D. H. Morton
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
D. H. MORTON, a witness of lawful age, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: Questions by Mr. Ossenton
Q: Have you been sworn in as a witness?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Tell the jury your name.
A: D. H. Morton.
Q: How old are you Mr. Morton?
A: 39.
Q: Where do you reside?
A: Charleston, W. Va.
Q: What business are you engaged in?
A: Coal mining.
Q: Where are your mines located?
A: In Clear Fork District, Raleigh county.
Q: In traveling to your mines from Charleston, what way do you travel?
A: I go on the street car - Charleston Interurban from Charleston to Cabin Creek Junction, and from there on the Cabin Creek Branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio to Cain Fork, from there on the Coal River Extension of the Cabin Creek Branch.
Q: Cabin Creek Junction is the point where the branch of Cabin Creek joins the main line of the C and O, isn't it?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You can also travel the C and O railroad from Charleston to Cabin Creek Junction, can you not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: How far is it from Charleston to Cabin Creek Junction by street car?
A: 16 miles.
Q: How far is it from Cabin Creek Junction to your mines?
A: 30 miles.
Q: How many mines do you operate in that section?
A: Two.
Q: What are their names?
A: American Eagle Colliery at Ameagle and the River Coal Co. at Leevale.
Q: How near are these mines together? Or how far apart are they?
A: About 7 miles.
Q: How much of a village have you at each of the mines?
A: At our Leevale operation, we have 50-odd houses of our own, and some outside houses near, that some of our men live in. At Ameagle, we have 50 houses of our own, and quite a settlement around the mines of men who own their own places.
Q: Were you operating these two mines in August and September of last year?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Where were you on or about the 22d day of August, last year?
A: I left Charleston at 9 o'clock on the morning of the 22d, starting for the mines. I went to the mines, arriving at Ameagle about 3 o'clock that afternoon.
Q: Tell the jury in your own way, starting with the 22d, what you know of and concerning the armed march or assembly at Marmet about that time. Just in your own way, what you saw and know.
A: On the 22d I saw some men gathered at the mouth of Lens Creek, as I passed on the street car.
Q: Where they armed or unarmed?
A: A few were unarmed. They were rather scattered. A few men were on the road walking toward Lens Creek, between Lens Creek and Cabin Creek Junction. Quite a number of men were at Cabin Creek Junction.
Q: Were these men armed?
A: A great many of them.
Q: About how many men did you see at Cabin Creek Junction on that occasion armed?
A: I couldn't say. My memory is not very clear on that point because it didn't make very much impression on my mind at that time.
Q: You took the train at Cabin Creek Junction to go to the mines?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Tell what you saw on the road to your mines?
A: There were a few men, some armed, going up Cabin Creek on the train.
Q: Going up Cabin Creek?
A: Going up Cabin Creek.
Q: Did you observe where those armed men got off, if they did get off?
A: I did not.
Q: All right, go ahead.
A: I went to Leevale. Our operation there is so situated that I can get off while the train goes up Marsh Fork and comes back - it gives me about two hours at that operation. Our men were working at that time.
Q: At that time, were you men at that place organized or unorganized?
A: Organized at that time. I went to Ameagle, and our men were working there.
Q: Tell the jury whether your men were organized at that place at that time?
A: Yes sir. I left Ameagle, (our men were working Monday and Tuesday) at five o'clock Wednesday morning to go back to Charleston.
Q: Did you go back?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you see any armed men on your way back, if so, tell about it?
A: There were a number of men got on the train at Dorothy, which is the next operation below my Ameagle operation on that branch. There were a great many men got on the train on the March [Marsh] Fork Branch that morning. When we got to Whitesville, which is just below the junction of the Marsh Fork and Clear Fork Branch, the train was crowded.
Q: Were these men armed or unarmed?
A: Great many of them - at least half of the men on the train were armed.
Q: What kind of arms did they have?
A: Rifles.
Q: Go ahead?
A: At High Poole, which is the last mine going up the hill before you came back on the Cabin Creek side, there were a large number of men got on, also two women wearing near red cross uniforms.
