Labor War in the States.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 51, 25 August 1894, Page 2

Labor War in the States.

RIOTS AT CHICAGO. LATER PARTICULARS. Chicago, August 7. For the first time since the great strike of the American Railway Union was inaugurated, the men who obeyed the command of President Debs to leave their work and then turned their hands to violence to-day felt the steel and lead of the military. The spilling of blood, which has been imminent every hoar since the troops marched face to face with the lawless element in the southern section of the city, came early in th« afternoon when many thousand men hurled themselves on a mere handful of militiamen of the second Regiment of Chicago at Fortyninth and Loomis streets. The first shot was fired by the rioters It was directed against the infantry men, and was followed by a storm of stones and coupling pins. The soldiers were not slow to act. Their guns were loaded, and when the order came from the commander to fire there was no hesitation. Nearly a score of men, women and children fell before the volleys turned against them. One man was killed instantly by bayonets and bullets. A woman and a boy, whose names are not , given, and who had foolishly associated themselves with the mob, were also stricken down. The mob fell back before the fire of the State troops, but quickly re-assem-bled in greater numbers for a more de- , termined attack. Twelye policemen were assailed with all the ferocity which had provoked the soldier* to fire, and fought witb pistols ' until reinforcements reached them from ' neighbouring station-houses. The conflict dauned a hurried shifting of both Federal and State troops. There \ was no mobilisation of soldiers at the place where the collision occurred, but General Miles aud General Wheeler were prepared to hail * mighty force into the district had the mob made any further hostile demonstrations. I There were forty-six calls this evening , for the exhausted firemen to do battle with incendiary fires in the disturbed districts. Early in the morning a malicious attempt was made to burn the great packinghouses in the stockyards, but the fixe was extinguished after a hard fight, before any serious property less bad been eatailed. During the riot John Burke, who was standing in front of the mob, was throwing coal as f *at as he could move his •rin, One of the first eoldiera in the charge plunged his bayonet clean through his body, the point coming out at the back. Burke went down like a log, and died in a few minutes. The mob broke before the charge, but quickly rallied, and after a short pauae came on again, sending a pattering of revolver bullets before it. The troops, the deputies and the police waited for no orders, bat the rifles came to a level, revolvers were drawn and a storm of leaden death swept into the mob. They looked as if they had been through a battle when the; disembarked.