Tag: Teller County CO

Hellraisers Journal: Mrs. Langdon Reports on the Torture and Deportation of A. G. Leduc of the Western Federation of Miners

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III————————-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 1, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – The Torture and Deportation of A. G. Leduc

DRWG Siberia CO Citizens Alliance, AtR p1, June 25, 1904

Terror still reigns against union miners and union sympathizers in the Cripple Creek Strike Zone of Colorado. Mrs. Emma Langdon, of Victor, Colorado, reports from the Cripple Creek Strike zone:

The Inter-state Mercantile Company is seeking relief through the federal courts from mob terror. This company operates the stores which assist the striking miners and their families, and, being run by an out-of-state company, they are able to take their case into the federal courts.

State wide pressure placed upon Governor Peabody forced the executive of the state to offer state troops to the Sheriff of Teller County in order to quell the violence of the white-cappers [Citizens Alliance]. This offer was rejected by Sheriff Bell, the sheriff chosen by the white-cappers to replace Sheriff Robertson who was deemed too sympathetic to the W. F. of M. and was forced to resign or be hanged.

Sheriff Bell has now arrested a member of the clergy, Rev. Leland, who is considered too friendly to the union cause.

And finally Mrs. Langdon reports on the case of A. G. Leduc, member of the Western Federation of Miners. Leduc was kidnapped by the white-cappers, beaten, terrorized and driven from the his home and family. He was able to make his way to Denver, but his condition is serious.

MRS. EMMA F. LANGDON REPORTS
FROM THE CRIPPLE CREEK STRIKE ZONE
—————

Interstate Mercantile Company Appeals to Federal Court

On August 23, H. N. Heinerdinger, manager of the Inter-state Mercantile Company, which had some time previously, taken the control of the union stores of the district, applied to Judge Riner and Judge Hallett of the Federal court, first for an injunction restraining any one in the Cripple Creek district from interfering with the operations of the store; second, for damages against Teller county and certain individuals for the wrecking of the store, and third, individual suits for personal damage brought by Mr. Heinerdinger and F. J. Hall, citizens of Montana, who purchased and owned the store in Cripple Creek.

The Mercantile Company applied for the aid of the Federal court because it was a corporation organized under the laws of Montana, which made it a citizen of another state than Colorado. It was the diversity of citizenship between the company and the defendants which gave the Federal court jurisdiction to act. Most of the other deported men being citizens of Colorado as well as the deporters, the Federal court could not act for them.

Governor Offers Troops

[With citizens of the state becoming more disturbed over the outrages perpetrated on citizens in Cripple Creek], the governor, in order to make it appear that he would make an effort to maintain law, sent the following communication to Sheriff Bell, of Teller county:

State of Colorado, Executive Chamber,
Denver, Colo., Aug. 27, 1904.
Hon. Edward Bell, Sheriff of Teller County, Cripple Creek, Colorado:

Sir—Upon Saturday, the 21st inst., there was assembled in Teller county a disorderly mob of men. This mob destroyed private property and maltreated and drove from the county a number of citizens and other persons.

Teller county has been a source of much anxiety to my administration. Order has been restored there at great expense to the state, and the militia, after a protracted service, rendered with the single purpose of making life and property secure, had only recently been withdrawn.

Your county had been freed, as I hoped, from criminal disturbers of the peace; the civil offices of your county are now filled, as I am informed, by incumbents who desire to extend to all citizens the full protection of the law. I recalled the troops because I believed and was informed that your community was once more safe in the hands of such officers. If I am right in so believing, there should be no occasion for lawless outbursts such as that of Saturday last.

I am recently informed that a similar mob of men have in contemplation another and still further outrage. I am convinced that you, as sheriff, having the full sympathy and support of the civil authorities, can and should maintain peace and lawful order. I therefore desire to say that should you not be able, with the means at your disposal, to successfully cope with the situation and maintain law and order in Teller county, I am ready to again place at your disposal the militia of this state.

Our paramount duty at this and at all times is to uphold the law and its safeguards, without distinction of interests or of individuals.

