The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-07-18

VINO refused to work r or he-
camp and ne did MOI desirs Isl is sbyes.
I ence unltss he didi one or tho at thor,
After. his transfer to another gang he
: refused to work and Carson, acknowl-
3 edged he httrhim over the head with
a blackjack but not with sufficient
Ioree tos knock him down. IT hit him
sstne witness said, because he would
Ftnot work or get away with the ex-
! animation Of Carson court, recessed,
until 2 O'Clock when two more wit
/, nesses will be examined by the. de-
4 fense and the Raleigh Lumbe Eompa-
\ ny case VIII come before the COURT,
Immediately after the noon recess
Ha.Mr. Bartlett, one Ok the men, who
T came on transportation from New
York, was the first witness called
He testified the men had plenty to
eat at camp, and were never niistrea-
ted, he hearing, Mr.. Wolfe tell the
men on one occasion that they ueed
not go to work In the stormy wear
Their until they had shoes that were
i ut to wear IN that kind Of weather,
1.-The witness stated he no longer
worked. for the Ritter Company. but
was now employed and lived at
FEBeckley. b. ."..~. 70. ...>'s.. 81,
+ William Tolllyer was the next wit
ness. He lives at Maben, and was
4 a deputy sheriff up to January or
''tFebruary, 1906. lie was employed
II by the William, Ritter Lumber Com
pany, and was present at Maben the
d night the men arrived from y, New
4 York. He insisted there were no
armed guards to. meet the laboters,
and said he prepared a fine supper
n Tor the" men and afterwards heard
Aseveral of them remark that-it was
Ia good supper. He was ordered by
Mr.. Wolfe to give the men this sup
per. He helped the men to camp 4,
where they were quantered and &C
H companied them. for the purpose of
1 guiding them g., to their camp rather
than to guard them, The same
night he was ordered to kill a beef
for the breakfast of the new labor
ers and it was shooting at this steer
3that caused the men to think the
4 guards were shooting up the camp.
He testified that his instructions
\ were not to mistreat any Of the men,
/ but if. one, attempted to leave to try
and persuade him to stay. He
struck one man, who threatened the
life of Superintendent Wolfe, and:
/ took three knives away from him.
| One Of the knives was a butcher
knife, the other a large. meat knife
| which had been ground down on,
both. sides and penkntfe. He met
, the same fellow that night and took
two large rocks from him. before
starting him from the camp. Mr..
3'Wolfe, he said, way very good to the
men, and was the best man he ever
lsawr =. -, )
| .H .,.:e . .., 80, - 20. =,
Mr.. Wolfe was the next witness
.He3told the court his name was S. M.
EWalfa, and he was.the superintend-
ent of the William Ritter Lumber
Compapy's plant at Maben, in Wy
oming county, Replying to ques-
ttons Of his attorneys he told Of his
rise in the employ of this company
| In the past ten or eleven years from.
| the first he entered their services
| cutting timber in the woods. How
he saved his money, went to school,
and gradually worked his way up to
his present position, the head of the.
largest Ritter plant in the state.
before coming to Maben he had
charge Of the plant in Buchanan
county, Virginia. His policy had al
ways been to treat his men fairly,
and kindly and as this was the policy
| Of the company he had carried out
the instructions to the best Of his
ability. He denied that the New
York laborers were met on their ar
rival at Maben by armed guards and
stated that the reason for their re,
moval TO camp 4 a distance Of four
or five miles that night, was be-
cause there were no accommodations
for tie men at MGben. Before start
ing them on this trip he ordered that
a good supper be prepared and when
he started them for camp No. q, he
also sent several men with them as
guides who carried lanterns to show
them the way across the mountains. 4
Mr.. Wolfe denied having placed
guards at the different camps, butt
said because Of the fact that some
property had been destroyed at the1
camps in carousals by the men, he !
had placed several watchmen at the |
camps, and it was also the duty of |