The Pullman Strike Paralyses Seattle Rail Traffic
Striking railway workers in Seattle join a nationwide boycott against Pullman cars, leading to federal court intervention and military involvement.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The tie-up of the Northern Pacific Railroad on account of the boycott on the Pullman cars was made complete yesterday from St. Paul to Seattle and Portland. The Lake Shore road was drawn into the fight through its contract to operate Northern Pacific terminals and the refusal of its switchmen to handle Pullman cars. Judge Hanford has taken rigorous measures against the strikers, ordering the receivers to require all employees to take an oath to support the laws and obey all orders of the court. He also issued an order for the United States marshal to protect the operation of trains and arrest all persons who interfere. In the afternoon, a meeting of the American Railway Union was held to consider the cases of ten discharged switchmen, and a general strike along the Lake Shore road was ordered. Meanwhile, Northern Pacific officials have called upon the militia to protect their lines as they attempt to break the strike.
“The Northern Pacific is not turning a wheel. Trains on all other roads arrived this morning with Pullmans... but the tie-up of the Wisconsin Central and Northern Pacific roads was broken this afternoon.”
This 1894 labor uprising, known as the Pullman Strike, was a watershed moment for American labor rights and federal intervention in industrial disputes. The site of these rail yards on the tide flats is now part of the industrial district south of downtown Seattle, a landscape transformed from the epicenter of a national strike to modern logistics and commercial infrastructure.
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