I will thank you for an early reply, and am, respectfully yours,
JAMES H. PEABODY. Governor.

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Hellraisers Journal: More Striking Miners Deported from Cripple Creek; White-Cappers Chant “You Can’t Come Back”

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday August 24, 1904
Cripple Creek, Colorado – Mob Warns Deported Miners: “You Can’t Come Back”

From The Rocky Mountain News of  August 21, 1904:

HdLn re Cripple Creek Deportations of Aug 20, RMN p1, Aug 21, 1904DRWG Cripple Creek Deportations of Aug 20, RMN p6, Aug 21, 1904

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Hellraisers Journal: “We all realize..if we open our mouths…we lay ourselves liable to the bullpen.”-Former Colorado Governor

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday June 23, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Former Governor Fears Bull Pen

CO 1904 Striking Miners in Bullpen, Rastall p68, 1908

Things have come to quite a pass in the state of Colorado when even the former governor of that state suggests that he could end up in the military’s bullpen for expressing his opinion on military rule in the Cripple Creek District. Former Governor Charles S. Thomas is counsel for the Portland Gold Mining company, the mine recently closed down due to having committed the crime of employing too many union men. Governor Thomas, made this statement in Denver on June 14th:

We all realize that If we open our mouths about anything connected with Cripple Creek we lay ourselves liable to the bull pen or some other of the drastic measures that come under the head of military necessity.

Matters remain absolutely in statu quo. We have not decided fully as yet what course will be taken to reopen the mine. I suppose that if I talk too much I might get what Frank Hangs received. His only offense was acting as legal counsel for some men charged with crime several months ago. Perhaps if I should talk actively in regard to my client I might be burned at the stake.

Frank Hangs is the Attorney for the Western Federation of Miners who was arrested and taken to the military’s bullpen on Monday, June 13th. 

From The Omaha Daily Bee of June 15, 1904:

CITIZENS AFRAID TO SPEAK
———-
Former Governor Thomas of Colorado
Intimates Speech is Dangerous.
———-

DRASTIC MEASURES BY THE MILITARY
———-
Method In Vogue in the Mining Districts
Forces Men to Hold Their Silence
or Suffer Arrest.
———-

DENVER, June 14.-“I have nothing further to say about plans for reopening the Portland mine,” said former Governor Charles S. Thomas, counsel for the Portland Gold Mining company, today. “We all realize that if we open our mouths about anything connected with Cripple Creek we lay ourselves liable to the bull pen or some other of the drastic measures that come under the head of military necessity.

“Matters remain absolutely in statu quo. We have not decided fully as yet what course will be taken to reopen the mine. I suppose that if I talk too much I might get what Frank Hangs received. His only offense was acting as legal counsel for some men charged with crime several months ago. Perhaps If I should talk actively in regard to my client I might be burned at the stake.”

Test Kennison’s Arrest.

A hearing is to be given to C. G. Kennison, president of the Cripple Creek Engineers’ union. No. 82, and W. F. Davis, president of local Miners’ union, to test the legality of their arrest. The prisoners, who were arrested yesterday, will be taken back to Cripple Creek for trial if the court finds that they were legally arrested.

Eighty-seven warrants are out for miners who are accused of complicity in the explosion at the independence station and the rioting at Victor. These warrants have been placed in the hands of Under Sheriff Felix O’Nell here and will be given to his deputies to serve.

Leave Town to Avoid Arrest.

Among those wanted are the following: Sherman Harker, secretary of the Altman union, who was acquitted after having been held in the bull pen three months on the charge of having conspired to wreck a Florence and Cripple Creek train; B. L. Whiting, secretary of Engineers’ union No. 381 of Altman; Fritz Gorey and W. B. Easterly, members of unions in the district. It is said that some of the men for whom warrants have been issued in Teller county have left Denver for Butte, Mont., to avoid arrest and incarceration in the bull pen.

