Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-23
Herrin Defendants
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nrlng which may have come from out
side the mine. before Henderson was
shot. II saw him shot" he said.
Henderson was one of the three union
men whom the defense vii try to show
were slain by mine guards and whose
deaths were the immediate cause OF the
massacre the next day. The State con.
tends that these three men We're killed
during the mine battle that ragged all
night long at the strip mine and which
ended in a violated truce.
II was standing in my home just
about half mile from the strip NINE
said Crenshaw. in his direct testimony
given yesterday. "You can see the en-
bnnkments-the dumps-around the pit
from my house. Jordie Henderson was
lying on his stomach in the field 100
on his elbows. The shot from the mine
hit him right there and he just rolled
over. l did not see him have any
gum"
A few days before June 21 a company
man, Jim Collins, came to him. Cren-
shawk continued, and told him Nc
Dowell. the mine superintendent, said
there was going to be trouble and "1'd
better get my family away"
II helped him cart his family away"
said Crenshaw. "On June p / was
home all afternoon. From the house
could see the bullets hit all around
my place and the dust fly up. didn't
see anybody firing from my side. The
bullets I saw seemed to come from the
strip mine.
THAT afternoon, when ] went out
to draw some water ! was in position
to see the inside Of the strip mine
embankment, and saw man carrying
what looked to be a heavy load Of iron.
l saw him take It UP the side of the
embankment and put it down: then he
got some bushes and hid that iron. 1t
was some kind Of machine gun; it fred
as fast as you could count"
Defense witnesses all days yesterday
pictured the provocative activities Of
the armed guards at the strip mine.
The whole Conroy family took the
stand to tell how they were halted In
the public roads. how the armed guard
killed their heifer, wounded their Ally
mare, punctured the roof Of their barn
and NEARLY ran over their boy"
Old Man Sought Shelter
John Conroy, white bearded and 90
years old, admitted to the State that he
had mined for 55 years and was n
union man, declaring his farm adjoins
the strip mine. From his porch he
can see the long embankments, fifty
feet high, which flank the half-mile
long and 000.feet- wide Lester mine
pit.
He testified that he had to hide the
whole night long, June q and g. down
in his concrete basement cellar. lie
did not see the mine guards firing un :
der their own flag Of truce just at
sundown, but his son, John, Jr., said
he did. .
their white flag in the early evening, "
the son explained. And they kept
firing for an hour and all the night
: long at intervals. On the morning OF
. ditch The shots came from under
that white flag. The calf was hit and
heifer, too. which died, and also my
tilly mare, Five shots hit my house and
one went through two partitions and
fell on my baby's bed"
/ The son was unable to state clearly
= whether or not the shooting was done
by the mine guards alone. On his side
, of the mine he said he saw nobody else
, shooting. but he didn't know what was
happening on the Other side Of the mine
He admitted that. though the armed
guards halted him, they had done him
no physical violence. He said he heard
one guard say We'll show em how
to run this country
: ConrOy's aged wife Mary and their
: daughter Edna testified they saw armed
h. guards on the truck which brought new
: workmen to the mine from the station
| at Carbondale. Once. too, they sale
: they saw Mcdowell with two gun.
strapped to his back.