Donald M. Craig
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
Witness Donald M. Craig.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
By Mr. Belcher
Q: What is your name?
A: Donald M. Craig.
Q: You have been sworn, have you not?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Where do you live?
A: Washington, D.C.
Q: What is your business?
A: Washington Correspondent for the New York Herald.
Q: Do you know the defendant here, Wm. Blizzard?
A: I have met him once or twice.
Q: Where did you meet him?
A: First at Madison, W. Va.
Q: In Boone County?
A: Yes sir.
Q: When did you first meet him there?
A: I think about ten o'clock on the night of Sept 2nd last.
Q: Did you meet Capt. Wilson of the U.S. Army at that time?
A: I came down on the train with him, yes sir.
Q: Where did you first see Mr. Blizzard?
A: When I got off the train about the time it arrived at Madison, Blizzard was there.
Q. Were you with Capt. Wilson at that time?
A: I was in the same car and I got off about the time he did.
Q: Had Mr. Blizzard been on that train at any time.
A: Not so far as I know.
Q: Did you see Mr. Blizzard at the station when the train pulled in?
A: That is my recollection, somewhere near the train
Q: Do you know whether or not Capt. Wilson met him on that occasion?
A: I think he did.
Q: When did you next see the defendant, Blizzard?
A: The next morning at Sharples.
Q: How did you get to Sharples from Madison?
A: I went down on the troop train the next morning, or up whichever it is.
Q: What time did you reach Sharples the next morning?
A: About eight or nine o'clock.
Q: What was Blizzard doing at the time you saw him there?
A: Standing on the platform talking to some men.
Q. Who did you find at Sharples when you got in there?
A: There were a number of miners standing around there, no one else that I noticed.
Q: What, if anything, did they have?
A: I didn't notice they had anything particular.
Q: What did you go up there for, Mr. Craig?
A: I went up there to report the occurrences for the New York Herald. I received my instruction after the troops were ordered in
Q: And in carrying out that mission, did you talk to Mr. Blizzard?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Who appeared to be in charge of the miners at that point?
Objection.
Overruled.
A: Well I supposed that Mr. Blizzard was.
Q: Did you have any conversation with him as to the location of the fighting lines?
A: I asked him to tell me all he could.
Q: Did he tell you?
A: Some things.
Q: Did he say anything in reference to where the fighting line was?
A: Up along the ridge along Blair mountain and the vicinity of Sharples, and other places I do not recall.
Q: After you talked with him, what did you do?
A: Well I went to a telephone and telephoned a short story about what he told and other things I had seen to the Western Union at Charleston and asked them to send it to my paper.
Q: Then what did you do?
A: Went to sleep on the hotel porch at Madison.
Q: Not at Madison?
A: I thought you wanted to know what I did at Madison. At Sharples, why I asked Mr. Blizzard if it would be possible for us to get close to the fighting line and he said he guessed so and he would try to get someone to take us up there.
Q: Who did he get?
A: Nick Ball.
Q: Where did you go?
A: Up in a valley or hollow up towards Beach Mountain. We went as far as we could in the machine that Ball had, then we got another machine and two of us got in that and two of us stayed in Ball's machine.
Q: Who furnished these machines?
A: Ball seemed to have his own machine, and we stopped at a house about a mile up the hollow and he got another machine there I don't know who he got it from.
Q: Was there anyone else in your party on that occasion?
A: Yes sir there was a New York Tribune reporter whose name was Boydon Parks, and a United Press man by the name of Jacobs, and a young lady by the name of Mildred Morris of the International News Service.
Q: At the time you talked to Blizzard at Sharples, did he many any statement about in what capacity the men were fighting on the other side?
A: Do you mean the Logan County men?
Q: Yes, sir.
A: Well he did not say much about that except he did make some reference that there had been some Logan County men come over the mountain into Sharples a few days before. He did not tell me much about why [they] were fighting.
Q: I didn't ask you why they were fighting. my question was did he make any statement about in what capacity these men on the other side were fighting the miners?
A: Why he said they were State Police, and I think he said County Officers and other, and used the word “alleged” I believe.
Q: Well after you got as far as you could in these automobiles what did you do?
A: We got out and walked, we had heard no shooting and after a while we began to hear some, but we didn't see anyone.
Q: Did you encounter any outpost as you went up there?
