CHAPTER XV.
Affairs in Philadelphia.
The Call for Troops—Gathering the Militia—Anxious Days—Governor Hartranft and Mayor Stokely—A Street Riot—Dispersing a Meeting—Colonel Thomas A. Scott and the Locomotive Engineers—Philadelphia a Nicer Place than Pittsburgh.
The call for the militia to go to Pittsburgh created the first ripple of excitement in the metropolis of Pennsylvania. There were a number of largely attended meetings held, but these did not serve to create any very serious apprehensions in the public mind. Meanwhile the strikes taking place all over the country became the topic of conversation, and within a few days the country was in a feverish state of mind. Philadelphia shared in all this. The large number of railroad men in the city, their evident sympathy with the strikers, the doubt as to what direction the movement might take, conspired to arouse the citizens of Philadelphia to a realizing sense of the magnitude of the dangers which threatened their city no less than the entire Union. In Philadelphia, as elsewhere, the Commune began to raise its Gorgon head to the terror of all law-abiding citizens. There were tumultuous gatherings and one or two lives lost and many persons wounded before the difficulty was ended in Philadelphia.
During the evening of July 23d, over three thousand people assembled around the Pennsylvania Railroad depot, where Colonel Thomas A. Scott, Mayor Stokely, and a number of railroad officials were in consultation. On the arrival of a train, or the occurrence of the slightest incident which could furnish a pretence for excitement, the crowd would rush across the open space in front of the depot, and throng the waiting room almost to suffocation. The saloons in the vicinity did a thriving business, and a number of drunken men were in the street.
At five o’clock the crowd in the depot had increased to such an extent that the Mayor and Chief of Police were obliged to call out the reserve police, and clear the place of all idlers. The Mayor also drove around the neighborhood of the depot, dispersing the crowds that were gathering on the street corners and in vacant lots.
The Mayor declared he would not put a musket into the hands of his police until an actual necessity should arise for his so doing. At the depot, Colonel Thomas A. Scott received a despatch concerning the Governor of Pennsylvania, as follows:
“Governor Hartranft is en-route for Pennsylvania, and has telegraphed ahead, ordering out every militia regiment in the State. He has also telegraphed to the President of the United States, calling for troops, and suggesting the propriety of a call for volunteers.”
The Mayor issued the following proclamation:
Whereas, Violence, tumult, and riot exist in various portions of this commonwealth, to the great injury of domestic industry and trade, and to the discredit of American institutions and form of government, the perfection of which was last year celebrated in this city of the Republic’s birth; and
Whereas, It is of the highest importance that the great name which Philadelphia has made for herself among the nations of the earth during the centennial year shall be spared the horrible scenes enacted in our sister cities,
Now, therefore, I, William S. Stokely, in the name of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and by virtue of the authority vested in me by law, do appeal to all citizens of every occupation and calling to render it unnecessary that in the performance of my duty I should be called upon to suppress any outbreak and violence, which I assuredly will do if the occasion requires it, and hand over the offenders to condign punishment; and I make this appeal in the firm belief that the citizens of Philadelphia appreciate, as I do, the importance of maintaining peace and good will among all classes of society, and I hereby pledge myself to give a patient hearing and impartial justice, as I best know how, to all persons who desire it. Let all the people resume and continue their lawful occupations, and avoid assembling and organizing together for discussion or otherwise at the present time. This is the surest and best means of preserving the honor and fair name of the City of Brotherly Love.
At the Pennsylvania depot on Saturday, a colored regiment presented itself for transportation to Baltimore. After occupying a number of cars with the troops, the hour arrived for the departure of the train. The engineer refused to move the train. Mr. Lockhart, who was in charge of the train, tried to persuade him, but in vain. He said he would take any number of white men, but the company was foolish to attempt to forward negroes, who would certainly be killed on sight in Baltimore, and he did not propose to be killed with them. Mr. Lockhart unloaded the colored troops.
