The Everett massacre Part 18

"Why not?"

"They probably seen what happened to the captain and the other fellow for getting gay."

As to the holding of Mitten in jail for a number of days on a charge of resisting an officer, and his final release, McRae was asked:

"Why didn't you try him on that charge?"

"Because when we let the I. W. W.'s go they insisted on him going, too, and I said, 'all right, take him along.'"

"You did whatever the I. W. W.'s wanted in that?"

"Well, I was glad to get rid of them," remarked the sheriff.

McRae said that none of the men taken to Beverly Park were beaten on the dock before being placed in automobiles for deportation, but on cross-examination he admitted that one of the deputies got in a mix-up and was beaten by a brother deputy. The sheriff stated that he took one man out to Beverly Park in a roadster, and had then returned to Everett to attend a dance given by the Elks' lodge.

In relating the events on November 5th, McRae's story did not differ materially from that of the witnesses who had already testified. He stated that a bullet pa.s.sed thru his foot, striking the heel of his shoe, and coming out of the side. The shoe was then offered in evidence.

He testified that another shot struck the calf of his leg and pa.s.sed completely thru the limb. Both these wounds were from the rear. His entire suit was offered in evidence. The coat had nine bullet holes in it, yet McRae was not injured at all in the upper portion of his body!

The sheriff stated that he fired twenty shots in all, and was then removed to the Sister's Hospital while the shooting was still in progress.

McRae then identified Ed Roth, James Kelly and Thomas H. Tracy as three of the I. W. W. men who were most active in firing from the Verona. In his identification of Tracy, McRae stated that the defendant was in the second or third cabin window aft the door, and was hanging out of the window with his breast against the sill and his elbow on the ledge.

Vanderveer then placed himself in the position described by the sheriff and requested McRae to a.s.sume the same att.i.tude he was in at the time he saw Tracy. Upon doing this it was apparent that the edge of the window sill would have cut off all view of Tracy's face from the sheriff, so McRae endeavored to alter his testimony to make it appear that Tracy's face was a foot or more inside the cabin window. This was the first identification of Tracy or other men on the boat that was attempted by the prosecution.

The sheriff stated that there were only twenty or twenty-five armed men on the Verona, and he admitted, before he left the stand, that he had told Attorney Vanderveer it was a pity that the spring line on the Verona did not break when the boat tilted so as to drown all the I. W.

W.'s in the Bay.

Charles Auspos, alias Charles Austin, followed McRae as the state's witness second in importance only to the ex-sheriff. The testimony of these two was relied upon for a conviction.

Just why Auspos joined the I. W. W. will never be known, but his claim was that he could not work in the Dakota harvest fields or ride on the freight trains without an I. W. W. card. He was asked:

"When you did line up, you were then willingly a member, were you?"

"Yes sir."

"And you did not go to Yakima and come back to Seattle to fight for free speech because you were compelled to do so?" asked Moore.

"No," replied Auspos, "there was no compulsion."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Arrival of the VERONA at SEATTLE]

Auspos stated that he was willing to take a chance in the fight for free speech and that the worst he expected was something similar to the happenings at Beverly Park. That he was not so willing in his testimony was shown by the uneasy actions of the prosecution lawyers, who moved from place to place around the court room during the examination of this witness, with the view of having him look one of them in the eyes at all times during his recital. At one time Black nearly climbed into the jury box, while Cooley fidgeted in his chair placed directly in the middle of the aisle, and Veitch stood back of the court clerk on the opposite side of the court room, trying to engage the attention of the hesitating witness.

The testimony was to the effect that Auspos had reached Seattle on Sat.u.r.day, November 4th, and had slept in the I. W. W. hall that night.

Next morning at about eleven o'clock he returned from breakfast and was again admitted with examination for a members.h.i.+p card. A meeting was in progress in the gymnasium but was too crowded for him to be able to get in. There was no secrecy, however, just as there was no oath of fealty demanded of a worker upon joining the organization. The witness claimed that he and one of the defendants, J. E. Houlihan, were standing together in the hall when "Red" Doran called Houlihan aside into the gymnasium. Two minutes later Houlihan returned and said, "I made it."

"What did you get?" Auspos declared he then asked his partner, receiving the reply, "A thirty-eight." Auspos claimed he saw Earl Osborne cleaning a gun in the gymnasium that same morning, and there was a rifle or shotgun in a canvas case in one corner. He said that men were breaking up chairs to obtain legs as clubs and that he, with others, was furnished with a little package of red pepper.

