Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1894 — STRIKERS SHOT DEAD. [ARTICLE]

STRIKERS SHOT DEAD.

Mob of Coke-Workers at Lemont, Fa«, Fight with Deputies. The bloody and riotous scenes of a few weeks ago are being repeated throughout the coke region, and terror reigns on every hand. A fierce battle occurred Sunday forenoon between deputies and strikers at the Lemont mines of the McClure Coke Company, located three miles north of Uniontown, Pa., in which one man was shot dead and three others fatally injured, two of whom have died since and another will die within the next twen-ty-four hours. All are Slavs and strikers from the Lem< nt plant, where the conflict occurred. The battle was one of the fiercest in the history of the strike, about fifty volleys being fired. Tho stikers had assemb ed, nearly 40U in number, and had in their possession four workmen fr. m tho Valley plant of the H. C. Fricke Coke Company, whom they had captured on Saturday afternoon, and were holding prisoners at the company houses. A posse of deputy sheriffs under Matt Allen attempted to rescue the workmen and were fired on by the strikers, who were well armed with revolvers, clubs, and stones. This precipitated the battle, which lasted fifteen minutes. Volley after volley was fiied at a range of only seventy-five feet, and the shots were fired to kill. The deputies were all armed with Winchesters and revolvers, while the strikers were equipped with nearly fifty revolvers. In addition to those killed and wounded by bullets from the Winchesters the clothe?) of the deputies were shot full of holes and several of them were badly injured with stones and clubs.