In each case the charge is murder based on the explosion of Monday morning of last week at Independence station. City Marshal L. S. Moore of Goldfield, who arrested President Kennison, said today:

I know all of the miners and have been their friend all along. I was a member of the union through the Bull Hill strike in 1894. I have sympathized with the union until the dynamiting and rioting.

Vice President J. C. Williams and Secretary W. D. Haywood of the Western Federation of Miners said today that the accused men were delegates to the federation’s convention and were in Denver at the time of the explosion. Officers of the federation have been requested by agents of the Mining exchange building to move the union headquarters from that building. The officers say this is petty spite work begun at the instance of the Citizens’ Alliance. They have numerous offers of quarters.

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Hellraisers Journal: General Bell Blames Socialist and WFM for Troubles in Colorado as Terror Continues Against Strikers and the Victor Daily Record Is Destroyed

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday June 18, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Terror Continues Against Union Miners

From The Indianapolis News of June 13, 1904:

BELL SAYS SOCIALISTS ARE
CAUSE OF TROUBLES
———

SAYS HE WILL DRIVE FEDERATION
FROM GOLD CAMP.
———
THE ONLY HOPE FOR PEACE
———

General Sherman Bell, Huntington IN Dly Ns Dem p2, June 11, 1904

CRIPPLE CREEK, June 13.-Gen. Sherman Bell has given out a statement concerning his action in deporting strikers and the causes leading up to the same. He attributes the recent troubles growing out of the miners’ strike, and the strike itself to the Socialist element in the Western Federation of Miners, which, he says, captured the organization two years ago. He declares that the federation has made unionism a secondary consideration, and the organization, root and branch, is being made a vehicle for the promotion of socialism. The leaders, he asserts, have not hesitated to cause “weak and willing members to commit any crime to strike terror to property owners or working men who refuse to abide their dictates.” The murder of non-union men by blowing up the Independence station, he charges, was “perpetrated with the aid and advice of federation leaders and by men in their employ.” The only hope for peace and security of life and property was “to exterminate the federation from the camp.”

General Bell and staff attended church yesterday and transacted no business, except what was absolutely necessary. Another party of 100 deported miners left Victor to-day, their destination being either New Mexico or Utah. The saloons of the district were opened to-day for the first time in a week.

Practically all the large mines in this district which closed down last Monday, after the explosion at Independence, were working to-day. The Portland mine has not yet been reopened and the company has not announced its plans.

———

An Appeal to Gompers.

KANSAS CITY. June 13.-The Industrial Council of this city, which claims to represent 25,000 union members, adopted resolutions [yesterday] asking President Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, to call a meeting of the executive board of that  organization for the purpose of devising means to settle the Colorado labor troubles. Telegrams were sent to President Roosevelt asking him to investigate and to Governor Peabody, condemning his actions by the orders of the Industrial Council. Mother Jones addressed the meeting.

———-

Miners Remain at Holly.

HOLLY, Colo., June 13.-Ten of the deported miners from Cripple Creek left here at midnight Saturday for La Junta, Pueblo and Denver. The remainder are staying in town. They have paid cash for their meals and lodging and made purchases at stores. It is probable that a considerable number of the exiles will go into the country to seek work on the ranches

————————-

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: “Fifteen Men Plunge to Death Down 1500-Foot Victor Mine Shaft; Engineer Lost Control of His Engine and Cable Broke at Top of Wheel”

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Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday January 28, 1904
Victor, Colorado – Disaster at Independence Mine Claims Fifteen Lives

From The Denver Post of January 26, 1904:
Victor CO, Stratton Independence Mine Ds, DP p1, Jan 26, 1904Victor CO, Stratton Independence Mine Ds 2, DP p1, Jan 26, 1904

Wednesday January 27, 1904 – Victor, Colorado
– Horror at Stratton’s Independence Mine

A horrific accident occurred at about 2:30 a. m. Tuesday January 26th at the Independence mine when Engineer Gellese was not able to control the engine he was running. A cage carrying sixteen men hit the sheave wheel hurling the men inside to their deaths.

