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| 90 Resolved, That the said reduction shall apply to the Main Stem and branches east of the Ohio river, and to the Trans-Ohio divisions, and that it shall embrace all roads leased or operated by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. It is hoped that all persons in the employ of this company will appreciate the necessity of and concur cordially in this action. The board postponed action until some time after its great competitors, the Pennsylvania, the New York Central & Hudson Kiver, and New York and Erie Companies had made similar reductions in pay, with the hope that this necessity would be obviated. In this they have been disappointed. The president, in announcing the decision of the board, takes occasion to express the conviction and expectation that every officer and man in the service will cheerfully recognize the necessity of the reduction, and earnestly co-operate in every measure of judicious economy necessary to aid in maintaining effectively the usefulness and success of the company. JOHN W. GARBETT, President. The greatest discontent followed this announcement. A strike of all the engineers and firemen of the eastern part of the road took place, and the strikers lost no time in causing it to be generally understood that they intended to allow nobody to take their places. This, of course, resulted in a collision with the railroad company. Violence was first offered to men who attempted to run trains at Martinsburg, West Virginia, and soon extended to Cumberland. The local authorities there were unable to cope with the strikers, and Governor Carroll decided to send the Fifth and Sixth regiments to Cumberland, giving the order to General Herbert to move the troops on Jiily 20. The same day the governor issued a proclamation warning all citizens to abstain from acts of lawlessness, and to aid the lawful authorities to maintain order. There was already in Baltimore so great a feeling of unrest and so many indications of excitement, that police commissioners, on the day the governor published this proclamation, deemed it prudent to order the closing of all the bar rooms and liquor saloons in the city. The news received in Baltimore during the day from the chief places on the line of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago road was not reassuring. The temper of the men of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern roads was the subject of gloomy dispatches. Ominous conjectures as to their future action were everywhere made. Strikes were hourly apprehended on the Ohio & Mississippi road, as well as on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton line. Crowds assembled at the newspaper |