Idaho Springs siftings., 1904-01-02

/ u4Hseit, ana when Mr.. Richardson reit
rrated that statement, Judge Overs and
Mr.. Richardson were probably not axar,
that Milburn had been directly implicai. d
He said Milburn worked at the Tropic
mlne in July. He was trarurrcr
there and the night of the blowing up ot
the transformer sent some one TO work in
his stead. He had access to the powde,
at the Tropic and il was noticed by the
manager that the powder was rapidly dis
appearing during the 10 days preceding
The dyuamiting. After the explosion il
was found that the powder used was the
same kind as that kept at the Tr pic and
not like any that had ever been used by
the Sun and Moon people. One week
before the explosion Tresidier said: We
have about dropped the strike here: It's
! up TO Meyer now He is the one to max c
the next move. He will play his last
card aud it will win" He also warned
one Young fellow working in the mine
that he had better stop. or he would 60
down in the mine and never come on,
again, for plans were on foot TO step
work.
Talbot said Alcott and Faivre made
similar threats and said that if they did
not win by fair means. every mine in the
district would be destroyed and that the
only Way any mine could hope TO oper-
ate which did not grant every request of
the strikers. would be to bring in the
soldiers end guard each place with from
2so 10 900 men. Mr.. Alcott also said
that If any of the mills treated ore from
the Sun and Moon that mill would be
blown up. Talbot said Joseph Roehl
had driven out non-union men under ad
vice of Mr.. Coplcy aud in several instances
he WAS arrested and fined in the early
stages of the strike, because OF hisassaults
on men. Both Tom O'Bfien aud a.
Bean would be shown to have threatened
to have gotten together crowd of men
and formed mob aud stopped the oper-
alton Of any of these mines by force had
/, not been for the organic iliou of the
Citizens Alliance.
tune 70 a new executive committee
was elected and Chandler informed an
intimate friend that day that a committee
had b=en appointed TO blow up the Sun
aud Moon mine and he told the names of
the men that were 10 commit the act.
lie said the deed would occur Aug. 4th
but had informed the committee that n
the peace officers should &c; onto ii. it
might be pulled off little Fooner.
Mr.. Talbot said that the evidence was
direct and positive that copiey, Compton
and Bean and others discussed the pro-
priety oil destroying property in open
meetings of the union, that these discus
sion occurred regularly aud also before
aud after the meetings. He did no.
charge that every man did the act Of
violence. but said direct that positive
proof would be offered showing that
these men, for and in whose behalf of
this union, knew and approved of the
acts OF violence. that they might MANI
tain themselves IN power, and the night
of the blowing up OF the II. nsforulef
house. those not directly implicated in
CARVING out the deed. who had before
been frequenters Of the public places OF
the town up to the midnight hour had all
snuggiei themselves in their beds at 10
O'Clock
Mr.. Richardson for the defendants said
that he no statement to make at this
time.
The taking of testimony was started
Tuesday and in two aud a half days 25
witnesses were examined. While the
most of this was preliminary work, a SEN
sation was sprung when the state put
Tohn Thompson on the stand. He was
formerly a member of the union.
The burden of his te.timouy was that
three Of the defendants, Milbu-n, Sanborn
and Secrest had admitted TO him that
they engaged in the blowing MP Of the
Sun and Moon transformer house,
Thompson slept in the same room as did
Nilburn. Witness said that be saw Mil
burn between and 8 O'Clock on the
evening of the explosion and again aboui
Ia.3o the next morning lew hours after
the dynamiting had occurred. His
hair. rnustache and eyebrows were singed
and / put some vaseline OH his face"
said Thompson. 81 asked him where he
had been and he said he had been to the
Sun and Moon and was spitting fuse
and got burned. lie said the least
knew the better for me. He said Philip
Fire was with him. but he did not know
wheth.r he got away or not as there had
been ne shooting.
aThe subject next CAME up III he Wind
sor saloon among Ross sandberf1, George
Secr;st. Milburn and myself. / asked
Saudboru and Secrist if they were the
me1, who had done the work and they
said they were"
"A severe cross examination failed to
shake his testimony.