THE CRIPPLE CREEK STRIKE — CONTINUED.
A few days after the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad job, a tragedy occurred in the Vindicator Mine, which shocked the entire district. Supt Charles McCormick and shift boss Melvin Beck were killed instantly by a terrific explosion of giant powder at the six-hundred-foot level of the mine.
Was this explosion the result of a conspiracy, or was it a mere accident? One would naturally suppose that a thorough investigation would have been the first thing instituted; but here is what actually did take place.
The Miners' Unions immediately held meetings and passed resolutions expressive of their sorrow, demanding a thorough investigation, and condemning in the strongest language the perpetrators of the outrage, if it should be found that the explosion was not accidental. The union further offered to assist in clearing up the unfortunate event.
The allied forces at once raised a terrible cry that the Inner Circle of the Federation of Miners had caused the explosion.
Instead of troubling to make an investigation, General Bell promptly arrested over a dozen of the most prominent Federation leaders, among them Sherman Parker and C. G. Kennison, and threw them into the bull pen. He then instructed his cavalry to patrol the district day and night, and when he had thus secured the Cripple Creek district from the dynamiting outlaws of the Inner Circle, he summoned the representatives of the press, and made this declaration:
"Conditions in Cripple Creek and Telluride are simply awful. The average citizen of the State has no idea of the critical conditions in the