The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-05-21

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| where in the United States is the is
sue of the Haywood trial in Boise
| awaited with greater interest thar
| in Victor and Cripple Creek, the scene
of the bloody Colorado war" of 100;
and 1904. Miners and mine owners
alike are vitality concerned in the
Titanic legal struggle now being wag
ed in the Idaho, court, since by the
verdict of the jury they will be ir
great measure acquitted or condemn
ed by implication.
The strike in the Cripple Creek dis
trict had its inception on August 10
1903; dragged through many blood
stained months, and reached its trag.
ic elimination on June 6, 1904, Wnen
the independence horror and the Vic
tor riots startled the world. The ex-
plosion of dynamite at the Independ-
ence station, in which thirteen inno-
cent men were torn to shreds a7d in
stantly annihilated, was performed
at the instigation of the Inner cir
cle'' of the Western Federation of
Miners, if the confession of Harry
Orchard is to be believed. According
to the miners, the explosion was the
result of a plot Matched by the Mine
Owners Association, and several pro-
minent officials and employees of
that organization have been openly
charged with committing the deed by
newspapers.
On the afternoon following the ex-
plosiOn a mass meeting was held in
Victor at the call of the Citizens AL
lance. G. C. Hamlin, secretary of the
Mine Owners Association, addressed
the crowd that formed, and in a
speech declared the Western Fedora
Of TO hn 1fxy of
independence massacre. He demand
ed that all members of the murder
ous organization be driver from the
camp.
No sooner had he fnisped speaking
than a fusillade of shots rang out
and a pitched battle between the IN
ion and non-union men in the crowd
ensued. The battle lasted ten min
minutes, and when the smoke had
cleared away one man, Roxie McGee,
an Ell5ton miner, was dead and near
ly a dozen seriously wounded. Cnas.
H. Meyer, president of the Western
Federation of Miners, was later ar
rested by General Sherman Bell,
charged with the killing of McGee.
At his hearing he proved an alibi,
showing that at the time of the riot
he was confined in the bullpen at
Telluride.
A few minutes later a company of
militia, which mad apparently been
in waiting, surrounded the Miners
Union aall and demanded that the
men insi1e surrender. AS the request
was not complied with, the troops
were stationed on roofs of surround
ing buildings and several volleys fir
ed into the hall. The miners soon sur
rendered to the soldiers, who confin-
ed them in the armory.
Prior to the riot, Sheriff Robertson,
who was alleged to have been favor
able to the Western Federation, was
compelled by members of the citizens
alliance to resign his office. City Mar
siral Frank Mannix. Coroner Mike
O'Connel, the county clerk, recorder
and other city and county officials
were also summarily deposed. Within
twenty-four hours all the legally-elect-
ed officers of the district were oust-
most remarkable insurrection
IN the history of the state. Within
day over 200 men had been arrested,
charged with no crime other than the
holding of a membership card in the
union Applications for habeas corpus
writs were made before Judge Seeds
of Cripple Creek. The effect of this
action was well described by Ray
Stannard Baker, associate editor of
McClure's Magazine, in an article for
his publication:
Judge Seeds ordered that the pris-
oners be brought into ais court, that
an early inquiry be made as to whe-
ther any innocent man was deprived
of his liberty. Gen. Bell, the 'Weyler
of Colorado obeyed the order in his
own significant way. He surrounded
the court house with armed men, he
planted sharp-shooters on the roofs
of the buildings round about; he set
a Gatling gun in the street outside,
and then he marched into court with
al awe-inspiring force of troopers.
which he planted squarely in front
of the judges bench. When the judge
approached his own court he was
halted with a bayonet to his breast,
and kept waiting the pleasure Of an
officer from Denver After the bailiff
raped for order, Eugene Engley, for
mer attorney general of the state OF
Colorado, one of the attorneys for
the prisoners, declared that no real
justice could be administered in a
court intimidated by armed men, and
left the room. The Judge finally de-
cided that the prisoners. whatever
their offense, must not be deprived
OF their liberty without charges, and
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