CHAPTER XXII.
Insolence in Indiana.
The Strike Inaugurated at Fort Wayne—Trackmen and Trainmen—Indianapolis Taken In—Terre Haute Yields to the Popular Uprising—Miners at Brazil—Mayor Cavin of Indianapolis Indisposed to Interfere—Governor Williams not Certain that it is any of his Concern Except to Keep the Peace—United States Judges and Bankrupt Railroad Receivers—Freaks of the Strikers—They Capture a Railroad.
The strikes commencing in the East, moved west with great rapidity. On Saturday, July 21st, at eight o’clock in the evening, the Great Strikes were inaugurated in Indiana, at Fort Wayne, by the employes of the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railway. Freight trains bound west, scheduled to leave at that hour, were made up, when brakemen and firemen refused to go on duty. Engineers and conductors declined to take trains out without any crews, and officials were unable to obtain substitutes, and all freight business on that road was suddenly stopped.
At Indianapolis, on the 22nd, a private meeting was held by train men, in which the Pan Handle men participated, and the time agreed to strike was fixed for twelve o’clock. At the same time information came that the only other available route to Pittsburgh, via the Bee Line, was likely to be closed, the Bee Line men having resolved to strike at once.
At a meeting of railroad officials, held at Indianapolis, Sunday night, at the office of the Chief of Police, it was resolved to do nothing. In case of a general strike deemed inevitable, the proposition was to attempt to run no trains out of the city, thus throwing the onus of stopping all travel and traffic on the strikers, and at the same time avoiding the collision which would ensue, were the strikers’ places to be filled by new men. It was proposed, also, to run all railroad property into the roundhouses at Indianapolis, guard the roundhouses, and then notify the general Government that as soon as sufficient aid was furnished, an attempt would be made to resume trains. This course was thought to be rendered absolutely necessary by the situation. It was openly admitted by the authorities that they could not hope to contend with the possible mob. The police force was insignificant, and the militia companies not to be relied upon. Adjutant General Russ stated that no more than five thousand could be raised in the entire State.
The morning of the 24th of July, affairs at Fort Wayne assumed a more threatening aspect than at any time since the strike began. About eight o’clock, a large force of strikers visited the extensive shops of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, where one thousand men were employed, and insisted that they should be closed up. The men said they would not stop work until they received orders from the officials, but they were threatened with force, and succumbed. The shops were at once closed up and the fires put out. Committees then went east and west on hand-cars, and induced the section and trackmen for a considerable distance to stop work. These men came to the city that afternoon, and added a very ugly element to the crowd already assembled. All the railroad shops and manufactories in the city were compelled to shut down.
During the afternoon the strikers held a large meeting, and made exorbitant demands of the railroad officials, stating that they would not resume work until the force was replaced as it existed prior to June 1, both as to number and rate of wages, and insisted upon the abandonment of all classifications in the rank and pay of engineers. They also adopted an address to the strikers, which was printed and circulated, and had a good effect. The tone of the address was admirable, coming, as it did, from strikers. They said that news from Pittsburgh, and other railroad points, of terrible sacrifices of life and property, was something that should be justly considered by all of them. They were gratified to know that a very small percentage of strikers were taking an active part in the great and terrible destruction of the Company’s property, but that it was mostly done by outsiders, who, by such acts, believed themselves practically expressing the wishes of the strikers. Their friends and co-laborers hereby desired to express the earnest hope, and would give their assistance, in an endeavor by every means to protect the property of the Company in Fort Wayne. They claimed the strikers were perfectly able to bring about a compromise without violence, and to prevent others from destroying the property of the Company. To destroy property would positively not remedy the matter, but, on the contrary, a slow restoration of better times would accomplish much. They were conjured to work justly, honorably, quietly, and thoughtfully, and allow no disinterested person to meddle with the property they had helped to create, and which stood as everlasting monuments to their skill, perserverance, and energy. “Do as you would be done by, and do not act in too great haste.” If the Company had been unjust in its demands upon them, let them settle it as peaceably as they could, without allowing the destruction of railroad institutions, that to a very great extent constituted the future prosperity, life, comfort, and pride of the city.
The City Council of Fort Wayne met in special session in the evening, and called on the strikers to disperse. An extra police force of two hundred men was appointed and sworn in, and all saloons were ordered to close. The city was quiet, but trouble was feared before morning, by reason of the news just received from Pittsburgh, that all efforts to adjust the difficulties had proved futile.
Wabash freight trains left as usual, although their crews had announced that they would not take them out. The employes of that road had decided not to strike, or, at least, wait further developments before taking action.
