A REIGN OF TERROR.
The mill and smeltermen of the Telluride district struck for an eight-hour day on September i, 1903, and in a short time the miners also went out, in order to force the mill and smelter operators to accede to the demands of their men, by shutting off the supply of ore. There were several conferences between the operators and committees of the union, but as the operators would concede nothing, all efforts to settle by arbitration were abandoned, and both sides prepared for a long and bitter struggle.
The strike in Telluride is similar, in many of its details, to the memorable events that took place in Cripple Creek. Yet on the whole, the struggle in San Miguel County is replete with stirring incidents and presents a climax which outrivals the dramatic occurrences that convulsed Teller County after the Independence depot explosion.
The State troops were sent to Telluride in November, 1903, though there was absolutely no need for them; and the remorseless campaign conducted by them under the direction of the Mine Owners' Association could perhaps be best described in the language spoken by the Cossacks of the Don, a language in which the word "KNOUT" holds higher rank than does the word "LIBERTY" in the deceptive English spoken by the college-bred mine and smelter magnates of the State of Colorado.
The minute the Cripple Creek veterans arrived in Telluride, they began restoring Law and Order with a gusto and dispatch that spoke eloquently of the practical experience they had gained. Telluride is isolated hundreds of miles from the State capital, and the military here threw off all reserve, and executed with