The Washington herald., 1909-08-23

Pittsbmg. Aug. 22-Many strike-b break
ers inside the McKees Rocks stoekade
have eaten poisoned food Four men
have been taken TO the Ohio Valley Hos
pital in a serious condition, while two
score more inside the works are very III.
While 1t is asserted that the sickness
comes from canned food. the company Is
making most rigid investigation, it be-
Ing suspected that various strikers mays
analogous case.
The Pressed Steel Car Company to-day
put private detectives at work looking Up
the wholesale poisoning Of Carnegie
workmen in the stockade at Homestead
during the strike there fifteen years ago
on the suspicion that this may be an
analogous case.
The last eighteen hours has been one
Of rioting and trouble at the NcKees
Rocks plant
Try 20 Wreck Plant.
An effort was made early this morning
to blow up the entire plant OF the Pressed
Steel Car Company. and would have sue
ceeded but for the premature explosion
Of small blast. which warned the
guards.
In riot about . o'clock tsis morning
Or. ". J. Davidson. u-1r or the com
pany's physicians, was attacked By ]
great body OF strikers as he was leaving
the works. and in the fght he was shot
twice-through the neck and armand
his recovery is yet matter OF doubt
Tne physician was hit on the head with
a stone before he began 20 fight. Pulling
from the left sleeve Of his coat a re-
yolvsr, and another from his hip pocket,
he backed against the side OF Donovan
Bridge and opened fire while the strikers
were shooting at him.
Or. Davidson fought as long as ha
could. but finally went down badly bat
tered, where he was found by The state
/ cOnstabulary. which arrived a few min
utes after the strikers had fed
Engineer Ia wounded.
Among the scores Of others who were
injured in the riots during the late night
and to-day was Salvato Merreno. a
/ civil engineer, Of Brooklyn, who was
I attacked as ne came from the plant.
and though ne fought with his gun. ne
was beaten down and so badly injured
that he was brought 10 the homeopathic
Hospital at Pittsburg this morning
The plot 70 blow Up the works ap-
pears to have been one well finished as
10 detail The great searchlight which
from the top OF the Pressed Steel Car
works has kept the strikers in soma
semblance Of order AT points near the
mill. was pat out Of business at I o'clock
this morning by a well-directed shot
1 from a Winchester.
II is said that not less than 1000 shots
have been fred at this searchlight be-
fore It was finally broken. a noted long
( distance shot having been brought from
{ Albuquerque, y II. by the strikers for
making the shot az not less than loo
yards.
Strike e-b-eakers Guards.
The strike-breakers were quickly forced
In as guards. and told that their own
lives perhaps depended on their quick
action At different places leading 70
the mills there were soon found immense
quantities Of explosives which needed
only a spark to send the whole works
up. Those inside the mill in an hour Sc
cured enough explosives TO blow up the
whole town Of MeKees Rocks. as well
as the plant. All thar the mob appears
10 have needed in the two hours follow
ing the breaking OF the esarchlight was
a leader familiar with the use OF ex-
plosives.
About 600 women who some days ago
started on the warpath last night and
to-day practical controlled the town.
The state Constabulary makes the
serious charge that many OF these wom-
en- are armed with small bombs. with
which they have tried to blow up the
horses Of the troopers and the restau-
rants where the strike-breakers eat.
Lieut.. Smith. Of the constabulary. was
to-day attacked by 800 women while at
the head of twenty mounted troopers near
the company restaurant. The troopers
fired over the heads OF the women. but
they did not heed the shots. pressing
Il only closer, IN order that they might
throw Misunderstanding small bombs, all
OF which happily failed to explode