Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1887 — AN AWFUL RETRIBUTION. [ARTICLE]

AN AWFUL RETRIBUTION.

A Story or the Great Penn Glyn Strike.

BY W. H. S. ATKINSON.

Travelers over the Pennsylvania Railroad will, have noticed in the southwestern part of the great State, from which that important line takes its name, many centers of life and activity. One of these hives of industry is Penn Glyn^—consisting entirely of the mines, furnaces, and mills, with their appurtenances, owned ayd operated by the Penn Glyn Coal and Iron Company. A huge concern it is, with its two thousand employes, its railroads, coal lnim-s, coke ovens, blast furnaces, and rolling mills. So huge that when the anarchist and the piofessional m-Vr-do-well see the ears and other property marke t with the well-known initials —P. (i. C. I. C.—they talk about “thnt bloated monopoly,” and •that giant curse, which is grinding down the working man and depriving, him of his

rights.” lint it is seldom that words of discontent are heard from the lips of those thousands whose bread Imostly wel|-buttered ) comes to them as a result of work, plentiful and profitable, furnished by the great company. Indeed only once in,the history of the concern has serious grumbling ever been heard at Penn Glyn. For twelve years, Sundays only excepted, had coal been carried day after day, hundreds of tons, from the shaft of the deep coni mine; for twelve years passengers on the railroad had at night gazed from the car windows upon the weird light shed from fifty cbke ovens; for twelve years darkness had l>een make bright as noonday by the lurid glare from huge furnaces, while, all and every day, Pandemonium let loose would huxfi- been _Aß_JUQlhing to the "deafening noise caused by the incessant hum of mighty machinery mingled with the strokes of giant hammers failing upon monster anvils. Put there was a day when the twelve years of noise and hustle came to an end; When the throbbing machinery was brought to a standstill, and when the dense clouds of smoke, which had hung for so ]ong over the valley, cleared away; a day' when a strange and unwelcome , stillness reigned over the great works , of_ the Penn Glyn Coal and Iron Company. There was a strike. 11. i It was the first serious trouble between the company and it s employes. Old John Lauderdale, the President and general manager, had always, hitherto, bean able to adjust all labor difficulties in a manner which satisfied ibo men and reflected credit upon the company, lint for more than a year another influence had been brought to bear upon John Lauderdale. AVith iu-£ creased age and extended duties, he had taken to himself, as private secretary and confidential right-hand man, his nephew, Walter Searle. Himself an old bachelor, Mr. Lauderdale proposed to make young Searle his heir; and, as the bnlk of his fortune was invested in! the Penh Glyn Company, he wished; to give Searle an opportunity of gaining some experience in managing those interests which would some day. be his Fiom the outset we may as well say that Walter Searle. though young, was a bad man—a selfish man. Indeed all his badness could have been easily traced to his Utter selfishness; to advance bis own interests he wonid stop at nothing, while sympathy was a sentiment wholly strange to Walter Searle.

The present disagreement was over a matter which a little friendly, common - sense talk between President Lauderdale and the workmen's committee could have ven - easily adjusted. But, “.Vo," said Searle to his uncle, “don’t give way to them a hair's breadth; they've had their own way so longwthey posi ivejy don't know when they are well off. Let me talk to them. I'll teach them who is running this concern, and if they don’t like oar way let them go elsewhere—or stay here and try if /Narration isa better firm to'work for than the Penn Glyn Com-" „ - • V. pauy. It was small wounder that the workmen cordially hated Walter Searle, . in. . In a. comfortable sitting-room, wel! fnmished not only with furniture bnt with tier above tier of good books and with two or three choice pictures—sat a man who v«s a man, Paul Dayton, Dayton was the superintendent of the Penn Glyn Company's coal mine, and, while he was implicitly trusted by Mr. Lauderdale and the directors, enjoyed the respect and confidence, not only of the mine men, but of all the employes at Penn Glyn.

