Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-06-12
STRIKE RIOTS
Three Men Killed in st. Louis
Yesterday.
DEPUTIEssHOTsTRIKERS
Posse Comitatns Gomez Into Collision
With 500 Striking Street Car Men
Flight Takes Place During
Heavy Thunder storm.

st. Louis, Mo-, June 11.-Three dead,
three fatally injured, eleven severely
hurt, four cars derailed by dynamite
and the temporary dismantling of two!
car lines by wire cutters make up the
results of yesterdays strike rioting. A
hundred incipient riots were quelled
by the police in various parts of the
city.
The Dead.
c. Edward Thomas, striking conduc-
tor on the Chouteau avenue line; shot
in the breast by deputy sheriff; died
on way to hospital
Georoe Rine, striking motorman On
Delmar avenue line; shot in abdomen
by deputy sheriff; died at city hos
pital.
Fred Boehm, aged citizen; shot and
instantly killed while standing in his
front yard by deputy sheriff.
Fight With 500 Strikers.
Five hundred strikers and company
of deputy sheriffs fought pitched
battle at GAS o'clock last night in
Washington avenue, near 9Th street,
the heart OF st. Louis. The strikers, in
the uniforms of conductors and motor
men, We're returning from meeting
in East St. Louis. They marched up
Washington avenue with band at
their head and cheered as the vanguard
came abreast of the deputies barracks
at 624 Washington avenue.
The garrison of deputies appeared
at the front door of the barracks to
view the parade. A crowd assembled
at each corner to watch it, Then some.
body threw a brick thru the window of
a Lindell avenue car that was passing.
Capt. Webster, of the First regiment,
Missouri National Guard, rushed into
the street to arrest the man who threw
the brick. Capt. Webster had his re-
peating shot gun in his hands, and us
he approached the car tracks pistol
shots resonnded, as if coming from the
ranks of the marching strikers.
The band stopped playing instant
ly. A deputy standing near the SIDE
walk took deliberate aim at the pistol
shooter and began to fire. In an in
slant the whole column of strikers
were on the defensive. Pistols were
drawn and the men backed up on the
north sidewalk, where they seemed.
prepared to do battle. The sheriffs
came rushing pell nell from the bar
racks to the south sidewalk with weap-
ons ready, but loath to fire. upon a
silent opponent. Then somebody
standing behind the embattled ,.trik-
fers fired five shots in quick succession
at the group Of deputies and the re-
sponse was a roar of shot gun deto-
nations that put the strikers to almost
Immediate flight and brought crowd
OF many thousands rushing to the
scene of battle.
When the street car men ran nway
three lay writhing upon the sidewalk.
Most OF the deputies fired high and the
glass fronts of the stores on the north
side of the street were shattered.
Follew and Club Strikers.
The fact that the strikers who were
armed had only pistols is supposed to
account for the fact that no deputies
were hit. 1t is not known how many
strikers were wounded, but the scat
tering effect of the buckshot from
the deputies repeaters is supposed
to have injured many who escaped in
the hand-to-hand melee which follow
ed. No sooner did the deputies see
that the strikers were in full retreat
than they charged them from the rear,
clubbing their guns and beating down.
the few who resisted the charge. Des-
ultory pistol shots marked the retreat,
of the strikers, and the deputies aban-
doned pursuit after driving the rioters
three blocks in all directions.
A furious thunderstorm prevailed
during the battle, and the roar Of shot
guns and pistols was mistaken by
many for the peals of thunder, which.
were frequent. Fifty mounted police
men with drawn pistols arrived on the
scene ten minutes after the fight and
the streets leading toward the bar
racks were quickly placed under guard.
In the posse which fred upon the
strikers were William P. Kennett, ex-
president of the Merchants exchange;
Judge Chester II. Krum; Charles Ma
gel, former president of the city :oun-
Gil and wealthy lawyer; Frank john
son, of the Simmons Hardware COM
pany; John Atkinson, wealthy grain
dealer; and John II. Overall, formerly
city attorney. Many of the sons Of
wealthy ST. Louisians were in the
squad which fought the rioters and
there was no skulking from the NOM
ent the first shot was fired.