The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1911-08-24

Home Secretary winston churchill.
Stating that peace negotiations We're
still going on he said that while there
had been no serious disturbances in
London there had been several at
tempted outrages on railroad property
throughout the country.
such Crimes as imperil lives of
passengers are OF grave character and
are punishable by Imprisonment"
added the Home Secretary.
London felt the fun force Of the
I railroad war today. Constant reports
I o9 riOting and destruction of railroad
property came in from all sections.
| The War Office was ready to throw
London under martial law with 10
/ 600 troops stationed in the city.
Throughout the day soldiers were
: transported into this city from various
/ military depOts and ordered under
arms in the suburbs for instant ser
vice.
| Although General Secretary Lowth
of the Railroad Employees Union. de-
clared that the bulk of the union men
/ had obeyed the call to strike and that
about 100000 were idle. the ministry
/ had not lost hope for mediation.
President sydney Buxton, of the
Board of Trade. still believed that q
/ royal commission might bring about
/ means for settlement. 1t is expect
eu that message from King George,
/
to bring about industrial peace. was
given to the ministers.
Traffic Practically Stopped.
| London awoke today to find itself
almost isolated, so far as rail traffic
was concerned, from the rest of Eng
/ land The sudden tie-up OF the rail-
roads had disrupted schedules and
caused complete suspension of freight
and passenger traffic.
The government had succeeded in
] N don
/ before the storm broke. Camps of
soldiers were pitched in public parks
and throughout the suburbs which dot
the districts and the city proper
Early reports from provincial dis
/ trictS, telling OF violence, were taken
/ as a warning of what to expect here
and military orders were issued &C
coTdingly.
a big force was rushed to Worm
wood Scrubs. suburb. to guard the
| huge carriage depOtS there, which the
rioters had threatened TO burn.
Military guards were posted over a
district of two square miles to pre-
vent strikers from placing pickets to
| interfere with railroad passengers.
n chaotic condition prevailed this
/ morning. when the hundreds of thous-
ands of commuters attempted to reach
the city from the various suburbs
/ The lines were blocked for miles with
! cars and the movement of trains from
]
impossible.
/ Strikers Take Railroads i'm Wales.
! + furious rlOting was reported from
/ points in Wales. At Llanelly strikers
| TOOK complete possession of the rail-
roads. The police attempted TO drive
off the strikers and pitched battle
/ eusied in which many were injured
For hours the fighting ragged about
( The railroad passenger and freight
sheds. the police charging again and
| again only TO be repulsed by the
stubborn strikers. who used their wea-
poTs of clubs, stones and broken bot
/ ties with damaging effect. Much prop
crty was destroyed.
FiShSuard, the westernmost rail-
road terminal in Wales. and the frs
I Landing point of the Cunard liners
was isolated
" eish railroad strikers seized all
ths uaCNs running into Fishguard and
Il 1Sed TO allow any trains to pass
oNct them. Soldiers were demanded
TO restore traffic. The Welsh rail
nployes obeyed the strike call and
/ imla diately embarked upon a cam
a..,l Of violence.
Hundreds were injured in the clash
| eS between mObS and the police.
Many civilians fell victims to the
fury of the mob spirit. At Rotterdam.
| N industrial center in Yorkshire a
mob Of strikers stoned signal towers.
tempting to drive the dispatchers
fNil incI posts.
Police guarding the towers gave bat
/ &c to the mob and a serious conflict
| ssGlted. Scores were hurt and sew
4 eral bystanders were so badly wound
/ ed from flying missiles that they may
I die.
The central military depot at AL
dershot was a center of activity today.
| Fifteen thousand soldiers were loaded
on trains during the night and thou
sands more were dispatched today.
! Hundreds of thousands of rounds of
ammunition were dealt out: contracts
made for provisioning the army tenn
pOrarily in the field and trains were
Communicated for transporting the
| forces.
Like Armed Camp.
-Four thousand infantry were sta
! toned in Victoria Park in the White
chapel District to preserve order in
the East End. That section of Lon
| Ion is Inhabited by the working classes
and the authorities took strong pre-
-autions there. Three thousand SOL
| diers are encamped in Regents Park
hree thousand are under arms in
! Hyde Park. Six hundred soldiers are
guarding London Tower. Six hundred
| others We're placed at the disposal of
the postal authorities. 4 detachment
Of Scots Guards are stationed at Clap
has been split up to support the ma
chine guns.
In some cities the employees re-
fused To quit work. At Hull, Dover.
Peterborough. Carlisle and other
southern ports the men We're reluc-
| tant to strike,