The Washington herald., 1907-07-17

Boise. Idaho. July 16-Evidence was
produced in the States rebuttal in the
Haywood murder trial to-day that seems
to dispose pretty well of the contention
OF the defense that the explosion that
killed Mccormick and Beck in the Vim
dicator mine in Cripple Creek November
q, 1903, was an accident and not the re-
suit Of bomb planted there by Harry
Orchard.
A witness cOntTadicted statements made
by one Of the defense's witnesses in such
way as to leave little doubt that GER
tain things testified TO by Orchard re-
garding the explosion were true. but it
was not ali honey for the State On the
contrary, Lawyer Hawley. who is in full
charge of the States rebuttal, and who
may some time have been a fine criminal
lawyer. gave an excellent illustration Of
how not to do it,
Along in the afternoon he put Sheriff
Rutan, of San Miguel County, on the
witness stand 20 describe the conditions
Of lawlessness and riot that existed in
that part Of Colorado, and which caused
the deportation of the union miners by
the rest of the people. Apparently, Haw-
ley had no notion of what the sheriff
knew regarding conditions down there.
where he was on given dates or what he
saw and heard with his own eyes and
ears AT any rate. the first thing he did
was TO ask Rattan half dozen questions
about what happened at places where he
was not present
Attack on SmuggIer Mine.
He wanted the sheriff to describe the
attack made on the Smuggler Union Mine
at Telluride in 1901, when the union
miners attacked the non-union men and
had pitched battle with them. killing
several and wounding others and finally
driving the nOn-union men out of town
To everybody's amazemeut, Rutan re-
piled that he was not there and knew
nothing Of it of his own knowledge
There were a few more questions from
Hawley that got the same sort of an
swers. Rutan's testimony, IN fact. was
principally vaIueless To the State. though
he must have had knowledge of the facts
that are common property and that es-
tahlished beyond a doubt the fact that
the union miners were in those days the
aggressOrs and the original authors Of
violence But whether he knew them or
not he was not asked about them.
IL was another story on cross-examina-
ton. Though Lawyer HawIey was an
parently magnidcently ignorant of the
history OF the Colorado labor troubles Of
those days. Lawyer Richardson was fun
OF the subject He started 10 prove hv
sherlH Rutan that the mine owners and
the Citizens Alliance employed sO-caIIed
gunner 10 help them fight the union
miners. Rutan developed a talent for not
remembering the details OF these affairs
but Richardson remembered a good many
OF them, including a number that the
witness could not recall. and when the
REORGANIZATION sWas ended there could
have been little doubt in the minds Of
the jurors that the conditions down i'm
Telluride al that time totaled I'D a pretty
good imitation of open war. The wrang-
ing and snarling between the lawyers
reduced the proceedings at times pretty
nearly 10 the level Of the ludicrous.
Acting Powder Man.
L. c. Ramsay was the acting powder
man at the time the Vindicator explo-
sion on the sixth level took place. His
evidence to-day was in rebuttal of that
given by the defense's witness. Thomas
Wood. Wood told OF working on the
eighth level the day Of the explosion and
seeing Mccormick, witness stenfather
who was killed. and Beck there a few
minutes after the explosion on the sixth
level Wood said he saw just before that
a box Of giant powder was standing on
a water barrel at the opening into the
shaft. He also said he saw a revolver in
Becks pocket a few moments after Nc
Cormick and Beck had gone. he looked
for the powder and could not find It.
The inference the defense intended to
be drawn from this testimony was that
Mccormick and Beck took this powder
with them up to the sixth level. where
Becks revolver slipped out of his pocket
exploded, and set the powder off. Ram
say spiked this testimony by saving that
he had worked there two years and that
there never was a water barrel on the
eighth level He saw Mccormick and
Beck several times day. and neither of
them ever carried a revolver down into
the mine. Moreover. when Mccormick
and Beck went on their fatal trip to the
sixth level. he saw them get into the
cage. and they carried nothing but picks
and candles.
TO-day's work did not end the States
Tebuttal. as had been hoped. LAWYER
Hawley threatens 10 put on ten or twelve
more witnesses before he finishes the Job.
McCTETTAN NOT READ ONT