The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-30

Spokane, Wash, April ga Ward
ner special to the Spokesman Review
says: Wardner to-day has been he
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 at $780,
900 has been destroyed by giant pow
der and fire The damage was done by
union men and sympathizers from Cam
yon creek, about 20 miles from Ward
rer. This morning a mob of from 800
to 1000 men, all of them armed. ard
many of them masked seized a train
at Burke, the head of Canyon creek.
There were nine box cars and a pas
senger coach and they We're black
with the mob. The visitors brought
with them 5000 pounds of giant pow
der.
After a parley of two hours 140
masked men, armed with Winchesters,
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 these
the mill was abandoned. This was
misunderstood by the main body of
the mob, who ina gined 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 Co
lumbia, and a noted figure in drill con-
tests, 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
livan mill, which they found deserted,
the manager having directed his en-
ployes NOT to risk their lives battling
with the mob Powder was called for
and 60 50-pound boxes were carried
from the depot to the mill. The heavi-
est charge was placed among the ma
chinery of the mill. Another charge
was placed under the brick office build
ing. Other charges were placed around
the mill. Then the boarding house,
frame structure, was fired. Fuses lead
ing to the charges were lighted and
the strikers, carrying the dead body
of the picket, retired to a safe ois
tance.
At 2:36 p. m. the first blast went off.
1t shook the ground for miles, and
buildings in Wardner, two miles away.
trembled. At intervals of about 30
seconds, four other charges went off,
the fifth being the largest and COM
pletely demolishing the mill. The loss
to the Bunker Hill and Sullivan com
pany is estimated from $250,000 to $780,,
O00
In few minutes the strikers went
back to the station, the whistle was
blown for stragglers the mob soon
climbed aboard and at 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, a Bunker Hill
and Sullivan mill man. was severely
shot through the hips. 1t is reported
that he was carried off by the strikers
and his wound is probably fatal. ].
J. Rogers, stenographer in the en-
ploy of the company was shot through
the lip, but his wound is trivial.
This morning the 230 nom union min
ers 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 morning, presumably to
take part in the riot
Tonight the Bunker Hill and Sulli-
van mine is closed. When it will be
opened is thing that no living man
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 mill. and the destruction of those
works will absolutely prevent the Last
Chance from working for the next three
months. or until its own compressor is
completed. Meanwhile the total work
ing force of the town is laid off
The Wrecking of the mill plant in
wolves the livelihood of 600 men. The
Bunker Hill mine up to the time of the
strike had been working 360 men and
the mill 80, while the Last Chance alto
gether employed $50.
AS soon as the first word of the iert-
Gus trouble reached town all the sa-
looms closed up Immediately. The mar-