The Lamar register., 1899-05-03
MILL BLOWN UP.
Cour d. si-n- Miners Determined to Pre-
vent Nnn-union Men From Working

vent Nnn-union Men From Working
Spokane. Wash. April 31.-A Ward
ner. Idaho. special TO the Spokesman
Review says; Wnrdner to-day has been
the scene OF the worst riots since the
deadly labor war of 1892.
One man Is dead. another Is thought
TO be mortally wounded. and property
valued nt S25O.ooo has been de
stroyed by giant powder and fire. The
damage was done 10y union men and
sympathizers from Canyon Greek,
about twenty miles from Wardner.
This morning a mob OF from 500 to
1000 men. all of them armed with
many OF them masked. seized train
nj Burke. the head of Canyon Greek.
There werc nine box cars and pas
senger coach, and they We're black
with the mGss5. The visitors brought
with them 5000 pounds Of giant pow
der
After n parley OF two hours, 40
masked men. armed with winchesters,
Burke In the lead and Wardner follow
ing. started with yells for the Bunker
Hlll and Sullivan mill and other build
ings, n third of a mile from the depot.
They sent pickets ahead. and one of
the pickets fired shot as n signal
that the mill was abandoned
This was misunderstood 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 loo shots We're thus ex-
changed between the rioters and their
pickets, and Jack Smith. one of the
pickets, formerly of British Columbia,
and n noted figure In drill contests,
was shot dead. The fatal error was
discovered after a few seconds firing,
and Smiths body was brought down
from the hillside
By this time the strikers had taken
possession OF the Bunker Hill and Sui
livan mill, 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 sixty fifty-pound boxes
were carried from the depot to the
mill.
The heaviest charge was placed
among the machinery of the mill. An.
other charge was placed under the
brick office building. other charges
were placed around the mill. Then the
boarding house, frame structure, was
fired.
Fuses leading TO the charges Were
lighted and the strikers. CARRYING the
body of the picket, retired to safe
distance.
At 2:36 y. m, the first blast went of.
II shook the ground for miles, and
buildings in Wardner. TWO miles away.
trembled. At intervals of sixty sec
onds, four other charges went off. the
fifth being the largest, and completely
demolished the mill The loss to the
Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company is
estimated at from S250,OO0 to $500, 600.
In few minutes the strikers went
back to the station, the whistle was
blown for stragglers, the mob soon
climbed aboard, and at 3 o'clock. Just
three hours after its arrival. the train
pulled out for Canyon Creek
The present strike in the Occur
d'Alene mining district, in northern
Idaho, was inaugurated about ten DAYS
ago, and Is directed principally against
the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine. Mt
Nardner, where non-union men are
employed. The demands of the min
ers for increased wages We're met by
mine owners. but the miners demand
cd that the union be recognized. and
that non-union men be discharged.
This the mine owners refused to do,
and the Last Chance mine closed
down. The Bunker Hill and Sullivan,
however, continued to run with non
union men until to-day, when they
We're driven out by an armed mob of
union men.