Q: Describe how they were dressed?
A: They had on the Red Cross cap, but instead of the Red Cross, they had "U.M.W.A." in letters across the front of the caps.
Q: Go ahead now.
A: When we got through the tunnel over on the Cabin Creek side, at the point where the Kaford [Kayford] Operation is, a number of men got on there, some of them armed, and some not. We came on down, and at Eskdale or Cain Fork, our train was consolidated with the Cabin Creek train. There, I saw a number of men armed. I saw one man armed with a rifle and pistol at Cain Fork, who didn't get on the train. He stood at the train after we had gone. Men continued to get on until at Sherron [Sharon], which is five miles from Cabin Creek Junction. There were a number of men riding on top of the coaches from there in. The engine was covered with men, and the tank was covered with me[n].
Q: When you reached Cabin Creek Junction, on your way back, about how many armed men, would you say, was unloaded off that train there at Cabin Creek Junction?
A: About 3 or 400.
Q: That is the point where the end of the street car line is coming out of Charleston?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Do you know how often they run street cars between Cabin Creek Junction and Charleston?
A: Regularly, every hour.
Q: What did these men do when they got to Cabin Creek Junction?
A: A great many of them started walking west on the C and O.
Q: Would that be in the direction of Marmet?
A: Yes sir. There was a three-car train on the Interurban line - street car - which was crowded, every man that could get on it, and a great number of them armed. These men all got off when we got to - before we got to Marmet, not the regular stop at Marmet, but at a special stop which had been established to let these men off, apparently.
Q: Had that been a stop prior to this assembly?
A: No.
Q: Where was that stop with reference to the mouth of Lens Creek?
A: Nearly opposite, or as nearly opposite as the railroad embankment would permit.
Q: Tell the jury whether or not any of the men at Cabin Creek Junction boarded the train going in that direction?
A: Our car left before the railroad train came. When we got to Marmet, there was a number of men at the regular stop, and I think every man there had a rifle, standing around the store platform, where the car always stops.
Q: Is that right in the town of Marmet?
A: Right in the town. Leaving Marmet, the car I was in, there was no one in it at all, except two men who got on at Marmet.
Q: Before you reached Marmet, did you hear these men say anything or any of them?
A: Yes, there was a general cry of "On to Mingo. We are going to Mingo."
Q: Did you hear anything said by the men on the train before you reached Cabin Creek Junction?
A: I meant that remark to cover the street car and the train.
Q: When did you return to Cabin Creek?
A: I went to Charleston that day, which was Wednesday, the 24th, and on Friday, the 26th, I went to Beckley.
Q: How did you travel in going to Beckley?
A: I went on the train leaving Charleston on the C and O about 4 o'clock in the morning.
Q: Where is Beckley, what county?
A: Raleigh county, the county seat.
Q: In going from Charleston by train, did you see any number of men traveling in the direction of Marmet at that time?
A: I saw a number of men at Prince where I change trains for the Piney Branch to go to Beckley.
Q: How far is that point from Marmet, approximately?
A: About 60 miles.
Q: Did you hear these men say anything about where they were going?
A: Nothing, except I heard them say they were going to Marmet. I heard one man tell another man he was going to Marmet.
Q: How did you return from Beckley, do you recall?
A: I returned by way of the C and O Railroad, train No. 13. I cannot recall whether I came across to Therman [Thurman] or to Prince.
Q: Did you pass through the town of Montgomery?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you see any men board the train at that point on your return?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Tell the jury what they had, if anything.
A: There were possibly a dozen men got on the train at Montgomery. One or two men had rifles exposed and there were two, if I recall correctly, had what I took to be rifles wrapped up in newspaper.
Q: How far did you travel on that train #13?
A: I went to Charleston that evening.
Q: When you passed Marmet did you observe any armed men at that time?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you observe where these men that got on at Montgomery got off?
A: Yes sir, Marmet.
Q: Did you observe in which direction they went after they got off the train at Marmet with reference to Lens Creek?
