HAYWOOD PAID FOR GREGORY KILLING
Orchard Says Leaders Didn't Plan Murder Personally, but Knew of It.
STORY STILL UNSHAKEN
Resents Attempts of Cross-Examination to Connect Him with Crimes He Has Not Admitted.
BOISE, June 10--Cross examination of Harry Orchard, the principal witness in the trial of William D. Haywood for the murder of ex-Gov. Steunenberg, continued all day. When court adjourned Mr. Richardson had not yet completed his line of questioning about the attempt to murder Fred Bradley in San Francisco in the Fall of 1904. At the rate which he is proceeding he will not end his examination of Orchard for another two days. After that there will be a considerable redirect examination, so that Orchard is likely to be on the stand for the remainder of the week.
There was a noticeable change in Orchard's manner to-day. Heretofore he has maintained an attitude of unresisting meekness under any and all of Richardson's assaults. But to-day he was rather testy and several times replied with some spirit to the inquisitions and assertions of the lawyers. He adhered unshaken, however, to the course he has mapped out for himself and did not hesitate to admit his guilt of any offense Richardson might charge, no matter how trivial or how infamous, provided only that it was part of the story he has told. Thus he confessed having sold short weight cheese as the first crime, and he went through the details of the fiendish attempt to poison the Bradley family by putting strychnine in the milk without a quiver, but when the lawyer questioned him about other things, crimes or peccadillos, which are not included in the history of his life as he tells it, his denial was instant and emphatic. He makes it perfectly clear that no consideration of its infamy leads him to deny participation in any event or undertaking. There is no moral abyss he will not admit sounding if it is connected with his own narrative. But he will not admit a single thing outside that narrative, and every such accusation or insinuation he promptly rejects as untrue.
From the very first of his story up to the last question to-day he has asserted that his only standard now is the truth. Any story about him that is true, he will admit. Everything that is false, he denies. The story of the poisoning of the Bradley milk afforded Richardson an opportunity to play upon the sentimentality of Orchard as well as on the feeling of the jury and the audience, but he did not avail himself of it. Instead, when he had developed it to the point where it needed but little more to produce a decided effect, he threw away his chance by making a cheap joke. He got a feeble laugh from the audience and lost his opportunity to bring tears.
Except for the slight testiness referred to, Orchard bore himself through the day with his usual composure. He maintained his alertness, and was, if anything, a little quicker in is responses to the questions than he has been on other days. He had no occasion to complain of being cut off by Richardson before his replies were complete except once or twice, and on one of these occasions the Judge decided that what he wanted to say was not material then and could be covered in redirect examination if the State desired. At the opening of the day Orchard said he wanted to correct some of his earlier statements, and in doing so substituted the name of Billy Aikman for that of Billy Easterly, as the man present at one of the talks he had in Cripple Creek. This correction suggested to Richardson a line of questions as to who had called Orchard's attention to his mistakes. "Was it because of any conference with anybody?", he asked. "No, sir, it was not," replied Orchard. Richardson kept at it and developed the fact that Orchard had seen Hawley and McPartland since the Saturday adjournment. McPartland was at the penitentiary with him an hour yesterday. "Did he talk to you about the method by which you should withstand this cross-examination?", demanded Richardson. "Yes, some," replied Orchard; "he talked about what gave me strength to go through the examination."
Orchard's Conversion
For some reason Richardson did not care just then to bring out the fact of Orchard's profession of religion. He dropped that line of questioning, but presently reverted to it to ask if Orchard has been cautioned by any one as to being too exact in fixing dates and places. "I've been cautioned about nothing except to tell the truth," replied Orchard, with the first show of warmth he has given in all his examination. "Who cautioned you about that?" asked Richardson. "Mr. McPartland and Mr. Hawley," was the reply, and Richardson let it go at that.
