Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1904 — FIRE AND TUMULT. [ARTICLE]

FIRE AND TUMULT.

Exciting Scenes in and Around tha Chicago Union Stock Yard*. Fire, tumult and picketing contributed to stirring scenes at the Chicago stock yards Wednesday, 'while tha packers, firm in their stand, went ahead slaughtering stock and doing aa mnch other work aa la possible in the circumstances. Convinced of an improvement in the sitnation, so far aa available non-union help and capacity otherwise of the plants ware concerned, the packers had sent word tha night before to shippers to be somewhat more generous with their consignments, and as a result ths receipts of cattle, hoga and sheep were considerably larger than bad been tho rule daring the previous days of the strike. There were more men working, according to the employers, and more work for them to do. Blx hundred additional strike breakers arrived at ths yards during tha day. Ths chief excitement of the day centered about the Swift lard refinery in Exchange avenue, between Packers’ and Ashland avenues. Flames were seen bursting from the fourth floor of this building daring ths morning, end befors long Psckingtown was in a turmoil. The firs was enough of an Incentive to cause a wild rush to Exchange avenue from all directions, and, despits the efforts of ths police. Chief Musham’s apparatus found much difficulty in picking their way to the scene of the blaze without running down pedestrians. The flames raged for about an hoar and did approximately $7,000 damage. Naturally tha rumor early spread that the fire was tha result of firebugs in ths strikers’ ranks, but this report was promptly ran to earth and found to be wholly erroneous. L. F. Swift made a personal investigation and concluded that the burning out of a motor was the cause. Louis Padillas, a boy of Las Padillas, twelve miles south of Albuquerque, N. M., was shot sad probably fatally wounded by a member of a gang of alleged stock thieves who sospseted kiss es having given information against