The record-union., 1898-12-02
LATE TRAGEDY AT VIRDEN.
THE GRAND JURY MAKES IT'S
FORMAL REPORT.
Returns True Bills Against Prin-
cipal Participants In Riots
Gov. Tanner Indicted.

ST. LOUIS. Dec. IA special to the
Republic" from CarlinviIle, ILL.,, says;
The Virden riot Grand Jury made it's
formal report to Judge K B. Shirley
at $50 this evening.
The Grand Jury dealt pertinently
with the affairs, as far as it was able
to ascertain and returned true bills
against the principal participants in
the tragedy of October 18th at Virden.
Ten indictments involving fifty per-
sons were returned st
Against John r. Tanner Governor of
Illinois. there are three counts for pal
pable omission of duty and malfeasance
in office. Fred w. Lukens, General
Manager of the Chicago Virden Coal
Company, is charged with man
slaughter on two counts, while Lukens
and his deputies, Frank Wilde, ]. E.
Sickles and ]. H. Smith, are indicted
for the killing of Joseph Gitterele, a
Mount Olive miner.
Sixteen Thiel guards are held for
riot.
In the indictments against Governor
Tanner, the complaining witnesses are
John Graham, Will Mitchell, William
Wilson, Clarence Ross and Charles
Stewart, employees of the Chicago-Vi
den Coal Company. They testified that
they were intimidated and prevented
from following their employment by an
armed body of men numbering LOCO,
who unlawfully and feloniously were
assembled in Virden: that the Gov
ernor had been notified by the Sheriff
of Macoupin County that no protection
was to be had from the county, and
was earnestly importuned for State
assistance
Judge Shirley fixed Governor Tan
ner's bond at $500.
A. j. Roberts, the foreman of the
Grand Jury, who was also foreman
OF the COroner's jury is a Virden po-
lice magistrate. He was strongly op-
posed to indicting Governor Tanner
In each Of the indictments against
Governor Tanner the omission of duty
was fdentical-failure and refusal to
respond to the call of Sheriff Dayen-
port of this county for military aid
in suppressing the riotous demonstra-
tions of Virden coal miners
The indictments were in brief as fol-
lows:
First-Failure and refusal to send
the actions of a thousand or more men
who were preventing certain persons
from entering on their duties in the
service of the Chicago-Virden Coal
Mining Company.
Second-Failure and refusal to send
troops on the call of the Sheriff to
prevent the same men from doing
bodily violence to the same would be
employees.
Third-Failure and refusal to send
troops to aid the Sheriff in preventing
the same rioters from conspfring and
combining to do injury to the would
be employees.
TANNER DECLINES TO TALK.
SPRINGFIELD dll.), Dec. 1.-When
Governor Tanner was informed to-
night of the action of the Grand Jury
at Carlinville he received the news
with indifference, and manifested no
interest in the particulars. He was
asked for an expression in regard to
the matter, but declined to talk about
it. simply saying that he did not con-
slider it worth while to discuss the
subject.
This is not the first time a Governor
of Illinois has been indicted. 1t is but
a few years since Ex-Governor Altgeld
was indicted in Champaign County as
one of the Trustees of the University
of Illinois ex-officio, because the So
called flag law was not observed at
the university. but nothing ever came
OF the indictment, which was soon
afterward dismissed.