Martin Oiler testimony
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
MARTIN OILER.
A witness of lawful are, being first duly sworn-
Q. (Mr. Houston) How old are you?
A. Thirty nine.
Q. Where do you live?
A. At Burnwell.
Q. In Kanawha county?
A. Yes.
Q. How long have you lived at Burnwell?
A. Five years.
Q. What business are you in there?
A. I am a coal miner.
Q. Is that a coal mining camp, Burnwell?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you living there in August and September, 1921?
A. Yes.
Q. What were you working at then?
A. Mining.
Q. Have you a local union of the United Mine Workers of American there?
A. Yes.
Q. How many members have you in that local at that time?
A. About 150.
Q. What was the number of your local?
A. 1267.
Q. Was that in District 17?
A. Yes.
Q. What subdistrict was it in?
A. In No. 2.
Q. Who was the president of the sub-district at that time?
A. I don't know.
Q. Do you remember hearing of the march to Logan and Mingo counties?
A. I heard something about it.
Q. Did you hear of the men assembling at Marmet, or near Marmet on Lens Creek.
A. I heard they were having a mass meeting there.
Q. Did you attend that mass meeting?
A. No.
Q. What official position did you hold in your local in August, 1921?
A. I was treasurer.
Q. Who disbursed the money for this local-who wrote the checks and paid the bill?
A. When an order is drawn I pay the bills.
Q. Just before this mass meeting, was there a meeting of your local with reference to providing funds for the mass meeting?
A. No.
Q. Who was President of the local?
A. J. E. Miller.
Q. Do you know William Caudle?
A. Yes.
Q. What is Miller's first name?
A. J. E. Miller.
Q. Were you present at the meeting of the local when the President Mr. Miller, made a statement about appropriating some money?
A. I never heard him say anything except at a regular meeting.
Q. Well, at a regular meeting or any other kind?
A. Mr. Miller made a statement that the men at this mass meeting would have to have something to eat.
Q. After this statement was made to the men of the local, was any money appropriate for that meeting, or any checks drawn by you for that purpose?
A. I don't know whether it was for this meeting, but I paid a bill of $550.
Q. At the time, or immediately before you issued the check, what was said about it and by whom?
A. Mr. Miller made a talk and said there was going to be held a mass meeting at Marmet, and said they would probably be there for three or four days, and they would have to have something to eat and wanted this money to feed the men while they were there.
Q. Then did you issue a check for $550.
A. No, I paid the money.
Q. Whom did you pay it to?
A. I turned the money over to the financial secretary, William Caudle.
Q. Did any of the men in your local go to the mass meeting after that?
A. I think some of them did.
Q. Do you remember their names.
A. No.
Q. About how many went?
A. I suppose about twenty five or thirty.
Q. Were you at the local train from Paint Creek when the men left for the mass meeting?
A. I did not see any going from Burnwell.
Q. See any from anywhere else?
A. Several from up the creek.
Q. Were they armed.
A. They had guns.
Q. Pistols, shot guns or rifles?
A. I could not say about that.
Q. Were they long guns that they had?
A. Yes, they were long guns.
Q. I will ask you if in the course of the statement made by your president on this occasion, what was said by him, if anything, about Mingo and Logan counties in connection with the mass meeting at Marmet?
A. I don't remember what all he said.
Q. Well, tell anything you remember.
A. He did not refer to anything only holding this mass meeting. He did not refer to Mingo in his speech.
Q. Did you hear any other speech made by him in that connection at any other time?
A. No.
Q. Did you go to Marmet, or Lens Creek, after that?
A. Yes.
Q. When did you go with reference to the time the money was appropriated?
A. After that.
Q. How long after that?
A. About two days after.
Q. Did you see any of your local going to Lens creek on the day you went?
A. No. I never seen any of my local there.
Q. When you got to Lens creek did you see any of your local?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you first see them?
A. At Marmet, at the mouth of Lens creek.
Q. At the time did you go up Lens creek?
A. Yes.
Q. Was there a guard at the mouth of the creek.
A. Yes.
Q. How did you get by?
A. They never asked me any questions.
Q. Did you have to give the number of your local?
A. Yes, I gave the number.
Q. Where did you go from there?
A. To Racine.
Q. Did you meet any men as you went along?
A. Yes.
Q. How many men did you see on Lens creek on your way to Racine?
A. I don't know. It was dark.
Q. Did you see any men?
A. Yes.
Q. Well, how many - give us some idea?
A. Between seven and eight hundred.
Q. Were they marching or standing still?
A. Those I saw were in camp.
Q. Did they have arms?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you do when you got to the camp?
A. I only went on through.
Q. Who went with you?
A. No one.
Q. Where were you going?
A. I was trying to get over where my local was.
Q. Your local was on Paint creek at Burnwell, was it not?
A. No, they were up on Lens creek.
Q. You mean the members of your local, do you not?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you overtake them?