Regarding his actions upon the Verona the witness stated that he and James Hadley came up the steps from the freight deck to the pa.s.senger deck just as the boat was nosing against the dock and that he walked across the deck to a point within three feet of the rail. His description of the motion of McRae's hands differed from that given by the deputy witnesses and was such as would indicate the drawing of a gun from a belt holster. He testified that McRae swung around to the right just before being shot, thus contradicting McRae, who had declared that the turn he had made was to the left. The witness in a rather indefinite manner stated that the first shot came from the boat. All the damaging claims in the testimony of Auspos were severely shaken by the cross-examination conducted by Moore, and Auspos finally admitted that the only point on which he wished to have his evidence differ from the statement he had made to Vanderveer prior to the trial was in the matter of the firing of the first shot. Auspos made no attempt to identify anyone on the boat as having a firearm.

During the examination some reference was made to "Red" Downs, at which Judge Ronald remarked:

"I am a little confused. Did he say 'Red' Downs or 'Red' Doran?"

"There are two of them," responded Moore.

"Lots of red in this organization," cut in prosecutor Cooley, amid laughter from the spectators.

Attorney Moore brought from Auspos the admission that the plea of "Not Guilty" was a true one and he still believed that he and the other prisoners were not guilty of any crime. Yet such are the peculiarities of the legal game that an innocent man can turn state's evidence upon his innocent a.s.sociates.

After uncovering the previous record of Auspos, he was asked about his "confession" as follows:

"Mr. McLaren and you had reached an understanding in your talk before Mr. Cooley came?"

"Yes sir."

"The question of what you are to get in connection with your testimony here has not as yet been definitely decided?"

"I am going to get out of the country."

"You are not going to get a trip to Honolulu?" asked Moore with a smile as he concluded the cross-examination of Auspos.

"No sir," stammered the tool of the prosecution unconvincingly.

It was at this point that the prosecution introduced several additional leaflets and pamphlets issued by the I. W. W. Publis.h.i.+ng Bureau, the princ.i.p.al reason being to allow them to appeal to the patriotism of the jury by referring to Herve's pamphlet, "Patriotism and the Worker," and Smith's leaflet, "War and the Workers."

The next witness after Auspos was Leo Wagner, another poor purchase on the part of the prosecution. He merely testified that a man on the Calista had said that the men were armed and were not going to stand for being beaten up. Objection was made to the manner in which Cooley led the witness with his questions, and when Cooley stated that it was necessary to refresh the memory of the witness, Vanderveer replied that the witness had been endorsed but a few days before and his recollection should not be so very stale.

When this witness was asked what he was paid for his testimony he squirmed and hesitated until the court demanded an answer, whereupon he said:

"I got enough to live on for a while."

William H. Bridge, deputy sheriff and Snohomish county jailer, was the next witness. He stated on his direct examination that the first shot came from the second or third window back from the door on the upper cabin. Black asked Bridge:

"How do you know there was a shot from that place?"

"Because I saw a man reach out thru the window and shoot with a revolver."

"In what position was he when shooting?"

"Well, I could see his hand and a part of his arm and a part of his body and face."

"Who was the man, if you know?"

"Well, to the best of my judgement, it was the defendant, Thomas H.

Tracy."

Under Vanderveer's cross-examination this witness was made to place the model of the Verona with its stern at the same angle as it had been at the time of the shooting. The witness was then asked to a.s.sume the same position he had been in at the time he said he had seen Tracy. The impossibility of having seen the face of a man firing from any of the cabin windows was thus demonstrated to the jury.

Then to clinch the idea that the identification was simply so much perjury, Vanderveer introduced into evidence the stenographic report of the coroner's inquest held over Jefferson Beard in which the witness, Bridge, had sworn that the first shot came from an open s.p.a.ce just beneath the pilot house and had further testified that he could not recognize the person who was doing the firing.

Walter H. Smith, a scab s.h.i.+ngle weaver, and deputy on the dock, followed with a claim to have recognized Tracy as one of the men who was shooting from the Verona. He also stated that he could identify another man who was shooting from the forward deck. He was handed a number of photographs and failed to find the man he was looking for. Instead he indicated one of the photographs and said that it was Tracy. Vanderveer immediately seized the picture and offered it in evidence.