant says,
and they were chased deeper into the woods
and some OF them were shot at. The houses
were stoned and their women cursed.
THE MOB Arm not TO START.
Before the mob or procession. as it is called
here started the men were warned InaI tney
were running big chances. One man. in whom
thcy have ALWAYS had confidence, went among
them and told them that there were determined
men at Lattimcr who would shoot II they We're
assaulted. The Huns replied: W no ,frait.
We got bullets. too and no frald; this
country got no soldiers.
This man appealed to the English-spcaking
men in the mob, He said to them: w.,
III anything happens it Is your fault. You
can talk TO these people; l can't. You should
tell them TO stay at home. They are going to
o The men laughed at him and replied that while
they were idle other men should not work.
There was another man who went among the
men and advised them in much the same way.
They would take no warning. Well, the mob
started. They were Joined by a party. OF Hum,
boldt men. and as they marched they impressed
people they met along the way into their service.
Ono of the men SO impressed was John Fota.
the mob. He lies dead at his home to night.
He was one of the first men shot. He died at
the hospital shorty after he was taken there:
sheriff Martin and his deputies met them. The
Sheriff held the men up. He told them they
must not go to Lattimer in a mob: that II they
wanted to see the miners there and induce them
TO quit work they should send e committee.
Committees could do better work = n IA crowd.
They wanted to know what right The Sheriff
had to hold them UP on the highway. lie told
them that he was the peace officer OF the county.
and he pulled a copy of the riot act from his
| pocket and n copy OF the injunction command
ing law.abiding citizens 10 keep the peace.
act TO them. The leade $ OF the mob told THE
SCN reporter that he did not read it, but merely
took i from Is poskfe 6o ana 4 put 7 oark again
While the sheriff and the leaders were parley,
ing some OF the hot.headed Huns tackled
one Of the deputy SHERIFF. and assaulted him.
He dubbed his musSet and broke the arm OF one
OF the men. This man and another one were ar
rested. The leader still insisted that their mis-
sion was a peaceful one. The Sheriff tOl them
again and again that they must not go to Latti
mor. They asked, him how many men could &c
leader commanded the men who had been
marching six breast 10 fall in line two abreast
The sheriff explained that they must not 20 to
Lattimer in n body.
Al this ]juncture the Chief of Police OF West
Hazleton. according to one of the leaders OF the
mob. slipped up and told them that IL they
would 20 TO Lattimer across lots and not on The
public highway the Sheriff would not order hi,
deputies 10 fire upon them. They acted on thai
suggestion and went across lots.
From the record made during the strike and
from this much OF the story the readers ought
to be able 10 judge whether the mob was on d
peaceful mission and whether there was justif
cation for the shooting that came later. Tn,
| slDTS u III slUOllIR Il-tIt Id DttH lDIu III j Ill
SrS. Just an outline ID needed here. After tho
mob started a, ross fields for Lattimer thu
sheriff, whose authority had been detied, starte
with his deputies to head them OH again. II,
chose a spot near Lattimcr where he knew
they would again take TO the public roads. anG
he met them there. The deputies were drawn
up tor business along the road. The story OF the
Sheriff that he read the riot act and all thai
need not be repeated. Some new stories wcr,
told to-day Of what happened.
The Rev. Father Forvc. pastor of the Holy
Trinity Church, who was one OF tho first priests
I n Z Ihnh EIit auiI thnt IH "A 4 L al pEtVL 81
tho men who were able to talk. They said thai
the Sheriff flashed u revolver In the face Of on,
man whose arm he held, and that then, befor,
there was any prOvOcHtiun at all, there came d
general firing, which WAS kept up after all tn,
Forye also said, 1t may be added here. that h,
The Rev. Father Formainic, pastor OF the Hun
Foryc. 1t may be added here, too. that FatheI
affair rested on the employers; that all the law
give the men what they asked.
before he died whether anybody had attacked
thai before the mob lett Mount Pleasant the ncI
any arms and they had obcyed. He was asked
IL he had heard the sheriff or any one there civ,
an order TO fire. He said he had heard no order
lie said the sheriff had hold OF a man and wa
pointing a pistol at him. The first thing h,
l L IIAN me- a. aHnI at IA mn ID Ll--l