In the Pennsylvania Railroad yard at West Philadelphia, Monday evening, while one of the shifting engines was preparing to move an oil car, the engineer was compelled by a crowd of unknown men to detach his engine, and allow the cars to remain. This was the first indication of any interference with the Railroad Company at Philadelphia.
At a little after midnight, July 24th, 1877, about four hundred troops of the regular army from Washington, arrived at the West Philadelphia depot, half of whom were immediately posted on the railroad company’s grounds, in the vicinity of the roundhouse, while the remainder were taken to the City Armory at Broad and Race streets. The men were all provided with blankets, haversacks, and canteens, and were prepared for any service, however long or arduous. The detachment was what was known as the Tenth Regiment of Artillery, Colonel Franks commanding.
When the troops arrived and marched out of the depot there was a general gathering of officials and citizens, all of whom manifested a feeling of relief and security. From an early hour in the morning until midnight their arrival was eagerly looked for, and when they made their appearance the universal sentiment was that no demonstration could possibly be made by the strikers that would not be immediately put down.
Peace reigned supreme, and no disturbance occurred that night. Such a strong force of policemen, marines, and soldiers were on duty that it seemed hardly possible for the strikers to attempt the commission of any outrage. The utmost vigilance was exercised by all the officials, both day and night, and every night after the commencement of the troubles, Colonel Thomas A. Scott slept at the depot. Mayor Stokely was present at the depot, closely watching every movement, and issuing orders for any emergency that might arise. A number of the regulars were conducted to the old stock yards at Belmont and Lancaster avenues, where they encamped.
At a meeting of the Philadelphia Commercial Exchange, on the 25th of July, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted:
Whereas, The true interests of the country and the welfare of its citizens depend wholly upon their respect for and obedience to the laws; and
Whereas, There are large mobs assembled in various places who have been, and are now engaged, in disregard of the same, in destroying both life and property, on the security of both of which all labor necessarily depends; and
Whereas, These mobs have obtained such control of the avenues of transportation as to suspend the operating of the same, therefore restricting our commerce, and leaving our steamers laying idle at our wharves, to the very serious prejudice, not only to ourselves as merchants, and to our correspondents, but also to our respective employes, by depriving them of the necessary labor by which they earn their livelihood; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to use such force by the increase of the military forces of the nation, if necessary, not only to suppress all unlawful violence, but also to secure protection against any recurrence of the same.
Resolved, That the earnest thanks of this association be tendered to the President of the United States for what he has done.
Similar resolutions were also adopted by the Maritime Exchange and Board of Trade.
One of the saddest incidents of the strike was witnessed at Philadelphia on the 25th, upon the arrival at the depot of four dead bodies of soldiers, of the First Militia Regiment, killed in Pittsburgh. Among the four was the body of Lieutenant J. Dorsey Ash, of the Keystone Battery. When the train stopped, there stepped from one of the rear cars a lady, with bowed head and grief-stricken face, supported by a gentleman, who conducted her tenderly through the depot to a carriage standing at the entrance. That lady was the widow of Lieutenant Ash.
The Philadelphia police, in breaking up a meeting at the corner of Berks and South streets, on the night of the 26th, were stoned by a crowd of about twenty-five hundred men, and had several shots fired at them. A desperate fight ensued, and the police say that they fired in the air; but when the affair was over, the body of a boy, about seventeen years old, was found dead, with a bullet in his head. Several of the police were injured by flying missiles.
Governor Hartranft, and his entire staff, started from the West Philadelphia Station at two o’clock in the afternoon of the 26th, bound West. Orders had been previously issued for the assembling of all the militia remaining in Philadelphia, at the armory, at the corner of Broad and Race streets, at one P. M., to proceed to West Philadelphia, and on the same train with the Governor, detachments of the Keystone Battery, State Fencibles, and the Second, First and Sixth Regiments, took passage for the vicinity of Pittsburgh. The authorities were reticent about the movements of the military, but every one knew they were destined for Blairsville, where the main body of the State troops were stationed.
