The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1900-03-19
STORY OF GILLE
Master Mechanic Of the Tiger and
PO0rman Mine Tells Of Occur
d'Alene Riots.
Principal Disturbance in Burke
Was That Made by Soldiers
Themselves.
Advent of Military Defeated Ends
of JuStice--Kind of Affida.
Wits Wanted.

WASHINGTON, March 19.-The Occur
|d'Alene investigation was continued be-
fore the house committee on military
afflirs. The cross examination of Mr..
Forney which was in progress when the
committee adjourned was not resumed,
on account of the illness of the witness.
Allen F. Gille of Spokane, WASH, a
mechanical engineer, was placed on the
stand by Mr.. Lentz. He held various
positions in Spokane, and was master
mechanic for the Oregon Railway and
Navigation company before he became
master mechanic Of the Tiger and Poor
man Mining company If Burke. In
that position, among other duties, he
was charged with the employment and
discharge of men in the mine.
He testified that he was at Burke.
April 20, 1899, the day the Burker Hill
mine was blown up. The town was
unusually quiet. April 80, all the men
were at work except four. They con.
tinued at work until the Sd or 4th of
May when numbers Of them, including
himself were arrested by the military.
He testified that he had attempted to
continue at work. He had explained to
the officer in charge of the troops that
the manager of the mine was absent,
and that great property interests de.
pended on him.
No Need of Martial Law.
The officer, Major Morten, replied
that martial law had been declared and
that he would have to go to Wardner.
He testified that he had heard Major
Morten order some of his troops to break
into his (Gille's) house. The soldiers
broke in the door. He noticed other
instances of a similar character. He
testified to general rude and harsh
treatment suffered by the arrested
miners at the hands Of the troops. Later
in the day he was released and went
back to the mine with eight miners and
worked all night with them to get the
water which had accumulated out of
the mine. The only disturbance made
in Burke that day was the disturbance
created by the soldiery. There was no
necessity for the soldiers, he said, as
civil processes could have been served.
In his opinion the advent of the military
defeated the ends Of justice. The guilty
parties escaped into Montana. Had the
military not been there many Of these
| would have returned and could have
been arrested.
Mr.. Gille testified that he had been
informed that no releases from the bull
pen would be made except on the order
of Bartlett Sinclair.
Only One Kind of Afhdavits Wanted.
He had had an interview with Sim
clair and had presented affidavits re.
garding men who had been at work at
Burke when the mine at Wardner was
blown up, but he ~(Sinclair) refused to
release them, saying that he took no
stock in affidavits. Sinclair had in.
formed him that it was the duty of re.
putable citizens to bring afidavits to
convict and not to acquit. The witness
described conditions in the .'bull pen."
His testimony was similar SO that Of
other witnesses. He testified that the
deputies had had some trouble with the
firemen under his control and the former
had informed Lieutenant Lyons that
the firemen had applied opprobrious ep-
ithets to them. Lieutenant Lyons had
complained Of this to him (Gille) and
had said that if such epithets had
been applied to him, he (Lyons) would
have shot the offender. Lieutenant
Lyons threatened to send the tiremen to
the 'bull pen' unless the firemen apol.
ogized. The dignity of the state officers,
Lieutenant Lyons said, must be upheld.
Later the firemen apoligized and the
trouble was amicably settled.
Mr.. Gille said that the men in the
Occur d'Alene district were law abid.
ing. They were not as a class inferior
to those in any other mining commu-
nifty. There were some bad men among
them, but as a class they were excep.
tionally good men. These bad men were
not permanent residents of the district.
So far IS the Tiger oorman mine was
concerned, the relations between the
miners and MI. Culberson, the active
manager, were not very cordial.