The line he took up then brought him before long to the subject of killing non-union men, and again Orchard gave a glimpse of the spirit that animated him and his fellows. He was telling about a talk he had had somewhere in the Cripple Creek district, with Sherman Parker and W. F. Davis, when they had discussed the blowing up of the Independence depot. It was the first time that project was suggested. He could not fix date or place definitely, and Richardson said with a sneer: "You cared so little about killing men that it didn't make any impression on you?" "We were always talking about some way to kill non-union men or mine managers, or to drive scabs out of the district," replied Orchard coolly. "We didn't think much about it." That is, there were so many talks in so many places, it was such a habit with them to discuss such things, that now he can't remember just where or when any particular talk took place. All day Richardson fought to get exact information on such points, and all day Orchard refused to pin himself down. Special effort was made to have definitely settled the dates and places of talks Orchard said he had had with Haywood and Pettibone in Denver. Haywood was much interested in such efforts and many times whispered to Richardson his suggestions for questions. Richardson also tried to get Orchard to admit that there must have been persons about the headquarters offices who head the talks he described. Orchard would not have it that way. "We were always alone when we talked about such things," he insisted.
Talked Murder to Strangers
This brought Richardson back to another point on which he had striven to gain something from Orchard, the way in which such things were talked about by men who had never seen each other before the conversations testified to took place. "You were not careful about the men you talked murder to?" he said. "I never talked to them without they had been recommended to me by some one I knew," Orchard replied. "But you did talk murder to complete strangers?" insisted Richardson. "If some one that I knew recommended them," answered the imperturbable witness. "Didn't you talk that way before the Peace Committee?" (The committee that went from Denver to Cripple Creek to try to settle the strike.) "They were not that kind of men," responded Orchard, with a tired air, as if the questions were utterly foolish.
Haywood was more than usually interested in the cross-examination to-day, and several times made suggestions to Richardson on which questions were immediately based. One of three tips had to do with the actions of Orchard after the killing of Lyte Gregory. Richardson had been going over the details of that murder for some time when Haywood whispered to him. At once he said to Orchard: "Didn't you go to the Adams Hotel after that killing and climb out of a window and drop to the ground?" "No." said Orchard. "After buying the guns in Pettibone's back yard I went straight home." It did not appear what had suggested that question to Haywood, whether it was personal knowledge or a tip from some friend.
Always when questions were being asked on his suggestion Haywood sat boring into Orchard with a steady, unwavering stare, as if trying to transfix him. There have been few times so far when Haywood could meet Orchard's glance comfortably, and on almost all of the numerous time when their eyes have met Haywood's have been the ones that changed direction. But to-day he was feeling better.
His Steady Gaze
He did not outface the man who is swearing his life away, but he did not flinch before Orchard's gaze as at other times. To Orchard it has never seemed to make the least difference whether he looked at Haywood, Richardson, or any one else. He faces what is before him with the same steady gaze, just as he wheeled in his chair and faced Easterly and Owney Barnes the other day , knowing perfectly well that they were there to swear that all he has said about them is a lie.
It was while endeavoring to fix the dates and places where Orchard had received money from Haywood, with the amounts, that Richardson brought out a strong reaffirmation of Haywood's connection with the first crime Orchard committed in the Cripple Creek district. The witness had told of receiving several sums at Denver, and Richardson said: "Up to that time you had never done any work directly for Haywood?" "I had done work that Haywood had paid me for." replied Orchard. "But these were crimes that you had committed at the instigation of other men?" "Yes, and Haywood paid me for them," insisted Orchard.
This examination about the money Orchard had received brought out a matter which Richardson did not pursue, but which the prosecution will develop on redirect examination. Orchard said he got $75 in cash in Denver when he went there to go with Moyer to Ouray. The heretofore emphasized connection of Orchard with Scott, the railroad detective, was the fact that Orchard went to Ouray simply as a guard for Moyer to prevent his being beaten up by the mine owners' hired thugs. "That's all you talked about wasn't it?" he asked. "It was all that time," replied Orchard. "The other things were talked about when we got there." Richardson manifested no curiosity about these "other things" and went on about the money.
Then it developed that about that time Haywood stopped giving money to Orchard personally and arranged to have it furnished to him through Pettibone. The association with Orchard was too close, apparently, for Haywood, and it was no longer wise to have the murder machine come to Headquarters so often, so openly.