A. No.
Q. How did you know they were on Lens creek?
A. That is what they told me.
Q. How far did you go?
A. To Racine.
Q. Did anyone go with you?
A. No.
Q. You went by yourself?
A. Yes.
Q. What were the other men on Lens creek doing, besides the 800?
A. I don't know.
Q. Have you any idea what they were doing?
A. No, I don't have much idea.
Q. I believe you said you belonged to the union in an official capacity at that time and that you still belong?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you go to Racine for?
A. I was like all the rest - I wanted to see what the mass meeting was for.
Q. Was there a mass meeting at Racine?
A. I don't know.
Q. Did you hear the men as you went along say anything as to where they were going?
A. No, I never heard anyone say where they were going.
Q. When you got to Racine, was it day or night?
A. It was night.
Q. Have you talked to the witnesses on the other dies of this case since you have been here?
A. No.
Q. You told us the other night what you could testify to today did you not?
A. I don't know.
Q. You don't know whether you did or not?
A. I told you what I knew.
Q. Did you hear these men say anything about Mingo County from the time you left Lens creek?
A. No.
Q. How many did you hear say that?
A. I don't know, probably five or six.
Q. Where were you when you heard this statement? With reference to the camp of 800 men.
A. That was on Lens creek.
Q. Did you hear anything said on the road over there with reference to martial law in Mingo county?
A. No.
Q. You did not talk much then and did not listen much?
A. No, I was not there long enough.
Q. What time did you get to Marmet after starting to Racine?
A. I got there in the evening?
Q. What time in the evening?
A. About five o'clock.
Q. How did you go, on train 13 on the C. & O. railroad, or did you walk?
A. Went on the train.
Q. How far is Burnwell from Marmet?
A. I don't know.
Q. Have you ever been in Charleston?
A. Yes.
Q. How many times have you been in the city of Charleston?
A. A good many times.
Q. Burnwell is located on the Hewitt creek in the upper end of Kanawha county, is it not?
A. Yes.
Q. And to get to Marmet, you come to what place first?
A. You get to Pratt first.
Q. How far is Burnwell on the C. & O. railroad from Pratt?
A. About thirteen miles.
Q. How far is it from Charleston?
A. About twenty miles.
Q. In going to Charleston you would pass through Marmet on the C. & O. railroad, would you not?
A. Yes.
Q. How far is Marmet from Charleston?
A. About ten miles.
Q. Then you got off this train and started up Logan creek?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you stop anywhere?
A. No.
Q. Walked straight on
A. Yes.
Q. What time did you get to Racine?
A. About 11:30 at night.
Q. Did you find any armed men there?
A. Yes.
Q. How many armed men did you find at Racine?
A. Probably a thousand.
A. You did not see any members of your local there?
A. No.
Q. Had they gone on when you got there?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you stay all night in Racine?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you stay?
A. At the mouth of the creek.
Q. Did you stay at the camp there?
A. Yes.
Q. How long were you in the camp?
A. Until day light.
Q. You stayed all night then in the camp with the men you found there?
A. Yes.
Q. Were they armed?
A. Some of them were and some were not.
Q. Did you have a gun?
A. No.
Q. Did you have one when you left home?
A. No.
Q. Did you have one when you went to Racine?
A. No.
Q. And you had none when you came back?
A. No.
Q. How did you get back to Lens creek and Marmet?
A. I came up Toney's branch.
Q. I don't care anything about your coming up Toney's branch,--did you walk or ride?
A. I rode on the train.
Q. What train?
A. I came up Big Coal and through Cabin Creek.
Q. Then you did not return the way you went?
A. No.
Q. How far from Racine by the route you took is your home on Paint Creek?
A. I don't hardly know.
Q. When did you get home with reference to the day you left?
A. I got home the same day.
Q. What connection has the financial secretary with the money that the Local collects from the men or otherwise?
A. He collects the money and turns it over to me.
Q. Where did you keep your money, if you had any, at that time? When you turned over the $550.? In what bank did you keep it?
A. In the Charleston National.
Q. In disbursing this money as treasurer, do you pay by check or in cash.
A. Sometimes in cash, sometimes by check.
Q. Was this money you turned over - the $550. - in cash?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you take a receipt for it from the financial secretary?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you that receipt with you?
A. No.
Q. What became of it.?
A. I left it at home.
Q. Was any part of the $550. returned to you?
A. Yes, some of it was returned?
Q. How much was returned to you?
A. I don't know exactly, about $47. or $57.
Q. Who returned it to you?
A. The financial secretary.
Q. The same man you turned it over to?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he say when he returned it to you?
A. Nothing.
Q. Was he away after he got this money and while the march was going on?
A. I don't know exactly, he was away some.
Q. Give the jury some idea of how long he was away?
A. Probably two or three days.
Q. Did you see him while he was on the road over there?
A. No, sir.
Cross Examination By Mr. Townsend.
Q. Do you know Bill Blizzard?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see him on this march?
A. No, sir.
Q. You are not in his sub-district, are you?
A. No, sir.
Q. Your sub-district is No. 1, Burnwell, is it not?
A. I don't know.
Re-Direct Examination By Mr. Ossenton.
Q. Did you see any one else you know?
A. I didn't see many people I knew.
Q. Name some of them?
A. I don't know any.