The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-01
TOOK ARMED MEN
into The STATE
JOSEPH LETTER IS INDICTED
UPON THAT CHARGE BY AN ILL.,
NoIS GRAND JURY.

Attorney PIatt of the ZeigIer Mining
Company Is, Also, Indicted Upon
n similar Charge-Miners Claim
Leniency Was Shown in Not Ar
resting the Men Indicted-PrOgress
of the Strike and Defensive Prep
aratiOns Against Strikers.
St. Louis, Nov. Boa special to the
Post Dispatch from Duquoin, ILL.,, says
that it became known there to-day that
three weeks ago Joseph Letter was
indicted on three counts on the charge
of bringing armed men into the state,
contrary to recently passed statutes.
No attempt has been made to serve the
capias or to arrest Letter, because
States Attorney Scott, who will retire
tomorrow, wishes to leave the case
over for his successor.
Indictments have also been returned
against Attorney Henry R. Platt Of
the Zeigler Mining Company. The
charge is taking armed men through
the state without permission from the
Governor. There are three counts in
the indictments.
The punishment for the offense on
which the two men have been indicted
is confinement in the penitenttary for
from one to five years, with no fine as
an alternative. Union miners and rail-
road men in charge of the cars on
which it is alleged imported miners
rode and were guarded by armed men
were the witnesses before the grand
jury. a,.ssl
Members of. the executive. board of
the United Mine Workers say that
leniency was given Letter and Plat,
and that no one outside of the grand
Jury room knew that indictments had
been returned until the information
leaked out to-day.
Only One Man Killed.
Thus far in the Zeigler trouble one
man has been killed. That was on Nov.
16 when a carload of miners was be-
ing imported and the car was fired on
from ambush, one Austrian being ia
tally shot.
There are no records Of any other
pehson even having been injured. A few
have been waylaid and beaten, but
they were not in Zeigler. They were
men who had gone to some of the
nearby towns where liquor is sold
For these assaults only one arrest
has been made, and the prisoner prov
ed an alibi and was released.
Attorney Plat says the attacks on
Zeigler had grown so bold and had
become so desperate that Sheriff Stein
found it necessary to call out the mil
itia. All was quiet last night.
Just what effect the presence of the
militiamen will have on the strike al
the Zeigler coal mines remains to be
seen. At zegler the stockade is about
800 feet long and 400 feet wide. 1t is
a tight board fence about fifteen feet
high. At each end at diagonal cor
ners are block houses, in each OF
which is a machine gun. AS soon as
darkness approaches these guns are
placed in readiness for an attack
They are used, too, Attorney Plat
says, every night.
Machine Guns Return Fire.
There is probably no denying tho
fact that some shots are fired into the
stoekade from ambush. 1t only re.
quires one shot for the men behind
the machine guns to get in action
They send bullets into the trees SOL
yards away like hail. Platt says these
shots from the machine guns have beer
answered promptly.
But the crowning feature about thu
stockade is the use of a powerful
searchlight placed on top Of the wate
tank 1874 feet above the ground. Will
the aid of this light a perfect view o
the country for a mile around ma.
be had, thereby affording the mar
behind the machine guns a good ain
should the light uncover any Of tn
enemy.
The strike has been in progress 70
nearly five months, having been de
clared on July 10. Since that tim
the county has borne the expense o
deputy sheriffs employed by Sheriff
Stein. as many as $50. They have beef
paid, II is said, SO per day.