A: Not in this hollow but later we met two miners who took us up on Beach Mountain and we walked into a little trouble and was shot at and hit.
Q: How many got hit?
A: Only one that I remember got hurt much he had a bad flesh wound on the scalp and was shot through the leg, and one of the miners was shot in the ankle. I got a little scratch on the neck but it didn't amount to anything.
Q: How many shots were fired at that time?
A: Probably about a hundred, the fellows who fired at us said they had fired about fifteen shots apiece.
Q: Do you know who it was that did the shooting?
A: They said they were State Police.
Q: Did they have on uniforms?
A: They had on khaki uniforms, yes, sir, I am not familiar with the State Police uniforms.
Q: What did you do then?
A: After we persuaded them to stop shooting they took charge of us and while we were explaining who we were there were some shots fired at us from further down the mountain.
Q: Did you understand at that time that they were coming from the opposite course?
A: Oh, yes they were coming from the other side where we had come from, the miner side.
Q: Where did you go after you were captured by the members of the State Police?
A: They took us into Logan, stopping first at a little place outside of Logan.
Q: About how many shots would you estimate were fired at the time you were with the State Police?
A: I suppose there were a couple dozen.
Q: Did Mr. Blizzard make any statement to you as to when the miners would cease fighting?
A: He said they would cease fighting as soon as the troops came in there.
Q: Did you find anyone in Boone or in that vicinity that had more information concerning the miners and the fighting line than Mr. Blizzard?
Objection.
Sustained.
Q: Did you get any information concerning the movements of the fighting from anyone other than Mr. Blizzard?
A: No, except a little bit of information I picked up from this boy Nick Ball, and of course I talked to Capt. Wilson.
Q: Did you seek any other information?
A: Well, I spoke to one or two miners that I saw there but they would not talk. I think one of them told me he did not care to make any comments upon what was going on.
Q: Is the man talked to the defendant here?
A: Yes sir that is him.
CROSS EXAMINATION
By Mr. Houston.
Q: How long have you been a correspondent for the New York Herald?
A: I will have to figure back.
Q: Approximately?
A: Well, since the first year of Tafts administration.
Q: Where is your home - in Washington?
A: I have lived there ever since I was a boy.
Q: And you are known as the correspondent for the New York Herald?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And you were sent into the mining region to report what was going on?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Were you to report such events as you saw there or were you to reach some conclusion?
A: A newspaper story is principally a report of what happened and statements of people making interviews and things of that character.
Q: You sometime supply things from your observation, do you not?
A: We always try not to, at least I do.
Q: I believe you say you went to the town of Madison and reached there about ten o'clock on September the 2nd?
A: Yes, sir that is correct.
Q: That was on Friday?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Who did you meet when you arrived at Madison that evening, if any one?
A: Some of the town people were there but it was very dark and we could not distinguish persons.
Q: Did you receive introduction to any persons that evening?
A: I think I was introduced to a store keeper who opened his store for us and let us have something to eat, but I do not remember his name.
Q: Was there anyone with you?
A: Yes, sir several other newspaper correspondents.
Q: How did you go there - by train?
A: We got on a train that took in the troops from St. Albans.
Q: How many coaches did that train have?
A: I rode on it at that time, but it would be guessing for me to answer that question now.
Q: Did it have more than one?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did it have as many as five?
A: I would say there was three or four couches, and there were two flat cars in front.
Q: What other correspondents left St. Albans with you on that trip?
A: There were the three I mentioned, Jacobs, Sparks, and Mildred Morris, and there was a man by the name of Judd a representative of the New York Sun, but he only went as far as Madison.
Q: Where did you meet these people on the train, at St. Albans?
A: Let me see, no it was at Charleston I saw them. I knew Mr. Judd personally before.
Q: And you left all together to make this trip?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You all had the same object, you were going over there to ascertain the situation for the papers?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did you stay in one coach coming up Coal River or did you go back through the train?
A: I walked through the train a little but most of the time I was in one coach, I think the smoking compartment of the coach.
Q: Was that train carrying any passengers other than the Federal troops and the correspondents?
A: I think perhaps there was a railroad man on it.
Q: You didn't stop anywhere to take on passengers did you?
A: No it was a special.
Q: Do you recall that a short distance below the depot there was a watering tank from which the engines gets their water?
A: I do not know whether there is or not.
Q: Do you recall whether the train stopped before it reached the station?
