New-York tribune., 1908-12-15

b.y Charge or the secret work for the Norfolk &
Western kalTay the me as atIantie Coast Line
and is of the best known and most resPoAsi"is
n connnetion with him have been continuous.
" employed upon this work since Its inceptoh III
The facts set forth in my, report addressed TO
&enerH Ge4rSe o. uper date of December 3 1905
are true to the best of my knowledge and beneI
rate the Investigation at that point OF w NliaI ai
Lawson, colored detective in the pr emP4y or ore an
nexed to and made part OF my repor' oi Do
I had several interviews at Monroe with Boyd
Conyers ex-private of Company B.. 18th MANY Ii
raid and found that William Lawsons statements
regarding Conyers were suPstan1dy from 1nu conyer
further information detailing how the cartridges
obtained and distributed. how the principal ralo-
ers proceeded. when and by whom the gun racks RACKS
for the purpose of the raid how the raiders were %
ee P0sec[ea o clean their guns and in par
tcular. was furnished by Conyers with the names
eight participants in the raid, other than ,, the
three named by him in his statements to William
Lawson total of eleven, INCLUDING hlset n ell I,e I
said Conyers all members of Company b. Z0th IN
The leaders OF the raid as named by Boyd Con
yers. were John Ho1oman John BroWni i 1arOiilrs s
de Saussure and himself Following theIn WeIe
Cooper. William Lemons. Henry Emerson. James
'Rastus' Johnson and Henry Sonny" Jones. ser
by ConyeTs Of knowledge before and after. the
raid. Sergeant George jackson, in charge S OF slf
KEYS Of the gun racks Company B. was accuse
Of openIng the racks for the raiders. and of again
opening the gbS b 10 and Cleaned
I found Boyd Conyers in DISTURBED f[hne ITere o.
mind No claim is made that his 2rig1nai aecia1s h
tions to William Lawson were other than Ln"s sr
of criminal boasting to one OF ms o"6 4,coyery
his crime and of his success In escapInS
His subsequent declarations to me We're given par
iIoad his conscience by confession and partly as
the result of careful and persistent qHesLIoiGng
Foraker 10 Conyers extremely Obstructive ne
seemed to regard it as mandate t 6o Sepste Com
I,oittee on Military Affairs, and absoiving MIN
@ rom tb ' truth Similar influences were encountered
at many points adding largely to IN .4e qos fscfs
TeIatfYe 1G11t1ie to the raid. HERBERT J, BROWNE
subscribed and sworn to before this 9th day OF
Degsg,bfr Gseaf1 ''0' J. r RANDOLPH. Notary Public
GUARD NOT IMPLICATED.
The report then goes into a long analysis of the
evidence The names of the guard on the night OF
August 1914 1906. given, and 1t Is adoeo ina
none of the men on post is Implicated IN u"
ch.rgae as an active participant in the raid but
some Of them are charged with guilty knoWleoge
before or after the raid, or both. Inc Analysis -
made in connection and comparison Win INC s'aI7
rnents of some of these men as witnesses at Hh'
cors+a cop,rnittee's inquiry. The list of seven men
given by Boyd Conyers. all OF B COMPANY WIZ
took part N he raid, besides Hoiionah' 6Io"le'
De saussure and himself. is found to agree CLOSER
with the list OF suspects furnished by ouleIs u
the battalion. Their records are gwen anu ma
of some of them are very bad In showing no" nc
new stories are corroborated, at least III pai'' =
evidence already record, or pointing Out Gun
tradictions III testimony which mas peeh sI'eI.
or showing now testimony and the new stories @ anu
admitted fact are in conflict. Browne makes soiIe
interesting statements about individuals ne sd3S
among other things:
Attention is directed to the singular fact that
no statement under oath was taken from Sergeant
J R. Reid, though ytaly importans enneers
brief summary OF ms statement eh rfct that he
10 Major A r: bIoGhsohl. % @ 10 ' sorndeJ until the
shots came so fast that he thought the post was
attacked. He stated also that he formed the guaTo
before having the call sounded
From this point Reid disappears as a witness,
He was serving his fourth enlistment. He was
discharged without honor November is. 800
with the of the battalion His testimony was was
and Investigations. He simply disappeared from
view Efforts TO locate him have oeer @ pnsgeoS iS j
a fugitive from justice. We have followed MN
INTO IN fs searcb than % on 9ny other man For some
months shortly after his discharge he was travel-
South in company with John Hooman.
thai fbeJ Were going to shoot up the town that
night. Reid Is reported to have said; III, ,,o,., o.
Boys. If you are not satisfied you VIII have TO
And later, when Reid posted the guard:
CRACKERS crackers get get' the GI best t. Of yoa '''
was to be started by these men while on sentry
duty. and not while on relief, for Conysrs de-
himself out of breath, on his bunk, Reid came in
and dragged him out declaring with an oath that
he would have to stand for it or be court mar
Convers further declares that when John Hoilo-
man brought around the extra cartridges before
inspection the next morning: to avoid detection,
F2efd attended their distribution
II is obvious that if Reid intended to protect the
raiders he would post them away from the front
Of the guardhouse: where they could recover
breath and clean their guns without being under
observation. The printed testimony bears this out
Mr.. Browne reports follows concerning the
chief Conspirator:
John HolIonran, the chief consprator and organ
,zar of the raid. IS interesting character He