A. There was a meeting held out in the Round woods, and a committee
appointed there to confer with the company with regard to their wages,
and some time after this meeting was called, by whom I do not know, but
the people generally thought that this committee was going to make a
report there of the result of their conference with the company, and
when we arrived there at the meeting, this committee was not present,
and after being there possibly half or three quarters of an hour, the
chairman of the committee of the coal and iron company's men, called
the meeting to order, and he stated that it was now time to appoint a
chairman. There was quite a number of the men present in the meantime,
but none of them would serve, finally he was told to serve himself in
that capacity, and he did.
Q. What name did you say it was?
A. It was Rudolph Kreshner, and some one asked him from the
crowd--there was, possibly, from five thousand to seven thousand people
there--asked him what the object of the meeting was, and he told them
if they would keep quiet for a few minutes they would learn. He didn't
know. He said they would find out, and he talked to some of the men--I
could not hear what he said, and then he rose, and he said he believed
the meeting was to take some action with regard to those men that were
working in the shops at that time, and there was then a party got up
and offered a motion that a committee of I can't tell you how many--his
motion was, that a committee, however, be appointed to ask these men to
leave the work alone for the present, until the difficulty was settled.
And after some little discussion, there was a motion made to amend that
by making the committee twenty-five. Then that was objected to, on the
ground that the companies would discharge all that would be appointed
as a committee to go and ask these men to leave their work, and one
man, I don't know his name now, he spoke there in favor of a committee
of twenty-five, and others again spoke and objected to it, on the
ground that they would be discharged--they had been before, and have
been since, because they waited on these men. While this motion was
under discussion, there was a motion made, that the whole body adjourn,
and pass up around by the shops and ask the men to quit their work for
the present, until the difficulty was settled with the company. Just at
this time there was a man offered a letter to Kreshner, and wanted him
to read it. He took up the letter and looked at it, and passed it back
to the party and shook his head. Then this man got up on a little stand
himself and read the letter to the body. Previous to that there had not
been any unkind words, or anything boisterous--nothing out of the way
at all, no abusive language, or anything--but as soon as the letter was
read it was like a spark in a powder keg.
Q. Now, where did that letter come from?
A. I don't know.
Q. By whom was it signed?