The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-19
GRAY SCORES BOYCOTTERS Declares That They Are
 COWardS. N0N-UNI0N MEN TESTIFY Swear They Were Attacked
 and Beaten by MObs. storekeepers Threatened Bscause They Sold Goods to Women Whose
 Relatives Worked in Mines
 During the Strike. :
NoN-UNION MEN TESTIFY

Scranton. Pa, Dec. 1s.-The coal aezf1e commission listened today to furthss sns- timony tending to show that . sadgn ef terror existed in the anthracite coss 01n1s during the five and e han months e eAe mine workers strike.
 About a score of witnesses were oas7ed during the session by the attornsys of sht non-union men. They told df serious bau. cetts. brutal attacks by crowds eE mn. women and boys. and an attempt to buna the house of a non-union man. In manG instances the witnesses testified thnE 1AA alleged offenders were members e esa miners union.
 The lawyers for the miners sh1suesa frequently to the admission of tass1mrnw on hsarsay and some times onSep>s6 tpA cause of irrelevancy of certain os1ax statements.
 Chairman Gray said the commisuAun was not bound by any strict rules c< sxxr dence, but asked counsel to conflns xhaxn- selves in examining witnesses a@ EHr as possible to direct evidence. He said te was too difficult in trying to prove xhAA boycotts existed to get informataom om the subject. The commission, said ha. wanted to know whether a reign Of tss- TOT existed in the anthracite resicn and 1t could not get that information & the strict rules of evidence were applied.
 Judge Gray is Severe.
 ''The coward who wir go to the store keepers" he said. "and tell tham not to sell the necessaries of lhe to q poor wo- man. usually seeks the obscurity that the law of evidence throws around hisn. IF a girl is discharged from her position in a store because she rode in street car in indictment weather while a street car strike was on. the coward who discharged her is coward enough torefuse to testi- fy."
 He recognized, he said. why some nser- chants will not come forward and tell who forced him to refuse to sell the nec- essities of life to certain boycotted per- sons but if he Chairman Gravy were a storekeeper. he thought he would risk his all in order to break up the cowardiy business.
 August Scheush of HazeIton, testified that he was attacked by a mob while he and his son were going to work and that he was severely injured by being hit by rocks, that he was stabbed three times and sustained five ribs broken. He was acting as a coal and iron policenaan ct the time. but did not use his revolver be- cause he was afraid of shooting hla son who was beaten by the crowd at the same time.
 Many of these men. he said. were strxaa- CTS, Among those in the crowd who aa- sisted in beating him, the witness ea5d. was Squire McKelvey of HaSelton.
 The son of the witness corroboraAed the testimony of the rather.
 Henry Virmillye of DoTrancetowws snxd he was forced to join the union n ne Coal Company in order to keep peace a< { the coiiiery. This was before the ekx9ke began. Later he left the ccmpa@w pe~ cause he thought the union was rennzn8 the place and went to work for anoShes company while the strike was on. He was hanged in e1sigy, stones were thrown at him while going to and from his wczaks and storekeepeTs were compelled eo Eo- fraIn from selling his relatives ne0amAar ties of life.
 Demanded Girls DaschaRgA
 John Dorian manager of the WKMeB- barre Lace Mills, testified that because hs would not discharge two girls who hAA relatives working in the mines, Che 4sDo employees went on strike and stayed ca eleven weeks until the matter waa fzssa up.
 Another witness said he was 6 memDax of the union and while under pAyss~ clans care during the street car geTf11p here last week, he roda on 6 caw. Ef@ discharge was asked for by tho union, but the mine superintendent refused. The union men made his occupation 90 pn- pleasant for him in the mines that he 4an@ to quit.
 These witnesses and others testified enat their wives were insultsd on ths gtFosfs, and that their children were beaten by other children and could not be sent tp ~cbooJ and that tha local union re0saafA1 the storekeepers to refuse to sell goods to any one related to & man working h the mines; that their houses were stonedi that they were stoned. shot at and hang ed in efigy and that fife was generally made miserable for them and their fannt- Mes Most of the witnesses connected strikers with the offenses alleged.
 The lawyers for the non-union men said tonight they would continue to ean witnesses to prove that reign of terror existed during the strike. The commits sdo, will adjourn Saturday and will con-