A: It might have it hesitated at various places all the way down, it was starting and stopping.
Q: And you would not say it did not stop at this water tank.
A: No I would not.
Q: You say you did not see Mr. Blizzard get out of the train at Madison?
A: Get off.
Q: Yes get off the train?
A: I didn't see him, no sir.
Q: You didn't see him on the train did you?
A: No, sir.
Q: You don't mean to tell the Jury that he did not get off do you?
A: No, sir.
Q: Mr. Blizzard could have gotten on the train at the water tank and got off without you seeing him couldn't he?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Were you are that time acquainted with Mr. Blizzard?
A: No I never had seen him until later.
Q: You say you stayed there that night?
A: I stayed there until about daylight.
Q: Then how did you go up to the town of Sharples, on the train?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: The same train?
A: There was some shifting of the troops and I would not say whether it was the same train or not, it was a special train out carrying troops. There were two trains there and I was on one of them.
Q: What federal officer, if you know, was in charge of these troops?
A: The next morning, Maj Smart was there, and I was told he arrived on another train. I believe he took charge.
Q: This train went on to the town of Sharples and arrived there about what time the next morning?
A: I think about eight o'clock or a little after.
Q: Did it stop there?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did it discharge the troops?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: When did you first see Blizzard on that trip?
A: On which trip do you mean.
Q: On this trip that you left Madison on Sept. 3rd?
A: When I got off the train at Sharples.
Q: You didn't see him on the train going up that morning?
A: No, sir.
Q: There were a large number of persons there, and he might have been there and you not seen him?
A: I didn't see anyone on the train by the troops.
Q: Did you go back and forth through the coaches?
A: A little/
Q: Did you take particular notice of all the persons on the train
A: No not particular.
Q: How long was it after you got off the train at Sharples before you saw Mr. Blizzard?
A: I saw him within a few moments.
Q: Did anyone introduce you to him?
A: I had seen him the night before, and I went up and talked to him.
Q: Then at Sharples was not the first time you saw him?
A: No I saw him at Madison around the train.
Q: Did you have any conversation with him?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And is that the time he spoke about the firing on the ridges?
A: I am not sure whether it was that time or later, but it was either then or a little later that he told me about that, and about some aeroplanes that had come from Logan County.
Q: That firing along the ridges was no secret was it?
A: No I had been reading about it in the papers.
Q: And the information that Mr. Blizzard gave you was practically the same you had been reading in the papers?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And Mr. Blizzard so far as you know also learned it from the newspapers?
A: I don't know.
Q: He didn't pretend to have personal knowledge of the men on the mountain did he?
A: I don't know.
Q: You don't mean to infer that he had charge of the men on the mountain do you?
A: He seemed to be in charge of the miners around there. I don't know about the mountains.
Q: What do you mean by in charge, simply talking to them?
A: Because he conferred with Capt. Wilson as soon as he arrived, and when we met him I remember asking him what his position was and he said he was President of the sub-district there. He readily volunteered to answer our questions and he seemed to be thoroughly informed. I didn't ask him if he was in charge.
Q: He seemed to be communicative and willing to give information.
A: Very indeed, yes sir.
Q: Sharples is a mining village is it not?
A: I suppose so. I was only there about half an hour.
Q: About how many men did you see around the station that morning?
A: Well, I would be guessing about it. I suppose maybe there were forty or fifty or maybe as many as a hundred.
Q: Were they walking about the streets?
A: I didn't see any streets in the village, they were alongside the railroad track, on the cinder paths and in the mud.
Q: Did they have any arms?
A: I didn't see any.
Q: You understand that most of the miners around there were members of the United Mine Workers, don't you?
A: I understand so.
Q: And Blizzard was President of that district?
A: So he told me.
Q: Did you notice any mean down in the bottoms?
A: What do you mean by bottoms?
Q: Down in the level spots along the Creek.
A: Here and there I would see a few.
Q: There was not much of a war like appearance at that time was there?
A: Not along the railroad there was not.
Q: Capt. Wilson was there at the same time Mr. Blizzard was there was he not?
A: I am not positive whether he came down from Madison to Sharples or not but I think he did. Major Smart came down.
Q: And he and Mr. Blizzard seemed to be trying to get these men to turn back were they not?
A: Yes, sir that seemed to be what they were trying to do.
Q: What time was it that you left there in a car owned by a man by the name of Nick Ball?
