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
A. My father went to see the mayor, with Mr. Follensbee. He went early
in the day to Mt. Washington, to see a shooting match. We were not
aware of any excitement in the city, but word came to me. In the
afternoon I saw a telegraphic dispatch from some one about the mayor.
It was the mayor's clerk that brought it down--setting forth that there
was a mob organized to break into the different gun stores that
evening. I judge between five and six o'clock that came down. He wanted
me to remove all our arms. I said that it was so late in the day that I
did not know where to place them--that we had a large number, but that,
nevertheless, we would try to remove all we possibly could. I then got
both the porters and took the arms out of the windows, and a lot of
ammunition, cartridges, and cans of powder, and I got some paper and
covered over it, to convey the impression to those passing along that
we were about cleaning the window, and I left the paper there to
disguise it. I had not commenced to take out the arms in the cases. We
had two cases that run about sixty feet long. I went to supper, and
about six o'clock, when I came back, I found six policemen at the
store, but the mayor's clerk came down about seven o'clock, and said
they were required at the Central station. Shortly after that father
came. He could not get into the front, from the fact that we had the
wire across and the screens put up, and I had also gone out and got a
couple of scantlings, and put them against the doors, and braced them
against the counters. I did not anticipate that they would break in the
large glass windows. We had commenced to take down the arms and put
them in the magazine, which we have in the cellar, where we keep the
powder, and we got down, I should judge about forty, and were kept
pretty busy in getting them down, when the large alarm bell struck and
I heard the glass go. I came up the stairs, and when I got to the top I
found they had knocked the lock off, and I immediately went down, but I
could not find the key. I was in my shirt sleeves at the time, but I
closed the bolt and put out the gas and came up stairs, and just as I
came up I met two parties right at my desk--I had a desk where I do my
correspondence--and one of them says, "why in the hell don't you turn
up the gas?" I suppose he took me for one of the party who came in. I
passed him and went on up stairs, and stayed there until after the
racket was over.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Where was the mob?
A. On the lower floor; of course they came up stairs, and then I went
up to the third floor.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What was their manner as to being boisterous or demonstrative?
A. When they came in there, I thought bedlam had broken loose.
Q. What class of men were they?
A. What we term from the south side--I judge workingmen. They would
just come to the cases and break them in. A few of them had old
muskets.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. That they brought with them?
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