Mrs. Emma F. Langdon reports from Victor:

The victims were mostly men of family, and a majority of them were new men in the district. Early in the morning hundred of people rushed to the mine to ascertain if their relatives were among the victims…the military were hastened immediately to the scene and took complete control, not even allowing press representatives near enough to gain facts. As near as the writer could learn particulars they are as follows:

Frank T. Gellese, engineer from Cour D’Alene, was on duty during the night and had experienced no difficulty with his engine, he stated, and at 2:30 he started to hoist the machine men from the sixth, seventh and eighth levels. Sixteen men were on the cage and started for the top. At the seventh level the men noticed that the cage was acting peculiar, and it appeared as if the engineer had lost control of it as it advanced in an unsteady manner. They soon reached the top and were hoisted about six feet above the collar of the shaft and suddenly lowered about thirty feet, then up they went to the sheave wheel and the disastrous accident was the result.

It is believed that the men were thrown against the top of the cage, from the force of the sudden stop, that they were knocked unconscious and knew but little, if anything, after that took place; that in the drop of the cage the speed was so rapid that through the force of the air pressure they were thrown out against the walls of the shaft, which caused them to be literally torn to pieces. When the cage struck the sheave wheel it not only threw Bullock (the only one saved) out, but also threw out a man by the name of Jackson and killed him.

No one aside from the engineer saw the accident. A miner stepped into the shaft house just after the the accident and saw a number of hats laying around. He then looked up and saw Jackson in the timbers with the sheave wheel on top of him.

The military and Manager Cornish were immediately notified and hastened to the mine. Engineer Gellese was arrested and held for investigation.

The remainder of the force, numbering about 200 men in the mine, were obliged to be taken out on a small cage that would accommodate but two men at a time, and they did not all succeed in getting out until about 6 a. m.

Most of the men killed fell to the sump below and it was twenty-four hours before all the bodies could be found. There were portions of them found from the top to the 1,400 foot level The bodies were almost all beyond recognition, heads, legs and arms being torn from the trunks. It was a gruesome sight.

[Emphasis added.]

Coroner Doran will convene a coroner’s jury to investigate the cause of the accident. The Mine Owners’ Association and the Citizens’ Alliance are already spreading rumors placing the blame upon the striking miners of the Western Federation of Miners.

—————

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Hellraisers Journal: General Sherman Bell States He Will Throw Mother Jones in the Bull Pen Should the Opportunity Arise

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Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday January 2, 1904
Military Despotism Rules Cripple Creek, Telluride and Southern Colorado

From the Duluth Labor World of January 2, 1904:

Gen Bell Will Throw Mother Jones in Bull Pen, LW p1, Jan 2, 1904

TEXT:

WILL THROW MOTHER JONES IN BULL PEN
Mother Jones Strongly Excoriates the Tyrant and Gov. Peabody.

Denver, Colo., Dec. 24-…General Bell, smarting under the stings of “Mother” Jones’ masterful excoriation of himself and Peabody, declares in stringent tones that if opportunity offers he will slap her in the bull pen. That declaration was unnecessary. Those who are at all acquainted with his record know grey hairs, womanhood nor any other of those things which true men revere and hold sacred are as nothing to him if they stand in the way of groveling service to his masters.

Editorial Suppressed.

The Victor Record, the official organ of the strikers, has had a military patrol and censor placed at the office. George E. Kyner, editor, was notified that no editorials reflecting in any way upon Governor Peabody or the militia would be allowed, nor could the daily official statement prepared by the miners’ executive committee be published. Next day the Record came out with a black-faced heading “Record Reflections”- a two-column blank space with a border, on the editorial page, indicating that the matter, whatever it was, had been suppressed.

The official statement of the Miners’ Union which was suppressed follows:

“The governor of the state of Colorado has today pretended to declare martial law in the Cripple Creek district. There is absolutely no justification for this outrage. The strike has been on for three months and but one serious crime has been committed and that cannot be laid to strike conditions. The alleged attempt to wreck a railroad train is a trick plot of two detectives employed by the mine owners.

