Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-10-15
Deadly Battle With deputies
at Virasa, Ills.
TEN PARTICIPANTS DEAD.
A Large Number Wounded, and
Some of Them Dying.
GOVERNOR TANNERS CONTENTION


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
rife firing began. The list stands
ten dead and 25 or 80 wounded.
The dead arel 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 a special was following.
Immediately the word was spread and
a dense crowd of miners collected at
the entrance of the stoekade a half
mile north of the station. d. B. Kiley,
a Chicago and Alton detective, stood
guard at a switch at the south end
of the station platform, to see it was
not tempered with
At 1910 the special train passed the
station and signal shots were fired
from the south end of the train an
bouncing 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
talking with two citizens. he threw up
his arms and dropped dead, with a
bullet through his brain. He was the
first man killed.
The moment the train reached the
stockadeethe 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 a 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 negro miner
as passengers to Springfield,
The train stopped at the stockade but
two minutes. Its 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 ]. f. Eyster in charge
At 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
II l. .ft tn \, fr.
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 ofthe mines, was
with him. With a rush a throng of
Alriated miners pressed toward the
Eyster ran behind a counter
Acyolver in each hand The
NJ hard after him, and as
&lstairs he and the min
simultaneously. He
the building and
kpey, while the
and opened
kross to
Mere