The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-02-08


not given up the fight, but 1t seems tc
have been able to hold its: own in spite
Of all opposition and persecution; and
last spring, it is claimed, about two
thirds Of the miners in that region were
members of the Western Federation OF
Miners.
1t would require more space than
think the editor could spare for this
article to go into the details of what
now happened, although even those de-
tails ought long ago to have been made
known to the reading and thinking
public of the whole country; but very
few are acquainted with the facts of
this scandalous affair, because both the
Republican and the Democratic press OF
the country have suppressed them-the
Democratic papers in order to shield
Governor Steunenberg; the Republican
papers for the purpose of shielding the
president and his henchmen, all of
whom again-irrespectiLve of politics
are tools of the Standard Oil company,
whose mines were the principal scenes
of the disturbance. The company en-
ploys about 400 men in it's mines at that
place. 1t seems that only about 100
OF these were union men.
What happened on the memorable
10Th day of April, 1899, was briefly this,
leaving out many minor details: The
opposition of the mine owners, or their
local representatives, to the Miners
union had become too oppressive for the
miners to stand it any longer, at least
they felt that way, and excited meet
ing of union miners had recently been
held. On the day mentioned large num-
bers of miners from different places in
the Occur d'Alene district boarded a
railway train going towards Wardner,
the nearest town and station to the
Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines. A
demonstration was, of course, intended.
Many of the miners were armed, some
were masked. When they reached
Wardner, about noon, there were fully
1000 Of them, and they went to the oft
mentioned mining property. Shortly
after their arrival a large building, a
mill or concentration, was blown up.
The damage amounted to S25O,O0 ac-
cording to newspaper reports, but the
manager of the company, it is said, had
given the value of the concentrator be-
fore the board of equalization Chat is,
for taxation) as $4,000 only.
Well, the building and. it's contents
were destroyed; 5000 pounds of dyna-
mite had been placed under it, said the
Wallace Tribune at the time.
Who placed it there? Who fired it?
Now, here is a hitch Although as far
as the events following this catastrophe
and the subsequent attitude of the fed
eral and state authorities are concerned,
it matters very little who the guilty
parties to this destructive piece of work
were. Such acts of violence are unlaw-
though they sometimes seem excusable.
The truth as to who actually did it
seems difficult to get at. Two versions
Of the affair are given: One is, that the
union miners brought dynamite to the
place, put it under the building and
fired it; another is, that the destruction
Of the concentration was effected by en-
oicyes of the Bunker Hill mine for the
very purpose of bringing United States
military forces there,
Now, be that as it may. it is not the
main point in this affair, although it
must, of course, be of considerable i'm
nortance TO those more directly inter- |
sSted in the matter, The assertion is |
made by miners that men who We're |
'sencrallS suspected of completely in !
he outrage have been given good places |
n the mines, They claim, for in !
,tance, that the president of the Miners |
lnSon al Gem "a mining camp in the /
same ssSStr.cO was arrested The day +
sfaer The explosion was kept in lail /
NE day, and that he soon after was
Working in one OF the mines in a posi- !
ION OF more authority than he had held
sS0rs- This Is cQSSasea to be only one
&ssoaS several and Of coarse.
@osSS rather suspicious
Well er~as7S Soaa arrived in the min
~ e&a&ges IN that vicinity and arrests
'SSe ae&SSs ~ey Wholesale" at Wartiaer
Wallace, Burke, &0llan> Gem every
IAeSe IN the 0alaIaS district men were
cSeSss&, nos oaly miners but every
'atly else whom the depaty sheriffs or
Re military officers happened to come
crcSS> At Al9llSa the editor OF the
l0lls0 Mixer was thrown in Jail kept
here for some weeks and then released
lthosst trial, Two OF the three county
smmI>SlcnerS and the sheriff of Shes
ore county were imprisoned for sew
al weeks, because they had not tried
} stop the riot, And 50 on.
THREE days after the explosion Gov.
declared martial law in the
,0ntS, IN compliance With the wishes
the Standard Oil company General
eVrlan quickly arrived at Wardner
it'll 500 colored soldiers of the regular
my, and within II hours after their
sivsl seo men had been arrested, and |