9 JULY 1892, Page 18

A strike which closely resembles a civil war has broken

out in Mr. Carnegie's immense iron and steel works at Homestead, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The firm found it needful, under the McKinley Tariff, to offer their men lower wages, the reduc-

tion, it is said, amounting to 30 per cent., and Oil the men refusing the terms, locked them out. They then imported. three hundred non-unionist hands, escorting them to the works- with two hundred "Pinkerton" detectives, men picked for- their determination. The workmen, however, heard of their approach by water, and assembled in crowds, which either fired a shot or received a shot from the detectives. A regular- battle ensued: twelve workmen and nine detectives were killed, and thirty-three of both sides were wounded. The men then built a fort of steel bars, from which they fired, and mounted a cannon on a neighbouring hill, which bombarded the barges. and steamer ; and at last, as a desperate resource, poured barrels of petroleum into the river, and fired the oil. The detectives, threatened with so horrible a death, surrendered on a promise of safe-conduct ; but it was broken, and one hundred of the detectives were cruelly beaten before they could be safely lodged in gaol. The affair, in fact, was like a skirmish in a civil war. It is believed that the place will be

by militia, as the Carnegies will not yield.