The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-05-14
SOME MORE HISTORY or THE
WESTERN WAR OF CLASSES.
LIVES OF MEN Ar STAKE
Where Capital Purchases Ignorance
and Under Thn'ats Perform
Deeds a. Most Dabolical
Nature.

william D. Haywood and his alleged
fellow couspirators will be- acquitted
or hanged boy the neck until dead de-.
pends to a considerable extent upon
an iuitcrate miner and farmer named
Stevens Adams.
Under the Idaho law. the confession
Of co-conspirator such as Harry or.
chard. is not sufficient 10 convict un. |
less corroborated by the evidence Of
others Adams a former member OF
the Western Federation OF Miners,
made a confession In which ne corro.
boratcd the statements OF Orchard
but later denied its truth. declaring
that Il was secured by means Of
threats made 10y Detective McPart
land. Governor GoodIng and others
What weight the affidavit ~ Adams
will have with jury under such cir.
cumstauces is an interesting subject
OF discussion In Boise. It is the
crucial point on which the prosccu.
tion rests. with life or death hanging
In tie balance for the accused labor
leaders
Steve Adams was arrested on his
farm In oregon. shortly after the Md.
naping Of Haywood. Moyer and Petit.
bone. and brought to Boise. Despite
the fact that no charge had been filed
against him. he was lodged in u"
state penitentiary to be held as a
witness against the Federation Off
GERS. shortly afterward Detective
Mcfarland announced that Adams
had made a confession corroborating
that Of Orchard. and incidentally ad-
mitting other crimes, including the
murder Of two claim jumpers in
Northern Idaho. During the time that
Adams was kept In the prison his wife
was with him. being kept In communi-
cado against her will. she now de
clares.
During his stay in the penitentlary
Adams was deprived Of nothing but
liberty. The best families" Of Boise
visited him In his cell and wlncd and
dlned him TO his stomach's content
Although confessed assassin. he be
came social hero and was praised Ia
ordinatcly as one who had dared deity
the terrible powers of the Inner cir
Gle" OF federation assassins Adams
occupied cell with Harry Orchpri
for considerable time, and that
bloody parsonage shared In the poor
lar adulation. Governor Gooding was
IA frequent visitor and is known to-
have had several long interviews
with Adams
The confession Of Adams was mpdc
IN February, 1906 In September of
that year he was visited by an uncle
In disguise. who secured his ubcr'y
through habeas corpus prpc.c uys.
Once outside the grim walls of the
Idaho prison. Adams a. once dent Il
the statements made in his conf'Jsiou
In an affidavit he declared that he had
been coerccd by Detective Mcfarland
into signing document. and that 1c
had no knowledge Of It's contents The
AFFIDAVIT WAS Of scnsau NAL nature
and accused Governor Goudns OF
backing up Mcfarland In his thrcats
OF death mllcss he adhered To the Goa.
fession. Adams also asserted m
while confined in cell with I.r-y
Orchard. the latter had admitted that,
he was 10 receive piece OF 'on"
for implicatinE Meyer. Haywood end
Pettibuuc In the murder OF Ste Iuru-
berg, and that he was to be aIluNcd
to escape and make "a get away
across the pond
The reputation Of his confession
by Adams caused great CONSIDERATION
In the ranks OF the prosecution. The
document secured by Mcfarland was
the trump card of the attorneys for
the state. with it, the conviction of
the labor leaders was almost a Ger
tainty Without II, the threat attribut-
ed To the prosecutors. that Moyer
Haywood and Pcttibonc would never
leave Idaho alive. was only so much
wind Adams was Immediately rear
rested. charged with the murder Of
Fred Tyler, claim jumper in Sho-
shoie county At the trial, which was
held in Wallace early this year. the
Jury disagreed, seven voting for ac-
qultta and FIVE for conviction.
Clarence Darrow, leading attorney
for the defense in the present case,
defended Adams declaring that the ac-
cused man was only a pawn in the
prosecution OF the labor leaders held
By the state authorities, but 1t is gen