Q. About six inches.
A. I suppose about that--six or seven inches, as near as I could see.
Q. How many rows of buttons had he on his coat?
A. That I don't know.
Q. What kind of a hat did he wear?
A. A soft hat, something similar to that.
Q. Had he any braid, or any thing else; a wreath, or anything on his
hat?
A. Not as I took notice of.
Q. Had he any trimmings on his coat to distinguish him from the other
officers?
A. No, sir; not that I saw.
Q. Had he any braid on his breast?
A. No, sir; it was brass buttoned.
Q. Buttoned clear up?
A. It was buttoned at the top. Buttoned, but I do not know whether it
was buttoned below; it was a kind of a sack----
Q. You say he wore a white vest?
A. No, sir.
Q. How could you know that he wore a white vest?
A. I could see his white vest here. [Indicating.] His vest came up
middling close.
By Mr. Dewees:
Q. Did you hear General Pearson, or anybody else, notify the mob to
disperse?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you hear anybody give orders to load?
A. No, sir.
Q. You heard nothing but the word, fire?
A. There was a command before that, to charge bayonets, but I do not
know who it was that gave that. I did not see him.
Q. You were standing upon the window?
A. With my foot on the window, and holding on to the bracket above.
Q. Were there any officers about, except General Pearson?
A. Yes; there were other officers there, but I do not know who they
were.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Did General Pearson have on a belt and sword?
A. No, sir; not as I saw.
Q. He had nothing then by which you could distinguish him as an
officer--he had no shoulder straps?
A. No, sir.
Q. No trimmings on his coat?
A. No, sir; not as I saw.
Q. Nor any sword. He was just simply dressed as a civilian, with the
exception of his blouse and brass buttons?
A. Yes, sir; a blouse. I did not take notice to his dress, only in that
way.
Q. Had he shoulder straps on?
A. No, sir; not as I saw.
Q. You are sure of that?
A. So far as I know. I did not see it.
Q. You would have noticed it if he had?
A. I should think so.
Q. Did you see the sheriff?
A. I did not know Sheriff Fife, but a man was pointed out to me as
Sheriff Fife, and I would know him again if I was to see him. The man
that was pointed out to me had a straw hat on.
Q. You are sure General Pearson was not pointed out to you?
A. No, sir; I am sure of that. No man need point out General Pearson to
me.
Q. You are sure somebody did not say in that crowd, "There is General
Pearson along with the sheriff's posse."
A. Not to my recollection. There was no one told me that. When they
came up, General Pearson, Sheriff Fife, and some other man--and who
this man was I did not know--was kind of together. They were at the
head of the column, and came up the railroad just as they halted, and
before they formed an open square.
By Mr. Means:
Q. You said you did not know Sheriff Fife. How do you know it was
Sheriff Fife?
A. I said a man that was pointed out to me as Sheriff Fife. I did not
know the man personally, only he was pointed out to me that day by a
party that that was Sheriff Fife. I never saw the man before, to my
recollection, or afterwards.
Q. Did you see any party of citizens in front of the military, as they
came up?
A. As they came up the track?
Q. Yes?
A. No, sir; only those at Twenty-eighth street.
Q. Only the crowd that was at Twenty-eighth street?
A. That is all.
Q. You did not see any civilians in front of the military as they
marched up?
A. Not to my recollection.
Q. You say you went down to hear the sheriff's proclamation?
A. I went down to hear if he would read any riot act, or anything like
that.
Q. You did not see the sheriff at all?
A. Only when he was pointed out to me as the sheriff, as I stated
before.
Q. Did not see the party with the man who was pointed out as the
sheriff?
A. I said I saw General Pearson and some other gentleman with the
sheriff.
Q. There were only three of them?
A. Those were together. There were a great many others alongside of
them.
Q. When the military marched up the track, what led you to go down to
hear the proclamation?
A. Nothing; only curiosity.
Q. Did you understand that the sheriff was coming there with a posse?
That he was going to read the riot act, or something of that kind?
A. No, sir; I did not know that the sheriff was coming at all. I did
not know who was coming until after they got up there.
Q. What did you go down--you said you went down to hear what the
sheriff would say?
A. I went down there to hear whether there would be anything read, or
what would be said, and that was after the sheriff was pointed out to
me.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You went down there after the sheriff was pointed out to you?
A. I went down to the watch-box after the sheriff was pointed out to
me.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. There were only three of them together, Sheriff Fife, General
Pearson, and another man?
A. That other man, I do not know who it was.
Q. I mean in front of the soldiers.
A. There were other ones around them. There were other officers near
them. Those three were pretty close together.