A: They went back toward Lens Creek. They went along the railroad track, right along the side track. There were a number of men there to meet them.
Q: Were these men armed?
A: Yes sir.
Q: When was the next trip you made to your mines?
A: I went back to Ameagle on the following Monday, the 29th.
Q: Tell the Court and the jury what you saw on that trip back.
A: On the trip back I saw no men that I recall of. I got to Leevale, and got off there as usual and found that our men who had been gone the week previous, had returned Saturday night and Sunday and were working that day.
Q: How long did you remain up there on that occasion?
A: I went on to Ameagle and found the same conditions there. I stayed at Ameagle and Leevale, together, back and forth, the greater part of that week. I don't remember exactly the day I went home.
Q: Did you mines close down on that first march?
A: Our Mine at Ameagle closed down on the Thursday of that first week of the march. Our Mine at Leevale closed down on Tuesday of the first week of the march.
Q: Go ahead, describe the conditions you found there on this occasion?
A: On Monday evening of the 29th, after supper, I noticed quite a movement among my men, running back and forth between their houses. Two of them were particularly busy, and upon inquiry - May I tell now what I was told.
Q: Who told you?
A: I just asked one of my men what was going on, one of my official force who happened to be in touch with them -
Q: Go ahead?
A: I was told the men were being called to go to Blair.
Q: After that, did you see any armed men gathering in the evening?
A: Yes sir, I sat on my front porch of the Club House where I stay when I am there, and being a little uneasy, knowing what had happened previous, I watched very closely. About 8 or 8:30 one of my employees by the name of Alva Eastep.
Q: Did he belong to the union?
A: Yes sir - came to the end of the Club House Yard, and walked up to where I was sitting, and told me he would like to have what guns and ammunition I had. I said: "No, I have no guns or ammunition for you." He said: "We will give you a bond for their safe return, if you will let us have them." I said: "No, I won't give you any guns or ammunition, but I will give you some good advice." He asked what that was, and I told him to go home and go to bed and keep out of trouble. His reply was - he couldn't stay at home. He had to go, and that they had come into our precinct (as he expressed it) and shot our men. I didn't require an explanation of that remark, because I know in my mind what he meant. The men were going around all evening. Some didn't want to go, and we had two near fights right in front of the Club House between two men. One wanted him to go and he insisted he wouldn't. They finally compromised with this: that the two men who didn't want to go, that they should make a trip - stay away from the march - and make a trip up Clear Forks, gathering guns, ammunition and other men and follow the next day. There was a report came to me that there was to be a special train leave Calcord [Colcord], which is our station a mile below the mine, that night at 2 o'clock, and a number of our men went into the mouth of a little hollow and camped that night, so as to be prepared to start on this train when it came. The train didn't materialize, and two of our men who had been sent to Whitesville to find out about the train, came back the next morning about 5 o'clock. I met one as he came in, possibly it was near 6 o'clock. They reported they were going on the noon train, leaving Calcord on Tuesday the 30th, which they did. That night, Monday night - (I am getting a little ahead of my story) about 2 o'clock, I had gone and laid down by a window upstairs in the Club House, after I had hid my guns and turned loose the dog. I was aroused by someone going on to the porch of my store man who lives almost directly opposite the Club House and knocking on the door. He didn't get any reply at the door and he went to the window right on the porch. I heard him call this boy (I couldn't understand exactly what he said). He immediately left the porch and came down across the railroad with someone else. I recognized this man that went on the porch as being Alva Eastep. Someone else, whom I didn't recognize, followed him across the railroad, and I was afraid they were going into the store - that they had gotten the keys to the store. I got up and slipped on some clothes, and went out as far as I could go without sticking my head around the corner of the store, and found they had taken the truck out of the garage and had gone up the river with it.
Q: Who did that truck belong to?
A: The American Eagle Colliery Company.
Q: Your company?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you see any men go out of there after that, if so, in what direction did they go?
A: Twenty three of our men left our camp the next morning, and went away from Calcord on the noon train.
