Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-07-26
The Anarchists Trial.

Inc evidence presented Yesterday IN
the trial of the Anarchists was more
sensational than surprising 1t was
sensational from the fact that the dla-
bolcal designs Of the conspirators were
laid bare by sworn testimony. but the
fact that the substance OF this testi-
monv had already been published in
! the Tribune, and had been to some ex-
tent promised by the prosecution, rem
dered the disclosures less of surprise
! than they would otherwise have been
! II is now clearly demonstrated that the
! attorneys for the State have their case
i thoroughly in hand, with a chain of
evidence perfect in every link-that, in
! fact. they are completely posted on
every movement, method, maneuvre,
intention, and object, immediate and
remote, of the CORY inner circle of
! American Nihilists, ana have abundant
/ testimony that the prisoners on trial
/ were among the active leaders and
/ workers IN the formation and operation
of the fiendish plots OF which the hay
market massacre was part. Every
point advanced by the prosecution in
| its outline of the case is being fully
corroborated by the evidence. To say
| that the defendants and their counsel
are paralyZed is merely to state in com
mon phraseology what every one has
| observed who has closely followed the
case for the last three days The cross
examinations serve no purpose only to
| strengthen the case for the State. Hour
by hour and day by day the evidence adj
vances with unbroken front, ingulfng
one after the other of the Anarchists at
| the bar. 1t is evident also that the
| jury follows every step with intelligent
comprehension. Each member seems
on the alert to master every move in
the development of the plot. Enough
has already been presented, so far as
a careful observer can Judge, to hang
at least four of the 'prisoners-Spies,
Lingg, Fielden, and Engel.
| The prosecution has already proved
| the existence and character of the
conspiracy, and the connection of the
prisoners herewith; that the haymar-
ket murders were the direct work and
portion of the plans of that conspir-
acy; that bombs were manufactured by
one of the prisoners and distributed
among the conspirators; and that q
general massacre of the police was
averted only by the cowardice at the
critical moment of action of those who
were detailed to put the plot into execu-
ton. The prosecution proposes further
to trace the bombs from the period of
their manufacture to the time when
one was used in the haymarket and the
others captured by the police. The &C
tual thrower of the bomb in the hay
market, said to be Rudolph Schnaubelt,
is still at large, but the men who
equipped and detailed him for the
work are those who are now on trial
this, so far as can be learned, is the
line of action mapped out by the plose-
cution.
Only two witnesses were examined
yesterday-William Selliger and his
wife. Seliger lives in a small house on
the rear of the lot at No. 442 Sedgwck
Street, and it was in this house the
bombs were manufactured. The after
noon of May 4, the date of the explo-
sion, some forty or fifty bombs were
made at Seliger's. The prisoner Lingg.
who lodged at Seliger's seems to have
been the chief worker, five or six others
of whom Seliger was one, acting as his
assistants. Lingg had previously prac-
ticed making bombs and casting bomb
shells. For tubular bombs he used
sections OF metal pipe of an inch to
one and half inches in diameter; for
spherical bombs he cast leaden shells
in a cup-shaped mold, melting the lead
in a ladle on the kitchen stove. He in
vented a sort of wooden spoon or thin
wood blade for the more rapid filing of
bombs with the pasty explosives, the
bombmakeIs having previously used
only their fingers in packing the stuff
into the shells Small iron bolts and
nuts were imbedded in the dynamite.
and each shell sealed with fulminat-
ing cap and fuse attachment. 1t was
unquestionably one of these bombs that
was thrown in the haymarket. 1t was
one of those iron nuts that was i'm
bedded in the flesh of the tailor Hahn
Each one of the eighty to 100 bombs
Lingg is shown to have made or helped
10 make at various periods was power
full enough to destroy ut least 100 men
if thrown into the midst of a dense
crowd
Thursdays evidence in the Anarchists
trial materially forwarded the case for
the State, vet disclosed nothing that was
absolutely new. The prosecution occu-
pied the day in producing proofs of the
bloodthirSty mouthings of Spies, Par
sons, Schwab. and Fieldcn at the Lake
Front and other meetings, and in weav-
inc various tangled or straying threads
of evidence into to the web which is rap
idly emeShing every one of the eight
defendants. The fact that the .irjcitcr-