The sun., 1909-05-25
SOAPTOWN'S TRACKS TORN UP
ul\JF4CTURERS WILL APPEAL
TO STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
rnetr Representative Says Erie Pick.
singers Locked Employees In Box
Gar at Babbltt and Ripped Out Switch
and siding-One Man Defied Them.


Gar at Babbltt and Ripped Out Switch
and Siding-One Man Defied Them.
An Erie Railroad destruction crew COM
,osed Of 100 large. impetuous piokslingers
,n.aked into Babbitt. N. j.. the soap
town. early last Sunday morning, loaded
IN an important part of Babbitt and car
1ed il away with them on fat car. The
SOAP town guards, who had been decoyed
into an empty box car and locked up there,
tried to give the alarm by telephone when
they got loose. but the phone wires had
teen cut, 1t was not until yesterday
that ex-Judge William H. Wadhams Of
This city and John Griffin OF Jersey City,
counsel for the Babbitt Soap Company,
rot a clear story of what had happened.
It was o'clock on Sunday morning
and very quiet and peaceful around the
little village of Babbitt when the short
train Of q locomotive. fiat car and caISoose
tropred in to call. Before the wheels
topped turning foreman and gang
NJ 100 men tumbled of the ira in and
grabbed the night watchman, who was
,t on the Job at 7. He held the gates
Of the soap company's plant stubbornly,
refusing to let anybody in until the in
eaders told him they represented the
gackensack authorities, that a murder
had benn committed in the neighborhood
end that they were down there to get
evidence.
They led Frost, the wo'chman, to an
tmrtv box car on The siding in the Babbitt
tomranys grounds sal! Judge Wad-
hams Yesterday. and told him to take
look in the box car and he would seq
for himself that crime had been COM
ritted. Frost climbed into the car and
they slammed the door on him and locked
il.
Then they hustled to the engine room
end corral.ed three men who were on duty
there Somebody in the gang told the
men that they vera under arrest, that
man had been killed and that they had
better trot along peaceabiy or thero would
te trouble. Ths engine room hands were
showed into the box car and locked there
along with the watchman.
Three guards wera stationed by the
car while the rest of the gang interce pied
employees who were going or coming
n 7nd from va arious parts OF the big plant.
They arrested everybody, saying that
they were sent to idenlify Il murderer
and that they represented the Hacken-
kack authorities.
Finally the chief engineer of the plant
got worried about his boilers and came
from his house. only a short distance
away. to see If anything was wrong.
The gang caught him and put him in the
toy car. He .protestsd. saying that he
had just got out of a sick bed and that
it wasn't safe. to keep him away ftom his
engine room, but they told him to shut
his trap.
Altogether they caught and locked in
the box car nine men, all Of the soap COM
pany's hands on duty save one man who
was keeping watch on the boilers, A
dozen cf them ran in on him but h. dared
them to touch him. He said that the
tatetv Of the plant rested with him that
morning and that the only way they
could get him out Of The boiler room was
lv knocking him on the head. He
lMNed them so hard that finally they
vent away. leaving Two men TO keep him
from blowing the alarm whistle or rum
ming out to q telephone in the village.
when they had everybody but that
one man locked up they jumped to work
on the quarter mile siding that runs from
the Nav York. Susquehanna and Western
Railroad to the Baboitt company's fac
tory and started TO rip up track. As
fast as they tore up the rails they loaded
them onto the fiat car which had been
hacked down handy. When the whole
switch was ripped up the gang climbed
aboard their train ard headed for Jersey
City.
Just before they went somebody I'M
locked the door of the box car and the
prisoners jumped out. The men tried to
call up officers Of the soap company. but
they found that'th iflephone wires had
leen nipped. 1t wasYate in the afternoon
tefore anybody in authority found what
had been going on
When | got word Of it yesterday
went over to North Bergen and got a
s1uai of police from that town and started
toc Babbitt looking for trouble. Butthe
railroad crew had gone Of course and there
Was no chance OF catching anybody.
To-day conducted an investigation with
Mr.. Griffin and got the facts as ! have
s'atel them
Mr Wadhams said that the switch had
ben built a year ago. pai1 for.partly by the
Erie and partly by the soap company.
He had heard, he said. that the Erie didn't
ike II because the soap company hadn't
been shipping entirely by rail The Bab-
biz people built pier on the Hackensack
River by their plant and good deal Of
their freight goes by water to New York.
Also, said Mr. Wadhams. the soap COM
pany'e lawyers had advised against sign
ing contract submitted by the railroad
Maybe the road was mifled about that, he
suggested,
Anyway he added we're going to
Zee If the State of New Jersey will stand
Tor any such highhanded proceeding as
that
Some of the soaptowners said yester-
Cav that they had heard the Erie intended
10 III h W the neat little frame passenger
Station ana move it away.