Q: What direction did they go?
A: They went toward the creek - toward Whitesville.
Q: Is that in the direction of Cabin Creek Junction?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Were they armed?
A: Yes sir. All of them. They didn't take anyone that wasn't armed.
Q: Do you know what day that was?
A: That was Tuesday, the 30th.
Q: Tell any other conditions you saw there of armed men or otherwise?
A: I went to Leevale that same day and found our men there prepared to go. They were having the same argument there that they had at our other place. A number didn't want to go, and a number insisted that the others go.
Q: About how many men left that place armed?
A: I think there were twenty some. I heard one man say where they were going.
Q: What did he say?
QUESTION BY MR. TOWNSEND
Q: Was he in that crowd, or one of the crowd that left Leevale, one of the 20?
A: Yes sir.
QUESTIONS RESUMED BY MR. OSSENTON
Q: What did you hear him say?
A: He was a foreigner. His last name I don't know. We called him "Mike." I was standing at the tipple with my superintendent, and he passed going toward his shanty. The Superintendent said: "Where are you going, Mike?" To repeat exactly what he said would be profane. I will simply say: "I am going to Mingo" with an oath following it.
Q: Did you see any armed men pass there that you did not know, on trains or otherwise, about that time?
A: Yes sir, I saw a number of men armed on that train I did not know.
Q: Did you hear anything they said as they passed?
A: No sir.
Q: Did you see more than one train going out with armed men?
A: No, I did not. I went back to Ameagle, which is away from the passenger service, or was at that time, and I didn't see any more trains going out.
Q: What day did you come out of Cabin Creek after that?
A: I don't recall.
Q: Did you see any armed men on the train as you came out?
A: No sir.
Q: Did you have a man belonging to the United Mine Workers to that Local, by the name of John Lingo?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Do you know what official position he held with the Local?
A: I understood he was treasurer of the Local.
Q: Do you know anything about any money being contributed by that Local to this march, or any checks passed, with Lingo's name, that passed through your hands?
A: No. I only know by hearsay.
Q: Who did you receive this information from?
A: My bookkeeper.
Q: Who is he?
A: E. E. Hurdle.
Q: Is he a member of the Union?
A: No sir.
Q: Where is Mr. Hurdle now?
A: At Ameagle.
Q: What Sub District of the United Mine Workers is your mines in?
A: I think they call it No. 2.
Q: Do you know who the president of Sub District #2 is?
A: Yes sir, Mr. Blizzard.
Q: The defendant?
A: Yes sir.
Q: What is the District number?
A: Number 17.
Q: Do you know who the officers of that district are. The President, Secretary and Treasurer?
A: Frank Keeney is President. Fred Mooney is Secretary.
Q: Were they at that time?
A: At that time, yes sir.
Q: In speaking of the nurses that you saw, I believe you told the jury they had the letters U.M.W.A. on their caps, do you know what that stands for?
A: United Mine Workers of America.
CROSS EXAMINATION, questions by MR. HOUSTON
Q: You live in the city of Charleston?
A: Yes sir.
Q: You are pretty well acquainted with Mr. Keeney, aren't you?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Pretty well acquainted with Mr. Mooney?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Also, Mr. Blizzard, the defendant?
A: Yes sir.
Q: You and your Company have considerable dealings with them or have had with the officials of the United Mine Workers of America?
A: Yes sir, ever since, - for a number of years.
Q: You have conferences at times - have had in the past?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Fixing wage scales and conditions of employment?
Objection
COURT I think they would have a right to go into these matters, to show how well he knew them.
Over ruled
Exception
Q: And the headquarters of the United Mine Workers of America at that time, referring to the time of the march and the present time, is located on Summer Street in Charleston, W. Va., isn't it?
A: Yes sir.
Q: About how far is it from the two operations you have mentioned to Mingo County? by air line?
A: I don't know.
Q: Can you approximate it, Mr. Morton?
A: It would be merely a guess.