“The Vindicator matter was an accident, or a crime committed by someone employed by the mine owners.

“The mine owners have lost the strike and hence their desperation.-District Union NO. 1, W. F. of M.”

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: R. E. Croskey of Cripple Creek: “I Do Not Fear the Bull Pen…It Is a Part of My Duty to Go There, and I Shall.”

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 10, 1903
Denver, Colorado – R. E. Croskey Interviewed, Does Not Fear Bullpen

From The Denver Post of December 9, 1903:

RE Croskey Ready for CO Bullpen, RMN p8, Dec 9, 1903, EFL p190, 1904

[Photograph of Croskey added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Emma F. Langdon Reports on Cripple Creek Strike: Military Despotism, the Bullpen at Camp Goldfield

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Quote Emma F Langdon, Miners Are My Brothers, EFL p244, 1904—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday October 12, 1903
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – The Military Bullpen at Camp Goldfield

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

[The Military Bullpen]

Victor Daily Record Staff in Bull Pen, EFL p153, 1904

Now I will invite the reader to take a trip to the military prison and see how fared the Record prisoners. 

These prisoners were marched unceremoniously to the bull pen. Armed thugs forced them into a filthy and squalid little tent, absolutely barren of furniture or bedding, where they were told to stay under penalty of having their heads blown off if they appeared an inch outside of the entrance.

The night was bitterly cold and on that frigid mountain side, under the intimidating guard of a horde of armed assassins, the working force of the Victor Record passed a night of torture equal to anything ever devised by the Spanish inquisitors. The entire force will bear testimony that the treatment accorded them was so inhuman and revolting as to surpass the belief of American citizens.

The “bull” tent had just been vacated by a number of drunken soldier prisoners, who had vomited all over the interior. The stench was sickening, but there they were forced to lay, without even so much as a gunny sack to protect them from the cold. Shortly after sunrise they were told to come to “breakfast.” Emerging from the filthy kennel they were escorted to the mess table a short distance away. A dozen guards kept them covered with guns loaded with riot ammunition while two grimy negro cooks dished out a little slop on tin plates and told them to eat. There were no knives, forks or spoons at hand. “Use your fingers,” said the head negro when remonstrance was made.

Beneath the table were a number of wash boilers and buckets filled with the accumulated garbage of several days and the stench arising therefrom was nauseating enough to insult the gizzard of a buzzard. It is quite needless to state that they had no appetite.

They returned to the tent hungrier and more distressed than ever. The day was raw and cold and they were chilled to the marrow. Faint and sick Mr. Richmond approached the captain of the guard and implored him for God’s sake to obtain some blankets. His appeal was cut short with an oath from that dignitary.

A little later a murderous looking gatling gun was drawn up, trained on the prisoner’s tent, and they were subjected to the nerve rending ordeal of posing as targets. The excitement attending this outrageous intimidation completely unnerved some of them. 

Attorney Tully Scott, formerly of Kansas, succeeded in getting them liberated through some legal procedure and after unwinding a few miles of military red tape the commanding general turned them over to Sheriff Robertson of Teller county, when for the first time they learned that they were defendants in a libel case. 

It was a deliberate plot to suppress a paper for telling the truth about the uniformed hirelings who were guilty of the outrages above mentioned.

The excuse for the taking of the Record force was that in the issue of the day before, there was an article of about six lines which referred to two tools of the mine owners as ex-convicts. It was learned that in the case of Vannick it was true, but Scanlon, with all his faults, had not, as yet worn the stripes. However, there was a correction coming out the following morning. The whole truth of the matter was that the military was watching every movement of the Record for a chance to raid the office. The real reason of the military raiding the office at that hour, was to suppress the official organ of the Western Federation of Miners. The district had only the one paper that stood up for the cause, and of course the enemy did not have a very warm feeling of friendship for the Record. The reader will at once realize that even had the editor been guilty of criminal libel the operators or the mechanical force could not legally be held responsible. But when the military endeavored to suppress the Record they reckoned without their host. Again the writer will quote: “The best laid plans o’ mice,” etc. The writer would advise the warrior Chase, when he again undertakes to suppress the press, to not only arrest the force at work, but every living printer in the county—and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to carefully guard the cemeteries, for the press is a hard game to beat—even by a warrior of the ability of Chase, as he has doubtless discovered.

