The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-05-01
RIOT IN IDAHO.
Union Miners Blow Up Two
Mills and Kill One Man.


was the scene of the worst riots since
the deadly labor war of 1892. One man
is dead, another is thought to be NOR
tally wounded, and property valued at
$250,000 has been destroyed by giant
powder and fire. The damage was done
by union men and sympathizers from
Canyon creek, about 20 miles from
Wardner
In the morning a mob from 800 to l.
900 men, all of them armed and many
of them masked, seized a train at
Burke, the head of Canyon creek. There
were nine boxcars 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. 40 mask
ed 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 a shot as signal that the
mill was abandoned. This was misun-
derstood by the main body of the mob,
who imagined that non-union miners in
the hills had opened fire on them, and
they began 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 Columbia and a no
ted figure in drill contests, was shot
dead. The fatal error was discovered
after a few seconds firing, and Smiths
body brought down from the hill side.
BY this time the strikers had taken
possession of the Bunker Hill and Sui
ivan mills, which they found deserted,
the manager having directed his en-
ployes not to risk their lives by bat
Ting with the mob. Powder was called
for, and so 50-pOund boxes were carried
heaviest
charge was placed under the brick Of
flee building. Other charges were
placed around the mill. Then the
boarding house, frame structure, was
burned. Fuses leading to the charges
| were lighted, and the strikers, carry
ing the dead body of the picket, retired
to a safe distance.
At 2:36 p. M, the first blast went off.
It shook the ground for miles, and
buildings in Wardner, two miles away,
trembIed At intervals of about so sec
onds, four other charges went off, the
/ fifth being the largest. 1t completely
demolished the mill. The loss to the
Bunker Hill and Sullivan company is
estimated at from $250,000 to $500, 900.
In a few minutes the strikers went
| back to the station, the whistle was
blown for stragglers, the mob climbed
| aboard and at 8 o'clock, just three
| hours after it's arrival, the train pulled
| out for Canyon Creek.
During the fusillade from the guns of
| the mob, Jim Chayne, Bunker Hill
| and Sullivan mill man, was severely
| shot through the hips. 1t is reported
| that he was carried off by the strikers.
| His wound is probably fatal. J. J. Rog-
| ers stenogra pher in the employ of
| the company, was shot through the lip,
but his wound is trivial.
Sunday the 230 non-union miners at
| the Bunker Hill and Sullivan had
warning ofthe coming of the mob and
| left the mine and took to the hills. They
| have not been seen since.
TROOPS UNDER ARMS.
| San Francisco, May 1.-The troops at
| the Preside are practically under arms
| and ready at a moments notice to re-
| spOnd to the call of Governor Steunen-
| burg of Idaho to assist in quelling the
| riot at Wardner and preserving order.
| Adjutant General Babcock has received
| a dispatch from Gen. Miles notifying
| ment of Colorado has been placed in
| command of all troops, ordered to the
| scene of the trouble and instructed to
| call for reinfOrcements without regard
! to department lines.
| MERRIAM GOES TO THE FRONT.
| Denver, May 1.-Mejor General Mer-
| RAM, commanding the department Of
! the Colorado and his aide de camp,
! Lieutenant J. B. Bennett have gone to
| Wardner, Idaho to investigate the min
ers strike and rioting.
TROOPS READY AT OMAHA
| Omaha, May 1.-The troops in the de-
| partment of the Missouri are all under
| waiting orders in anticipation of being
! sent to Wardner, Idaho. Cars were
| sent to Fort Crook yesterday afternoon
| and held with engine attached ready to
| pull out with a battalion of the Six
| tenth infantry at a moments notice.