New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-07-13

of reinforcing the ninety-four already
there, smuggling them onto the roads
property some night at time which
is being carefully guarded, The other
is the presence of an army of !. w. w.
agitators am ong the strikers, estimated
in conservative quarters as numbering
at least 500, The activities of these
radicals among the 1900 striking shop
men concerned are ceaseless.
Radical Activities Continue
"This sitting by and doing nothing
is not getting you anywhere" they tell
the strikers. "Direct action-that's the
way to win a strike Hear about the
shooting over at Venice last night
The railroad guards shot and killed
twelve men. but they're keeping it
quiet and the capitalistic press won't
say anything about IT,"
Practically all the shopmen, con
servatives and radicals, unite in re-
senting the presence Of the soldiers.
I'm afraid the Reds are going to
stir up trouble if this situation lasts
long enough" said one carman who
was drawn from picket line this
afternoon. Nearby four other pickets
were playing ball, and others Of tho
line were engaged in An almost fra
ternally friendly conversation with
three sentrics. one of whom had aban.
doned his rife to the care of fence
post ten feet away.
Most of the shopmen." the carman
continued, "are not radicals and arc
opposed to the sort of stuff they hand
out. But the feeling aroused by the
strike has been bitter, and it's grown
more so since the troops came. and
so the Reds are doing rushing bust
ness. OF course, there are many of
us who are against them and their
methods, both for the sake of the
union and the town, but all we can do
is keep our mouths shut
Workers Resent Soldiers Presence
We're all against the soldiers being
here. though. They're lot of kids and
apt to go wild at just the time thew
shouldn't. Besides, there was no rea-
son for bringing them here, not even
INST fight. What happened was that pri-
vate armed guards Of the company
fired one afternoon on a COMMITTEES OF
strikers going with their hands up to
road said there was a lot of trouble in
Bloomington and yelled for troops"
The Atoms opinion Of the necessity
for troops is, of course, somewhat diff
ferent. 1t declares that it must keep
its trains running, that to do so opera
ton of it's shops must be maintained
and that the only way this can be done
is to hold soldiers on the job to pro-
tect the company's property and the
non-union workers.
AS for the rest Of Bloomington, opin-
ion is divided but with most Of it
leaning heavily either toward the cause
of the strikers or against the presence
of the Guardsmen. Merchants, bankers
and business men, however, are not
unhappy over the troops being here
although no one wants to be quoted
along that line. The main point about
the situation as it stands tonight is
that while it is outwardly calm it is
still dangerous.
Numerous wild reports, circulated
throughout Bloomington to-day, were,
upon investigation, found to be false
One of these was that the strikers had
obtained 8 machine gun and implanted
it near the shops, ready to fire on the
troops. Another was that they had
planned last night to form mob and
seize the Mclean County court house,
following which, the story had it,
Mayor Jones was to have been "run
out of town." because of his failure to
ask for the recall of the troops. Not
vestige of truth supporting either
narrative was 6iScovered