Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-10-13
STRIKERS Fight.
Deadly Battle With Deputies
at Virden, Ills.
TEN PARTICIPANTS DEAD.
A Large Number Wounded, and
Some Of Them Dying.
GOVERNOR TANNERS CONTENTION


Declared That the Mine Owners, in Inn
porting Negro Labor From the South,
Was Working Injury to the Fair Fame
of the State Mine Managers, on the
Other Hand, Declare That the Governor
Is Responsible For the Slaughter at
Virden.
Virden, Oct 13-The little town of
Virden is comparatively quiet after
yesterdays rioting and bloodshed, the
long expected clash between the union
miners and imported negroes. AT 1910
o'clock the Chicago and Alton special
train, bearing 200 negro miners from
the south, arrived at the stockade
around the Chicago Virden Coal COM
pany's mines and Immediately the ter
rifle firing began. The list stands
ten dead and 25 or 80 wounded.
The dead are: Ed Welsh, Spring
field; Frank Bilyeu, Springfield; Albert
Smith. Mt. Olive; Joe Kitterly Mt.
Olive; Ernest Keutner, Mt. Olive; A. H.
Breneman, Girard; D. H. Kiley, Chi
cago and Alton detective; William W.
Carroll, deputy sheriff; Tom Preston,
of Chicago; A. W. Morgan, of Chicago.
The latter was killed in the stockade,
where seven others were wounded.
Yesterday the Chicago and Alton
limited due to pass here at 10 o'clock
shot through en- route to Chicago an
hour late, displaying flags on the rear
indicating that special was following.
Immediately the word was spread, and
dense crowd of miners collected at
the entrance of the stockade half
mile north of the station. D. B. Kiley,
Chicago and Alton detective, stood
guard at switch at the south end
of the station platform, to see it was
not tempered with.
At 40 the special train passed the
station and signal shots were fired
from the south end of the train an
nouncing the specials arrival. I'M
mediately shots were fired from the
moving train, and outside, and the bat
tie was on A few moments after the
train had passed the switch where
Kiley was stationed, and while he was
talking with two citizens. he threw up
his arms and dropped dead, with
bullet through his brain. He was the
first man killed
The moment the train reached the
stockade the miners opened a desper-
ate fire with Winchesters, revolvers
and firearms of all descriptions. The
negroes on the train answered with a
steady fire. The miners and the train
were enveloped in cloud of smoke
and the shooting sounded like con-
tinuous volley. Engineer Burt Tigar
received bullet in the arm and drop
ped from his seat. His fireman seized
the throttle, pulled it open with jerk
and the train was under speed, carry
| ing eight wounded men-all deputies
except one, who was a negro miner
as passengers to Springfield.
The train stopped at the stockade but
two minutes. It's departure did not
cause the firing to cease. The tower
of the stockade was filled with sharp
shooters armed with Winchesters, and
they kept up a steady fire into the
crowd of union miners. Eye witnesses
say the dead miners were killed after
the train had departed.
The supply and provision store of
the Chicago Virden company is known
as the Climax Trading company, with
Superintendent j. F. Eyster in charge.
At 2 o'clock, after the firing at the
stockade had subsidized, an attack with
out parallel in the history of the
trouble was made on Eyster in his
store on Main street, one block from
the depot, which will probably cost
him his life. He was sitting in his
store when his telephone rang and he
was instructed from the stockade to
secure physicians and hurry them to
the place. Eyster jumped into his de-
livery wagon and securing two doctors
rushed them to the mines. He re-
turned to his store, climbed out of
his wagon and was just entering the
door when the cry was raised that
Manager Fred Lukens, of the mines, was
with him. With rush throng of
Infatuated miners pressed toward the
store. Eyster ran behind a counter
with revolver in each hand. The
miners pressed hard after him, and as
Eyster sprang upstairs he and the min
ers began shooting simultaneously. He
ran to the top of the building and
jumped behind chimney, while the
miners ran into the street and opened
fire on him again.
Chips flew from the brick chimney,
and Eyster ran from cover across to
the roof of another building, firing into
the street below as he ran. From there
he crossed to the roof of the Bank of
Virden, where he reloaded his re-
volvers. Blood was flowing from a
wound in his side, but with logged de-
termination against terrible odds he
continued his flight. Amid a rain of
finally he flel through skylight direct
ly into miners meeting. The miners
carried him to the city square and laid
him on the grass.
Eyster was motionless and supposedly
dead. The police left him lying there
and attempted to dispense the crowd.
In few minutes Eyster was seen to
raise his head and wipe the blood from
his face. Two men sprang at him and
with the ferocity of tigers began jump
ing on his body and striking him on
the head with stones. With a veil
she angry crowd charged into the
square to kill Eyster. The police
charged in a body and fought their
way to the center of the mob, where
they took a stand over the PROSTATE
man. A carrier was procured and Eys-
ter was taken to the Buckles hotel
He had been shot through the groin
and is terribly battered up about the
head. The physicians state that he
barely has a chance for recovery.
A detail of militia at 1915 o'clock
last night killed ex-Lieutenant of Po-
lice Tom Preston of Chicago, a guard
at the stockade.
ORIGIN OF THE BATTLE.
Governor and Company In Conflict as
to the States Duty.
Chicago, Oct. 13.-The difficulty at the
virden mines originated April 1, 1885,
-.