The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-05-10

station ait Independence, tColorHd0,
whereby seventeen miners were Kill
, ed and over twenty injured. Nearly
all of these crimes. Orchard asserts,
were committed at the inshagatioa OF
tine .inner circle of the Western Fed
Grafton of Miners Either Orchard is
the greatest assassin unnung, Or the
prince of liars.
Haywood, Mover and Pettibo1e, ac-
cording to the Orchard confession,
constituted the inner circle" of as
sassins in the Western Federation.
They hired him at times by the day
and at others for 'the job The Steu
nenberg murder, declares Orchard,
was in the latter category, $500 hav-
for his services. The rendezvous of
the inner circle was in the out
skirts of Denver, where the plans
were alleged to have been made and
instructions issued to the assassin for
carrying out the orders of the 'in-
ner circle" Upon several occasions,
Orchard declares, Meyer, Haywood
and Pettibone went with him to the
prairies north of Denver, where they
experimental with dynamite and va
rious forms of explosives. Newspaper
correspondents who have investigated
these stories of Orchards association
with the labor leaders have been Who'll
ly unable to discover a shred of veri
fication and many believe them to be
fabrications.
According to Orchards confession,
his career of crime began in Utica,
N. Y, where he was born. Wnel a
mere youth he assaulted a brother
with pitcnfork, infiicting serious in
juries. Running away from home, he
proceeded to a small town in northern
Michigan where he secured employ
ment in a factory. The plant was
burned and Orchard was accused of
the crime. He fed to Canada, and f.
nally made his way to the Occur d.
Alene mountains in northern Idaho,
where he engaged in mining. At the
time of the strike in 1899 he was an
eighth owner of the Hercules mine at
Burke. Following the explosion in
the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine.
in which Orchard is alleged to be in
volved, he was forced to leave the
state and went to Butte, Montana.
Here ne was i'll for some time as the
result of the hardships undergone in
iSteuaenberg's buLlpen" and was fore
ed to sell his interest in the Hercules
property. He received $500 for his
share, which is now estimated to be
worth several million dollars. Some
Boise people believe that this led to
Orchards bitter hatred of Steunenberg
to this theory, which is
held by thousands of union men, Or
chard's confession duplicating Meyer,
Haywood and Pettibo1e was an after
thought and was made as result of
influence brought to bear by those
in the disruption of the I'M
ion. Many Boise people believe that
Orchard was promised immunity IN
return for his confession involving the
labor leaders and that ne will never
be brought to trial for his crimes by
the Idaho or Colorado officials.
After leaving Idaho, says Orchard
in his statement, he went to Nevada,
California and Utah before proceed
ing to Colorado, where he alleges he
formed his blood pact with the Gin
ner circle" He arrived in Cripple
Creek in 1902, shortly before the Col
orado "war" broke out. In 1903 he
married Mrs. Tony, a widow resid-
ing at Independence, who had several
thousand dollars left her by her form
er husband. Orchard admits having
spent this in dissipation, as well as
the large sum he received from the
inner circle The twenty-five muir
ders Orchard is alleged to have COM
mitted IN Colorado are detailed with
great minuteness. Several of the mur
ders attempted failed of their purpose
Chief Justice Goddard of Denver is
said to have been one of the men who.
escaped the vengeance of the 'inner
lcircle'' A bomb, powerful enough
TO have wrecked the entire 1eighbor-
nOOQ was dug up III nrOIhC Oi IOu-
dard's residence, where Orchard con-
fessed to have planted it eight months
before, according to Detective Nc
Partfand Prominent chemists brand
McPartla1d's story as a fake" declar
ing that the elements of which the
bomb was composed would certainly
have exploded spontaneously after a
short time in the ground. The testi-
mony of the chemists will BIZ adduc
ed at the trial.
Meyers Criminal Record.
Chicago. May 1O.-The Journal to-
day prints al exclusive story alleging
that Charles H. Meyer, president of
the Western Federation of Miners
was arrested n Chicago in 1885 for
burglary. According TO the Journal.
he was subsequently, sentenced to the
Joliet penitentiary, where he served
from February. 1886. to January.
1887.
The records of the Joliet peniten-