Q. When did you go there in the crowd?
A. I went up on the side of the hill among the boys before the
Philadelphia troops came in at all; before I knew they were coming
in--before the train came in, I went up among the boys. I know a great
many of them among the military. Spoke to them and shook hands with
them.
Q. Talked with them?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you witness any of the occurrences during the night after the
firing?
A. The only thing I saw after the firing was a car that was fired, and
I could see that plainly from the steps I was sitting on, with two
other boarders that were sitting around the steps. The steps are very
large, and one of the boarders drew attention to it. He says, "What is
that lighting up there." I asked him, what. He says, "Don't you see
it?" I said, "It is nothing more than a railroad man's lamp."
Q. You were not down in the crowd?
A. I was four or five squares away.
Q. I understood you to say you went to look for your friend?
A. That was after the firing commenced. It was before dark I had found
him, but I had left him in the hospital just before dusk, and went to
his home. I came back to the boarding-house and got my supper, and
stayed there.
Q. Have you any knowledge of the causes?
A. No, sir.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What style of hat did General Pearson wear? You said he had a slouch
hat. Of what color was it?
A. It appeared to me as soft. It was black.
Q. Broad brimmed hat?
A. I do not know. The rim was not broader than that [indicating]--it
might have been.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. It was a straw hat?
A. No, sir.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did you see any policemen there at the time of the fire?
A. When the Philadelphia soldiers fired?
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Yes.
A. Not to my knowledge, I did not.
Q. What do you mean by your knowledge. Do you mean you did not see it
at all--you did not see any police officers?
A. That I did not see them to the best of my knowledge. They might have
been there. I did not see them.
Q. Did you see the soldiers come out of the round-house, Sunday?
A. No, sir; I did not.
Q. Did you see them after they came out?
A. Yes; I did.
Q. As they marched along?
A. Yes; in order.
Q. Did you see any firing on them.
A. Yes; I did.
Q. Do you know who did that firing?
A. No, sir; I do not. The only one I saw firing was one man, and he was
running the whole crowd of them out, as near as I could tell.
Q. One man was following them up?
A. That was the only man I saw have a shooting iron with him, and he
had his coat off; but who he was I do not know, and I would not know
him if I was to see him, for I was standing in the doorway of the
boarding house when he went past, and he loaded his gun right ferninst
the door. He had one of the guns the same as the military uses.
Q. Had a breech-loading musket?
A. Yes.
Q. And cartridges for it?
A. He had cartridges for it and a belt on--a cartridge-box.
Q. Did you see any firing from houses along the street?
A. No, sir; I did not go out for to see until after they had passed by.
Then I went out along the street. After that, saw several of them that
was shot--some killed dead--and helped pick them up and carry them in.
One of the Philadelphia soldiers I helped up at Thirty-third street. A
ball must have went in there [indicating] and come out through his
wrist. At least the hole was through his wrist--through here and back
here. [Indicating.]
Q. One man did all the shooting, you say?
A. That is the only man I saw--that is, right there where I live.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Where do you live?
A. 1145 Penn street--board there.
Q. Will you please describe that man that did that firing?
A. I cannot do it, sir. It is impossible. Only he was a tall man; but
how he was dressed I could not tell, with the exception that he had a
white shirt on, and whether it was an undershirt or a fine shirt I do
not know, because I did not pay that much attention to it. He had his
coat off.
Q. How close were you to him?
A. He passed along the pavement and I was standing out on the
steps--the steps is five high, I think. I was standing in the doorway,
and he was below me, and passed along the pavement.
Q. Was he an old or a young man?
A. Middle aged man, as far as I could judge.
Q. Did he wear whiskers?
A. That I could not say.
Q. Did he follow the troops up?
A. He followed them as far as the corner above. Then I did not take
notice where he went to, because I come to the conclusion I was not
going to interest myself in it.
Q. How many shots did you see him fire?
A. I only saw him fire one shot, and that he fired from the corner of
Thirty-first street, and by the time he fired the shot I saw the troops
he fired into stop and point down, and there was two balls came right
past the door right over my head. I thought it was time to pass into
the house.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Did this man say anything?
A. He said something about spilling the blood of some of his friends,
and he was going to have revenge, when he passed the door. That is all
I know.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What kind of a breech-loading gun did he have?
A. The same as the military have.
Q. It was a military gun, you mean?
A. It was a military gun; yes, sir.
Q. Did you ever attend any meeting, during that excitement, of citizens
or people, for the purpose of organizing to resist the soldiers?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you know of any meeting being held out Penn street or Butler
street?
