The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-07-25
Last: Colorado. Criminal Charges,
Against Union Miners !
Falls Flat. y :
GEN. WELLS DIsoREDITED
: HIS ASSERTIONS UNTRUE
Leading Persecutor Of Western
Federation Accepted as Per
jurer by Jury.

-
Steve Adams was this week acquit-
ted Of the Cargo Of having killed Ar
thur: Collins, the Telluride mine SUPER
intendent, six. years ago. This was
the last Of the criminal charges held
against officers Of the Western Fed
Grafton Of Miners, and strange to say
in all Of the cases tried before a civil
court not one conviction has been Sc
cured. The. Western Federation Of
Miners has been vindicated.
The leading prosecutor Of the min
ers' union was General Bulkeley Wells
Of the state militia, and owner Of the
Smuggler Union mine, and odd as It
may seem it was the testimony Of
Wells which aided in the aquittal of
Adams.
Juror Talks Freely. :.
Contrary to the usual custom OF
jurors, those who tried Adams talked
freely Of the case after bringing in
their verdict, and they admitted that
only one ballot was taken, showing, all
in favor OF an aquittal. :, .s =
Somebody led,' is the way one of
the jurymen expressed 1t. "Runnells,
the city marshal Of Telluride. testi-
fled that when he accompan MED Wells
tell him what they were going for.
Then when Wells went on the stand
he swore that he did tell Runnells
what he wanted with him. We: could
not decide whether it was Wells or
Runnells who lied, and SO, we decided
to pay no attention to either one of
them"
Gunsmith on, Jury. ~-'' ~
Another point that Convinced the
jury Of Adams innocence was the
window sash taken from the Il house
where Collins was killed. The shot
that killed Collins was fired through
this window. A buckshot had pene-
: trated the lower part OF the sash and
r.Bulkeley Wells had stuck g.
tl1ro otgh the al,ofe and. J. fellowing the
direction in which it's pointed, located
the, spot from which he thought the
assassin fired. Wells said that Adams
told him where he stood, when the
shot at Collins and the two points
agreed. This. point was about 70 feet
from the house. There was one jury
man who had bene a. gunsmith and
who declared that man standing
at that distance could not have fred
through the window because the buck
shot would scatter.
So it was these two seemingly un-
Important points that determined the
verdict. The Jury also. accepted the
alibi theory of the defense because 1t
had not been attacked by the state.
MCFARLAND Lets Go.
+ Superintendent Mcfarland Of the
Pinkertons, the arch hound against
union labor, was the most disappoint-
ed man in Colorado over the verdict.
His every attempt to railroad to the
gallows the officers Of the miners
union had been frustrated by a. jury,
but he let the cat out Of the bag when
he said: "The main object, at any
rate, has been accomplished. We have
broken the influence and the strength
of the Wes tern Federation Of Miners
It has long been the belief Of i'm
partial observers in the west that this
was the main purpose of the prosecu-
ton, and to have Mcfarland admit
+ 1t shows samething of the character
Of the mine owners Of Colorado y
It has cost the taxpayers Of San
Miguel county between $4,000 and
$25,000 to attempt to convict Steve
Adams of the murder of Arthur t.
Collins, a very heavy burden for the
property owners there. The case
against Adams was pushed more al
the behest Of the authorities, the mine
owners and the Mine Owners asso-
citation than anyone else, and no pro-
test was made for the reason that II
was stated that the mine owners and
the S1nuggler- Union company would
bear the expense 1--cc.. - 80