Onee there had been a slide in a distant part of the mine. One after another the men poured out of the shaft to escape farther danger. When the soil of names was called, “Who's missing?" shouted Paul Dayton. “No one but little Charlie Rowe. pair laddie.” answered a begrimed Yorkshire gang foreman. Charlie was a small boy not more than 15 years old. “Well,” said Paul. "Charlie Rowe is as good as any other man or boy around this mine, and we’ll have Charlie out alive, if such a thing can be. I’m going down, boys; who's coming along?” Down went a dozen pairs of brawny arms forgot how their superintendent w orked all that day and night—never failed to remember how cheery he was as he led the way with pick and shovel for nineteen hours, until a passage was cleared through the great slide of coal. And little Bowe never forgot, either, who It w«a that first reached him and with a kindly "Come along, little un,” earned him through the mine and up the shaft, and dually laid him on his bed in the Widow Rowe’s cottage. Paul Dayton wasn't often seen at church, where Walter Searle carried the collection plate, bat somehow “the boys” at Penn . ■ .. - t • i

Glyn bad an idea that Paul was a pretty good Christian, which was more than they felt able lo say of Mr. Searle. Probably they had a dim recollection of Him who wan the founder of Christianity on one occasion condensing the Decalogue into two simple commandments, one of which rends: “Tbou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.” '» r ■ It was early evening, and the strike had been in progress ’three or four weeks. I’pon a writing table lay a daintily-written note. Paul bad read it several times, but be was still engaged in couuing its con-t tents. There was nothing much in it, either. Only this; 1 *Wkpxksdat. *r*rT.;-I will see yon to-lnorrow at H o'clock. togur Tbaisnak?-y AVhnt puzzled Fnul was that the word to-tnofrohi had l>eep written over some word which had been erased. Scanning it Closely he could tell that it bad originally read to-night. AVhy, then, had the writer changed it? He had been Wailing for this note since Sunday; this was Wednesday; he bad asked if he could call on Wednesday for an answer to an important Question, and whv was be put off until Thursday? “Well, doubtless,” thought he, “Lilian bad her own reasons for postponing my call until to-morrow. I suppose I must wait. 1 never knew before that impatience was a fault of mine.” Paul Payton loved Lilian AVamer and So did —AValter Searle. IV. AY alter Searle was ambitions, and ho was nl-o in love. The grand propelling power of liis ambition wan self;.thu mainspring of his love was also self.

Nearly a month had elapsed, and starvation.had not yet sent buck the Ineu to his terms and to work. The Jstrikers were losing their wages, but the company was also losing a large nmonnt of money daily, and President Lauderdale began to talk about a compromise. If snch a thing should come to pass it would not suit Mr. Senile's selfish ambition. For months be bad fried to advance in Miss AVarner’s good graces but had failed, so far, only.to see his rival—and that rival an ordinary employe of the company—growing steadily in that lady’s favor and esteem. Therefore, what Mr. Searle wished to do —what he proposed to do, if it could be done—was to “down” his uncle nnd Paul Dayton. AVith the one deposed and the other disgraced, he thought he could see his way to become master of the Penn Glyn Works and of Lilian Warner at one anil the same time. So he set his selfish, devilish brain to work. One afternoon AValter Searle, riding his horse, met a lad—Charlie Howe, grown two inches taller and tw o years older since Paul Dayton saved his life—carrying a note. Searle guessed, and guessed rightly, who the note was from and whose address it bore. . **. — '~y~; -

Here was an opportunity to commence some mischief, “llowe,” said he, “I was just coming for you. I want a trusty lad to go to Pittsburgh. If you hurry you can make the 3 o’clock train and be back before midnight.” Seeing the lad hesitate, he went on: “You needn’t be afraid; the men won’t object to your doing an errand of this kind, and, besides, it may help us to settle this strike business. I’ll see that your note is delivered.” Reluctantly the lad gave up the note, took his fresh orders from Searle and departed. Walter Searle hurried to his -private office, locked the door, and busied himself with an eraser as well as pen aud ink. The eraser will explain the altered word in Miss Warner’s note to Paul Dayton, and the pen aud ink will account for a letter received..by that gentleman one hour after the altered "note was delivered. And this is what was written therein; “•Wednesday. "Paul Payton. Esq. "I>kui Slit; —Youknow your wav to the library in Mr. Lauderdale's house. Will you oblige me by going there at 10o’clock to-night?" If I am. not there in time, wait until I come. I expect news from Pittsburgh and I want to talk it oyer with you. Walk right into tile library ; you will find the door unfastened. “As I do not wish to speak about this business to my uncle until 1 have consulted you, 1 shall say nothing to any one at the house about expecting you to-night. Consequently, if lights are not in the library do not lie surprised; "Yours truly, « “Walter Searle.” As Searle sealed Ibis letter ha muttered to himself: “Damn it! I’ll play for a high stake. It’s a big game, but I’ll see it through, win or lose^—and I think I shall win.” Taking from a locked drawer two pistols, one a tiny revolver with a noiseless action, and the other an ordinary Colt’s revolver, but of thesamt hare as the small* r in upon, and engraved with the initials “P. D.,” he left the office. v. “A queer letter, that,” remarked Paul Dayton to himself when he perused Searle's communication, “and a queer man, too, who wrpte its- -I never liked him and never shall. However, anything to try and bring this strike to an end. I'll go and hear what he has to say.” Now, for a man who was playing for 6ueh very high stakes, Walter Searle was throw-, ing’dowu his cards very carelessly. VI. The Inrge illuminated clock over the offices of the Penn Glyn Coal and Iron Company showed ten minutes after 10 o’clock when a Sheriff’s officer and a doctor were notified that President Lauderdale was dead or dying. These hurried to Mr. Lauderdale's residence. accompanied by such of the workmen as were hanging around in the neighborhood of the works. At the entrance to the house was Walter Searle. After directing the doctor to his uncle's room he jghithied to the doorway, and spoke to the half-dozen of men there assembled.

