Evening star., 1922-12-23
SAYS MINE GUARDS
STIRRED UP RIOTS
Witness in Herrin Killings
Trial Declares Outsiders
Caused Trouble.
BY the Associated Press.

MARION. H.. December 23-Ed-
related circumstances of the death of
the first union miner, Jordy Hender-
son, today faced a continuation of
crcss-examination by attorneys for
the state prosecuting five men
charged with murder during the Her.
rim riots"
On direct examination yesterday
'fenshaw testified he was in front of
ms home. about a half mile from the
mine, when he saw Henderson fall
after being struck by a bullet from
the direction of the mine. He said
Henderson was unarmed
Ihe defense called seven witnesses
yesterday t" support its previously
announced. contention that the siay-
inss were justifiable homicide 1t
attempted to show that extreme prov
ocatIon resulted from i,nportation of
armed guards and non-union miners
curing the coal strike. Witnesses
aIsoe told of the shooting Of three
union miners at the mines on the
afternoon of June 2I
Guards Are Blamed.
number Of the first witnesses
called yesterday testified that the
territory surrounding the mine was
peace1ul and quiet until after union
workers had been DISCHARGED and
nontunion men and armed guards sent
INTO the pit by the coal rompany
SeVtral of the witnesses testified
! that the guards had ridden up and
down the public highway near the
mine In motor truck, each one car
rylhg two pistols and rifle. that
they held up and searched peaceful
! travellers. shouted at women and
; warned every one to stay off the road
after sundoWu
Other witnesses told of hiding in
their cellars when the shooting be-
gan at the mine between 1:3O and =
pm. the afternoon of June u and or
having their stock killed by shots
| from the mine.
Saw Mnn Shot Down.
II was during this shooting that
Edward CrenShaw. who testified that
, ne was former uniaa miner and had
lived half mile from the Lester
mine all his life. said he saw the
shooting of Jardy Henderson. the first
union man killed.
trenshaw said he was standing IN
| front of his home when he saw Hen
dersnn. who was unarmed. and bull
lets began to come from the direction
Of the mine.
Did YOU see any one shot,
Yes. they said his name was Hen
derson. and he fell about 100 yards
from my house. He must have been
killed instantly"
Edna Conroy testified she lived with
her father about half mile from the
Lester mine. She told of seeing
trucks loaded with armed guards
wearing stars pass her home several
! times day on the public highway
TIL" witness declared she had seen a
/ h, 4, IL. II
searched by the guards in the high
wav.
She said she saw Supt Mcdowell
in the mine with a gun strapped to
his back several days before the
riots.
Guards on Highway.
Mrs. Mary Conroy. mother of Edna
Conroy. testified she lived near the
mine and had seen the trucks filed
with armed guards on the road
bringing water to the mine. and that
the guards had shouted at her and
her daughter
John 6. Conroy. siXty-eight years
old. corrobOrated the testimony given
by ais wife and daughter regarding
the shooting at the mine and the
events which preceded il. He said
the guards in the mine trucks each
carried two pistols and rifle across
their knees and that some of his
stock had been killed by bullets.
Asked how many shots were fired, he
declared:
Il didn't stop t" count them,
What did you do?''
Sometimes ! hid in the cellar.
sometimes l ran around the house
and sometimes ! jumped into ditch. -
ON croSs-eXamination the witness
said he had been miner for fifty
years before becoming a farmer and
had held petty offices in the miners
union.
Have you any feeling against
these men in the mine"
Sure ] have. Didn't they kill my
stock"''
The elder Conroy then testified he
! had not seen a single man firing into
| the mine or going toward it.
Farmers Fired Upon.
John conroy. son. testified that
| the firing at the mine began about ,
| o'clock on the afternoon of June 21,
| He declared he saw a white flag
and that about an hour later he saw
two men firing from the pit near the
/ flag. The witness said he spent the
| night with his family in his father $
cellar and that he and his father were
/ fired on as they drove in their stock
| the next morning.
On cross S-examination Conroy said
| he had been a miner for twenty-seven
wears, was a member of the United
Mine Workers and had contributed
| to the miners defense in the present
case. He declared he had been told
he would receive $40 day from the
union defense for the time he spent
| as a witness.