A. Yes, sir.
Q. How far were you from him?
A. I suppose I would be--I could hardly judge the distance--I would
take it to be about ten feet or so.
Q. Did he speak it in a low tone?
A. It was not very loud. It was not a low tone.
Q. Was there a good deal of noise and confusion about at that time?
A. Oh, considerable, just in certain localities.
Q. The crowd was boisterous, were they not?
A. To a certain extent.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. You did not hear any command given to fire, positively, by General
Pearson?
A. No, sir; I never said so.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. How do you account for the long interval of time intervening between
the command to fire and the firing.
A. I could not say.
Q. Did they load after the command to fire was given?
A. I could not say.
Q. Did you see them load?
A. No, sir; I did not see them fire.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. There was nothing preparatory at all, to this word fire.
A. No, sir; I thought it very strange myself, at the time the command
to fire was given. They were not even ready.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You say you heard General Pearson speak to those officers, and said
something about firing. You do not know whether he said not allow the
men to fire, or to fire?
A. No, sir.
Q. How long after he made this remark to those officers did the command
to fire come from those officers, and did it come from those same
officers he was talking to?
A. I could not say whether it came from the same officers he was
talking to. There were about fifteen or twenty of them in the crowd. I
cannot say who he was addressing. It was started from that crowd, and
carried by others still further down the line.
Q. How long after that was that order given to fire?
A. I do not think it was a minute. I cannot recollect the time.
Q. How far was General Pearson from the place when he had this
conversation with those officers--how far was he from the position
where those officers did give the command to fire?
A. I can hardly know.
Q. The word passed along the line?
A. It was passed by parties in front.
Q. How far did it pass until it got to those officers that did give the
command?
A. It did not pass any further than, I suppose, seven or eight feet.
Q. The officers were pretty thick, were they not?
A. Yes, sir; very thick.
By Mr. Means:
Q. General Pearson appeared to stand at the head of the column?
A. He stood in the rear of the two companies that were charging up the
track between the two lines and the side of the track.
Q. It appears from your testimony that the firing was sometime after
the command to fire was given.
A. Yes; it was sometime. I had time enough to get away.
Q. Do you think that this firing was in consequence of the order to
fire?
A. I did not wait to see anything about that. As soon as I heard the
word "fire," I thought that was enough for me.
Q. Have you ever had any military experience in the army?
A. No, sir; never in the army. I served two or three years in the
militia.
Q. Ever practiced firing any in the militia?
A. Some little.
Q. How long after the command to fire was given do you discharge your
piece?
A. If in position to fire, we generally pulled as quick as we could get
it off.
Q. When this firing began, was it a volley, or was it a scattering
fire?
A. It was kind of mixed, I thought. I did not think it was what I
considered a volley from a number of men that were present.
Q. Was it a scattering fire that lasted some little time?
A. The firing was kept up. Scattering fire was kept up for three or
four minutes.
Q. The first fire?
A. The first volley, though not what I consider a volley from the
number of men that were present. It sounded more like a volley than a
scattering fire--the first fire. After that it was a scattering fire.
Q. There appeared to be a number of simultaneous discharges of muskets?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was there any one else present there where you stood that heard and
saw what you said, or was likely to see and hear?
A. There were plenty there that could have seen.
Q. Any one that you know?
A. No, sir: no person that I know. I was not paying much attention to
who was standing around me. No person that I knew of was in that
locality at that time.
Q. Did you see the arms loaded at any time?
A. No, sir.
* * * * *
J. G. McConnell, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. I reside in the Nineteenth ward, city of Pittsburgh.
Q. What is your profession?
A. Practicing law.
Q. State whether you were at or in the vicinity of the elevator on the
22d of July last, about the time it was burned?
A. I was, sir.
Q. What time did you arrive at that place?
A. I arrived there just about the time that the fire was taking hold of
the elevator.
Q. Just about the time the fire was taking hold of the elevator?