Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-12
SAGE ON THE STAND
Swears William Laidlaw Didn't Act
as His Buffer, at All,
WHEN HIS OFFICE WASDYNAMITED
The Money Maker Chaffsd by Several Of the
Coroner's Jury, and
CR0SS-ExAMINED BY HENRY CLEWS

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE prsPArCH.l
NEW YORK, March 1.-THE inquest in
the case of the victim of the bomb throwing
in Russell Sage's Office on December 4, sc
long delayed by she slow recovery OF the
bank clerk, William R. Laidlaw, who was
wounded on that occasion while acting, as
he claims, as buffer for Mr.. Sage, was held
by Coroner Messemer to-day. The jury com
prised several of Mr. Sage's financial as.
sociates, of whom Henry Clews was perhaps
the most conspicuous. This jury was i'm
paneled directly after the explosion, and
viewed Henry L. Norcross' head when it
was in the morgue.
The chief feature of the inquest was in
relation to Mr.. Laidlaw's alleged part as
buffer. Mr.. Sage directly contradicted
Laidlaw's statement that he had shakea
hands with him and greeted him more
effusively than ever before, denying that he
had even touched him.
Sage Cross-Examined BY Clews.
Mr.. Sage was subjected to a cross-exam-
he took, the stand. In describing Mr..
Sage's greeting, Laidlaw had said that Mr..
Sage placed his hand on his shoulder and
took Laidlaw's left hand in his right, then
clasped Laidlaw's left hand in both of his,
shifting his position in such way as to
place Laidlaw between him and Norcross.
Laidlaw's statement as to the respective po-
sitions was explicit, and the inference was
almost equally so. Laidlaw also showed to
the Jury the remnants of his trousers which
were rent by the explosion.
Henry Clews' question to Mr.. Sage was:
Sat the time of the explosion were you in
the act Of shaking hands with Mr.. Laid
law?"
mo, never touched him, answered Mr..
Sage
To show that Laidlaw could not have been
between him and Norcross, Mr.. Sage said
there were Al separate wounds over the
front of his body, ranging from his neck to
his feet, out of which, on the evening of the
explosion, DR.. Mum spent three hours and
a half in picking glass and dynamite, bits OF
leather and clothing. lie took no oplates
during the painful process.
The Bomb Thrower a Pleasant Men.
The witness described the bomb thrower
as a man of pleasant speech and the last
man he would have suspected of doing any
thing wrong.
"While talking to him." said Mr.. Sage,
1T looked him in the eye as I am now look
ing at Mr. Clews"
The witness was standing as he said this
"a posture he maintained most of the time.
"See what a wicked man he was, moral
lied Mr.. Sage, after describing the dyna-
inter. "He thought his explosive would
blow up the building with the 200 or $50
people. in it, and but for the providence of
God it would have, and it was a miracle we
were not all killed. I understand he first
went to Connor's Office, but Mr.. Connor was
not in. If he had not found me he would
have paid his respects to some one else He
was murderer Of the most pronounced at
tainments that has been seen for q long
time.
Identification BY a Plaster Cast.
Mr. Sage identified the plaster cast of the
dynamiter's head, which stood OIL Coroner
Messemer's desk, as resembling the man he
was speaking of; the original head he had
identified when brought to him by Inspector
Byrnes' detective. He said, in the course
of his testimony, that the dynamiter had
faced him during the brief colloquy in
which the 81, 250, 900 was demanded. che
was sharp enough not to turn around and
give me chance to grab him"
A jocose juror asked this question toward
the close OF MI. sage testimony. Ii you
kept large sums of money with you, SO you
could hand it out readily, would it not be
apt to save the lives of many people?"
81 don't know anyone who carries a
million about with him." returned Mr.
Sage.
''If the market is going up buy me 100
shares, will you," shouted the jocose juror,
Mr.. Sage left the stand and the room.
Verdict Of tile Coroner's Jury.
After hearing lot more testimony, more
or less important, including that of an ex-
plosive expert, who said dynamite did not
explode by concussion alone, but required
also great heat, the jury, which had shown
manifest impatience during the two hours
the hearing had occupied, spent scarcely
ten minutes in formulating the following
verdict:
We find that Henry L. Norcross came to
his death from an explosion of a combusti-
BILE dropped from his own hands at II Broad
way on December L. 1891
We also find that Benjamin F. Norton
came to his death from the same explosion
which killed Henry L. Norcross at the same
time and place.
MI. Clews tried unsuccessfully to get the
II other jurymen TO add to this an appeal to
the Legislature to make it ''an offense, pun
ishable by imprisonment, for any person to
carry around anything whatsoever capable
of destroying life and property, unless
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