"Men,” he said, “I am afraid my uncle is dead, and there has doubtless been foul play. I think I can depend upon you to assist the officer in trying to find the guilty parties.” The officer and some of the men proceeded to search the house, and almost the first room' they entered was the library, where.seated half asleep, was Paul Day toil! - * * * ' * w * * Now, Searle kneV that Dayton was a popular man, but he thought that his uncle was even more so. He knew that the men based their hopes for a speedy settlement of the strike upon Mr. Lauderdale, and anticipated that, w hen they should discover in Dayton the probable assassin of their employer, their indignation would be so great as to create a strong .and hard feeling against Paul. In his mind he had almost pictured a lynching. Rut so far his plans had failed. In the first place only a very small number of the workmen j}iad gathered about the house upon hearing the news; while, in the second place. 4beße few stood sorrowfully silent as they watched the officer arrest Pan! Davtnn —What Walter Searle proposed to suggest aa the motive for such a crime on the part -of Dayton we shall shortly learn. Per the present, Mr. Lauderdale w r ;is certainly dead —killed by a pistol shot—and Paul Dayton was under .arrest for murder. vn. s. i 2 A dense crowd of curious and excited men and women filled the small court-room in Penn Glyn village on the morning when Paul Dayton was brought up for examination before the justice. Of course, \Valter Searle gave the principal evidence. In addition to the fact of finding Dayton in the library of the murdered man's bouse and the discovery of

Dayton’* piaUdin the hallway, Searle gave to the court, in highly-colored language, an account of a fierce quarrel which had taken plnco between Dayton and the deceased on the evening prior to the assassination. • - r | The officer, of course, confirmed the ; statements regarding the finding of the I pistol and the arrest of Dayton, and a clerk in the company's office corroborated ; Searle’s story of the quarrel. Then Paul Dayton was allowed to speak. He admitted n slight dispute with the 'late President on some question in regard j to a proposed settlement of the strike, but, I so far from it havlng'been a bitter quarrel, jjflr, Lauderdale and him«elf had parted the best of friends. Paul also stated that the j pistol bonring his initinls was an old one | I irhirh ratthl hot be fired, and had been j useless for years. How it had been taken i ! from bis room be could not say. Then he J handed to the clerk of j i the Court two s letters which “His : j Honor” ordered to be read. AVe know the j i contents of those letters. One was self ex- i I plnnaloiy, end Paul called the Court’s at- ! j tention to the altered word in the note from j j Miss AA’arner., Just hero, a lady, Lilian AVamer her- j self, asked to be sworn. She said: “Your ] j Honor, I was just deliberating in my own j mind I could, or, rather., should j say anything which might possibly help w;i friend, Mr. Dayton. What I van go- i ing to say, is this; Mr. Searle has asked i me to marry himTiud I have refused him. Mr. Dayton has also asked me to be his wife, and I had decided to give him such an aaswet as he would desire on the very ! night when this sad affair occurred. For j this reason I think Mr. Searle’s evidence is j prejudiced. Tfie seriousness of this case must be my excuse for saying so much. “After what I have just heard, I can add more. I wrote in my note to Mr. DavtoD, ‘I will see you to-ni()hl.' . Perhaps Your Honor can ascertain who altered it to read to-morroir, and why it was so altered,” “AVho carried this note?” asked the Court. “The boy, Charlie Rowe.” Here Miss AVarner resumed her seat. Charlie Rowe was found and put upon the stand. He tpld how he had been entrusted with a note for Mr. Dayton, and how he had been met by Mr. Searle, who hurriedly sent him to Pittsburgh, promising to safely deliver the letter to Mr. Dayton. The excitement, now added to anger; of the spectators ixutlie court-room was growing .warm, and it rose to fever heat when th 6 justice was seen to give some private instructions to an officer. It was whispered from gar to ear that Searle was to be placed under arrest, and, indeed, such were the orders given by the Court. Meanwhile, another witness was examined, the lad who received Miss "Warner’s not# from Searle, for delivery to Paul Payton, and, before he had finished speaking, an officer arrived with a noiseless action Pistol found in a bureau drawer in Mr. Searle’s bedroom. The two pistols were placed side by side; That found in Searle’s room appeared to have been recently discharged. Paul Dayton’s pistol proved to be, as he had said, utterly useless as a weapon. This was all the evidence. The officer who had gone to arrest Searle now returned to the Court with the information that his man could not be found. Forthwith the Court was adjourned, but not until Paul wak discharged and a warrant issued for the arrest of Searle. * * * * * * *

