Report of the Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877: Read in the Senate and House of Representatives May 23, 1878Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877
History
Report of the Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877: Read in the Senate and House of Representatives May 23, 1878
Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877
Q. It was said that they would very likely take your life if you did
not go away?
A. Yes.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. Who were the men that interfered with Gerry. Do you know them?
A. I think I do; but I am not prepared to say. One of the men, I think,
is still in the criminal court.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You stated that General Pearson gave orders to keep the hill clear,
and to let no one on the tracks. At that time was any one besides the
military on the hill side?
A. Nobody except the military--not more than half a dozen. Probably the
people living up there were passing up and down; but there was no crowd
congregated there at all. I am unable to say to whom the order was
given. He was on one side of the tank, and I was on the other. I
presume it was some officer in charge; but who it was I cannot say.
Q. The object of the order was to keep the mob of people from
congregating on the hill side?
A. Yes; and on the tracks.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What was the name of the person to whom the order was given to move
the ammunition.
A. That was Captain Breck--E. Y. Breck, commander of the Pittsburgh
battery.
Q. Can you give the reason why he did not move it?
A. I cannot. I was not present long enough to ascertain.
Q. Could it have been moved at that time without much danger?
A. I think it could. He may have had reasons or difficulties that I
know nothing about. He was on the ground all the time, and had a better
opportunity of judging than I had.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What troops were on the hill when General Pearson gave the orders to
keep the hillside clear?
A. I am not positive about that, but I think the Fourteenth regiment
was on the hill, and the Nineteenth regiment on the track, and the
battery was on the flat just above the track.
* * * * *
Joseph McCabe sworn _sworn with the uplifted hand_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. In the Twentieth ward.
Q. State whether you are connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, and if so, in what capacity?
A. I am the general yard dispatcher at Pittsburgh.
Q. As such, what are your duties?
A. I make up trains and see that they go out properly.
Q. Were you on duty on the 19th of July last?
A. Yes.
Q. You may go on and give a statement of what occurred, beginning with
Thursday morning?
A. On the morning of the 19th of July I was in the western part of the
yard. I saw that the train did not move at the proper time, and went to
the middle of the yard, at Twenty-sixth street, to ascertain why it did
not go. The yard dispatcher there and assistant train master told me
that some of the men had refused to go out. I and Mr. Hunter, then yard
dispatcher, went to the men and asked them if they would go out, and
all that we would go to, said they would not go out on the
double-headers.
Q. About how many men did you see?
A. All that we could find. We went into the caboose cars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account