The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-11
KANSAS COMAENT
ORCHARD AS WITNEss.

-NOI1AffD AS WITNESS.
LHere Will be a great deal said for
6 ara against the evidence given in the
Purse murder case by Harry Orchard.
FL s the nrst place it will have to be
uonLessed that this man Orchard is a
~ vi oerer and liar who would swear
20 lie or the truth or whichever
promised the best returns but for all
mat MS evidence is important.
ne says he murdered Governor
Steunenberg; Governor Steunenberg
was murdered. He says he was one
OF the wreckers at Bunker Hill and
SuillVan Mill, and other places that
we're an wrecked. He says he killed
l! men at Independence; the men were
hIneo. He says he blew Fred Bradley
20 atoms; Bradley was killed. He con-
IeSses to part in other horrible deeds,
body. -
Now. right here is the important
point IN the evidence of Orchard: He
says that he committed all these hor-
ripe DEEDS as the paid assassin of the
tdoor leaders, Meyer, Haywood, Petit
pone, Slmpkins and Davis, the second
OF Whom is now on trial for his life.
Inc question will naturally arise, is
Harry orchard a bold, bad man, or, is
ne coWardly sneak criminal? If he
was a bold, courageous, bad man, he
might nave done this killing, for the
iapor leaders, but he would not have
betrayed them. If he is a cowardly
sneak criminal he would swear away
the lives of these labor leaders to clear
hlmself from the crimes he says he
committed, or he would send them to
t gallows for money reward even
II ne knew they were innocent men.
The Eagle can not get away from
the conclusion that Harry Orchard Is a
coWardly sneak. whose evidence ought
10 De taken against a fairly respectable
ooS charged with killing sheep. 1t is
all right to let Orchard tell his story,
but it should not be allowed to have
any weight against these labor leaders
unless sustained by reputable witnesses
in every particular.
The average American has a small
amount of respect for the bold, bad
criminal, but he despises the sneak
criminal. He may have no love for
either, but he thinks a good deal more
of Jesse James than of the comrade
who betrayed him. We do not know
whether or not these labor leaders are
criminals, but we do know that it will
be hard to convict them with a man
like Alfred Horseley, alias Harry Or
chard, for star witness.-Wichita
Eagle
M. A. LOWS FINE STOCK.
One of the largest and most interest
ing things around Horton is NJ. A.
Lows Walnut creek stock farm in
Atchison county. Mr.. Low bought $50
acres there about ten years ago and
esta blished one of the finest stock
farms in Kansas. AS manager of the
farm and trainer of the horses he has
0. M. Keats; who is known all over the
as an expert judge of horse
flesh as well as an exceedingly COM
petent trainer and breeder. There is a
fine, level half-niIe track on the place,
and there Mr.. Keats works out his
horses every day the weather will per-
NIT. He has developed a great many
fast ones on that track, and as a mat
ter of fact there has never been a
horse sent out from the Walnut Grove
farm that hasn't speed as well as good
breeding. Walnut Grove does some ex-
tensive advertising for this town and
communication buyers come here from
hundreds and even thousands of miles
horses. For instance, just a week or
two ago, H. c. Tompson, of Salt Lake
City, Utah, an Influential Mormon, |
bought the we'll known Hartman" for |
a company of Mormons who propose |
"a cling him. 1t is understood Hartman |
sold for $1,000, and he is worth the
money, for he is fine horse. How |
ever, this Is no particularly remark |
able sale for Walnut Grove-other |
horses have been sold from there for |
larger prices. Friday F. G. Hannah of |
president of the Kansas State |
Breeders association, came to Horton |
to visit Walnut Grove and before he |
left purchased a fine Allertonian colt |
Right now Mr.. Keats only has II head |
Of horses on the place, for the reason |
that he had unusually heavy sales dur |
ing the winter. He has good accom- |
modations for $50 head, and often has |
that many on the farm; $50 head of |
fine blooded stock represents a little |
money, if you stop to think of it. The |
writer has seen some good looking |
horses, but he never saw quite so many
IN bunch before as when he visited |
Walnut Grove recently.-Horton Head |
light.