The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-04-30
Charges Of Explosives So Heavy that
the Earth Shook for Miles About
the Scene of the Outrage.
MISTAKE BY MASKED MOB
FIRED ON ITS OWN PICKETS FOR
SEVERAL SECONDS.
About 1000 shots Exchanged Before
Blunder Was Discovered-NOn-
uniOnists Hiding in the Hills.

SPOKANE, Wash. April "a Ward
ner. Idaho. special to the Spokesman Re-
view says: Wardner to-day has been the
scene Of the worst riot since the deadly
labor war in 1892 One man is dead, an
other is thought to be mortally wounded
and property valued at s25o.0o0 has been
destroyed by giant powder and fire. The
damage was done by union men and sym
pathizers from Canyon Creek. about twen-
ty miles from wardner. This morning a
mob Of from 800 to 1000 men. all armed and
many of them masked, seized a train at
Burke the head of Canyon Creek. There
were nine box cars and a passenger coach
and they were black with the mob. The
visitors brought with them 5000 pounds of
giant powder.
After a parley OF two hours 14o masked
men armed with winchesters. Burke in the
lead. and Wardner following, started with
yells for the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mill
and other buildings a third of a mile from
the depot. They sent pickets ahead and one
of the pickets fired shot as a signal that
the mill was abandoned. This was mis-
understood by the main body Of the mob.
who Imagined that nonunion miners in the
hills had opened fire ON them. and they be-
gan firing on their own pickets About 1000
shots were thus exchanged between the
rioters and their pickets. and Jack Smith,
one of the pickets. formerly of British Co.
lumbia, and noted figure in drill contests,
was shot dead. The fatal error was dis
covered after few seconds firing and
Smiths body brought down from the hill
side.
By this time the strikers had taken pos
session of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mill,
which they found deserted. the manager
having directed his employees not to risk
their lives by battling with the mob. Pow
der was called for and sixty fifty-pound
boxes were carried from the depot to the
mill. The heaviest charge was placed un-
der the brick office building Other charges
were placed around the mill Then the
q
burned. Fuses leading to the charges were
lighted and the strikers, carrying the dead
body Of the picket, retired to safe dis
tance.
AT 2:36 p. m. the first blast went of. 1t
shook the ground for miles, and buildings in
Wardner. two miles away, trembled At in
nf oh c;x
charges went off, the fifth being the largest,
and completely demolished the MILL The
loss to the Bunker Hill and Sullivan COM
panies is estimated at from $4,000 to 100000.
In few minutes the strikers went back
to the station. the whistle was blown for
stragglers, the mob soon climbed aboard ana
rival the train pulled out for Canyon Creek.
During the fusillade from the guns Of the
mob Jim Chayne, a Bunker Hill and Sulli-
van mill man, was severely shot through.
the hips. 1t is reported that he was carried
off by the strikers and his wound is prob
ably fatal. ]. j. Rogers, a stenographer in
through the lip, but his wound Is trivial
This morning the 230 nonunion miners at the
Bunker Hill and Sullivan had warning of
the coming of the mob and left the mine
and took to the hills. They have not been
seen since. Union men. working in the Last
Chance, left the mine this afternoon, pre-
suma bly "a taxa pa art fha riot
Tonight the Bunker Hill and Sullivan
mine is closed. When 1t will be opened is a
| thing that nobody can say. With the mill
| wrecked IL is impossible to handle the ore
produced at the mine workings. The Last
| Chance is likewise closed down. 1t has been
| getting power from the Bunker Hill mine
and the destruction of those works will alb
| soluteiy prevent the Last Chance from
working for the next three months. or until
its own compressor is completed. Mean.
| while the total working force OF the town
is laid of. The wrecking OF the mill plant
| involves the livelihood OF six hundred men.
The Bunker Hill mine. up to the time of the
strike. had been working 800 men and the
mill ninety. while the Last Chance alto
gether employed 150
The present strike I'm the Couer d'Alene
| mining district In northern Idaho was in
augurated about ten days ago, and is di-
rected principally against the Bunker Hill
and Sullivan mines. at wardner where non-
union men are employed. The demands of
the miners for increased wages were met by