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Hellraisers Journal: Emma F. Langdon Reports: Judge Seeds Takes a Stand Against Military Monarchy and for the Constitution

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday October 1, 1903
Cripple Creek, Colorado – Judge Seeds Defends Constitutional Government

Cartoon by A. W. Steele of the The Denver Post:

Cartoon Steele, Judge Seeds v Bell Military Movement, EFL p136, 1904Cartoon Steele, Judge Seeds v Bell Military Movement Detail, EFL p136, 1904

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

Judge Seeds Thursday morning (September 24) notified General Chase to be present in court with his prisoners [Parker, Campbell, Lafferty, McKinney] before 2 o’clock in the afternoon, as promptly at that hour he would render a decision in the habeas corpus case. Chase stated that whatever the decision of the court might be, he would certainly bring the prisoners back to Camp Goldfield unless otherwise ordered by the governor of Colorado. At 1:30 the military appeared with the same old pomp, minus the gatling gun. (Formerly of Wyoming.)

After patiently listening for several hours, Judge Seeds ordered the prisoners released and handed over to the civil authorities, and gave reasons for his decision in a long and carefully compiled argument from which I quote a few:

[Judge Seeds Speaks:]

If the court shall err in its conclusions, it will be no fault of the able counsel who appear for and against the prisoner. Extraordinary industry has been displayed by counsel in the production of authorities, and the questions involved have been discussed with unusual ardor, eloquence and logic. As the result of counsel’s labors, and the great attention and consideration the court has given to their arguments and authorities, it feels clear in its conclusions, and can announce them without any misgiving.

The importance of the questions cannot be over estimated. They embrace not only the power and authority of the commander of the military forces of the state over the freedom of the citizens in times of local disturbances that may more or less imperil life and property, but also the very fundamental principles of American liberty…..

For the reason that the governor recites in the order, he directs the brigadier general commanding the National guard to forthwith order out the troops, etc., specified, to properly enforce the constitution and laws of the state, and to prevent the threatened insurrection and to protect all persons and property in said county from unlawful interference, and to see that threats, intimidations, assaults and all acts of violence cease and that public peace and order be preserved. I take it that what all these commands mean is that the brigadier general should, with the National guard, support and enforce the laws within the prescribed district. That the case presented by the petition required that the habeas corpus should issue as prayed admits of no question. The question is, does the executive order, admitting all that it recites as the basis for it, to be true, and that General Chase arrested and detained the prisoners by virtue of that order, constitute a justification of the act……

The threatened insurrection referred to in the order was in connection with a strike in the Cripple Creek district by the metaliferous miners. It is not denied that they quit work peacefully; but it was feared by some and claimed by others that in the course of the strike persons would be injured and property destroyed and that the insurrection was threatened by an organization known as the Western Federation of Miners to which the striking miners belonged. Whether the fear was well or ill founded it is not for the court to say. It will accept the statement in the executive order as the truth. It feels bound to do so from the respect which one of the co-ordinate branches of the state government should always entertain for the other two…..

I take it to be fundamental that, except a state of war exists, a state in which all civil authority is overthrown, what is known as “martial law” cannot exist or be declared under our state constitution…..

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Hellraisers Journal: Emma F. Langdon Reports on Military Despotism in the Cripple Creek Strike District of Colorado

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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday September 28, 1903
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Military Despotism  Dominates Strike Zone

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

Military Despotism in the Cripple Creek District

Arrest of Sherman Parker Sept 12, SF Call p24, Sept 13, 1913

September 13 found the military in complete control of the entire district. The troops dominated everything. A “bull pen’’ was established. Men were taken from home and families at dead of night, made to get out of bed and go with the militia and placed in the “bull pen” without explanation. They were not allowed defense and there were no charges preferred against them. Union meetings were, from the date given, broken into and obstructed without apparent cause.