The employes of the Vandalia Railroad waited upon President McKeen, at Terre Haute, in the forenoon, to get his answer to the proposition made Sunday, for a restoration of their wages, the increase demanded being fifteen per cent. Mr. McKeen responded that he should have to consult his directors and the officials of other lines with which the Vandalia is in alliance, and said he would give a final answer Tuesday morning at nine o’clock. Meanwhile all the freight trains were stopped, and only the passenger traffic continued. The strike began at twelve o’clock, Monday the 23d. Passenger trains were run as usual, but no attempt was made to run freight trains. The strikers included all the shop men. The machine shops at Terre Haute were closed and the fires put out. Between five hundred and six hundred men turned out. They resolved not to drink any intoxicating liquors while on a strike.
The Indianapolis and St. Louis men followed the Vandalia men, and no freight trains were moved after twelve o’clock between Indianapolis and St. Louis. No violence or destruction of property attended these movements.
At Indianapolis, on the 24th, the strikers took possession of the Union Depot and tracks at midnight, and would allow only the postal cars to leave the city. Passenger travel on all the roads running out of that city, without exception, was stopped. The Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette, the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western, and the Indianapolis, Peru and Chicago Roads had not yet joined in the strike, but were prevented from working. Governor Williams and Mayor Cavin both declined to interfere, except to suppress or prevent violence. Trains brought in only a mail car containing passengers, baggage, and express goods. The coaches were left outside.
The Vandalia officials attempted to place a train in the depot, but were compelled to send it back to the yards.
Judge Gresham, of the United States Circuit Court, declared his purpose to assert his authority over the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette, and Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railroads, whose receivers were appointed by him, and to direct the United States Marshal to aid the receivers in moving trains. So far, the strikers had not been opposed, and nothing attempted to test the extent of their determination. The Wabash men, on the Eastern division, struck at noon, Tuesday, July 24th. The freight trains at Lafayette were stopped, but passenger trains were allowed to run.
Judge Gresham notified the strikers at Vincennes, on the 26th, that he had nothing to do with the reduction of their wages, could therefore take no steps in the matter, but that the settlement of the question must be between them and Mr. King, the Receiver of the road. A passenger train arrived on the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railroad from Indianapolis, Wednesday. The demand of the strikers had been acceded to on that road. A passenger coach was attempted to be moved from Vincennes, on the 26th, on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, but the strikers would not allow it. No special action was taken at the strikers’ meeting, but they expressed a determination to stand firmly by their demands. Judge Gresham would not allow the application of the men to be received while the strike lasted, and intimated that the United States Marshal would be ordered to assist the Receiver in running the road, and protecting employes who were willing to go to work.
At Fort Wayne, on the 24th, the employes of Olds & Co.’s factory, numbering nearly four hundred, stopped work and compelled the shops to shut down. They held a meeting in the afternoon, and demanded ten per cent. increase of wages, and expressed a determination not to allow the shops to resume until their terms were complied with.
By the 24th, the strikers were in undisputed control of all railroads at Terre Haute. All trains were stopped on all roads, except the Terre Haute and Evansville, which road had never reduced wages. The United States mail was interfered with. The East and West roads were allowed to run one mail train each way, daily, but they were not permitted to carry passengers. The railroads upon which traffic was stopped, were the Vandalia, the Indianapolis and St. Louis, Illinois Midland, Terre Haute and Danville, and the Terre Haute and Logansport. There was no rioting or violence, and scarcely any drinking. A message was received by the strikers, offering the services of three hundred miners at Brazil, but the offer was declined. The railroad managers seemed disposed to avoid in every possible way, a collision with the strikers, and to await developments elsewhere. President Collett, of the Terre Haute and Danville, who was absent from the city, telegraphed that if the force on his road was dissatisfied, and wished to strike, to take off the trains, close the yards, lock the doors, and nail up the gates. The largest manufacturing establishments were compelled to close for lack of coal. At a meeting of railroad strikers, held at Terre Haute on the 24th, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:
Whereas, The present condition of the country is one demanding the most serious considerations, followed by a prompt and vigorous action of the laboring classes of the population; and
Whereas, An effort is made by a portion, or, perhaps, all of the subsidized agents of capital, to make the impression that the unsettled state of the country is due to the employes of the railroad alone, when in truth and in fact, it is oppressed labor, exercising the inherited right of revolution against the tyrannical exactions of capital; therefore
Resolved, That we now appeal to our fellow citizens of all classes for their sympathy and aid in this, our resistance to the encroachments of capital upon unprotected labor.