A. No, sir.
Q. Would you know this man that fired at the soldiers if you were to
see him?
A. No, sir; I am certain of that.
Q. You say he had a cartridge-box--this man that fired?
A. Yes; and a white belt.
Q. Had it buckled around his body?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What kind of a looking cartridge-box was it?
A. The same as the military used--a black one.
Q. A square box?
A. Yes; kind of square.
* * * * *
P. M. Stack, _sworn_:
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. I reside in Spring alley, near Twenty-eighth street.
Q. What is your occupation?
A. Constable, Twelfth ward.
Q. Were you present at Twenty-eighth street on Saturday, 21st July?
A. At the time of the shooting?
Q. Yes?
A. I was.
Q. Will you be kind enough to state what you observed?
A. I was in town that afternoon. I think it was about half past two
o'clock, and I went up, and I saw a large crowd up there--went as far
as Twenty-eighth street crossing--saw a lot of men right across the
railroad, and went up there, and seen some men that I know--seen some
Philadelphia soldiers come up. Seen General Pearson there. I stayed up
two or three minutes, and they opened ranks, and Pearson came right up
the middle, and stayed there for a few minutes, and Sheriff Fife was on
the right hand side next to the hill. The crowd was hollering "Hold the
fort," or something to that effect. I think it was "Hold the fort" they
were hollering, and General Pearson was there and he said, "Charge
bayonets," and they commenced to charge. As soon as they commenced to
charge the crowd behind shoved up. I was one of the front and could not
get back. The first thing I knew they commenced to fire. I thought they
were firing blank cartridges, until I saw a man by the name of John
Long fall, and saw they was not firing blank cartridges, and I turned
around and ran away as fast as I could. That is all I knew about it.
Q. Where was Pearson?
A. Pearson was about in the middle. They came up about sixteen abreast,
or something like that. I could not exactly tell. He was in the middle,
anyhow. They opened order and came right up.
Q. About sixteen of them?
A. About sixteen abreast, right across the track.
Q. The sheriff, you mean?
A. What they call the Philadelphia soldiers. I do not know whether they
were Philadelphia soldiers or not.
Q. Was not anybody in front of the soldiers when they marched up the
railroad track?
A. There was a crowd in front of them. Sheriff Fife--there is a board
walk where you get off the train, a platform where you get on the
train--he was marching right up at the right hand side as you come up
the railroad track, as far as Twenty-eighth street.
Q. Anybody with him?
A. That I could not say; he was right with the soldiers, and you could
not see right over their heads.
Q. Was not he in front of the soldiers?
A. He was right on abreast with them.
Q. Could not you see Fife and who was with him?
A. I could not see who was behind me. I could see the front. I could
not discern the men who was behind the front men.
Q. You heard Pearson give the command to fire?
A. Charge bayonets first. I was one of the fellows that was sticking
around.
Q. What were you doing, trying to keep it off?
A. I went up there--I was a sworn officer of the railroad--and I
thought I would try to do what I could.
Q. Had you tried to quell it?
A. Yes, I had, so far as I knew how. I assisted Mayor McCarthy's police
when I went up there.
Q. Were the police there?
A. They were; eight or ten police there during the day and at night.
Q. What did they do?
A. The boys were around there playing with the cars--wherever there is
excitement the boys are always there--they were trying to put the boys
away, and the men were not doing any harm, it was the boys.
Q. You could not put the boys away then?
A. No; they were little boys.
Q. When the soldiers marched up, what did the crowd do? Did they fall
back?
A. At the time they charged bayonets, the rear crowd shoved the front
up--they were shoving them up. That is all I seen about it.
Q. Did you see any stones thrown?
A. I did; there was some little boys threw a couple of stones, and I
says, "Quit that, boy, there will be trouble here."
Q. A couple of stones?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you hear any firing? Did you hear anybody shoot before the
soldiers shot?
A. No, sir.
Q. You didn't see but a couple of stones thrown at all?
A. It was thrown from a couple of boys from the sand-house. They were
in the sand-house, and there was some stones in the sand, and they
threw them over our heads. I seen the boys that threw them--little boys
about eight or ten years of age. There is a sand-house where they dry
sand for the engines, and they were in the sand-house at the time.
Q. You did not see any stones come from the side of the hill?
A. No, sir; I was on this side of the railroad, nearer to Penn street
than I was to the hillside.
Q. They would not have reached you?
A. No; I do not think they could, unless they could throw them that
far.
Q. Where was Pearson standing when he gave this command?
A. He was standing in the middle of the ranks--right up the middle.
Q. Did he give the command himself to fire, or did he give it to
somebody else?