82 The Pinkerton Labor Spy.
attempted to secure possession of the prisoners. We cannot comment on this statement, as we believe the General himself did not know what he was talking about when he made it.
We will go somewhat into detail concerning this case, because it has brought to light the interesting probability that the Mine Owners' Association actually hired men to loosen the rail on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad, and then had some one give Engineer Rush a tip as to the impending calamity. Their object in playing this comedy was, to turn it into a tragedy for the Western Federation of Miners by accusing that organization of having plotted to wreck a train, so that the stigma of attempted train-wrecking would entirely discredit the Miners' Union with the public.
This was undoubtedly the object of the mine owners, for they caused Thomas Foster, Sherman Parker and W. F. Davis, three of the most prominent executive leaders of the Federation in the district, to be arrested and indicted for this offense. The mine owners and General Bell were loud in their boasts that they had evidence sufficient to convict, and they were backed in their assertions by Detectives D. C. Scott and K. C. Sterling, both in the employ of the railroad and the Mine Owners' Association.
The miners investigated the case so thoroughly that when it came up for trial they not only absolutely vindicated their leaders, but fastened the crime on the right parties; but as these parties were no other than Detectives Scott and Sterling,' the case was never prosecuted.
Victor Maher, a butcher in the union store at Victor, testified that he happened to be out late the night of the attempted derailing, and that he