Resolved, That we deprecate the spirit of vandalism, in any shape that it may present itself, and that in order to secure all persons and their property from violence, as well as safe protection to ourselves, we recommend the appointment of a committee to take steps to prevent the perpetration of any acts of vandalism, during the prevalence of this strike.
Women and children caught in the blockade at Indianapolis, were permitted to leave in the postal cars. Trains arriving, came in with only the mail car.
The special police appointed by the Mayor, were on duty guarding railroad property. Sheriff Bessly, of Indianapolis, who is a member of the Locomotive Engineer Brotherhood, had the assurance of that order that they would stand by him in protecting property.
In the evening a large meeting of the citizens of Indianapolis assembled in pursuance of the call of the Mayor. The meeting was a very quiet and orderly one. The main subject discussed was how to protect life and property in the crisis upon the city. It was agreed to raise a Committee of Safety, to organize companies of citizens to protect life and property. The next day a large number of companies were organized.
On the night of the 25th of July, a large force of armed men were kept on duty to protect railroad shops and rolling stock, and private manufactories in the city of Fort Wayne. The strikers furnished forces of guards wherever desired, and rendered all protection to property which was necessary. At a late hour, two gangs of drunken tramps, numbering from fifty to one hundred each, gathered at the stock yards and bridge across St. Mary’s river, and made vicious demonstrations and ugly threats. The strikers, upon being apprised of this, sent squads of men on hand-cars to disperse the mob, which they did most effectually, driving all the tramps some distance beyond the city limits. Men were kept going on hand-cars all night to prevent a gathering of any more such assemblages.
During the evening, a large crowd of section and trackmen of the Western divisions of the road, many of them under the influence of liquor, seized a number of hand-cars and entered Columbia City, where the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne Railroad Company was building a new depot, and compelled the men employed therein to stop work. These section hands drank freely, and soon became very riotous. They started for the city on hand-cars, making threats of violence and incendiarism. A force of strikers learning of the threatened invasion, took an engine and coach and went out and met the mob. The strikers were well armed, and they compelled the drunken rabble to turn back and abandon their intended invasion of Fort Wayne. Strikers in this, as in other instances, acted on the side of good order, and saved the city of Fort Wayne from serious dangers which menaced it.
Passenger trains were still running on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, and had not been molested. Wednesday night, the strikers notified all their number who desired to come from Crestline to Fort Wayne to get on the passenger train, and if the conductor insisted upon collecting fare, they were instructed to take possession of the train and run it to suit themselves. Their fare was kindly remitted however, by the conductor, and all difficulty was thus obviated.
All freight trains on the Wabash Railroad stopped running, but passenger trains were still moving. A secret meeting of the Pittsburgh Railway strikers, Wabash Railroadmen and old employes, met at Fort Wayne on the 25th.
All freight trains of the Grand Rapids and Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Richmond and Fort Wayne roads stopped running, but passenger trains were still moving. Passenger trains out on the Wabash, in both directions were discontinued by the officials.
At midnight on the 25th, strikers at Fort Wayne announced their intention of taking possession of all passenger trains on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway. They subsequently carried out their purpose to assume complete control of the Company’s business, and provided their own conductors, ticket agents, superintendent, etc. Mr. Robert M. Ammon, formerly a fireman, became superintendent, and, indeed, autocrat of the road.
This secret meeting of Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago strikers adjourned only a little before midnight. Among other things agreed upon, they had selected three of their number to fill the positions, held by Superintendent Gorham, Master Mechanic Boone, and Master of Transportation Clark. These officials learned that it was the intention of the strikers to take possession of their office and control the telegraph wires and the entire machinery of the road, and concluded to stand a long siege before surrendering. An extra police force was put on duty to guard offices, but strikers learning of the precaution which had been taken, wisely abandoned their purpose, and concluded to allow the Company’s general officers to go through the motions of managing the railroad. That very morning a committee of Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne strikers left for Pittsburgh to confer with railroad officials, having received an invitation to do so. They were joined at Crestline, Alliance and other stations, by committees from those points, bound on a similar errand.
