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
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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
if you don't want to go out, but you have no right to interfere with
others." He said it had got to be a question of bread or blood, and
that they were going to resist. I left him, and then came to attend to
some other matter towards the switches. I heard something behind me and
turned around, and saw a considerable confusion. I saw links and pins
being hurled at these yard men on the train. I saw one of them struck.
I saw a link or pin falling from his person, and saw it hit him. I also
saw men going on the engine. I came forward then and found no person on
the engine at all, and found that the men we had expected to run the
train all driven away. I found that we were defeated in getting the
train out. It was not worth while to parley with the men at all. We had
no force at all--no police at all--or not very strong. I went to the
office of Mr. Watt, who was acting in the place of Mr. Pitcairn, who
was absent, and it was suggested that inasmuch as a large quantity of
live stock was at East Liberty, and it was important to get that away,
that I should go there and anticipate any power that might be coming
west, and put the cars away, and take the power and send the live stock
away from East Liberty. I immediately did that, and went there on the
first train I met. I went to Torrens, and at East Liberty I met a coal
train, and I stopped the train and went to the conductor and told him
what I wanted. I told him to put his cars in there and to take a train
of live stock from East Liberty. I didn't tell him anything about the
trouble in Pittsburgh. He went away and conferred with some person, and
then came and told me that he declined to do that. I left him go. I
then went to Torrens, not wishing to lose any time, and while there
received a message from the superintendent's office telling me that two
engines were on the way there and would soon arrive--two engines
westward. I then received another message to make haste, that Hice and
his crowd had started for Torrens to interfere with the live stock. I
made all the haste I could. I went down to Gray's switches, and there
waited the arrival of the two engines, took the cars from them, crossed
the engines coming west over to the other track, adjusted the switches,
and went on down. When I got down there, Hice and his party had just
arrived.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. How did they get there?
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