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Tuesday January 11, 1916
East Youngstown, Ohio - Mayor Blames "Desolation Wrought" on Company Guards

From The Pittsburgh Sunday Post, page 2, of January 9, 1916:

East Youngstown Mayor Blames Riot
on Guards
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YOUNGSTOWN, O., Jan. 8- "I am completely dazed over the horrible occurrence here and the desolation wrought," Mayor William H. Cunningham of East Youngstown said, in commenting on the riot.

"From what I have been told I fear it was caused by the armed guards on the bridge. Had the guards been kept within the limits of the mill property I doubt if there would have been any trouble.

Eye-witnesses have told me it was the guards on the bridge that fired the first shots. That aroused the fury of the mob.

"I think the trouble is over for the present and do not look for any further outbreak unless an effort is made to operate the plants with strikebreakers. There will be trouble if this is attempted."

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Women Threw Pepper Into Eyes of Guards
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YOUNGSTOWN, O., Jan. 8.-The fury of the wives of the strikers and sympathizers was vented on Sheriff J. C. Umstead and his deputies when they attempted to arrest some of the rioters. The women had looted stores of large quantities of red pepper. When Sheriff Umstead and his men attempted to arrest the rioters the women threw the pepper in the eyes of the deputies.

The women fought as viciously and stubbornly as the men, and whenever they came across any of the deputies who had been stationed at points of vantage to control sections of the mob, the pepper would be thrown at them. Several of the deputies had their eyes treated this morning by eye specialists, but most of them have returned to work.

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From The Pittsburgh Sunday Post, page 1, of January 9, 1916:

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RAPID FIRE GUNS AND 2,000 GUARDS DOMINATE STRIKE
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Military Controls East Youngstown and Enforces Rigid
Regulations to Prevent Renewals of Rioting.
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PEACE ENVOY SENT BY STATE
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By R. A. GOSHORN,

Staff Correspondent of the Pittsburgh Post

.

YOUNGSTOWN, Jan. 8.-Brigadier General John C. Speaks in command of the military forces here consisting of a force of over 2,000 men made up of three regiments of infantry, eight machine gun companies and an ambulance and engineer corps, still fears there are many dangers to consider before peace and order are restored in East Youngstown, the scene of sack, plunder and slaughter early today and last night. The strikers are in such a belligerent mood that another outbreak may occur. Two hundred arrests had been made before dark, many of the prisoners being women.

The state industrial commission decided today to send Fred C. Croxton, head of the state statistical bureau, to Youngstown to act as mediator in the strike situation. He will confer with employers and strike leaders tomorrow. He will leave Columbus tonight, accompanied by W.J. Boesel and George Miles as deputies.

Search for looters is being continued and a house-to house hunt resulted in thousands of dollars worth of plunder being recovered. More than 60 men at whose homes the stolen goods were recovered are behind bars.

Every effort will be made to run down leaders of the mob and a grand jury investigation will be started by Prosecuting Attorney Andrew E. Henderson of Mahoning county.

Meetings of strikers were held in the hills back of the town this afternoon, at which plans of action are said to have been discussed. It is also learned that employes of plants in the Mahoning valley now on strike will hold a demonstration here tomorrow. According to the plans, the men will assemble on the outskirts of East Youngstown and march past the scene of last night's rioting and on to a big hall here, where speakers will address the crowd.

RIOTERS NOT SUBDUED.

On the surface tonight the situation appears calm, but deep mutterings on the part of the strikers, who insist in congregating in out-of the way places, has both the military and civil authorities constantly on the alert. Despite the fact that the glistening barrels of Springfields on the shoulders of guardsmen are in evidence on all sides, the rioters do not act as though they had been completely subdued. They stand off and shake their fists at the militiamen and armed guards, and occasionally the shriek of a rifle ball is heard as the missile tears over the heads of the soldiery.

From Niles to the state line the the valley is virtually an armed camp. Soldiers challenge pedestrians who start toward the plants of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company or that of the Republic Steel Company. There are three long bridge across the Mahoning river, all of which are considered admirable points for attacks on the part of the rioters. The soldiers have been stationed on these.....

