Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-04-24
TRY 125 men
ON CONSPIRACY
Coal Mine Troubles to
Be Aired Monday
Charges Grow Out of March of
Miners Across Boone County
Numerous Indictments in
Logan County.

WHOSe% cases are SET lOE lIldi lOilloI
row in this little county seat Of the
oasternmost county Of the. state. Here
juries selected from an agricultural
community. quite unlike the mining
regions further west. are to seek the
true facts on disorders that involved
thousands Of coal miners sympathiz-
ers last August and September al
most $50 miles away.
The charges grew out OF the march
Of miners across Boone county. just
south Of the center of the state, to
the border where it adjoints Logan
county, one of the great non-union
coal fields of the state. Along the
mountains and creeks that mark the
county borders Logan county forces,
made up Of deputy sheriffs, state po-
lice and citizens from many of the
southern counties including not a
few from the state capital, Charles
vasion, and six day fight ensued.
ending only with the disarming Of the
marching forces by federal troops
who sent them to their homes.
Then followed numerous indict-
ments in the Logan county courts.
and in Kanawha county, in which
the capital Is situated, until the num-
Der Of men against whom charges
were lodged. grew beyond the posi-
bility Of strict accounting. The Is in
dictments brought at different terms
Of courts in the two counties contain
ing total of some 1900 names, but as
many of these were duplicated where
several charges were brought in diff
ferent indictments against the same
men the number Of defendants actual
~ is much lower. A petition for
change Of venue at the last term of
the court in Logan county resulted
union officers and members to JET
ferson county, it being claimed that
la fair trial could not be obtained in
Logan county.
Fifty-four men are charged with
treason, the number including many
of the district and sub district off
GERS of the United Mine Workers, with
c. Frank Keeney and Frank Mooney,
president and secretary respectively
VI CIStiINI IL tIIouS lliS IllOSI pIoIIlI-
nent. In the indictment it is alleg-
ed that the defendants raised an army
and waged war against the state of
West Virginia in an attempt to over
throw the martial law In force in
Mingo county, on the other side of
Logan and toward which the march
was said to be directed.
II ic Poinci5pnpa 90
nous treasontrial was held in the
same court house in Cnarlestown. that
Of John Brown, the abolitionist, who
was found guilty after his raid on the
government arsenal at Harpers' Fer
| ry, five miles away, had failed. The
building has been remodelled since
that famous trial in 1859, but although
the court room is now on the second
floor, while then it was on the first
and the interior has otherwise been
changed, the walls are the same
which heard the ringing denun-
Citations and defenses Of the famous
anti-slavery fighter.
Charges of murder are included
against eight men VINO are specifcal-
~ accused Of participating in the kill
ing OF John Gore, n Logan county
deputy sheriff, who was one of the
defending forces on Blair mountain
where some of the hardest fighting
occurred. The principal officers of
the miners union and other promi-
nent labor men are also charged with
"counselling, aiding and abetting" the
killing of Gore, although it, was not
alleged that any of them were present
when he was shot. A number Of
other murder charges are included
among the indictments, and there
also are charges of instruction, rob-
berry and conspiracy counts in con-
nection with some of the other
charges, among the indictments.
Under the laws the defendants have
the right of sgnifying whether they
vii. be tried separately or jointly.
and the prosecution has the right Of
selecting which defendant. lin case
Of separate trials), and which charge
shall first be placed on trial.
Tremendous expenses have been in
Cured, 1t is stated, in bringing the
! cases to trial, one factor being that
the. hearings are so far from the
parts Of the State from which all the
| interested parties both Of defense and
prosecution and the witnesses must
come. For jury and witness fees and
travelling expenses, which in felony
cases are paid from a-special appro-
priation by the state, it has been es-
timated that more than $4,000 will
| be paid, while the county. with the
cost of talesmen not actually on trial
juries, and all the costs Of the court,
has been put to great expense in ad-
dition. A complicating feature has
been that the appropriation for fell
ony trial costs borne by the state was
exhausted early this year and 1t is
expected that big inroads must be
made on the money appropriated for
the next fiscal year.
The defendants, too, have been un-
der heavy expenses, with the neces-
sity of bringing to Charlestown not
only these against whom the charges
have been brought but also any army
of between 600 and 100 witnesses.
Hotel accommodation were overtaxed
and boarding houses cared for some
of the overflow, while many private
homes were opened to accommodate
Ia 1ot -,