Tacoma’s Strike Trials: Jail, Fines, and a $500 Lesson for Union Men
After the Pullman boycott collapsed, a federal court in Tacoma convicted American Railway Union officers of contempt, jailing three men and fining a former Northern Pacific clerk $500.
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.
TACOMA, July 24.—Ex-Chief Charles A. Barnes, ex-chief clerk of the Northern Pacific freight department and secretary of the local American Railway Union, was convicted of contempt in the United States court today and fined $500. He threatened to dismiss his former subordinates when he should regain his old place if they performed work outside the duties for which they were employed.
James D. Leighton, of Tacoma, was convicted of contempt and sentenced to thirty days’ imprisonment. Robert Luning, of Spokane, got sixty days, and L. D. Schofield, of the same place, ninety days, also for contempt. All three tried to derail cars and threw stones at officers. A. G. Ankeny and Silas Lewen were cleared. The charge against them was the same.
Morris Goldsberry, John Short, John Allen and a man named Fred, of Kent, the bridge gang arrested for using a Northern Pacific hand car after they struck, were discharged on motion of Deputy United States Attorney Robertson. The evidence showed that they had not been time-checked when they took the car.
“He threatened to dismiss his former subordinates when he should regain his old place if they performed work outside the duties for which they were employed.”
The Pullman strike is remembered for the federal injunction that broke it, but the Tacoma contempt cases show how the legal aftermath fell on local union men. Today, fights over strikes, injunctions and union recognition still often end up in court long after the picket lines clear.
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