The chronicle=news., 1912-12-28
= : Vljiiew of the
Celebrated
Cases

udiasapoiis. Dec. est was
scene blended With tragedy tnat con-
fsontRd those who week after week
sat through the historic dynamite
conspiracy" trials.
Now IL was baby crying from the
rear Of the court room. where the
wives and children Of tha defend
ants sat: nov Il wux the heavy voice
os = man seated In the witness chair
aud ieieuding himself against the
charges OF nationwide conspiracy.
In which officials Of union labor were
deeply concerned. Witnesses from
near and far came and went. but
those whose fate rested with tho Jury
remained there. listening TO the sr.
cusstio and tn the oft-repeated
story OF the killing OF ~. people ir
the Los Angeles 'Tincs' explosion.
Tho court room itself seemed u
fittin& scttinx for that somhre story.
surrounded BY xrest marble piliars.
with tho daylight shut out BY heavy
curtains. aud the Judge INSTALLED he
fore an aiiexor!cal painting Of Jus
|tice. that court room day after day
rchoed tho stories of violence. of the
discovery Of burnt fuses and bursi-
ed infsfSal mschtnss. of midnight
vislls by n,yssertous men In slIcss.
in empty houses. In i0uely country
|rosds. or On the tops ~ buiidiuss.
Tho visiou Of dark spectre with
miilsr iinx&s In the minds OF those
who listened. BACK Of the raIlinEs.
amid the spectators. sat tho relatives
OF tho defendants. Three rows deep
sSross the room were th. DESCENDANTS.
Amoog the score OF attorneys sat
perhaps the most picturesque defend
ant. massive In build. norid In com.
|plcxion. always studiousiy occupied.
now copiousiy fiiiinx his notebook
when the testimony was exciting:
now. when the trial laK9ed. buryins
bis spcctacled noee In q Latin YER
sion OF Omar khayyam. He was Olaf
4. TvcItmor. Of San Francisco.
Another man toward whom the
eyes Of the spectators often strayed
was Herbert q. Hockin. lie sat apart
between bsIliffs. during much Of
the court a. n man who could not
he trusted BY any one II was
iiockin who wac accused OF hold
ing out" on the pay OF the dynamite
en-: II was he who was said to have
caused u quarrel In the ranks Of the
Mcnamara and Mechanical. and II
was he who finally was charged with
"betraylnE for his own gain" those
with whom he once associated. and
iron workers union.
Gray-haired und old beyond his
years sat Frank n. Ryan. president
LOT the iron workers union. BY vir-
tue OF which office he was leader
in national labor circles. with q seat
In the councils Of the American Fed.
eration OF Labor.
namiter. for weeks occupied the wit
neas stand. relating. calmly. decisiv-
Jelly and without any apparent con.
Germ for himself q narrative OF vio-
leuce seldom equalled.
And what were the antecedents Of
this trial?
I,ack In the summer Of 1905 dy-
luamite was found at New Haven,
conu.. on n job on which non-unlon
workuien were employed. Later the
iron workers union called a strike
ou several contractors, nntf the strike
became general. That wus the be-
ginnIns. according to the govern
ment, und 1t spread until Mcnamara
organized n "dynamitius crew" Al
together 100 explosions occurred,
those at Los Angeles being among
the number.
Two striking coincidcnts attend
ed the trial.
One wus that on October /. 1911.
exactly one year after the Los An
gcles Times" building was blown
up. with loss OF 81 lives, the fed
cral authorities at indianapolis first
considered the possibility OF prosecu-
tions for Illegal Interstate shipment
OF dynamite and nitroglycerin on
passenger trains. Ortie Z. McAIani-
gals confession. obtained after he
und the Mcnamara brothers had
been arrested. implicated others as
having actually carried explosives In