| Show 7 LIBEL it The rial of the Silver Reef Miner on S Charge of Libeling the Christy Company The Case i Progress A Synopsis of tho Examination BEAYEB Juif 20th 18SO Editors Herald THE FIRST DAY The case of tho People 1 John Wand W-and Edward Pike camo on for trial in the Second District Court ih s morning The Pike brothers are editors of a newspaper called the Silver Reef Mine published at Silva Reef Utah and Irom the evidence soar so-ar elicited it appears that on 31s day of March last an article appeared in said paper giving the editors thrnrv nt the vpntnoinal ntrtintiirn nr that part of the earths cruet in which are situated the many valuable mines ot Silver Reef including the properties of the Christy Mill and Mining Company It also appears that one Henry S Lubbock is part owner and superintendent ot the companyd mines and that at the date of publication be < was in New York City engaged in an tflurt to sell the whole of the companys mining prcperty for the sum ot 320000 and that durin the absenc of LUbbock the superintendence of the property evolved upon one Gibson Clarkan embryo deciple of B ackatone and I secretary of Lubbock and the Christy Company that on the appearance of tbe publication Clark telegraphed tele-graphed a synopsis of its contents con-tents to Lubbock who upon receipt thereof instructed Clark to cause the arre t of the Pike brothers that in pursuance of said instructions Clark itntnediitsly lodged complaint before Justice Paddock charging them with libel upon the character of Lubbock They were arrested and after preliminary examination were held to bail in the sum of 4000 I is a significant fact that the same Justice a short time later admitted a person charged with and since indicted dicted for the crime of murder to murer bail in the sum of 1000 Although the indictment is in the name of the People it appears that the prosecution in the justices court was conducted by attorneys employed by the Christy company and that Judge VanZile is now being assisted by Judge Til ford and Gibson Clark at the expense of the company Thus far two witnesses Lubbock and Clark have been partially examined Clark testified to having read the article and that he regarded it as detrimental to the interests of he Christy Company that he had conversed with John W Pike relative to its efiect or bearing and Lad told him that lia 1 fPilrpl tose talrmcr a great deal l upon himself to advance a theory which W Sin S-in direct conflict with the theories and opinions of some of the best expert ex-pert who had visited ihe camp as well as that of many of the most intelligent elligent and experienced miners of the district He deied having paid Justice Paddock the Hum of 200 in gold or any other Bum of money for he purpose of influencing his action in tbe preliminary hearing ol the caso but admitted having given an open order to G ° orga Miler po prietor of a saloon kept next door to the ccurtroom to furnish liquors and cigars to anyone calling for the same during the examination and that I the bill of cost for drinks etc had on said order amounted to 145 which sum was paid by the Christy Mining Company He also admitted td John W Pike having requested to make favorable mention of the Christy Companies mines during the months of January and February that he had requested him to publish a hypothetical visit through the companys mines meaning thereby that he should publish a fictitious or what might be considered a false statement of the condition and value of the property which Pike refused t do Lubbock testified tl a ha had teen superintendent of the company mill and mines since its orgamzition mi about three years ago Was in New York at the date ol publication and received from Clark a synopsis of the article complained of and had directed di-rected the arrest and prosecution of the Pike brothers On being asked whether he regarded the article as a libel upon his character he repljed that he did not know the meaning of that but had come to court for the purpose of finding out whether the article was libebua or not In answer swer to the question whether he wo id knowingly sell a mine or iuro IUBU its value he replied with miicu emphasis that he would udel a mine for the last dollar he could get He was part owner of the Christy Companys property which consists of a 5 stamp mill and seventeen mines nearly all of which were of great value that tbe mil had been in operation about two and onehall yean didnt know whether he had ever received any dividend or not This case ia of special interest to newspapers and will doubtless develop de-velop some novel features in its prc gross prominent among which seems t be whether i is lawful for an editor to give expression to his views regarding tbe order of creation as applied torrration to silver veins in a sandstone |