The workmen were now terribly excited, their feelings being divided between joy at the vindication of their favorite, and an inordinate desire to wreak vengeance upon Searle. : It was now growing dark, and a band of forty or fifty men and boys, become somewhat reckless by the long strike aud by a deeply-rooted hatred for him who had brought that strike about, set out to find Searle. . ,» „ 4 VIII. As we have already said, seeing that Searle was pldying for such high stakes, he played his cards very carelessly. Perhaps this was partly owing to the fact that his schemes were wild and hurriedfy concocted, and partly on account of the blindness of his selfish ambition in one direction, and hatred of his rival in another. When he heard those two letters read in the court-room he began to think that the chances were in favor of his losing the game, and he cursed himself for a fool. He quietly slipped out of the court-room aud made for the office. Here he secured what money and valuables he could gather together, and was preparing to leave when he saw the officer coming. He had sent his stenographer out upon some excuse and was alone in the office. At first he thought he was cornered, bnt glancing around he noticed the door of the huge iron safe standing ajar. Quick as thought he stepped into the safe and closed the door after him. The safe had a combination lock, and when tiiectoor was shut, no one, without trying it, could tell whether or not it was fastened. As Searle supposed, the officer did not try the safe, never thinking, probably, that a man would hide in such a place. Searle, however, was resolved to' give the officer plenty of time to leave, and, although sadjy in need of fresh air, stayed in his hiding place. The clerk returned, and, seeing no one in the office, prepared to leave for home. As his custom was, the last thing he did was to give the ' combination lock a twirl, and Searle was locked in.

It was quite dark w hen the angry group of workmen, searching for Searle. reached the office. They burst open the door and ransacked the place. One man found Searle’s hat and overcoat—the same which he had worn in the court-room that morning—but they could not discover Searle. The men’s anger was increasing, with failure to find their prey. “Damn him,” said one, “he mustbe round here somewhere.” “The sneaking rat has likely enongh crawled iiito some hole, known only to himself,”*said another, “Let’s try a little fire and burn him out,” cried a third. That noisy crowd was very dry and dangerous fuel into which to throw the smallest spark. No sooner were' {hose last words uttered than "torif a dozen pairs of hands had piled up wood and shavings, well with coal oil, in two or three—parts of —the building. In ten minutes the offices of the Penn Glyn Iron and Coal Company were enveloped in a sweeping blaze of fire. « —* * * * »

The next morning the safe was broken open by the book-keeper, and the first sight which met his eyes was the body of WalteF Searle, literally rda-stcd. Whether he was suffocated or scorched to death will never be known. Down at Penn .Glyn it is popularly believed that he was bnmed, for any of the old hands will tell yon the story of “Searle, the murderer, who was roasted to death in the safe.’* * * * • » * * * That was the end of the only strike ever known as Penn Glyn. If yott are ever down in the valley and would like to make the acquaintance of dnr friend, Paul Dayton, (and his charming wife,) just alight from the cars at Penn Glyn station and ask for the General Manager. ' iouND to be bounced—A ball.