Norwich bulletin., 1914-06-01
FAMOUS TRIALS
TRIAL OF THE "MOLLIE
 MAGulREs.'

In the Pennsylvania mining dis tricts during 1878 to 1875, labor trou- bles became unusually common. Or ganixatlons of laborers became so strong as to be able to tyrannize over their own members and boyjcotting became such a nuisance that it had to be abated by law.
 A common method of intimidation was for ten or twelve roughs to form a gang and, armed. to sweep through join; the numbers so collected soon being sufficient to overawe any in clned to resist.
 On June 8. 1875. one thousand men thus gathered. stopped work at sew eral mines near Mahanoy City, and a similar band did the same at Shen- andoah. At night there was an at- tempt to derail a passenger train ap- preaching Shenandoah, but the plot was discovered in time. The same night a breaker" near Mount Carmel went up in smoke. and few days later two contractors at the Oakdals mine were shot.
 Deprcdations of this character be- came so common that every passenger train passing through the affected section had to be preceded by locomo- tive carrying an armed poose. Watch loaded cars and other obstacles were put upon main tracks; switches were misplaced and warehouses were plum dered. Bosses and "scabs." particu- larly hated by the desperate miners, were served with notices swearing vengeance on them if they didn't leave Such threats. unless needed. were nearly always executed.
 The chief source of these atrocities was a secret society known as the "Mollie Maguires." They terroized the entire Schuylkill and ShamoIin districts A superintendent or a boss was attacked, beaten or shot down somewhere almost every day. Gangs of these thugs would waylay a victim in the field or by the roadside if they could, but falling in this, they. sur rounded his house. forced him out. and did him to death.
 Among the most brutal of their murders was that of Alexander Req, a rnine superintendent, who was beaten and shot to death in October. 1868. after dark. or even by day. unless well armed. The Mollies had their signs and passwords for use whom necessary, but they grew so bold that such de- vices were rarely needed. 1t had got to such a state that superintendents of jobs had to hire and discharge men at the Mcllies' behest or be shot. Jack Kehoe. leading Mollie, when in prison for murder boasted that if he were convicted and d>sentenced the old man up at Harr1spurg would never let him swing"
 In exposing and suppressing this Pennsylvania Maf1a Franklin B. Cow en, lawyer. at the time president of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron company. eiicited the services of the Pinkerton detective agency.
 The chief of these detectives was one James McParlan. He ingratfated himself into the good graces of lead ing members of the Mollie order, and became one of their members. It was not until 1875 that his work began to fell. Two murders to which he was privy he unfortunately could not pre- vent, so closely was he watched. One of these was a young English boss miner. These murders were practi- cally the continuation of the outraees, for McParlan had secured suf5icient evidence to bring the perpetrators to trial
 The rIngleaders were arrested and, going upon the witness stand, McPar- Ian demolished the sham alibi which the culprits soueht to establish and