The Alaska daily empire., 1922-04-25
TRIALS FOR MURDER,
 RESURRECTION AND
 TREASON ARE BEGUN
(Contlnued From Page One)


 and in Kanawha county in which the capital is situated, until the
 number of men against whom charges
 were lodged. grew beyond the possi- bility of strict accounting. The 15
 indictments brought at different .erms of courts in the two counties cont aimed a total of some 1,5O0 ,annes. hut as many of these were duplicated where. several charges were brought tin different indictments
 against the same men the number of lefcndarts actarally is much lower. pet iton for a change of venue at he last term of the court in Logan ! county. resulted in transferring the l 3as1s of 125 of the union officers | ,rd members to Jefferson county, it 1 being claimed that flair trial could i not be obtnined in Logan county. Charged With Treason
 | Fifty -four mon are charged with | reason, the number including many
 If the district and slfb-district off
 sers c' the United Mine Workers,
 wih c. Frank Keeney and Frank
 Mooney. pre7ident and secretary, re- | specfi,veiy of District IF. among the
 most prominent. In the indictment 1t
 is alleged that the defendants raised
 m army and waged war against the
 state of West Virginia in an attempt
 to overthrow the martial law in
 force in Mingo county, on the other
 side of Logan and toward which the
 march was said to be directed.
 I It is a coincidence that another f famous treason trial was held in
 he same count house in Charlestown,
 that of John Brown. tho 'abolitionist.
 who was found guilty after his raid
 on the government arsenal at Har'
 pers' Ferry. five miles away had
 r,iaed. The building has been re- . nNde'led sirce that famous trial in
 1859, but although the Sourt room is I DOW on the second floor. while then
 was on the first, and the interior I has otherwise beon changed. the I walls are the same which heard the l ringing denunciations and defenses of I the famous anti-slavery fighter.
 l Murder Charges
 I Charges of murder arv included ]ogainst eight mon who are specifical- | " accused of participating in the
 killing of John Gore. a Logan county 1 deputy sheriff, who was one of the \ defending forces on Blair mountain. I where some of the hardest fighting ! occurred. The principal officers of \ the miners union and other promn- | eDt labor men are also charged. with 'tcounselling. aiding and abetting, " q the killing of Gore. although it is not \ alleged that any of them were pres ent when he was shot. A number of either murder charges are included among the indictments, and there also are charges of insuwection, rob bery and conspiracy counts in con \ neotion with some of the other
 charges. among the indictments.
 Under the Jaws the defendants
 have the right of sigpifying whether
 they will be tried separately or joint ly. and the prosecution has the righ, ! of selecting which defendant Gin case
 of separate trials). and which charge
 shall first be placed on trial.
 I Much Expense Involved
 Tremendous expenses have been
 incurred, it 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 chses are paid from a special
 appropriation by the state. it has
 been estimated that more than s30,.
 900 will be paid, while the county with the cost of talesmen not actual l ly on trial iuries, and all the costs
 of the court, has been put to great ! expense in addition. A complicating teature has been that the appropria- tion for felony trial costs borne by l the state was exhausted early this year and it is expected that big in- roads must be made on the money appropriated for then ext fiscal year. The defendants, too, have been tln- der heavy expenses, with the neces- sity of bringing to Charlestown not
 only these against whom the charges have been brought, but also an army
 of between 500 and 700 witnesses. Hotel accommodations were over- taxed and hoarding houses cared for some of the overflow, while many private homes were opened to accom-. niodate the large numbers who came here for the cases. Others who were interested in the trials made arrange. nfents tor accommodation at Har- perS Ferry. connected with Charles town by good automobile road.