A: Within half an hour or so after we arrived.
Q: And your object was to get on the firing lines?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And in going up there, that is Hewetts Creek, is it not,
A: I don't know, it is Beech Mountain.
Q: Going up the creek did you see any armed men?
A: No.
Q: Did you pass any miners' houses?
A: Yes, sir, some I suppose they were miners' houses.
Q: How far did you go before you encountered these bullets?
A: To the top of the mountain.
Q: How far would you estimate it to be from the town of Sharples to the top of the mountain?
A: Well, about 4 or 5 miles, it was such a circuitous route, that is a rough estimate.
Q: And these other correspondents went with you, did they?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You took a typewriter with you, didn't you?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Did you have any particular object or place you were going up there?
A: We were going to get behind the miners line and see them fight.
Q: Did you reach the miners line?
A: No, we got in between the line.
Q: The first bullet you encountered came from the state police, did they not?
A: Yes sir, we afterward learned they did.
Q: They fired the first shots?
A: The first we felt, we heard many others before that.
Q: And one of them struck Mr. Sparks?
A: Two of them.
Q: In the leg?
A: One in the leg and one in the head.
Q: Was he seriously injured?
A: Seriously, but not critically.
Q: Did they take you for United Mine Workers?
A: They told us they did not know who we were, they had orders to shoot anyone that came over the mountain and we came over.
Q: What did you do when the firing started?
A: We dropped down and tried to make ourselves as small as possible.
Q: Did you take shelter behind the trees and rocks?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: How did you inform the other side that you were not miners?
A: I think we all started yelling that we were friends, and we told them we were not armed, and they told us to stand up, and they stood up. That is the first time we had seen them.
Q: The mountain is all wooded, is it not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And the foliage was out?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You say you were taken into custody by these parties and that some firing started from the other side, do you know whether they were firing at you or the other parties?
A: I don't know what they were firing at, but it was in our direction.
Q: Where did you go after that?
A: We went down the mountain on the Logan County side, waited there until they sent machines from Ethel I think it was and then we went into Logan.
Q: Logan Courthouse?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And then what did you do?
A: They kept us under surveillance there for several hours and after a while they let us loose.
Q: Who kept you in custody?
A: Well, there was an organization, semi-military, I understood they were state officers and county officers.
Q: Did they have uniforms on?
A: Some of them did.
Q: Did you meet the sheriff of Logan County?
A: No.
Q: You never did see him, did you?
A: No, sir.
Q: Did any of the other members of the party see the sheriff?
A: I would not like to speak for them. We got separated, we were not all together.
Q: Were you all in the same building?
A: No, Miss Morrison and I were given rooms, I am not sure the name of the hotel but I think it was the Jefferson, it is a little hotel in front of the post office building, and Mr. Sparks stayed at the other hotel, the big hotel in town.
Q: When did you leave there?
A: I left there Monday morning, I stayed there Saturday night and Sunday night.
Q: Did you write an account of your experiences over there?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Have you a copy of that account?
A: I have a copy of a short story I wrote for the Sunday Magazine section of the Herald, but I have not a copy of the new story I wrote at the time.
Q: Will you let us see that?
A: Yes, sir, that is only a partial account of what took place, it is not a full account.
Q: Do you know whether Miss Morrison wrote an account of her experience?
A: I suppose she did, that is what she was there for.
Q: Do you know when she left there?
A: I understand she left the same Saturday afternoon.
Q: Did you see Mr. Jacobs any more after that?
A: I think he left the same afternoon.
Q: You talked to some of the miners on this trip, did you get some idea of what the trouble was?
A: I tried to talk to some of them, but they would not talk, and the only one I got any information out of was Mr. Blizzard
Q: Did you learn what caused this trouble on the Sharples side of the Blair Mountain?
A: I heard so many different stories it would take me a long time to go over them all. I was told a great many things, but I took them all with a grain of salt.
Q: You head some on the United Mine Workers side and others on the Logan side?
A: Yes, sir I was not there to make a study of the situation, I was not there long enough.
RE-DIRECT EXAMINATION
By Mr. Belcher.
Q: Mr. Houston asked you if Sharples presented a warlike appearance to you to which you answered, "No, rather quiet."
A: Yes, sir.
Q: I will ask you if you can say the same thing concerning the top of the hill?
A: No, quite the contrary, it was very warlike up on top of the hill.