The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-10

j. r. Sovereign, ex-Srand master
workman of the Knights of Labor
member of the national committee OF
the Populist party, and one of the
most noted labor leaders of the coun-
try, is in the city to attend the conven-
ton of the Western Labor Union, but
viii return 10 Idaho to be arrested for
participation in the Wardner riots.
! Mr.. Sovereign is a medium-sized, ner-
vous, keen-eyed man, with a sharp nose
and firm chin and mouth shaded by
dropping brown niCustache. At the
present time he is publishing what he
terms a hree-dollar-a-year weekly
labor paper" at Wallace, Ida, and he
troubles at WaTdner. where the mines
and mill were dynlmited and several
miners We're shot.
Sitting in the Kenyon lobby last
evening smoking the stub of a cigar,
Mr.. Sovereign talked about the Ward
ner difficulties.
Yes, they had me up before the coro-
ner's Jury up there he said. Ito see
what l knew about the killing. And
they sweated me good and plenty, too"
this With something of q smile, as the
floor but they got precious little out
of me, for l didn't know anything about
1t except what | saw. / was there to
get the news, not to take part in it.
They wanted me to identify some of the
men who did the shooting, but l didn't
know any of them. Most of them were
masked and they were all from camps
up Canyon creek and from Mullan-
men | never met.
You see / was at Wallace when the
train came down the canyon going to
Wardner. 1t was loaded to the guards
with men and 1t looked as though they
meant mischief, for they were all
armed. L went down to Wardner on
the passenger train soon after, and
when l got to Wardner the explosions
We're going on and Winchesters were
popping in the crowd so that you could
hardly hear. l climbed up on the tank
of the engine of our train and watched
the explosions, and when the miners
went back to Wallace 1 went on the
engine with the engineer, whom knew
quite well.
SO when the coroner's jury called me
up hadn't much to tell them, and they
finally had to let me go after awhile
without getting much out of me.
The whole trouble is deplorable. The
Bunker Hill people are all to blame.
When lead was at $3.50 they started
up under schedule of $3.50 a day for
all inside men. Then lead went to $3.50
and they insist on keeping the same
scale of wages as when lead was way
down.. That brought on the strike. for
all the other mines We're paying $3.50
and then the Bunker Hill people got so
arrogant that trouble came as the nat
ural result. It's too bad it happened and
things uD there now are in a terrible
way, but the way matters stood it
could hardly have been. avoided"
What is going to be the outcome of
the difficulty" was asked.
Don't ask me that Mr.. Sovereign
replied. that's something the best of
US can't tell. They've got martial law
in force now, have rounded up 700 or
more miners in the bullpen down at
Wardner Junction and they're arrest
ing by the dozens every day.
Why, they've even got a warrant out
for me, and I've got TO go right back
there as soon as I can. / was ticketed
through to Kansas City, for 1 was go
ing down to see my family, who are
living on my fruit farm in Arkansas.
But I've got to go back and face the
music at Wardner. L never run away
from that sort of thing