Q: Going from those two operations to Mingo county, to any point in Mingo county, particularly to the county seat at Williamson, you have to cross Logan county, do you not?
A: My impression is, yes.
Q: Do you own any operations in Logan county?
A: No.
Q: You have been in Logan county, probably several times.
A: Yes sir.
Q: You are pretty well acquainted with the topography of the country, are you not?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Practically all high, mountainous country, isn't it?
A: Yes, I would say that describes it.
Q: You have been to the town of Logan?
A: Yes sir. I have been across the mountain from Logan to Coal River, Blair and Clothier.
Q: All of that country through there is a mountainous country, isn't it?
A: Yes sir.
Q: The town of Logan is located between very high hills and mountains and narrow valley, is it not?
A: Yes sir.
Q: At the junction of what rivers is it located?
A: Island Creek comes into the Guyandot River at Logan and Dingess Run comes in a short distance above Logan.
Q: At what point is the town of Ethel located?
A: On Dingess Run.
Q: That is just a few miles over the hill from the town of Blair, is it not?
A: Yessir.
Q: What is the principal industry of Logan county?
A: Coal mining.
Q: That is almost the only industry, outside of small farming, isn't it?
A: Yes, I should say so. I don't know of any other.
Q: Can you tell just approximately, if you know, about how far it is from the two operations you have mentioned around by the way of Madison, Racine and Danville over to the Logan Court House, traveling what is known as the proposed hard road route? Would you be able to state that?
A: From our operations to Marmet, by the way of rail, is 37 miles.
Q: Then leaving Marmet, going up Lens Creek, over the proposed hard road route, about how far would it be to Madison, if you know?
A: I would rather not approximate that distance, because there are going to be so many more able men to tell you that. I should hate to find myself in a big mistake. It would only be a guess.
Q: I believe you said you heard one man, whose name you do not recall, or whose name you do not know - he was a foreigner - say they were going to Mingo. Is that the only expression you heard from these men?
A: That is the one very definite expression that impressed itself on my mind on account of his manner of saying it.
Q: You are pretty well acquainted with your men and keep in touch with them, do you not. You had a pretty good understanding of what they were thinking?
A: At Ameagle, I am very close with my men.
Q: What was your understanding as to any grievance they had against any persons of Logan or Mingo counties, if you had any such understanding?
Objection.
Sustained.
(The witness at this point asks permission to correct the statement that he made on direct examination regarding the statement made to him by his employee, Alva Eastep.)
(WITNESS) May I correct my statement at that time? I meant that it was generally understood around our plant what was meant by that statement. In other words: we knew why, or what their thought was in going to Blair.
Q: What was that, Mr. Morton?
A: That they were going to meet the forces that had come in to Blair and had a fight with some of their men.
Q: Thence, what Alva Eastep told you he was going over for was to protect the women and children, was it not?
Objection.
THE COURT: If he knows it, and he got his information from talking to the man, I think he could state that.
Q: What did Eastep tell you?
A: "We cannot stay at home. We have to go, when our men have been shot down in our own precinct." I think that is verbatim.
Q: That is the substance of what he said?
A: Yes sir.
Q: I believe you said you left Charleston on August 22d?
A: Yes sir.
Q: And that was on Tuesday, and you went that time to your mines at Ameagle?
A: Yes sir.
Q: You arrived there sometime in the afternoon, about 3 p.m.?
A: Yes sir. That is about the time the train arrived there. The train was due there at 2:20, at that time, but it is seldom on time.
Q: That time you saw a few armed men around Marmet and some unarmed?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Where did you stay on the night of the 22d?
A. Ameagle.
Q: Where were you on the 23d?
A. I was at Ameagle. I may have gone to Leevale that day, for an hour or two. I can't be positive.
Q: Do you recall where you were on the 24th?
A. I left Ameagle on the morning of the 24th at 4:50.
Q: Where did you go from there?
A: To Charleston.
Q: Where were you on the 25th, do you recall where you were on the nights of the 25th and 26th?
A: I was in Charleston on the 25th. I left the morning of the 26th, and went to Beckley.