200 ARE ARRESTED.

So far there have been but few clashes between the militia and the strikers and their sympathizers. Occasionally stones are thrown at the men on patrol with the result that a charge is made in the direction from where the missile came and arrests are frequent. Over 200 men have been placed in the guard house by the troops since going on duty and in many instances the prisoners have been found to be armed. Charges of carrying concealed weapons and inciting riot will be made against them.

Several wagonloads of revolvers and rifles have been confiscated by the troops in their search of striker's quarters. Quite a number of women have been taken into custody. They were carrying arms. They are giving the troops fully as much trouble as the men and are urging the latter on to battle.....

From The Gazette Times of January 9, 1916:

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YOUNGSTOWN MAN SHOT BY STRAY BULLET DIES;
STRIKERS MARCH TODAY
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Riot Quelled But National Guardsmen Fear Attempt May Be Made to Blow Up More Business Buildings In East Youngstown-Arrests Now Total 160.

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Special Telegram from ARTHUR G. BURGOYNE, JR., Staff Correspondent

YOUNGSTOWN, O., Jan. 8.-Robert Davis, aged 24, of 805 Ridge avenue, this city, a railroader, died in the City Hospital tonight from bullet wounds received during the riot at the tube works yesterday. Davis was struck by stray bullets. He was at work in the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad yards when struck. His is the second death resulting from the riot.

National Guardsmen on duty in East Youngstown were busy tonight running down rumors that the strikers along toward morning would attempt to use dynamite on the few business buildings that remain in the town. Major Arthur S. Houts of Cleveland, O., in charge of a detail of 500 militiamen guarding Wilson avenue and the approach to the bridge leading into the tube company's plant, said he had received the rumors. The major had several squads on patrol duty on the hills on the lookout for strikers in hiding.

Strikers Plan Parade Today.

The strikers, it was said tonight, are planning to parade tomorrow afternoon through the streets of East Youngstown and here. A number of meetings were held by the strikers this afternoon in the homes of their leaders. Plans for a move of some kind are said to have been formulated but the nature of them could not be ascertained.

There were few people on the streets of East Youngstown tonight. Every 100 feet for a distance of two miles along Wilson avenue a militiaman was on duty. Strangers were stopped and questioned and compelled to give satisfactory accounts of themselves.

Brigadier Gen. John C. Speaks may not bring the Fourth Regiment into East Youngstown. The soldiers are now encamped at Berlin Center, midway between here and Alliance. The general has received reports that the strike may spread to the steel mills in Niles and the troops may be needed there....

Crowd in Street Totals 15,000.
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Brig. Gen. John C. Speaks is in command of the troops. Under him are Lieut. Col. C. C. Weybrecht of Columbus, Col. C. X. Zimmerman and Col. Edward Volwrath. The men are armed with repeating rifles and revolvers. The soldiers made their first appearance in the streets of East Youngstown at noon today. Their first move was to clear the streets. There were fully 15,000 people in the streets and it was several hours before the crowd was forced back to a safe distance from the company's plant.

Estimated Damage, $ 1,500,000

The damage to East Youngstown's business section was again estimated today at $1,500,000 by several of its business men. Ten city blocks were destroyed by fire which with hardly an exception was of incendiary origin.

Most of the wild rumors and reports, many of them given out as authentic by men in official positions, have been run to earth. Until today, as far as can be learned, one man, a foreigner not yet identified, was killed and about 30 wounded, a number of them seriously. It is believed the searching parties of constables will find many more wounded in the homes of foreigners...

SOURCES

The Pittsburgh Sunday Post
(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
-Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/87480908/
http://www.newspapers.com/image/87480887/

The Gazette Times
(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
-Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/85762403/

IMAGES
Mayor Cunningham, Ptt Sun Post, Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/87480908/
Headline Ptt Sun Post, Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/87480887/
Youngstown Steel Strike, Massacre Victims, Ptt Sun Post, Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/87480887/
Headline Ptt Gz-Tx, Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/85762403/
Militia Herding Strikers, Ptt Gz-Tx, Jan 9, 1916
http://www.newspapers.com/image/85762408/

See also:
The American Labor Year Book, 1916
Rand School of Social Science, 1916
https://books.google.com/books?id=vZ41AQAAMAAJ
"Youngstown."
https://books.google.com/books/reader?id=vZ41AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcove...

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The Road I Must Travel - Tom Morello, The Nightwatchman