Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-12-19
NON-UNION men
Give TESTIMONY
Score Of Witnesses Relate
Their Experiences.
Hoffman and BetterIy Fami-
lies Tell of the Attack on
Their Homes at Upper Le-
high Last Summer.

The operators and non-union men
opened their case before tho Strike Com
mission with addresses by Attorneys
Wolverton and Burns, which was follow
ed yesterday with the testimony OF wit
nesses called by j. 7. Lenahan and Jos.
| O'Brien, counsel for the non ion men,
About score ef witnesses were called
They told OF boycotts, attacks by crowds
| OF men, women and boys, and an at
| tempt to burn the house of a non-unon
man. The lawyers for the miners OBJ
| jected frequently to the admission of
testimony on hearsay in attempting to
| fix these offenses on union men, and
sometimes objected because OF irrelev-
ancy Of certain other statements.
Chairman Gray said the commission
was not bound by any strict lines of
| evidence, but asked counsel to confne
| themselves as far as possible to direct
| evidence, He said 1t was too difficult,
in trying to prove that boycotts exist,
| to get information on the subject. The
| com mission, he said, wanted to know
| anthracite region, and it could not get
that information II the strict rules of
evidence were applied.
THE coward who will go to the store
keepers" he said, land tell them not to
sell the necessares of life to poor
woman, usually seeks the obscurity that
the law OF evidence throws around him.
II girl is discharged from her posi-
| tion in a store because she rode in a
street car In inclement weather while
a street car strike was on, the coward
who discharged her is coward enough to
refuse to testify"
He recognized, he said, why some
merchants will not come forward and
tell who forced them to refuse to sell
necessaries of life to certain boycotted
persons; but II he Chairman Cray were
storekeeper he thought he would risk
his all in order to assist in breaking up
the cowardly business.
Each witness called told OF the suf-
ferings he or she had to endure during
the progress Of the strike because his
or her relatives were at work.
HoFFMANs AND BETTERLYs TESTIFY
Joseph Hoffman was examined by At
torney John Lenahan. He said he lived
at Drifton. He went out on strike, but
returned to work after five weeks. He
went TO work because he had nothing to
eat. His local refused to help him.
Fifty or sixty men came into his yard
and asked him to come down to them.
He refused and some one said: $50 up
| and shoot the -" He ran away to
his mothers house. When he returned
to his own dwelling he found the furni-
ture all smashed. He moved away from
Upper Lehigh because he was afraid to
live there. He was putting In bricks
around boiler house during the strike.
Witness, ran away about fifteen miles
to get to his mothers house on the night
the crowd came to his residence and
threatened to shoot him.
Cross s-examlned by Attorney McCar-
thy, witness acknowledged that the
crowd was composed of boys and that
they were under the influence of drink.
Nobody was prosecuted for the disturb
ance around his house. Everybo that
was in the crowd is now living at Upper
Lehigh and working happily. Mcclure
was the only man he knew in the crowd.
John Hoffman, mason, the father
Of the last witness, testified that he did
jobs all around for everybody who hired
him. He corroborated his sons testi-
mony. He said besides that the crowd
threw rocks at the windows aud shat
tered the house. He went into Haw-
kins's house next door, and he was told
to keep on his own side or else Haw-
kins's house might be stoned also
The mob turned the stove upside
down in his sons house and tried to
burn the house over their heads Neith-
er the witness or his son took anybody's
place. The company gave witness and
his son another house, as the one they