Q: Back to Ameagle?
A: No, to Beckley.
Q: Did you stay there the night of the 26th?
A: No, came back to Charleston, the evening of the 26th.
Q: Were you in Charleston the 27th, Saturday?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you return to Ameagle on the 27th?
A: The 29th.
Q: You stayed in Charleston from the 27th to the 29th?
A: Yes sir.
Q: The 29th came on Monday?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Without going into any details as to your movements, when you were passing back and forth up and down the creek, I believe that is the way you went to your operations?
A: Yes sir.
Q: You noticed small bodies of armed men on the train and elsewhere?
A: Yes sir. I noticed small bodies and also large bodies.
Q: When these men began to leave about the 22 or 23d of August your mines closed down, did they?
A: My men at Ameagle did not go the first week of the March until Friday, and then not until they were practically forced out by the other men from outside camps.
Q: What was the name of your other operation - Leevale?
A: Yes sir.
Q: They were 7 miles apart?
A: Yes sir.
Q: When did the men from Leevale go?
A: On Wednesday, I think. I won't be positive about the exact date.
Q: That would be the 24th of August. Did your operations at Leevale close down by reason of the men leaving work?
A: Yes sir.
Q: What date did the Ameagle mine close, if it did close, did it close on Friday?
A: On Friday.
Q: Did I understand you correctly to say, that after these men had left Leevale and some of them had left Ameagle, that they returned?
A: Yes sir.
Q: On what day did they return, if you recall?
A: They returned on Saturday night and Sunday, the 27th and the 28th. May I correct myself? That is on information. I wasn't there when they came back.
Q: That was your understanding?
A: Yes sir, they were there Monday the 29th, when I came back to the mines.
Q: Got the mine in operation?
A: They were working Monday.
Q: You had on the 29th, Monday morning, practically a full quota of men, did you not?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Then when was the next time these men started to leave Mr. Morton?
A: Monday night and Tuesday, the 29th and 30th of August.
Q: Then they began to leave the night of the day you returned to your operations?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Was that the day you stated a couple of men went about the mines carrying some message that caused the men to arm themselves
A: Yes sir, the night of the 29th.
Q: Is that the day you heard Eastep make the remark you quoted a while ago?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you see Mr. Keeney any time during your various trips?
A: No.
Q: Did you see Mr. Mooney at any time during these trips?
A: No, not that I recall. No, I did not.
Q: Did you see Mr. Blizzard, here, the defendant, at any time during these trips?
A: No.
Q: Do you know who caused the men to return to the mines during the latter part of the week beginning August the 21st?
A: Only what I was told and saw in the newspaper.
Q: What was your information on that?
Objection.
Sustained.
RE-DIRECT EXAMINATION, questions by MR. OSSENTON
Q: You stated on cross examination that your men were practically forced to go, tell the jury how they were forced to go on this march?
A: Our men had personally declined at Ameagle to have anything to do with this march the first time. They sent a committee away from there to find out what it was about.
Q: Where did this committee go to?
A: Cabin Creek Junction.
Q: Did you see any more strangers there working with your men at the time they left there or immediately before?
A: There was one stranger came into camp the evening of the 29th. I don't know who he was or where he came from. He came around the men while he was there. He was there immediately preceding the argument that I described among our men on that evening.
Q: How were they forced to go? You said that on cross examination in reply to Mr. Houston's question that they were forced to go.
A: That was the first week. There was three automobile loads of men from other operations come into our camp on Friday, --but that is hearsay evidence.
Q: You got information as to how they were forced?
A: Yes, that was on information.
Objection.
Sustained.
RE-CROSS EXAMINATION, questions by Mr. HOUSTON.
Q: You don't mean to tell the jury that the various men - small and large bodies of men that you saw at various times, were all members of the United Mine Workers, do you?
A: No.
Q: You don't mean to tell them that they were all coal miners?
A: No.
Q: Did you have any information as to a number of ministers of the gospel being in that march?
A: No.
And further said deponent saith not.