Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-09-05
DEPUTIES ARE ON GUARD.
sheriff Mckinley Heads a Posse.
Mayor black Issues n Vigorous

>herfu mckinley Heads a Posse.
Mayor Black Issues "A Vigorous
Protest.
PTTTSBURG. Pa. September 4-Mc-
Keesport was thrown into a state OF
CONSERVATION this afternoon by the ar
rival of the force of deputies demand
ed Of Sheriff William C. Mckinley by
the officials OF the American Tinplate
Company. At the first intimation that
such a course would be pursued, Mayor
r. J.. Black held a conference over the
telephone with the sheriff. Later he
went to Pittsburg, and on his return
he was boiling over with Indignation.
He denounced the action Of Sheriff Me
Kinley In the bitterest terms. Chief Of
Police Patrick J. Morrissey volunteered
to land every deputy at the police sta
ton, II the mayor would only give the
word, but the mayor cautioned him that
such action would transcend his pow
ers. The mayor gave out a signed
statement shortly after the arrival Of
the deputies, in which he says:
"In view of the fact that Sheriff
william C. Mckinley, who. under the
statutes of the Commonwealth of Penn
sylvania, is the paramount peace officer
Of Allegheny county, has seen fit. in the
discharge OF what he mistakenly %
ceives to be his duty, to send deputy
eharifs int tbat parffap or tho ei4v nf
McKeesport occupied by the Demmler
tin mills. 1t becomes incumbent upon
me to protest against such action. Prob
ably there is no more peaceful spot on
earth than that inclosed within our cor
porate limits. There is no disorder
here. There is no menace of disorder
here. In spite of conditions which past
| experience caused thoughtful men to
fear might conspire against the munich
| pal peace, there has been an actual and
marked improvement in McKeesport's
department record.
ct was at such a time as this, and
at the rounding out of so highly credit
able a record as this. that Sheriff Nc
Kinley gathered together some half
hundred Of hungry and unemployed
heelers, many of them men of bad rec
ords, and more than questionable char-
acter, and hurled them into the city.
This little handful Of men. armed with
brief authority and legal weapons, con-
stitute a vastly greater n to the
peace and good order of McKeesport
than the more than II full regiments
of la~w-abiding citizens who are now on
strike here.
THE insult to the city Of McKeesport
is as wanton and impolitic as it was
ill-advisad. ! know personally nearly
all Of the men who are here on strike.
| know them to be good citizens, in
dustrious, sober, peaceful and law
abiding. | was not consulted by the
sheriff OF Allegheny county in this
matter oe encamping deputies within
our municipal boundaries. Sheriff Nc
Kinley deemed it wisest to commit the
~discourtesy of ignoring the highest off,
cial in the city, and excuses his course
upon the ground that he had been in
formed by certain trust officials that
the destruction of the Demmler tin
mills was imminent and the property
in dire danger every moment the pres
ence of such deputies was delayed. This
| information, whoever its author may
have been, is absolutely false and as
| malicious as it is untrue. ! reiterate
my ability unaided by the county au-
thorities to prevent deeds Of lawless-
ness. whether affecting the property OF
individuals or the United States Steel
CORPORATION. have sworn IN special
officers Of the law from among the
business men of the city, not from the
| ranks OF the strikers. | have taken
every reasonable p%recaution against
outbreak, though violence was never
imminent. I now call upon the strik-
| ing workmen of McKeesport to give the
lie to the alleged necessity for the
presence of these deputies. Stay away
from the Demmler mills and let the
| officials fight their battle for resump-
| ton with incompetent assistance.
Ignore their stealthy operations and
remain quietly about your homes. 0
will lose nothing and at the same time
you will emphasize the falsity OF vic
ious criticism directed at both your
self and me.
(Signed, ROBERT J. BLACK,
Mayor"
DEPUTY SHERIFFS WANTED