The committee returned from Toledo, where they had been in conference with General Manager Hopkins. A meeting of Wabash employes was at once called, and the committee stated the results of their conference. They reported a very satisfactory interview with Mr. Hopkins, who had agreed to redress real grievance and to advance their pay whenever the business of the Company would admit. The meeting was very stormy, one element desiring to go to extremes. Better counsels finally prevailed, and at noon the meeting adjourned, having decided to abandon the strike if the employes at other points of the line would do the same. A committee was appointed to go to Lafayette and Logansport to urge a cessation of the strike, but this was not necessary, as the men at those places telegraphed that they had decided to resume work as soon as the Company desired them to do so. Manager Hopkins was accordingly notified of this determination, and replied congratulating the men, and stating that freight trains would begin moving as soon as connecting lines resumed operations. Local freight trains were immediately resumed. The shops of the Wabash Company were closed, thus adding five hundred to the number of idle men in the city. These shops, however, were reopened two days afterwards. The collapse of the strike on the Wabash Railway caused a perceptible lengthening of faces among Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne strikers, and they were less defiant than before, although they professed to be competent to bring the railroad to terms.
On the 27th, at Fort Wayne, Sheriff Munson circulated the Governor’s proclamation among the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne strikers, with a note appended to it, in which he declared that, being desirous and determined peace and order should prevail in the county, he warned all persons who had wrongfully and unlawfully taken forcible possession of private property of legally chartered corporations, preventing the moving of trains, and obstructing owners and managers of manufactories in that county to desist from labor, that they must desist from all interference.
Railroadmen exhibited no intention of complying with the Sheriff’s order. The same night, a number of roughs assembled on the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne track, near Coesee, ten miles west of Fort Wayne, with the supposed intention of tearing up the track and throwing a passenger train off. A gang of striking section men resisted them, and after the passenger train had passed, two of the strikers were found by the side of the track, badly cut about the head, and in an unconscious condition. These men, named Frank Reno and Jerry Dooney, were so seriously injured, that death ensued. A monument should be erected to their memory.
The strikers held another secret meeting on the 27th.
Two attempts were made at Fort Wayne on the 28th, to lift the blockade on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, both proved failures, strikers coming out successful in each instance. Since the strike opened, the men had used two elegant coaches as their headquarters with a caboose for an office. These cars stood on a side track, in front of the passenger depot, and in them the strikers luxuriated like so many millionaires. From them, the Executive Committee had issued its orders, and sent forth men to carry them into execution. On the 28th, at noon, just after the citizens’ committee appointed to reason with the strikers, had left their headquarters, a locomotive moved out of the roundhouse, carrying an engineer and fireman, Mayor Zollinger, Sheriff Munson, Superintendent Gorham, of the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne Railway, and Superintendent O’Rourke, of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway. This engine was attached to coaches, Mayor Zollinger putting in the coupling-pin. Sheriff Munson and Superintendent Gorham then ordered the strikers to get out of the coaches and surrender them. Most of them got out, and the engine moved off with the cars attached. The strikers, meanwhile, rallied their comrades, and soon about one hundred men, carrying clubs, stones, coupling-pins, etc., boarded the locomotive and compelled the engineer and fireman to dismount. The Mayor, Sheriff and railway officers were completely overpowered, and they surrendered in the unequal contest, while the mob shouted, cheered and hooted. The strikers took possession of the engine, and summoned their fellows by sounding the whistle repeatedly. Soon several hundred strikers gathered at the point, all of them well armed with weapons of all descriptions. The crowd was exceedingly ugly, and filled the air with shouts, hisses, and infernal noises. About an hour after the officers had retreated, they re-appeared, and entered into the midst of the crowd, when Sheriff Munson put the ringleader, a man named B. F. Cooper, under arrest. He declined to be taken, and the crowd threatened death to any one who should try to take him by force. The Sheriff and railway officers then retreated into the roundhouse, amid the shouts and cheers of the mob. The crowd was gathered in force that night, and if any further attempt had been made to raise the blockade, blood would have flowed freely.
Immediately after the occurrences above related, the strikers sent a squad to Adams, five miles east, where they took possession of the telegraph office and forced the operator to send a message to the strikers at Crestline, to send to Fort Wayne at once as many men as could be spared. About the same time a committee was sent to Columbia City, twenty-five miles west, to induce a large band of section men from the Western division, who were assembled there several days, to come to Fort Wayne and aid in overpowering the legal authorities, and prevent the success of their attempt to restore peace and order. The mob became quiet, and officials were attempting to gather a force sufficient to conquer the rioters. Late in the evening, Governor Williams offered to send all assistance that might be necessary.
The Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne strikers had telegraphed in all directions for re-inforcements after their two victories over the authorities, but the only response, was made by one hundred section men who came from Columbia City, during the night, on hand-cars. They were a desperate crowd, well armed, and ready for mischief, but remained in the back ground. On the afternoon of the 29th, an unsuccessful attempt was made to run an engine out of the roundhouse into the yard, but the strikers gathered en masse, and took the engine back, having forced the engineer and fireman from their posts.
Governor Williams was again called upon for troops, but none were sent. A large meeting of strikers was held in the afternoon, and a report received from the committee, who had returned from Pittsburgh.
At Indianapolis, the situation was critical on the 26th of July. A long conference was held between a strikers’ committee from Columbus, and the strikers’ committee at Indianapolis, with regard to allowing passenger coaches to accompany the mail trains upon the Pan Handle route. After a long discussion, it was decided that coaches might go, and the following morning, the different trains carried out a number of passengers. When the Cincinnati train came in at twelve o’clock, the Union depot was crowded, and the excitement prevailing was intense. It was stated that a train would be started for St. Louis, and at one o’clock the train was made up, and the two coaches attached, almost instantly filled by excited passengers, who had been detained at Indianapolis, in some instances, for many days. The accounts given by some of them of their troubles were interesting. Some were nearly frantic with anxiety regarding the situation of sick relatives, and others were enduring heavy business losses from the same cause. Few wanted to make the trip under the circumstances forced upon them, but all were willing to risk the unpleasant journey, rather than fail in reaching their destination as quickly as possible. The Superintendent of the road, Mr. Joshua Staples, stated that he had absolutely nothing to do with the going out of the train in the depot. The strikers had seized the road, and the property, and were managing things to suit themselves. The whim had taken them to run this train out with that number of cars now, and it might start at once, though he could promise nothing about it. To say that Mr. Staples was almost speechless with vexation, would be stating the case mildly. He could scarcely articulate. The train finally started out behind time, the crowd shouting hoarsely. After the departure of the train, the excitement somewhat subsided.
On the evening of the 26th, Governor James D. Williams issued a proclamation in which he said that disaffected employes of the railroad companies doing business in the State of Indiana had renounced their employment because of alleged grievance, and had conspired to enforce their demands by detaining trains of their late employers, seizing and controlling their property, intimidating their managers, prohibiting by violence their attempt to conduct their business, and driving away passengers and freight offered for transportation. The peace of the community was seriously disturbed. By these lawless acts, every class of society was made to suffer. The comfort and happiness of many families, not parties to the grievances, were sacrificed. A controversy which belongs to the courts or to the province of peaceful arbitration or negotiation, was made the excuse for an obstruction of trade and travel over the chartered highways within the State; the commerce of the entire country was interfered with, and the reputation of the community threatened with dishonor among their neighbors.
This disregard of law and the rights and privileges of citizens, and those of sister States, could not be tolerated. The machinery provided by law for the adjustment of private grievances should be first applied to. He appealed for the prompt and right administration of justice in proceedings of this nature, to the Sheriffs of the several counties. He recommended a careful study of the duties imposed upon them by the statutes which they had sworn to discharge. He admonished each to use the full power of his county in the preservation of order, and the suppression of breaches of the peace, assuring them of his hearty co-operation, when satisfied that occasion required its exercise.
At Indianapolis, the strikers consented that passenger traffic might be resumed in full on all roads, and also freight business on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis road, that Company having arranged with its employes. A compromise was effected on the Bee Line, and they were soon in full operation at Indianapolis.
General Daniel MacAuley circulated a notice forbidding public meetings, and requesting all non-combatants to remain within their dwellings, and forbid them to appear upon the streets in squads or crowds. The Sheriff and Chief of Police were requested to aid in the enforcement of this requirement.
William A. Sayers, Secretary and Treasurer of the Firemen’s League of the United States and Canada, and John Brickley, one of the leading strikers, were arrested on the evening of the 28th, by the United States Marshal, and were taken to the United States Arsenal.
General Benjamin Spooner, United States Marshal, with a guard of fifty soldiers, left Indianapolis, for Vincennes, by way of the Vandalia road, in a special train, arriving at its destination at nine o’clock, without any interference from the strikers.
The engineers of the Vandalia road struck at twelve o’clock, the night of the 27th, and attempted to prevent trains passing through Terre Haute, by tampering with the engines, and intimidation. Two trains went through, one run by Master Mechanic Peddle, and the other by a foreign engineer. Subsequently, at a meeting, held in Terre Haute, the strikers resolved to go to work the next day, and so notified the engineers at Indianapolis, Effingham, and St. Louis.
The strikes in Indiana were at an end on the 30th of July, 1877.