A. No, sir.
Q. Did Mr. Ammon give any reasons for his taking charge of the railroad and telegraph at Allegheny City?
A. No; the only reason he gave, so far as protecting the property was concerned—I think it was Mr. Layng that sent him word to protect the property that night—the night of the 21st—and he claimed that he had. He claimed a good deal of credit for what was done—I do not know, of my own knowledge, whether he had anything to do with it. I might say that there was a committee of engineers came to see me at Pittsburgh, when I was there with the troops on Sunday. They pretended that they were informed that I had authority to settle this question between them and the railroad company. Of course, I told them I had nothing more to do with it than any other citizen, so far as their differences were concerned. Another committee also came to see me, when I was at Kingston with troops—that was in Luzerne county—but there was nothing of any importance passed, because there was nothing that we could do—nothing that I could do. I went simply to preserve order.
Q. Had you been at home at the time of receiving the call from the sheriff of Allegheny county for troops, would you have asked him what measures he had taken to suppress the disturbance, before you would have ordered out the troops?
A. It is very likely I would; but I would have been influenced by the magnitude of the threatened disturbance to a very great extent. Of course, we always resist the sending of troops to the last moment; but, in this instance, I think it was perfectly proper to send troops.
Q. You would be influenced by the magnitude of the disturbance, then, rather than by the efforts put forth by the sheriff to suppress it?
A. If I knew the exact character of the sheriff I would be very much influenced by his call; but they are nearly always strangers, and I do not know to what extent they can be relied upon. I always avail myself of all the information I can get, and is very difficult to say what would control the Executive in making up his mind just at the last moment. Some sheriffs are very timid, and they throw the responsibility off as soon as possible. They think the moment they get troops that they are relieved. Others have a good deal more pride, and they try to control matters themselves. I think a great deal more could be done by sheriffs than is generally done.
Q. After ordering out the military force of the State, are the civil authorities relieved or superceded by the military force?
A. No; not as long as they appear active and on the ground. If they retire, of course the responsibility falls upon the Executive and his troops.
Q. To preserve the peace?