The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1879-08-21
TmE CHARCOAL WAR.
What Led 10 the Fight which Re-
suited in ihe killing or Five aen.

The Sentinel gives the following par
ticulars Of the fight between the Sherifi's
posse and the coal burners at Eureka:
WHAT LED TO THE FIGHT.
On Monday afternoon Deputy Sfmp-
SOC, accompanied by Joe Toomey, left
for Fish Creek for the purpose Of arrest
ing some of the strikers who had pre-
vented the loading of Lamoureux's
teams, numbering six in all. When
nearing Pages upper ranch they were
met by Billy Martin, who said the
strikers were in such force that it would
be impossible to load any teams
Simpson replied that he was in quest of
certain men and had nothing to do with
the teams, and continued ON his Jour
my, accompanied by Martin. Upon
reaching the ranch they found Bob
Brown, a team owner; Marshal Rich,
Hank Storey, James Porter, G. Smith
and another man whose name we have
been unable to learn. Brown reported
that about $50 of his sacks had been
emptied and that he had been forcibly
prevented from loading his coal. Simp-
son, accompanied by the entire party,
preceded south in search of the main
body of the strikers, and when some
eight miles beyond Pages ranch the
Deputy Sheriff espied three men cross
ing the road about 80 yards to his
right, the posse at the time being in
narrow ravine. Thinking this was the
advance Of larger bo,ly, the officer
called to his men in front and turning
rode to the point, while the posse
struck for the same place, maxi ng a
detour however in o'1ler to prevent the
burners from getting out of tie ravine.
On arriving at the spot the posse found
themselves confronted with about l25
men, about 30 of whom were armed,
having cooked revolvers in their hands,
and several mounted At the head of
the strikers rode man whom Simpson
recognized as one for whom he had
a warrant, and whom he had met at
Browns ranch. The man upon being
questioned acknowledged his identity.
In the meantime, the officers assistants
had dismounted and ranged themselves
in line, about twenty feet in the rear
Joe Toomey, who was on line with
Simpson, advanced a few steps toward
the crowd of strikers and found himself
confronted with the muzzle of rifle,
which he grasped and threw to one
side Another striker, armed with a
huge knife, then advanced on Toomey,
and Simpson, seeing his danger, warned
the man not to assault him, informing
him that Toomey was an officer at the
same time showing his own badge of
office. A conversation then ensued be-
tween Simpson and leader of the
party, in which the Office, said it would
be folly to have any difficulty over the
matter, and advised him to- accompany
him peacefully to the city. The striker
the latter then, read the warrant. At
this juncture another party came up
and sitting down by the mounted
striker, asked permission to see the
warrant. As the man spoke excellent
English, Simpson complied readily, and
passed over the document, stating again
that he had only come in an official
capacity, and not for the purpose of
taking any part in the loading of coal.
"You can't arrest anybody here, " re-
marked the mounted striker; "you
have not men enough, and can't bring
enough" Simpson, realizing his peril
Gus position, said: "All right" and
turning to the man with the warrant
asked foe its return. This the latter
bluntly refused. to do, saying he guessed
he could take care of it. At this
juncture Marshal Rich walked up to
Simpson and pointed out striker
standing by his buggy, requested the
officer to arrest him, asserting that the
day previous he had threatened his