The Eleventh Regiment, made up of men from Chester, Westchester, Media and other points in that vicinity, joined the detachments from Philadelphia at Paoli. Batteries K and M of the Second Artillery, and Battery I of the Fourth, with Companies of Engineers from Baltimore, arrived at the Philadelphia station, and also proceeded up the road. There was no excitement or stir about the station, and trains to New York were running regularly.
A telegram was received on the 27th, by General Selfridge from Governor Hartranft stating that the latter would accept a regiment of the Grand Army of the Republic men at once. The different posts were organizing companies, and the regimental organization was afterwards effected. The command was fully one thousand men, all veterans.
Feeling that the city was sufficiently protected by regular troops, General Brannan, by direction of General Hancock, forwarded orders to the commander of a body of soldiers, expected at Philadelphia from Niagara, to stop at New York, to be on hand in case of any uprising in that city.
Before leaving Philadelphia, the evening of the 26th, Governor Hartranft issued the following order to the National Guards of that State:
1. During the existing emergency, in all cases, troops are to be moved in compact bodies, and under no circumstances is firing to be permitted except by order of the officer in immediate command.
2. All other means of quelling riot and restoring order having first been exhausted, the officer commanding troops shall notify rioters that they will be fired upon unless they disperse. The order to fire will then be deliberately given, and every soldier will be expected to fire with effect. Firing will continue until the mob disappears.
3. Officers in command of troops will report to their headquarters the names of all citizens who have attempted or may attempt to dissuade members of the National Guard from the discharge of their duty. All such persons should be arrested if possible.
4. Headquarters after two o’clock, P. M., to-day, will be in a special car on the Pennsylvania Railroad. All communications will be addressed accordingly.
5. General officers will publish these orders, not only to their troops, but to the public generally.
Colonel Thomas A. Scott having been taunted for his failure to go to Pittsburgh to stay the strike, thereby preventing bloodshed and destruction, Mr. P. M. Arthur, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, being his tormentor, he paused in his duty of watching movements on the great highway which he controls, to answer the innuendoes of the Locomotive Engineer, Arthur.
He wrote from Philadelphia as follows to the New York Herald newspaper, on the 25th of July:
“I see an account of an interview had with P. M. Arthur, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, in which he states that ‘if Thomas A. Scott had gone himself to Pittsburgh, bloodshed and riot would have been averted. Whenever the officers of a road have met the Brotherhood and have evinced a disposition to treat with us, we have had no strike; it is only whenever they have refused to arbitrate with us that we have had a strike as the only means of redress.’
“In response to this permit me to say that this whole statement is most unfair to me and to the Company. The first intimation of this strike was given me after I had retired for the night at a point on the Delaware river, twenty miles from Philadelphia, and the strike was inaugurated without any attempt to have a conference with the officers of the Company. So much was this the case that the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh division had started East with his family, and was on his way east of Altoona, when the strike took place, and the trains of the Company were stopped. He immediately came to the office in West Philadelphia about midnight, and there found that the Mayor of Pittsburgh and the Sheriff of the county were endeavoring to restore law and order. They had found themselves unable to do so, and were forced to make an appeal to the Governor for military aid. At all times, and under all circumstances, when the men in the service of our Company have come to meet the officers of the road for conference they have been promptly and courteously met.
“It is not more than a month since a large delegation of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers had a conference with me at the office in this city, where everything pertaining to the question of reduction was fully discussed, the result of which was that the men, representing, as they stated to me, the engineers and firemen, addressed me a letter stating that the reason given for the reduction, caused by the great depression of the business of the country, was entirely satisfactory to them, and that they would stand thoroughly and firmly by the Company. Neither this Company nor its officers are in any way responsible for the combinations that have been made against the leading business interests of the country, which have resulted in strikes, riots and destruction to life and property, and the entire suspension of all the material interests of the country by taking possession of the trunk lines of railway and preventing the movement of persons and property. It is certainly well developed now that not five per cent. of the men engaged in these strikes and combinations have ever had anything to do with the railway service of this Company, including the members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, who will continue to stand firmly by the Company and by the best interests of the country, without regard to the influences brought to bear upon them from any source.