Petry D. Koontz testimony
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
PETRY D. KOONTZ.
A witness of lawful age, being first duly sworn-
Q. Where do you live?
A. In Charleston, W. Va.
Q. What is your profession?
A. Lawyer.
Q. Were you living in Charleston about the last of August or the first of September, 1921?
A. Yes, I was.
Q. Do you know anything about the armed assembly at Marmet of the miners?
A. I saw armed men at the mouth of Lens creek at Marmet.
Q. Where were you going at the time you saw the armed men?
A. Mr. J. J. Blair and myself had started to drive from Charleston by way of Marmet to Paytona to see Mr. Snyder who is the superintendent of the mine over there in which Mr. Blair interested, and we had business over there.
Q. You say you were going there on business?
A. Yes. I was going with Mr. Blair on a business mission. We left Charleston about three in the afternoon and drove to Marmet and just before we got to the mouth of Lens creek where you turn off to go to Paytona, we saw some people on a porch off a store, and we stopped and asked them, if we could get through. They said they did not know. Then we went across the railroad and down to the mouth of the creek where we were stopped by some men with arms and they asked us where we were going and we told them. First they asked our names, and we told them our names and where we were going, and then they went over and seemed to have a conference with 8 or 10 other men who were by a telephone pole, and the man who seemed to be the spokesman of the crowd came back and said "We will let you go through but we will have to search you and your car and you will have to take two of the men on your care so you can get through because it will be necessary to have a man to get you through the guards further up the creek, but we decided then that we did not care to go over to the mines and that we would get Mr. Snyder over the telephone and so we turned around and came on back.
Q. About what date was this?
A. I don't know the exact date, but it was about the third day after we had gotten the report that the miners had started to assemble at Marmet. That would make it something like the 19th or 20th of August, I think.
Q. Were these men who stopped you in the public road?
A. Yes.
Q. Were they armed?
A. Yes.
Q. State how they did it. Were they not out in the road?
A. Yes, they were in the road. The road was full of men there.
Q. You mean the road was blocked with armed men?
A. Yes.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. TOWNSEND.
Q. How many men were there?
A. There were about fifteen in the road, and the men around in the immediate vicinity I would estimate to be about forty that I saw.
Q. Did you observe any along the side of the road?
A. Yes, they were all along the railroad.
Q. How did you know they were armed miners? Did you recognize any of them?
A. I did not say they were armed miners. I said they were armed men. They were armed because they carried their arms out so that any once could see them.
Q. You do not mean to say they were all miners, do you?
A. I could not say as to their occupation.
Q. You don't know whether there was a miner in the whole crowd or not, do you?
A. I did not ask them any questions about what their work was. I just used the term miner to refer to them because that is the way they were spoken of.
Q. They did not have any lamps on their caps, did they, to make you think they were miners?
A. No. A large number of them were in blue jeans, overalls.
Q. Could you fix the day of the week that you were there?
A. No.
Q. Have you any record by which you could refresh your memory as to the date?
A. I don't think I have because nothing in particular happened that I could connect with. I recollect it was three or four days after it was reported the men were assembling at Marmet.
Q. You say you were in the car going to see Mr. Fleming?
A. No, I said we were going to see Mr. Earl B. Snyder, superintendent of the mines.
Q. But you decided to telephone him instead?
A. We went back because we were a little apprehensive as to what would happen if we went on.
Q. Did you get him on the telephone?
A. No, we attempted to telephone him when we got back to Charleston, but could not get him.
Q. You never had the records searched to ascertain what day that was did you?
A. No.
Q. You said it was about the 17th to the 20th of August, did you not?
A. No, I said about the 19th to the 20th, but that is purely an estimate.
Q. The 19th would be Friday and the 20th would be Saturday, in August, 1921, would it not? You can't fix the day of the month by that, can you?
A. No, but I think that is about right because I recollect Mr. Snyder came in and was there on Sunday.
Q. Was there anyone with you in the car on this trip?
A. Mr. J. C. Blair. It was just a two passenger roadster.
Q. These men that stopped you did not treat you discourteously, did they?
A. No, they just stopped us and asked us where we were going.
Q. Did not use any offensive language to you did they?
A. I don't recall any.
Witness dismissed.