Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-11
PET TIBONE
TELLS STORY
NOW IN CITY AND MAY RESIDE
HERE
Man Accused of Completely in Assas-
slnation of Former Governor
Steunenberg Gives Inter-
esting Opinions

Weak from long confinement in the jail
at Boise, Idaho, where he was held a
prisoner on a charge of completely in the
assassination of forner Governor Steun-
enberg. George A. Pettibone has arrived
in Los Angeles and Is staying at the Tou-
raine apartments AL South Hope street.
In company with his wife, Mr.. Petit
bone contemplates making Los Ange.es
his permanent home. His trial attracted
attention wherever the words labor
union" are known.
He spoke heatedly of the efforts which
were made to connect him with the muir
der of Steunenberg
False testimony concocted by Pinker-
ton agents was responsible for the arrest
of William d. Haywood, Charles IL. Meyer
and myself" he said, land the sole pur-
pose of their efforts was to give them an
opening wedge so that they could retain
their official position as agents OF the
Mine Owners association.
For years agents of this detective force
had been employed by the mine owners,
but in all cases where they attempted to
fasten crimes upon members of the West
ern Federation they were unsuccessful.
This fact caused their employers to
make many complaints, and at last they
concocted the scheme which, they thought,
would give them prestige and sinecure
for life.
Harry Orchards confession gave
them their chance, and they were so conf
dent of Convictirg us that Detective Nc
Partland once stated that none of us
would ever live to leave the state.
Vaccinations Futile
ut Is not his ,ault that we are alive,
or that l am in Los Angeles today. He,
as well as other agents of the Pinkertons.
did all in their power to prepare way
for us to the gallows. In their failure to
convict us of crimes of which we were
innocent the prestige the Pinkertons for
merly enjoyed has decreased considerably,
as the mine owners have no doubt come
to rhe conclusion that they have been
hoodwinked by this detective agency for
many years.
THE system of the Pinkertons was to
convince the mine owners of the necessity
of having Pinkerton operatives scattered
throughout the mines, and TO have as
many of these spies as possible IN the
miners union.
"Up to the time this system was put in
operation the mine owners and their em-
ployes were never involved in disputes,
but just as soon as the spies were en-
ployed in the mines the trouble COM
menced. This added TO the revenue of
the detective agency, as the mine owners
would then have more Operatives fur
nshed them.
MANY of these spies were professional
high graders and in addition to their
salary from the Pinkertons robbed the
mine owners of all the high grade ore
they could possibly get away with. They
never made the mistake of gettir com
pany ore for high grade ore, as some of
them probably had more knowledge of ore
than the average high salariec expert.
Witnesses Coached
During the Haywood trial the wit
nesses for the prosecution were coached
bv the Plnkertons, and in many cases
were made to rehearse their testimony to
these agents before going on the stand.
This information was from a reliable
source, and firmly believe 1t to be true.
''What will they do with Orchard? He
probably will De turned loose. for 1t is
not reasonable that a man would testify
as he has done lless he was certain of
being liberated. That Orchard killed
steunenberg there can be no doubt, as the
CORNER governor. so Orchard stated, was
he cause of the latter selling out an in
terest in the Her, ules mines in the Coeur
dAlene district in 1899, and later of his
leaving Idaho
"Orchard was known 10 have remarked
that he would fix Steunenberg.'
.Orchard has used the unwholesome no.
toriety he has gained by his confessions
for commercial purposes, as he has writ
fen a book and sold an article to a maga-
zine for which he received $1,000.
SIT is a mistake to connect me with the
Western Federation of Miners Some
people think was formerly an officer Of