Mike August
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
MIKE AUGUST
Direct Examination By Mr. Ossenton.
Q: What is your name?
A: Mike August.
Q: You have been sworn, have you not?
A: Yes, sir
Q: Where do you live?
A: At Blair, W. Va.
Q: You were at Blair during the time of the armed insurrection of the miners, were you not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: About how many armed men did you see there on that occasion?
A: I cannot give you the exact number, but I say over a thousand men go through.
Q: What business were you in at that place?
A: I was in a grocery store.
Q: Did you have any trouble with any of these armed men while they were there?
A: Some of them took groceries from the store.
Q: How did they take them?
A: They came at night time on flat cars. These men came to the house and wanted to go in the store and I told them allright that I would go down there. I thought I would sneak out and not see them any more. The next night another bunch came, I don't know how many, they were in it, four or five hundred, but ten men says, "We want to get the groceries now." I opened the store and give then overalls and shoes. What they got was worth $372. I asked them for a receipt. I could not find any of the men the next day they were gone. We got a check for $372.
Q: Where was that check from?
A: I don't know who sent it.
Q: How did you get this check?
A: I never received it, my brother received it. I don't know whose name was at the bottom.
Q: Was the check delivered through the mail?
A: No, it was handed to my brother.
Q: Where is your brother?
A: He is in Blair, sick at the hospital now.
Q: Did they make any threats at the time they came to you and wanted to get in your store?
Objection.
Sustained.
Q: Tell the jury what they stated to you at the time they came and asked to be let in the store.
A: He didn't say anything that day, but the next day I had my clothes on and he said, "you had better take that uniform off if you don't you shall be hopped." I said all right and he made me put on overalls and jacket.
Q: You say you had your army clothes on?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Were you in the United States army?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did you see fighting in France?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And those were the clothes they ordered you to take off or you would get hopped?
A: Yes, sir. To take them off and put on overalls and jacket and I had to obey his orders.
Q: Did you hear any of these men say where they were going?
A: No, some of them say they were going to Mingo so I understood.
Q: Did they tell you what they were going to do in Mingo?
A: No, sir.
Q: Did you see any nurses along with this army of men?
Objection.
Sustained.
Q: Where there any women with this army?
A: A few of them with blankets across their shoulders and red bands around their arms, not red crosses.
Q: What were they doing?
A: I don't know, they just passed by.
Q: Did you hear any of this firing?
A: I heard machine guns on top of the hill.
Q: Do you know who had them?
A: No, sir.
Q: For how many days did you hear firing in that section?
A: I heard for three days and then I left there, after three days I left.
Q: Did it appear from the shots that there was action going on?
A: I don't know.
Q: Did it sound like a battle?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did these men who had you open your store take anything other than groceries?
A: Yes, sir, took groceries.
Q: What else, if anything, did they take?
A: Canned goods mostly and shoes and overalls.
Q: Did you have any ammunition?
A: 10 boxes of shells, and they took that with the groceries.
Q: About when was it that you were paid this check for $372?
A: I don't know, I can't say the day, it was this year we got it.
Q: Can you tell the jury how long after these goods were taken
A: Last year in August they took the stuff and this year they paid for it, I don't know what month.
CROSS EXAMINATION
By Mr. Houston
Q: How much good did they take out all together?
A: About $372. worth.
Q: Did you keep account of it?
A: No, we guessed at it.
Q: And you were paid for all that?
A: Yes, sir we got the pay.
Q: Paid by check?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did you hear any shooting around the town of Blair before the soldiers came in?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did you hear any shooting around there before you say the armed men coming up the creek?
A: No, sir
Q: What day of the week did you first hear the shooting?
A: I don't know the date, but it was in August.
Q: Who did the first shooting that you heard, if you know?
A: I don't know, sir.
Q: Did any bullets fall in the town of Blair?
A: No.
Q: Any bombs?
A: I never say any, I don't know.
Q: Did you hear of any?
A: I heard people say so, but I don't know.
Q: Did you hear any big explosion?
A: No.
Q: I believe you said you were in Europe during the world war?
A: Yes, sir
Q: You know the sound that an exploding bomb makes, don't you?
A: Yes, but I never heard any in Blair.
Q: Were any gas bombs dropped?
A: I never saw any.
Q: Did you see any aeroplanes?
A: Yes, sir I saw one.
Q: You saw one before the soldiers came in?
A: Yes, sir I saw it before the soldiers came in.
Q: Did you notice in which direction it came?
A: I don't know it was just flying around.
Q: Do you know where the town of Logan is?
A: No, sir. I have never been there.
Q: Never been to the county seat of Logan, have you?
A: No, sir.
Q: In which direction did that aeroplane go after you saw it?
A: It was just flying. I cannot say which direction.
Q: I believe you said you heard machine guns on the mountain?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You had heard machine guns before that, hadn't you?
A: Yes, sir
Q: How far do you estimate it was away from your store?
A: Maybe two miles from my home.
Q: You didn't hear any bullets strike?
A: No, sir.
Q: Did anyone tell you about any bullets striking in the town?
A: No, sir.
Dismissed.