Show GRINDING HEEL OF THE SOLDIERY t Witness Tells of Oppression in tile the Coeur d lenes 4 INNOCENT MEN CAST INTO TIlE THE BULL BELL PEN 4 Evidence to Convict Not to Acquit Was Yas Wanted 4 Miners Pureed Forced to Apologize to Mili Mill Military Military tary Officers Per For Paneled anci d Insults Under Threats of Being Shot Houses of Accused Men ItTen Broken Into Without Warrant By lly the Soldiers Treatment of Arrested ted Men Was Harsh and Rude I I I Washington March 17 The Coeur count of the ilic cs of the witness dAlene investigation inv was continued before the house committee committed on military affairs today The crosse of Mr Forney Forne which was in progress when the committee adjourned yester yesterday yesterday day da was not resumed today on ac account account account count of the illness s of the witness Allen Alien F Gill of Spokane Wah W h a mechanical engineer was ivas placed on the stand by Mr Lentz He held various public positions In Spokane and was master mechanic for the Oregon Rail Railway Railway Railway way Navigation company before he became master mechanic of the Tiger Poorman Mining company at Burke In that position among other duties he h was charged with the employment and an L discharge of men in the mine He testified that he was at Burke i April 29 1899 the day the Bunker Hill Hit HitI mine was blown up The town was I unusually quiet April 30 all the men mar L were at work except four They Th y con continued at work until the 3rd or of oi r May when numbers of them including himself were arrested by the militarY He testified that he had attempted to t continue at work He had explained to t the officer in charge of the th troops that tha that the manager of the mine was absent absen t and that great t property interests de depended depended upon him The Tue officer Major Majo r Morten replied martial law had hac I been declared and that he would have hav S to go to Wardner He testified that he h I heard Major Morten order one of Df his lit S troops to break into his Gills house The soldiers broke in the door Harsh and Rude Treatment He noticed other instances of a asim sim similar ilar character He testified to general genera Si rude and harsh treatment suffered by bythe bythe b r the arrested miners at the hands of the Us a ra troops Later in the day he was re released released ret leased and wen wan back to the mine with t eight miners and worked all night with ith t them to get the water which had accumulated accumulated accumulated out of the mine The only disturbance made in Burke Burk Burkt e that day was the disturbance created create t by the soldiery There was no necessity ty for the soldiers he said as civil El processes could have been served In L a his 1 S opinion the advent of the military defeated the ends of justice The guil gull guilty guIlty ty parties escaped into Montana Had the military not been there many of these would have returned and could have been arrested Mr lIr GUI Gill testified that he e had been in informed Informed informed I formed that no from the bull bullpen bullpen bullpen pen would be made except on the order of Bartlett Sinclair He Bc B had an inter interview interview view vie with Sinclair and had presented pre affidavits regarding men who had been at work at Bur Bu BurIe e when the mine at Wardner was blown up but he Sin Sinclair Sinclair Sinclair clair refused to release them saying that he took ho no o stock st k in affidavits Sin Sinclair Sinclair clair lair had informed him hint that it was the duty of reputable citizens to bring affi affidavits affidavits affidavits davits to convict and not acquit The Continued on rage Page 2 f GRIND GRINDING G Continued From Fm Page 3 J pen p witness described conditions in the bull bullpen tul bullpen Miners e Had H to t Apologize His testimony was similar simia to to that tat of other witnesses win e He testified that the deputies deputes had ha had ha some trouble truble with the firemen under his h control and ad the former forer had informed inor Lieutenant Lyons L on that the firemen had ha applied bless bious bion epithets to them the Then Thea Te Lieuten Lieutenant Liete ant at Lyons had complained of this to him Gill Gi and ad said sd that if such epi epithets epithets tet had been applied to him hint he Lyons would have shot the te offender Lieutenant Lyons threatened to send sed the firemen to the h bull bul pen pea p unless unes the firemen apologized The dignity of or the state officers must mus be upheld Le t tant ant Lyons Lyon said sid Later the te firemen apologized and ad the trouble was amicably settled sette Mr Ir Gill said sad that the men in the Coeur Cr dAlene district distrct were law abiding They T y were not as a class cass inferior to those tos in any other mining community There T re were wee some sm bad men me among among them but as a a aclas class clas they were wee exceptionally good goodmen go goodmen men These bad ba men were not perma permanent pera nent neat residents of the the district So far as a the Tiger Poorman Pooran mine min was wa concerned the te relation between the miners and a Mr Culberson the te ac as active a tive manager maage were very Ye cordial crial Without disposing of the witness the committee day dav then adjourned until Mon Monday Monday |