, 1922-11-06

aNAAANN 49,
charge murder. IS allege conspiracy
10 murder, So rioting. and the rcmalns
ing So. assault TO murder
The first case on the docket aecuses
IS Of the defendants OF the murder OF
Howard Hoffman OF Huntington. Ind.
a steam shovel operator. Judge Hart
eel has Indicated that this case. be
yIuse OF its position or the docket.
xili be called to trial first. although
Attorney General Edward J. Brun-
who directed the work Of the
grand Jury. said he preferred first to
try Otis Clark. the first man indicted.
CHARGED with the murder OF c. X. Nc
Dowell, the mine superintendent, and
the first mine man KILLED.
Since the original Indictments were
returned the grand jury. at an ad-
journed session. reindicted the as men
named Jointly for the murder Of Hotf-
man. charging them with tho murder
of Ignnce Kubinis. one OF the non
union men wounded in the mine fight.
Kuhinis died In the Herrin hospital
after the first session OF the grand
jury I'd recessed.
II the attorney general carries out
n AAAANtL ~ A1AAAH INV A1AAA AAAN
uient for the murder OF Hoffman
rather than go to trial with it first.
the next case M will be a joint indict-
ment charging IS men with the mur
der of Antonio Muikavich-
The Herrin troubles were the re-
suit of an attempt TO operate the strip
mine in the heart OF a strongly union
lied county during the coal strike last
In its formal report the special
grand. Jury which investigated the at
fair declares that the rioting and muir
dcrs were the result OF q conspiracy.
This conspiracy. the jury said. origi-
mated among the mine union officials.
Hugh Willis of Herrin. member OF the
state executive board of the union.
who IS under Indictment for murder
assault TO murder. was said to
have guaranteed that THE union viii
pay for guns and ammunition seized
in Herrin hardware stores before sew
eral hundred armed men took VI the
march on the mine.
The grand jury did not return any
Indictments In connection with h
fatal shooting OF the union men The
afternoon preceding the riot. In its
report the grand jury stated that no
evidence Justifying Indictments was
offered
According TO q statement made by
Allen Findlay. timekeeper at the
mine, before the coroner's jury. c. x.
Mcdowell. mine superintendent, shot
two union men with a h~igh.powered
rifle as they were in the woods near
the edge OF the mine property. Find
lay told the jury that he saw the men
throw their hands in the air and fall
Immediately after Mcdowell fired.
Col. Samuel II. Hunter of the Hi.
nois National Guard, testifying before
e. ]. May, arbitrator OF the state in.
dustrial commission, said that Mr.. Nc.
Dowell. mine superintendent. was in
strumentaI IN starting the trouble.
Col. Hunter declaed that Mcdowell
him the afternoon of June
Fl. the day before the riots, and said
we killed two of the union men,"
Personal investigation developed that
men wee shot down by Mcdowell,
Col. Hunte testified.
Tho grand jury report Incorporates
n telegram from John L. Lewis, presi-
dent Of the United Mine Workers Of
America. sent TO State Senator Will
lam Sneed. president Of the miners
local here. concerning some OF the
men at the strip mine. They were
TO be treated as common s~trtkebreak-
ers, Mr.. Lewis said. because the steam
shovelers' union to which they be-
longed had been outlawed by the
American Federation of Labor.
Following posting OF this telegram
in Williamson county. the grand jury
report says, preparations for the at.
on the mine began.
The jury SAYS It made no attempt
10 determine the equities In the con-
test between the miners and the
strikebreakers. but declare it was
'foolhardy" for w. ]. Lester, owner
OF the mine, to attempt to operate a
non-union ri:ne in this district.
After teiling of the threatening sit
uation at the mine for four or five
days before the attack, the report of
the grand jurors says Col. Sam Hun
ter, of the Illinois National Guard,
sent here to investigate, called re.
peatedly for troops. but each time
Adjutant General Black refused to
send them because Sheriff Melvin
Tha1ton. n member Of the union and
candidate for county treasurer, did
not join in the request.
THE adiutart generals office and
the sheriff alternRted in passing re-
-sponsibiity," the report says, with
neither taking decisive acton to
prevent disorders and protect prop
erty."
OF the actual fight at the mine and
the staying of the men Who surren-
dered there, the grand jury says:
"The men working at the strip
mine were evidently ignorant OF be
ing strike breakers. The men oper-
atiRg the steam shovel were affiliat-
ed with a union, even though UNI
recofnized by the American Fedora
ton of Labor. The guards were told
they were to protect the valuable
machinery and did not awaken to the
real danger until noon time of juno
.21. when bullets began to fly into
the mine in such volume as to compel
them to take refuge in tho office aud
later to seek safety under the steel
RAILROAD cars on tho strip mine prop
-erty. Superintendent Mcdowell
felephoned a number of times to Col