The Irish standard., 1899-07-22
STRIKERS ACCUSED.
Blamed for Dynamiting Brooklyn
SCI" Structure.
Explosion Causes Some Damage and
Creates Great Excitement-The
Strike Continues to Spread
in Brooklyn.

Creates Great Excitement-The
Strike Continues to Spread
in Brooklyn.
New York, July 19.-Dynamite placed
in two supporting pillars of the Fifth
avenue structure of the brooklyn "L''
road, owned by the Brooklyn Rapid
Transit company, on whose surface sys-
tenn strike is in progress, was exploded
at 1880 o'clock this "wednesday morn
ing in Fifth avenue between Thirty
fifth and Thirty-sixth Streets. Ten feet
of one pillar and IL feet of the other
were blown to pieces. Houses for
blocks around were shaken by the
double explosion. Windows were
broken and fragments of iron from
the battered pillars were hurled for
hundreds of feet. Many of them struck
buildings, and in one case fragment
tore through the entire wall, passed
straight through door and fell on a
bed in which persons were lying,
Streets in the vicinity We're damned
with terrified throngs five minutes aft
er the explosion. Men, women and
children poured from the dwellings,,
nearly all of them scantily clad.
Policemen who had been guarding
the trolley tracks rushed to the scene
and attempted to drive the crowd back.
They were swept off thei!' feet by fresh
hundreds. The structure was still quiv-
ering when fresh installments of police
arrived, and in few minutes Chief
Devery and his aids reached the spot.
Fortunately no one was hurt. The po-
lice lines were spread i'll every direc-
ton and vigorous search for strikers
begun, but in the thousands that
blocked the streets the police could do
nothing. Officials of the 81" road sent
out orders to stop all trains running
over the Fifth avenue structure. This
affected the Coney Island line and the
line to Bay Ridge. Police and IL" road
officials branded the attempt to blow
up the tracks as the work of strikers.
Some Cars Are Run.
The company did not run any cars
after dark Monday evening, but re.
sumed traffic at five o'clock Tuesday
morning. The time schedule, though
was not lived up to on Jny one of the
lines. The cars on the Third avenue
the Fifth avenue and the Fulton street
lines stopped running shortly after
seven o'clock Tuesday hight. The cars
on all the other lines in operation
stopped at midnight.
No cars were run over the Flatbush
avenue line to Brighton Beach and the
patrons of the race track were forced
to take steam cars ovcr the old rail
road routes or the Franklin avenue and
Smith street trolley cars, which are not
under the strikers ban. Great diff.
Guilty was experienced by the manage.
lnent in running cars over the Nassau
system, and a liberal estimate of the
cars run over the Nassau lines would
be about 80 per cent. of the regular
number. The Fifth and seventh avenue
lines were frequently blockadcd, and
the company did not handle more thar
is per cent. of the regular daily traffic
The Douglas and Bergen street cars
were run at intervals Of Is and 20 min
utes, but each of the cars was manned
by at least four policemen.
During the day the police made sew
eral arrests, but no serious outbreak
occurred until after six o'clock. Al
that time a mob of 100 persons at
tackled Fifth avenue car at Sixth
street and Fifth avenue, and Motor
man A. Latham and Conductor w. T
Mulcahy were roughly handled. The
former had an arm broken and the con
ductor's nose was fractured. The mol
was dispersed by the ring of revolvers
into the air. Three arrests were made
Decided to Strike.
The Journal and Advertiser says
The employees on tive lines of the Met
ropolitan Street Railway company de
cided to strike at five n'clock this morn
ing. Mr.. Parsons argued with the mel
and attempted to convince them tina,
they were very foolish to take any sucf
action. They replied that they felt i,
was their duty to aid the Brooklyn
strikers. The argument grew heated
Parsons finally refused to sanction
their proposed act, wiereupon the mel
left, declaring they would go out with
out the authority of Mr.. Parsons. Dur
ing the conference Inc men told Mr.
Parsons that this was only the start O.
general strike of all employees of tn.
Metropolitan railway system.