The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-16
LATTIMER MURDER TRIAL.
MORE WITNESSES 90 TO PIECES,
UNDER CROSN- EXHIBITION. ar

One witness tu Particular Identifies Certnfnr
Deputies ne Having Fired tho shots. ana 90
Cross. Examination Fakes n Rack ana s,r,.,
ply says ThcJ Were Draws zip on tho nena.,
W1LKEsBARRE, Pa, Feb. 15.-There was M,
morning session to-day in the trial VI Sheriff
Martin and his deputies for the I.attmer shoots
Ing, Judge Woodward having allowed ALI
connected with the case to go hons and voto at
the local Elections. In the afternoon an attempts
was made again by the prosecution to tx the
identity Of the deputies that did the shooting al
bnttimcr. The witness used LOT nlouR awim.
ninsy in the direct examination, nut went all
TO pieces In the cross-cNaminatlol and the e1-
pcctcd dramatic effect dill not happen. This
may have been partly due to the Imperfect
translation or the witncss'a replies by the inter-
prefer and tho failure Of the prosecution to put,
the witness through n redirect examination.
At any rate, what would have been the most
Important testimony yet given lost very much
In weight In consequence OF tho replies given 70
the Cross-cNnminntion. ~
John P!atak was tho first witness. On direct
examination ho said that when the firing began
Mt Lattinicr he had run away and had boon
shot In tho calf, the bullet entering from behind
and coming out near the knee. On cross-ex.
animation the witness said that no had been In
this dountry four years and had worked at Gram
berry for twj years. He didn't work for o
week before the troub Bile at Lattimer. He had
attended n meeting held ut Cranberry Q
few evenings before and had heard that the
men wore going to Lattimcr.
W Cranberry men decided to march with
the HARDWOOD men to Lattimer," tho witness
said, because the Lattimcr mon had invited us
to come over"
Mr.. Lenahan wanted to know the names Of
tho men that had brought the invitation, but
the witness either could not or would not tell.
You had been stopped from working by the
McAdoo mon, had you noti' asked Mr.. Lena
han. .
YES" .u
And you decided'to stop the Lattimer men,
as you had been stopped by the McAdoo men,
did you not?"
NO, sir. Wo only wanted to go over there
and show ourselves, as we had got word that
they would come out"
''These fellows from McAdoo, when they
stopped you, had guns and clubs and iron bars.
did they notl' de.
They had no guns, but some had sticks"
Mr.. Lcnahan~ attempted to show that the Har-
wood men had also intended arming before go
ing to Lattimer, but the question was object
ed to. '
II purpose to show Mr.. Lcnahan contin-
ued, that the HARDWOOD men proposed to use
the same kind of persuasion at Lattimer that
the McAdoosmen had ut HARDWOOD, - and then he
went on to ask, when it became known at the
Cranberry stripping that the McAdoom men were
coming, the bosses stopped working. did they
notl"
Yes, the bosses told us that as soon as wa
saw the strikers coming we should stop work."
when they did como they had sticks and
stones, as you 'sayf
The testimony Of the next witness. Caspar
ing and significant yet given at the trial il it
had not failed in Its full purpose. as has been
prefer, he said that on the evening before the
shooting some men had come oyer from Latti-
mor to Norwood to invite the HARDWOOD men to
participate IN n meeting to be held at Lattimer
on the following day. In consequence the Har-
wood men, he among them, had marched to
Lattlmer. =
see theref' asked MT. Martin.
the fence. Then.the:sheriff came out and talked
few minutes to the men in our front rank. Then
our men. 1 saw the man drop. Then tho
deputies began to shoot and ran away; The he
around me and i fell over several dead men"
In what direction did you see the deputies
! shooti'
Il saw deputies fire in the direction of the
schoolhouse. because our men were running In
that direction
oh. yes, know a good many of them, and
tin, and the witness was led along the rows OF
seats occupied by the defendants He sucSess-
| lively pOlnIeu OUT NlCntTu JOuGS, luOuldb I1dlls
A. f. Hess. Joseph s. Obers, Alonzo Dodson.
George Ferry James ssol FeJE Gg;;, v Joh BIZ T rawT
s1sP Frank 9e GPsTit. A. When Vi pl Se!6a dh rstnrne aG to Si;;
seat aw he was "a asked 1o% b. by Nj Miner MsTtt Rid.,w.v do,.
II saw him shoot in the direction We were
running, away. He was in the middle of tho
Charles Houick and Frank Clark" -
Ing" said Mr., Martin, handing the witness .
Winchester rifle.
The witness took the gun. brought 1t to his
shoulder, and CHANGING along the barrel, kept
moving 1t from side to side as II shooting az
tho s1Eni HSjsGts; Of Fy tls sssyimony qu and Il t. s a9e
doubtedly made a deep impression and especial
Y as the witness was not at an eSclt9q, DuI en-.
intelligent thar, the witnesses of his nationality
!ha ah6 aSd DID P5ef Moaidi Hi and Clark shoota'
.'How did Platt shootl'
. you see any more deputies at Lattimor
The witness went again down to where the
deputies sat and picked <. out a. NJ, Ely: .,on hv
attoniiptinK 10 throw d discredit upon the wit,
ncs$,s Identification Of the deputies.
and have the deputies pointed out to your no
No" replied the witness, 81 know them"
Mr.. Palmer then came down to the events at
do you mean TO say" he asked, that you
saw the Sheriff shoot n man at Lattimerf'
"Ycs sir. l do. | saw the Sheriff kill a man.
He was only three yards away from me. 1t was
the first shot and was fired by the Sheriff.
saw tho man he shot fall. He was dead: Ibid
nos know the man who was killed. Then !
started TO run away md was shot in the calf.
and a minute later in the hip"
Now. about the men you say you saw shoot.
You only went down here pointing to the row
of deputies, ''and picked; out those that you
saw lined up Mt Lattimer.'
"Yes. sir, that was all"
Although this was virtually all of the testi-
mony brought out by Mr.. Martin as to the shoot
Ing. he refrained from u redirect examination
of The witness.
John Buisk. the last witness examined, had
been shot in the right temple a, Lattimer and
lay four weeks in the hospital unconscious but
has fully recovered. On crOs~s-cNamination he
said thai he had Joined the marching strikers
at L.attlmer, although he did not know where
they were going. His examination was not
completed when court adjourned.
Samuel Gompers made his appearance at the
trial to-day. lie had come here TO .imbibe