The Washington herald., 1909-08-01


had been restored by these men whom
the labor agitators hate. In other times
OF trouble dispatches from the coal fields
have contained the stereotyped story.
usually beginning. "a riot broke out
here" and ending. Quiet was restored
when the constabulary appeared"
In any other State. probably. the word
constable calls to mind a rural person
with thin beard. a wide-brimmed straw
hat. a linen duster, and a nickel shield
pinned on his chest. The Pennsylvania
constable is different. He was created 70
take the place OF the militia In handling
strikes.
II is a permanent force OF mounted
men. this constabulary-four troops, OF
2 officers. 8 sergeants. and $50 men each.
every man chosen for his physical build.
discretion, fearlessness. and ability 10
tame men. Eight out Of ten have seen
military service. and most Of them were
noncommissioned officers before they left
the army. They resemble the Canadian
mounted police and the Texas Rangers
more than anything else. although the
cI ganization itself was built largely on
the lines Of the Irish eonstabulary.
Leadership of GrOOme.
Every trooper can ride and shoot and
give a good account OF himself in a
rough-and-tumble fight, besides. But these
talents. while they count IN a pinch, do
not establish morale IN the force. The
secret OF that is the realization OF one
man strength. the power OF quiet conf
6ence. and a belief in the effect OF the
uniform. Capt John c. Groome, State
superintendent who recruited. organized.
and equipped the constabulary. has taken
as HIS standard for measuring the
strength Of a mob: Each mounted troop
er is good for hundred men,
The four troops are distributed over the
State 50 as TO cover the coal and iron
mines. numbering more than a hundred
The Reading troop is ready to answer
day alarms from this vicinity the
Wilkesbarre troop guards the country
further north. and the GreensbUrg and
Punxsutawney troops are watching the
central and western fields. Fifty men
watch each scene|of trouble, covering
radius OF thirty miles.
Before 1906 Pennsylvania relied largely !
upo2 It's National Guard TO awe the tur-
bulent factions that gather around the
coal mines In time Of strike Two thou
sand armed men 10 one troublesome town
was the militia's ratio for pacification
BY the ethics Of the cOnstabulary. a ser
Geant and ten men are expected 20 handle
such a district. The mounted constable
enforces the law very much as did the
sheriffs FMS those strenuous years when
the West was young He must be abso-
iutely fearless. II he shows the white
feather once his usefulness IS ended and
the force has no place for him.
my instructions 20 each trooper" said
Capt GrOOme, when he was asked about
the organization Of his men, leave a lot
10 his discretion. II he starts out TO get
his man. he must get him II he has 20
butt into the middle Of a mob to find him
The troopers are counseled not 20 use
their guns unless they have to-
Eleven Men TO Five Hundred.
At the Cornwall ore banks early in 1906.
BOO foreigners became angry because they
could no persuade the men keeping the
fires 20 quit work The assaulted several |
inoffensive workmen and chased the sher-
ins deputies. The sheriff telephoned for
aid. Send your whole force of constab- !
ulary." he urged. These rioters are des-
perate"
A sergeant and ten men OF the new
force were dispatched on the run. There !
was no time TO get the horses entralned, !
and the detail went whirling 10 the scene /
OF trouble in q caboOse and engine. No /
sooner had they arrived than the small |
est man In the bunch forced his way
bodily into a crowd Of angry aliens and
grabbed big foreigner who had pulled /
gun" The prisoner showed fight, and /
his friends offered to help him. The I
trooper swung his stick just once. the big I
fellow dropped, ard the crowd ran like /
sheep.
AT Yatesville IN the same year, twelve
troopers dispersed a mob Of 700, and went /
through a tough settlement on a hunt for 4
firearms. bringing out small-slzed arse /
nal after the inhabitants had pleaded 4
they were good citizens" and had no 4
guns. The houses raided had sheltered /
pot shooters who FOR several nights /
had kept up desultory fire on the win /
oOws and doors Of the colliery a few hum
dred yards away. at the foot Of the hill 1
Mob Ordered to Disperse.
At the Franklin colllery. also near
Wilkesbarre, strikers dispersed a guard
of deputy sheriffs and clubbed and knitted
q few worSmen who had been taking coal
from q culm bank TO keep up steam for
the engines that pumped water from the
mines. This was according TO the agree
ment between operators and miners. The
n.S1. however. beat the employees severely
and started Ost to wreck the colIiery.
when a small detail OF mounted constabu-
larry arrived. II was just about dusk
The sergeant asked the men TO disperse
and they refused. He told them they
would get hurt II they didn't. and they
jeered at him. The sheriff pointed our
two ringleaders. and the sergeant asked
them TO step out and give themselves up.
This request also was refused.
Tell them I'm going TO take them.
said the sergeant to the interpreter. "and
all those who want to have their heads
crushed will please stay right where they
are"
Then the mounted men rode In, and the
long locust sticks were laid right and left.
The mob tried 10 run. but it could not get
away from the horses. Franklin cOlliery
has not forgotten the sight When the
troopers rode back to their barracks they
had two badly damaged prisoners hand
cuhed. Several more were taken the next
day
At Winber, down in the southwestern
part Of the State. ugly feeling between
the miners and the deputy sheriffs cul-
minated in a shooting IN which three
Elhers were killed outright and ten
year-old boy was fatally wounded as he
was rocking on. The shooting was at the
JAN IN the course OF an attempt to res
cue several men who had been arrested. {