Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-02-05

were quiet and orderly and the only
demonstration they made was to cheer
the car as it passed. The witness said
he saw them carrying no weapons.
Returning on the same car from Lattl-
mer he again passed the strikers Just
as they were approaching the sheriff.
AS the car neared the end of the col
umn he saw the strikers there running,
heard a cheer and Immediately after
ward the shooting. Witness then con-
tinued on the car to Hazelton. Speak
ing of the journey to Lattimer he said
several deputies boarded the car and
| dismounted at Lattimer. He did not
hear them say anything.
Miss Grace Coyle, the young girl
who is Principal Guscott's assistant at
| the Lattimer school, was next called,
and she proved to be the
MOST IMPORTANT WITNESS
! of the day She was very brief in all
her answers and exceedingly nervous
| at first She said she was standing
| on the porch of the school house and
| saw the deputies line up along the
I! roadside. Then the strikers approach
ed Quietly and orderly She did not
+ hear any shouting. The sheriff stop
! ped them and some of them gathered
| around him, but she did not see any
| Of them attack him. Some of them
| cried GO ahead" and few OF the
strikers pushed past the sheriff At
| that moment a shot was fired, then
| came another. and in an instant
crashing volley.
II saw men fall" said Miss Coyle,
some of them ran toward the scnool
| house and when they had got half way
! they fell. | do not know whether
| thew we're shot just as they fell or II
| they were wounded by the volley and
ran 50 far before their strength failed.
| The shooting continued for about two
minutes. and after the first volley It
was scattered.
Il helped many CT the wounded
] SJIlkeIS
house bandaged the wounds OF
some Of those who were shot through
| the arms or legs, and we carried one
man shot in the stomach and another
! in the chest into the school house, gave
them water to drink and tried to make
! them comfortable. There was blood
md
was a horrible sight.
Il helped about twelve or fifteen OF
the wounded and did not see any
weapons on any of them. While we
! were helping them a deputy named
! Ross laughed at me as he walked about
smoking cigar | said, You ought
to go to Cuba
Another deputy. Clark. laughed,
and | said to him, DO you think
you've done glorious deed to-day?'
| called two more Of them buns"
Miss Coyle made a good witness for
the Commonwealth in her recital of
all this, but in the cross-examination
| she also made good
WITNESS FOR THE DEFENSE.
| The defense will try to prove that
the people of Lattimer were very much
I afraid of the strikers and became
much alarmed when they heard they
were coming. Guscott, the principal
of the school, had denied that his
scholars were frightened, but he could
not explain very clearly why they had
bolted out of the school without
school being dismissed. Miss Coyle
said on this point Just what the de-
tense desired to get at. She said:
Shortly before o'clock Miss Cora
| Hinbach came to the school and said:
The strikers are coming and | want
| my little sister to go home with me.
l excused the little girl and then
thought it best to dismiss the school
so they could get home before the
strikers came"
| This will be strong evidence for the
defense. as it will show that on the Tues
-
! strikers were riotdng in Lattimer and
/ terrorized the residents. While these
! were not the same men who marched on
! the fatal Friday the testimony will be
! valuable to prove that in view of the riot
! ing of Friday the sheriff considered the
! lives and property of the Lattlmer people
in danger and he felt he was justified in
using extreme measures to protect them
/ DR.. John j. Corrigan, of Hezleton, tes-
| tilted to the fact that he dressed the
wounds of some Of the strikers as they
| were being taken to Hazleton in a trolley
| car. Several deputies were In the car but
! said nothing to him about the affair.
1 Then the Commonwealth called Stephen
| I. Adams. a travelling man. by whom il
hoped TO prove that some Of the deputies
| while journeying to the scene of the
| shooting,
| MADE THREATS
| that they would kill some of the strikers.
| The witness said he could not identify
any Of the deputies on the car. AS he
was proceeding to tell his story. the de-
| Tense objected on the ground that as he
| could not identify any Of the deputies II
| was not proper evidence for him to state
/ what was said. There was q long argu-
| ment and the court finally sustained the
| objection Of the defense. and the evidence
| Will not be heard.
Court then adjourned until the morning
| The trial IS expected to take four weeks