Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-02-10
TRIAL OF MARTINS MEN
Hundreds Of People Assembled al The
WilHeSbarre Court House.
RECENT SENSATIONAL OUTBREAK
Judge Woodward's Remarks
Concerning the Affair.
SEVERE DENUNCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS

Wilkeaharre, Pa, Feb s.-The first
week nf the trial OF Sheriff Martin and
his deputies ended to.dsy, with the
case we'll under way.
There was the usual crowd at this
mornings session, a crowd which, be-
fore adjournment, filed all the availa-
BILE space.
The first witness. Michael Nicholson,
described the condition Of some OF tha
wounded he had soon nonR the road
near Lattimer. One man died as he
watched him; fivu others, whom he
saw were badly wounded. The wtuess
came upon a dying striker, end was
joined by man named Costello. Whilo
they were trying to aid the man, a
deputy named Alfrel Hess came up and
Costello, with great Indignation, said
that it was scRndalous piece of work
the deputies had done, whereupon HeHs
replied, You shut up, or | will treat
you tine same way" This defence oh.
jectsd to this Reference to Iless, aud the
objection was sustained and the owl
tlence stricken out.
The nest witness was nne of tho most
important of those to be heard op be.
half OF the commonw wealth. lie 10 John
Egler. secretary of the Norwood Union
OF the United Mine Workers. He told
how, on the night before the shooting,
meeting had been held at Hnrwnod
and the men gathered there decided to
march over to LHttimer tho next day
to show themselves to the men at that
place at the request of these men. The
witness en1eavored to get an American
flag, because he understood they could
not march without carrying flag. lie
did not obtain the flag until noon on
tho day Of the shooting. When he got
it, he nailed it on long pole he had
but. They agreed, he said, to march
unarmed. and to behave peaceably all
the time. Speaking OF the meeting
with the sheriff and the deputies at
West Hazelton, the witness said I:
"They rushed at VI and pointed their
guns in our faces, and told US to atop.
l explained to the sheriff that we were
| just going to show ourselves to the
Lattimer men. ana we're going to do no
harm to anybody. The sheriff said I:
II you 90 to LaJtiuIer, you must kill
me- Burgess Junes Of West Hazelton
said we could march through the
streets, and so the sheriff and deputies
went away and we marched on to Lat
timer"
The witness told about the arrival of
the strikers at Lattimer, and said that
he again told the sheriff they wore not
armed, and that they would behave
| themselves. The sheriff pulled couple
of the men out of the ranks, and drew
his revolver, and the witness saw him
trying to shoot one of the strikers. The
revolver did not explode, however, and
1 N 60 ah artH
At this time there was shot, and then
three or four shots, and at last volley.
The witness fell down between two men,
but did NOT think the men we're shoot
ing ball cartridges until he saw one OF
the men bieedine. Then he got up aud
ran with the rest, and the bullets kept
whizzing about his ears. He cav lots
of wounded men, but did not go near
the deputies, as hs was afraid. On
cross- examination, Egler admitted that
when ths sheriff told them to disperss
he said: "We amt going to; We are
going to Lattimer.
After the cross examination of Egler,
the court adjourned until Monday morn.
ing.
Wilkesharre, Pa, Feb. Z. Hundreds
of persons, anxious to hear what actor
Judge Woodward would take in refor
enca 10 the sensational outbreak or
Saturday between Attorneys Garmar
and LenahHn, opposing counsel in tht
Lattimer shooting case, thronged the
court room.
Judge Woodward, as Hoon as all thu
attorneys had assembled. spoke Of tht
incident of Saturday, saying that, atte
he had left the bench and before court
had adjourned an alteration had riser
, between two OF the lawyers engaged il
the Martin trial, which the court die
not fully hear aud did not realize thu
words used until they were seen in tn,
newspapers. "IIad we heard what wa
said." the judge stated. I've should
/ have dealt with tho lawyers in a sum
mary manner, as the affair so deserved
and IL there ia repetition of II VI
shall punish the guilty parties for con
tempt OF court" Judge WOODWARD
, went on to say that the attorneys url
officers of the court, and that their ali
, 10 necessary In preserving the dignit!
! of the court, as tina nature OF the cas-
+ demands. Next came severe danuncia
tion OF the Gensationalism OF certRil
newspapers, in which the court sal
endeavoring to prevent Justice by al
exaRgeration OF the facts and tho in
citienta Of the trial in print ant
pictorially" He would, he said. no
mention any names at present., hut ]
the astounding falsehoods and mis-
concentrations continue. the representa-
: tives of the papers will find the door o
the court closed to them.' This ia
court of Justice, - continued the Judge
"ongnged in the trial of case dealinI
with the life or death of a number O
men, and is not concert or roitica
convention. The dignity of the cour
must and will be preserved"
The first witness called to-day wa
q Silas Jones, Justice of the peace O
il West Iiazleton. He stated that he ha
r seen the meeting of tbs deputies an
strikers at West Hazeton. and ha
then followed the deputies to Lnttimer
lie saw, as the strikers approached
4 Sheriff Martin advance toward then
4 with a paper IN his hand. Some O
/, them surrounded Martin and an alter
|. cation occurred, but the witness cou
n not sea exactly whom the sheriff wa
! engaged with or how the altercatio
Q commenced, or how it Terminated. II
|, heard two shots, and then a volley, an
n saw several men fall; two who fe
- near him were dead. He was aske
" what the spectators said after the shoot
% ing. The defence objected TO this, o
the ground TINT the evidence was nc
relevant. The argument on this poin
lasted about an hour. Aftor listenin
/ to the argument, the coirt sustaine
10 the objection. thus shutting out III
10 evidence, This is regarded as a gain 4
al an important point by the defence.
1t Counsel for the defence asked tn