One among the first shocks dealt the people of the district was Sept. 12, when it was announced that the leaders of the military had ordered the arrest of Sherman Parker. It was learned that the order had been executed shortly after midnight, when Mr. Parker was at home asleep. At 12:20 [a. m. Saturday], Sept. 12, Mr. Parker was awakened by a knock at the door. He went to the door and answered the call. He was told that the gentleman calling had a note from a man by the name of Jack Minor to present to him in the way of introduction. Mr. Parker stepped nearer the door and was immediately placed under arrest and taken from his family without further explanation and lodged in the ‘‘bull pen,” which was established near the Strong mine.

Sherman Parker is and has always been a peaceable citizen. There is probably none better in the county, but he was a member of the strike committee, and after the troops were here at the instigation and for the assistance of the mine owners, they were to arrest anyone that stood in their way of running affairs with an unlimited high hand. He was forbidden consultation, it is stated, with an attorney, and was simply told to “lie there and take what he was given.”

The executive committee of District Union No. 1, Sept. 13, ran the following statement in its official organ in regard to Minford and Sherman Parker:

W.H. Minford, the man who was supposed to have been beaten by strikers at Goldfield, was in reality beaten up in a bawdy house fight at Cripple Creek. He is now under arrest for giving false information and is detained in the county jail.

Sherman Parker, secretary of Free Coinage Miners’ Union No. 19, was dragged from his bed at his home in Independence by a squad of soldiers at 12:20 yesterday morning. No charges have been preferred against him and he is a prisoner without warrant of law. We want all union men over the country to know how the military are treating our members. Several have been arrested and in no case have charges been preferred against them.

DISTRICT UNION NO. 1, W. F. M., EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

One of the most ridiculous things that occurred during the strike was the operating of a searchlight. The light was moved from one mountain to another and turned on the various little cities of the district. Another ridiculous thing was that the citizens of the law-abiding community was given the opportunity of seeing a gatling gun. One was taken from Camp Goldfield to Beacon hill in the afternoon of Sept. 11. It was probably the one that was borrowed from Wyoming to help out Colorado in the great war of the Cripple Creek district. At any rate the gatling gun was here and was hauled from place to place as the great “rebellion’’ went on.

Sept. 15 the militia aroused the people of the district when a company of cavalry marched to the residence of Patrick J. Lynch of Victor, and who is chairman of the board of county commissioners of Teller county, and, without doubt, as peaceable a citizen as lives in the state of Colorado, arrested and marched him to appear before Generals Bell and Chase. Nothing since the strike started so thoroughly aroused the people of the county as this outrage of September 15. Mr. Lynch was presented with no papers. He was given no reason for arrest. He was simply taken from his table while dining, and marched at command to Camp Goldfield.

A troop of about twenty men marched down Fourth street across Portland, where Patrick J. Lynch resides. They immediately surrounded his residence, going into the back yard and into the alley, then an officer approached the house and arrested Mr. Lynch. He was rudely seized and taken out forthwith. He was not allowed to return to his residence, but soldiers were sent back for some purpose.

Mr. Lynch was ordered to mount one of the horses and was surrounded by troopers. Two were kept on foot also to guard him. As the procession marched along the street to the camp hundreds of people lined both sides of thoroughfare and the expressions that were uttered were possibly the strongest that had been heard. Others laughed at the folly and the absurdity of the action was ridiculed from every source.

Mr. Lynch was immediately ordered before Generals Bell and Chase when he reached the camp. He was told that it had been reported to them that he had criticized the soldiers and exercised the privilege of every American citizen in urging men not to return to work. This Mr. Lynch denied emphatically, and, turning to General Bell and pointing his finger at him, said: “There is a man who has known me for ten years, and he knows that I am as peaceable a citizen as lives in the state of Colorado.” After a few other remarks Mr. Lynch was released and allowed to return to his home and partake of another meal by his own fireside, though the military bravos were still in the district.

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