Connecticut western news., 1899-07-20
VIOLENCE IN BROOKLYN
Part of One of the Elevated
 Roads Wrecked.
TROLLEY CARS RAN DURING DAY.


 Better-Presfdent Rossiter Issues a
 Statement Concerning This Morn
 inx's Explosion.
 New York, July 19.-Rioters in Brook lyn this morning blew up a part of the South Brooklyn elevated road.
 Two dynamite cartridges were used. One was put in the pier on the east side of the elevated structure at Fifth avenue and Thirty street, and the other in the pier in the west side, directly oppo- site.
 They exploded at almost the same in- stant The east side pier was blown completely to pieces. The west side was only partly wrecked.
 The street was torn up in the neighbor- hood, three story building at S22 Fifth avenue was damaged by scraps of iron, and the office of the Greenwood Gene tery company was partly wrecked. The explosion shook every building within a mile.
 An immense crowd gathered within a few minutes and 100 police stationed in the neighborhood came hurrying in. Word was sent to the various headquar- ters of the railroad company and wreck ing crews were sent in wagons to the scene.
 The explosion smashed the ironwork on the east side almost completely. The west side damage was slight. There is a tunnel under the street where the explo- sion occurred Whether it is damaged or not Is not known.
 The following statement was issued by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit company at 2:45 o'clock this morning:
 At 1 20 o'clock this morning the strik- CTS placed bombs under two columns of tue elevated structure at Thirty fifth street aud Fifth avenue. The bombs were undoubtedly of dynamite.
 "The structure is high here, and the tall columns were supported by masonry. These supports have been blown out, and the columns are now hanging suspended in the air from the structure.
 "The superintendent of the wrecking crew and all of his men are now at work on the structure. They hope to have enough braces in by the morning so that the regular traffic can be resumed with safety.
 1.-The police, by command of Deputy MacKellar, are now at the scene, 150 men guarding our property"
 Situation During the Day.
 At Fifth av snue and Sixth street, ap- parently by preconcerted arrangement. a mob charged car, piled Instructions high in front of 1t, knocked down a po- liceman and beat and kicked a nonunion motorman and conductor into insensi- bility.
 One was so badly hurt he may die. The rioters were only dispersed when police reserves arrived, but their object was accomplished, and the line was closed.
 Altogether it was a losing day for the strikers, and their cause seems almost lost unless the tide should change rapidly in their favor.
 In the first place it was stated positive ly by the elevated engineers that they would not strike. If this be true, the strikers have lost much of the moral sup port they received from the public be- lief that the elevated road employees might join them at any time.
 The Brooklyn Rapid Transit company operated yesterday 80 per cent of all of it's cars on the Brooklyn heights system, and these cars made 90 per cent of all the trips scheduled for all the cars. On the Nassau system between 40 and 90 per cent of all the cars were operated. and they made more than 65 per cent of the total of the trips that the schedule called for.
 Most of the Cars Running.
 Several hundred cars on the heights system carried two motormen and two conductors. The extra motormen and conductors were new men employed by the company to take the places of the extras and trippers who got regular jobs through the quitting of the men of the Nassau system when the strike was or dered on Sunday morning. These men were being broken in by experienced mo- tormen who were familiar with all the routes of the heights company, and they put in the whole day at that. None of them was put in charge of car. It was not necessary. The company had all the motormen and conductors it needed to run all the cars that the public con- venience demanded.
 On almost all the lines running to the Broadway and Grand street ferries the regular schedule that was in existence before the strike was maintained. Not a trip was lost. On the greater number of roads that come across the bridge the regular schedule was maintained also, and in some cases more cars were run than were scheduled to run.
 In response to the invitation of Presi- dent Rossiter 150 of the old employees of the company returned to work yesterday.
 The cars on the Third avenue, the Fifth avenue and the Fulton street lines stopped running shortly after o'clock last night. The cars on all the other lines in operation stopped at midnight.
 Probable Strike In Manhattan.
 A meeting officially declared to have been called by a committee of the em- ployees of the Metropolitan Street rail way was held in Cooper Union last night John N. Parsons, general master work man of the Knights of Labor presided and made an opening address for an hour and three-quarters. At intervals he spoke for another hour.
 MT. Parsons said to the reporters:
 ''There will he no strike on the Metre