Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-13
FIFTY-FIVE TO TRY.
Over Halfy "a Hundred Homestead
Strikers Held for Court.
TRIALS TO BEGIN IN OCTOBER.
One Judge, Probably W. D. Porter, Will
Hear all the Cases.
SUMMARY CONVICTION OF UNION MEN

The trials of the Homestead workmen,
who have been held to the grand jury on
varying charges Of murder, aggravated riot
and conspiracy, will not begin in the Grim
inal Court until the first week in October.
Fifty-fve men have been so held, and
against some of them there are four and five
charges.
The lawyers on both sides of these prose-
cutions are now hard at work arranging
their testimony and preparing for what
must be memorable series of trials. The
Carnegie Steel Company has agents at
work, not only in Pittsburg and Home
stead, but in distant cities, seeking new
witnesses. 1t is probable that some of the
outside newspaper correspondents, who did
work in Homestead during the troublesome
days of July, will be brought here to tes-
tify. The resources of the defendants are
more limited. but they are working hard.
The grand jury is at present occupied with
Jail cases, and minor charges of misdemeanor
and criminal conduct, of which there is a
very large list. The Homestead cases will
be brought before the grand jury the latter
part of next week or the first of the week
following.
Pinkerton Detectives to Testify.
That inquiry will not take long, as many
of the witnesses in one case are witnesses in
many others. The chief witnesses will be
Pinkerton detectives. The work of pre-
senting the cases to the grand jury is in
charge of Charles A. Fagan, Assistant Dis
trict Attorney. The papers from the Magis-
trate are all in his possession, with the
names of the witnesses indorsed thereon.
When the hearings begin, they will all
be conducted before one Judge. Who this
Judge will be has not yet been decided, but
it is probable that in October there will be
three Judges holding Criminal Court.
Judge Porter appeared at the Court House
yesterd ay after his vacation.
The murder cases will be taken up first,
and Hugh O'Donnell will probably be the
first man tried The hearing of all the
homestead cases by one Judge will greatly
expedite proceedings, and in most of the
cases the juries will be larg ely the same
men.
Three Homestead prisoners were ar
raigned before Pittsburg aldermen yester-
duct on last Friday. On that day, while
the non-union men in the mill were going
in squads to various restaurants for their
meals, men and boys shouted at them, call
ing them ''black sheep" and "scabs.'
whistled the Rogue's March.
Henry Shaup was accused before Alder
man Gripp of whistling "The Rogue's
March," as the non-union men passed by.
The information was made by Deputy
Sheriff E. H. Brady, who swore that he
knew 'The Rogue's March" and that Shaup
whistled it. He was the only witness for
the prosecution, and for the defense Shaup
and two friends testified that he did not
whistle anything of the sort. Indeed,
Shaup said that he did not know 'The
Rogue's March," He was discharged.
John Renshaw; a man OF As years, was
accused by H. B. Collins, a non-union
workman, of shouting opprobrious epithets.
Renshaw admitted the offense, but his at
torney, John F. Cox, contended that the
utterance of such words as "blacksheep"
and "scab" did not constitute disorderly
conduct. Magistrate Gripp sentenced Rem
shaw to the workhouse for 80 days, under
what is called the workhouse act. An ap-
peal was taken and bail furnished.
Before Alderman McMasters, for q SIM
liar offense, on the same day, Jesse Miller,
O boy of 16. was tried on the complaint of
Deputy Sheriff Joseph Ferguson. The
proof was positive, but Attorney Cox made
a strong plea for clemency. Attorney
Petty, for the prosecution, asked that the
boy be sent to the work house for 80 days,
and the alderman SO ordered. An appeal
was taken in the case also. In his address
Attorney Petty said he had begun to doubt
whether there were any law-abiding people
in Homestead,