Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1891 — RIOTERS SHOT DOWN. [ARTICLE]

RIOTERS SHOT DOWN.

Nine Killed Outright and Fifty or More Wounded. WitberinKFire Poured Into a.Mob of 1200 —Frightful Affair In the Coke -7_. . ~~~ - Regions.’ .. . Sixty-five guards of the Morewood plant, near Mt. Pleasant, Pa., poured two rounds of cartridges into a mob of 1200 riotous strikers oh the morning of the 2d, killing nine Hungarians and Poles, and wounding from forty to fifty others. Some time after 2 o'clock in the morning the guards at the Morewood heard from the standard that a raid was imminent. The few frightened men left at the Standard had plucked up courage enough to repair the wires, and the warning reached the Morewood plant none too soon. As the noisy band of strikers, nownumbering fully 1,200 men, approached that plant, their outcries ceased, their drum corps was silenced, and the ugly crowd gathered in a bunch on the black hillsoverlooking the plant, for a moment's parley before attacking the plant they knew to be well guarded by determined men. There was a hesitancy, but the fact that they wore twenty to one strong encouraged ilie strikers, and they quietly separated, one large detachment advancingon the works by the main road, while' the others scattered over the brows of the hill, and shortly after 3reeloek. at a given signal, all moved-dow n on the, works.—

Th*'night was of inky blackness, but the guard- were apprised of the movements of the attacking party by confused mutterings in a foreign tongue, or subdued orSers from the loaders, Under the orders of Capt. Lour the sixty-five guards stood quietly in line liefore the works, their Winchesters peacefully “at rest." Suddenly a break was made by the advancing mob toward the fences of the company. A stern order to halt was given, but the only attention it received was the firing of three shots by member- of th" mob. which whistled warning!? elose—-to the. -heads of tkeimpassive guards, each one of whom was well drilled and wavsimpty there to obey orders. After the shots were fired by the striker-they turned and made a dash toward the stables of the company. Without firing a shot the guards were ordered to follow, and the command was again given to halt. They only retreated further down the road, am! answered theorder with yells and threats. Again was the command given, and again came the mocking answer, and the order to tire was given. The volleys from the Winchesters were well directed, and but a few rounds were necessary to drive the frighteiied rioters back into the hills, where hundredsof their fellow-strikers had gathered in anticipation of assisting in the raid, but not in a battle with such a determined band of regulars. The firing on both sides continued hardly three minutes. The volleys from the guards had terrible effect on the compact mass of strikers, while the latter made an attempt to return the fire with what few weapons they possessed, but without effect. The dead were left lying in the road, while the wounded, estimated at between forty and fifty, were either assisted or bodily carried away into the hills by t heir fellows.

All day 011 the 2nd the entire coke regions presented scenes of the wildest excitement. The foreign element, especially, has been driven frantic by the woeful re-sult-to the anticipated raid on the Frick works at Morewood. Always turbulent, sullen and ready for desperate measures, they are not one whit cowed by the death of several of their number, which they sedulously concealed in their homes those of their number who were wounded, many no doubt unto death. Anathemas loud and deep are heard on every side. Word was sent by secret meansall over the region that their comrades were tired upon and mowed down by the guards, and deadly vengeance on each and every member of " tKOSnd^rsixtY'live'mmnTwsbeen“swornto. This all comes from the foreign element All the men killed bore foreign names, and it is a fact that not one of them was a naturalized citizen of this country,. It is also supposed the many wounded were also foreign, and this explains the deep resentment expressed in every foreign face in the regions. The Slavs and Hungarians were almost fearless,the deputies say; notone was struck in the back, but all bore marks of bullets in the face, indicating that they died fighting with what poor weapons they possessed. Reports from all over the region indicate a fearfully dangerous and excited condition of affairs, and the word that the military was soon to bo on guard was received by the law-abiding labor officials and coke operators alike with the liveliest evidence of satisfaction.

At Leisenrtng,-Constable Campbell attempted to arrest John Lushka, a Russian, for complicity in the bomb-throwing that occurred there Monday. Lushka fiercely resisted and called out in his native tongue for aid. A fellow countryman who wason the outside of the office where Lushka had been trapped, gave the alarm, and inafew minutes there .was a howling mob of foreigners surrounding the place/ Lushka leaped through the office window, carrying with him g pair of handcuffs. Several shots were fired after him, bnt he escaped. To-night the warrant was placed in the hands of Sheriff McCormick, and with a large posse of men he has startedfor Leisenring to make the arrest. Lushka and his companions are armed, and a fight wilj certainly follow unless the man is surprised. Labor officials deny the men at Morewood were killed for good causes, and warrmts have been issued for the deputies' on the charge of murder, with General Manager Lynch, of the Frick, company, and Superintendent Ramsey, of the MorewooiTplahVcharged as accessories before" the fact. A large number of the deputies have already been arrested, and labor leaders say they will not rest until they are taken care of. The officers had a great deal of trouble in finding a justice of the peace who was willing to issue warrants for the arrest of the deputies. Muster

'Workman Peter W. Wise had the warrant! leaned, and was refused by both Justici Williams and another justice of this place, place. Wise then roundly denounced th< refusals, stated the shooting was coldblood and premeditated murder, and that the worklugmen could receive no justice io this country. He was more successful in the office of 'Squire McCaleb, who, aftei some talk, consented to issue warrants and have them served on Captain Loar and al' the deputies under his command who were concerned in the shooting at the Morewood plant. Thursday night the streets at Mount Pleasant and the roads nearing the works at Morewood were crowded with strikers. There was an ugly crowd numbering at least 400 about the residence of Capt. Loar all day, and at night the number ran into thousands. Loar was the leader of the guards who Cred on the men, and the mob stands ready to tear his house down ovei his head. Fortunately for the gentleman. Loar has disappeared. He left the city soon after the shooting at Morewood, and has not been seen since. Loar is the man who was burned in efligy recently, and it is conceded his departure was xfell rd vised, if not brave. The Governor has called out the militia. International complications may arise.