The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-11-23
ACCUSES UNION OF MURDER
KILLING OF sUPT. M,CoRMAcK
 AND MELVIN BECK.
Executive oommittee of opsrstors Ds- clare It One of the Most D,aboIical
 Crimes That Has Ever Darksnsd shs Annsi. Of colorsdo-Anothsr Step sn
 Tras, of Blood Made by ,Sssssr. Fsd-
srati on ef Mlners in tho state.


 eratton of Miners In the State. Cripple Creek. Col, Nov. 22.-Sheriff Robertson. after investigating condi- tions in the sixth level of the vindica- tor mine, where Superintendent McCor-
 mack and Shift Boss Beck were killed yesterday by an explosion, agrees with
 the statement of the company officials that deliberate attempt had been made to wreck the shaft with dynamite The executive committee of the Mine
 Owners and Operators association has
 offered a reward of s5,00O for evidence leading to the arrest and conviction Of the perpetrators. In a published state
 ment the committee says "The killing of Superintendent cCormack and Mel win Beck was one of the most diabolical crimes that ever darkened the annals of Colorado and is another step in the trail of blood which has been made by l the Western Federation of Miners in
 this state.
 ''The time has passed for selecting fine terms in which to speak Of these matters and we do not hesitate to say that this crime was devised and execut- | ed by the inner circle of this organiza- I ton.
 ! This statement is made only after a careful investigation of the facts which show conclusively that these men met their death through scheme so cum fningly devised and carefully executed
 as to tax the ingenuity of the most ex- lperienced criminal.
 ! "Of late the district has been filling 1 up with the class of men who openly boast of what they propose to do. Not a
 single circumstance surrounding this
 crime is compatible with the theory of
 accident. and with any other theory
 than that of premeditated murder" l The district executive committee of
 the Western Federation of Miners char
 acterize the explosion as "lamentable
 accident regretted by all' and adds:
 "But prejudiced individuals who rarely
 know anything of what they talk about
 have already passed Judgment and de-
 nounce 1t as a cold-blooded murder. Ex-
 perience. however, teaches that the peo-
 ple are not above making capital out of
 any misfortune.'
 In consequence of these outrages Cow lernor Peabody has re-instated Adjutant
 General sherman E. Bell in command
 of the militia in this camp, succeeding Colonel Edward Verdecksburg, who has
 been in command since Bells retire. ] ment at the close of the courtmarttial
 trial of General John Chase. Boston, Nov. 22.-"In times of popu-
 lar excitement incident to a bitter strike
 accidents pure and simple are often al- legged to be the work of strikers" said
 John Mitchell, president of the United
 Mine Workers, when shown the Asso-
 ciated Press dispatch from Cripple
 Creek, Col, relative to the explosion at
 the Vindicator mine. He added: 1T do not care to comment further on
 the charges of the operators until [
 know more of the details Of the case. l The Western Federation of Miners is affiliated neither with the American
 Federation of Labor nor with the Unit ed Mine Workers but is rival of the llatter organization
 I Denver, Col. Nov. 22.-General John B. Gates arrived here to-day to investi- lgate the strike situation in Colorado. l Upon his report depends whether or not I the war department will comply with Governor Peabody's request to send
 federal troops to Telluride. He left for Telluride tonight.
 ' I