Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-09-30

peace. 1t gave occasion for the dis
play OF the splendid capabilities Of the
Pennsylvania National guard in mobil-
izatiOn.
The encounter also showed that the
Gemagogical tendency of recent times
to declaim against the courts and rep
resentatives Of law still exists Sheriff
Martin was denounced widely and at
Cnce as a butcher and a monster"
The men who were killed We're limo
cent citizens, ruthleSsly shot down.,
most of them while running away.
Mass meetings we're held in various
communities, resolutions we're adopt
ed, and men supposed to be conserva-
tive. one of whom, for example, was
Mayor Quincy OF Boston, spoke in de-
nUnciation of the sheriff and Of gov
eminent ty Injunction" matter
which played no part in this case at
all
This strike mad a petty origin. A
superintendent of the Lchigh and Will
kesbarre Coal company, named James
Jones, made some economic changes
early in August that caused several
stable-bOys to strike. Jones was I'M
popular and probably arbitrary. The
men in the mine struck in sympathy
with the boys. \ few days later the
men drew up a list of grievances: chief
of all they asked that Jones be re-
moved. Every request but that was
granted. The men returned to work
for five days and struck again. The
company had been slow in acting on
some Of their requests.
On August % there began practical
~ reign of terror in the neighbor-
hood. The strikers marched from
mine to mine, compelling other miners
to strike They terrorized the work
men of no less than ten mines. They
| beat men who would not go marching
with them. They invaded houses, and
made men who were reluctant to go
with then? join their band. They
swept through Superintendent Jones S
| house from cellar to roof. They i'm
pressed men who were not miners into
their company, and kept several of
| them prisoners for a day or two. They
took horses and wagons, with drivers
and used them in their marches
Property of the coal companies was
also destroyed. The marchers were
armed with clubs and bits of iron, and
day after day threatened with violence
all those who failed to approve of
their action.
On September they had become SO
! lawlesS that the sheriffs of three cOun-
ties, Luzerne, Carbon, and Schuylkill
Joined III a proclamation commanding
peace. 1t was this proclamation and
rot an injunction that was violated
The miners from McAdoO had made
the HarWCod miners stop work. The
HARDWOOD men wanted the Lattime1
men, employed, as the Harwood mer
were, by Pardee & Co., to quit work
and they invited the McAdoo men tC
march with them to Lattimer and force
the men to quit work. Sheriff Martin
had sworn in a company of deputies tC
assist him in keeping the peace. He
and his men overlook the miners who
were marching to Lattimer at West
Hazleton where the sheriff read the
riot act and arrested two of the band
who were violent.
He ordered them not to go to Latti-
mer in a crowd A police official is
said to have told the men to go "across
let's where the sheriff would have nc
jurisdiction. They started and the
deputies, knowing that the miners
would take to the road again, went tt
Lattimer on a trolley car and again me
the men on the highway.
Sheriff Martin advanced alone to thu
miners. he started to read the riot act
again; he was pushed and jostled, anC
he drew his revolver; he was beaten;
the band became mob again, and the
sheriff's life seemed in danger. They
broke past the sheriff. The deputies
were drawn up across the road. Some
one gave an order to fire. and two vol
ley followed. Twelve men were shot
dead outright. The rioters fed. The
dead, dying, and less seriously wound
Ell were taken away. Sheriff Martin
telegraphed to the governor for help.
At midnight of September 10 Governor
Hastings ordered out the Third bri-
gade. By S O'Clock the next morning
the first regiment came swinging into
HaZletOn, a remarkable achievement
for militia soldiery. BY o'clock in
the afternoon every regiment in the
brigade was in camp, and further
| trouble ceased
These things stand out prominently
in this encounter: Not enc of the
/ killed, and none of the wounded, so
far as can be learned, had an Ameri-
can name. All were Huns or Poles.
Only a few of them could speak Eng
| liSh. Very few of the seventy five or
r?Ore who were hit with bullets were
shot in the mack. 1t is Known that
! they had been warned of the conse-
quences of their march before they
started. They thought that the sher-
/ ifs men would not dare to shoot. and
| if they did shoot, it would be over their
heads. They knew they were defying
the officers of the law, and the mob
spirit was on them and could not be
shaken off. The sheriff's deputies
were representative citizens. They
numbered about sixty men Half a
dozen were college graduates. Among
them were banker, a civil engineer.
half dozen leading business men OF
the city of Hazleton. They were rep
resentative citizens in the best sense
of the word
7 r.