Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-09-16
STRIKERS ARE SHOT
Marching Miners BrutaIIy
Slain by Deputies.
OVER A SCORE KILLED
Dead and Dying Coal Delivers
Fall Like Ten Pins. -


Outskirts of the Little Town Of Lati-
mer, In the Great Penusyivania Coal
District, the Scene of n Bloody
slaughter-shocting Held to Have
Been without Provocation and Re-
vengefuI Cries Arise-rroops Are
Called Out to Preserve Order.
Twenty-Five strikers were killed, thir-
teen fatally injured and between sixty
and seventy more or less injured near Ha-
zleton, Pa, Friday. by deputy sherifts I'M
der command OF Sheriff Martin, and, the
dispatches say, without sufficient
provocation to warrant even
clubbing. The entire region Is
wildly excited over the affair, and
citizens OF all classes are talking OF what
they consider n terrible outrage. An i'm
dignation meeting was held ut night, and
Governor Hastings has been asked TO or
der an investigation, aud in the meantime
to place the command OF the deputies in
other hands than those of Sheriff Martin.
The citizens also ask that the deputy sher-
ifs concerned in the affair be discharged
from ali authority and disarmed. They
say the local police force is quite COM
petent to take care Of the strikers If any
disturbance occurs. Governor Hastings
called out the Third Brigade of the State
militia in order to prevent further blood
shed.
Following their general custom, the
strikers assembled Friday morning and
marched 10 the Halle mines. The men
were at work there, but were forced to
quit. From there the march was taken
up to Latimer. The men walked without
any special organization, much as any
body of men would traverse Il road. They
were e!ated by their success in driving
out the men at the Halle mines and their
feeling of jubilation, combined with their
antiquity for the operators, had some
what aroused them. The road the men
travcrsed was the public highway.
As they reached the outskirts Of the
mining village Of Latimer the marchers
were met by crowd of deputies, under
| Sheriff Martin. They were the usual
kind of deputies, men and boys out or
work. The strikers were ordered to halt.
Being on public highway the strikers re-
fused. With little ceremony they kept
walking, muttcring imprecations on the
men with rifles.
Firing Is Begun.
Suddenly one of the special ofhccrs
raised his rifle and fired point blank ut the
| miners. 1t was the signal for fusillade.
| The men and boys who were wearing the
| steel badges of deputies fired volley after
yolley into the marchers. Several fell
| dead ut the first volley. The horrified
| cries Of the miners could not drown the
| steady "crack, "crack" Of the rifles. The
miners stood terrified for moment, the
| leaden balls moving down their COM
rades. A few shots were fired back.
| Then, yelling and crying, they broke and
| ran for the woods.
The scatter Of the marchers did not stop
| the firing. As they fled in terror the dep
uties spread out, each one seemingly pick
| ing his man, and shot the fleeing men.
| The strikers staggered and fell i'll every
direction Bodies of the killed lay here
and there on the road and in the bitches.
| Piteous cries in foreign tongues came
| from the injured, some Of whom were
| vainly trying to crawl to shelter. Plead
| ings to the deputies to cease firing min
gled with the cursings Of the less injured.
| The injured in the woods crawled away
| to safety. When the deputies has OK
hausted the magazines of their rifles they
/
ton to the wounded and carried many of
them 10 places where they could be more
comfortably treated. The deputies seem
| cd to be terror-stricken at the deadly ex-
| ecutioR of their guns.
The people of Latimer rushed pell-mcll
| to the scene, but the shrieks Of the
wounded drowned the cries Of the sym
pathizing and half-crazed inhabitants. As
soon rs the news of the shooting reached
| Hazleton there was CONSERVATION. With
| i'm ten minutes the streets were blocked
with excited people. Trolley cars on the
/ Latimer line were sent to the scene Of
| the killing and doctors and clcrgymen re-
sponded promptly.
Along the bank of the trolley road men
lay in every position; some dead, others
dying. Three bodies, face downward, lay
| along the incline, and three others were
but short distance away. On the other
side of the road as many more bodies lay.
| The schoolhouse was transformed into a
temporary hospital and some of the
| wounded were taken there. The colliary
ambulance was summoned to the place as
soon rs possible, and upon its arrival
wounded men were loaded into the wagon.
All along the hillside wounded were found
on the roadside and in the fields. Many
others who had been carried to distance
could not be found.
One OF the strikers, in his dying state
ment said that there were no weapons of
any kind among the marchers, for before
leaving HARDWOOD on the tramp across the
mountain meeting was held and rrsou-
tons passed forbidding any person TO car
ry weapons. This fact was verified by
not finding any weapons on those who
l. Ill
searched and no weapons were found on
them. Sheriff Martin in detailed state
ment OF the affair admits that lie gave the
| command to fire.