When he had concluded on that line, Richardson asked Orchard, after a little conference with Darrow and Haywood, whether he claimed that Haywood, Moyer, and Pettibone had anything to do personally with the planning or carrying out of the Vindicator shaft explosion. Altogether, Orchard said he had got about $550 while in San Francisco. Peter L. Huff, Secretary of the Bartenders' Union, identified him at the telegraph office. Haywood suggested a curious question to Richardson then. There was a whispered conversation, and Richardson asked: "While you were at the camp that night, do you remember going up and taking a match safe from the pocket of your trousers, which were hanging over the brush, for Charley Neville?" "No," said Orchard. "I did no such thing." Where or how Haywood got the information on which this tip was based did not appear. Neville is dead. "Died suddenly the other day in Nevada." as Pettibone wrote Orchard once. Charley Neville, the boy, is on the list of witnesses for the State.
In going over all the story in such detail, Richardson is laying the foundation for subsequent denials, many of which will be made by the Miner's Federation men directly implicated, and also some, the defense declare, will come from disinterested witnesses. The story of the days after the Independence explosion, the trip to Denver, and from there on to Wyoming, the sending of Pat Moran, the Cheyenne saloon keeper, back with a letter to Pettibone for $500, the subsequent journey to Cody, and the return thence to Denver, were all bought out in great detail. It included a confession of the loss of about $500 in the gambling houses at Ouray and thereabouts, which was what induced Orchard to go back, having borrowed $50 from the Cody gambler to pay his way. It was on this trip that W. F. Davis asked to join the party, and was turned down. There was no room for him," said Orchard, "and besides we did not want him, anyway." "Why not?" asked Richardson. "He was no bigger criminal than you."
Davis a Bigger Criminal
"He was known as a bigger criminal than I was." replied Orchard. In the examination about the preparations in Denver for this trip, Richardson laid a peculiar foundation for denial. Orchard said Pettibone went with him to buy the things he needed, because Pettibone could get a trade discount. Richardson pursued this subject to the end, exhibiting a knowledge of the details of the transaction even greater than Orchard's. "You went to Tritch's hardware store," he said, "and got a fishing rod?" "Yes." "And a reel?" "Yes." "And a line?" "Yes." "And some flies?" "Yes." So Richardson went through the list of supplies that Orchard and Pettibone got, including a rifle and an automatic revolver and some other things. "Then you went to the Denver Tent and Awning Company and got a tent," he said interrogatively. "That's right." replied Orchard, and that was the first of Richardson's testimony since the cross-examination began that Orchard has accepted.
This Wyoming trip brought out more about the "ranch of refuge," as Richardson called it. Orchard reiterated this declaration that he had talked it over with Moyer and Haywood as a good thing to have. "You were the only one who had committed crimes? said Richardson. "Why did you need a ranch?" "Well, I knew they had others working for them," replied Orchard. In telling about his stay in Cheyenne, Orchard described Pat Moran, and declared with emphasis that there could be no doubt about his going to Denver with the letter to Pettibone. Richardson got him to locate the saloon very carefully, evidently expecting to call Moran to deny the story, as he is reported to have done already in Cheyenne.
A curious sidelight on the character of such men as Orchard was then came out in this line of questioning. He told of lying to Pettibone on his return from Cody , and saying that he had spent the $500 Moran had brought him for lots in Cody, where he and Neville were planning to build a saloon. "I didn't want to tell Pettibone about the gambling." he said.
There was more talk with Haywood and Pettibone now, and planning of more crimes. Trying to get these talks located exactly, Richardson evoked this answer by asking Orchard if he was afraid to be tied down. "No, I'm not, but I don't propose to tell anything I don't know." Pettibone introduced Art Baston now, and Haywood proposed that they go out to Bingham, Utah, where Orchard had worked before going to Colorado, and kill Andy Mayberry. This assertion by Orchard caused a whispered conference between Haywood and Richardson, after which he lawyer asked: "Didn't you know that Haywood and Mayberry are and have been for years warm personal friends?" "That may have been," replied Orchard, entirely unmoved by the assertion. "Didn't you know that Haywood caught Mayberry assaying?" "No, I don't know anything about that. Haywood wanted me and Art Baston to score. "Was that because she didn't like the theatre?" He got his laugh, but he lost the opportunity to drive home a point.
--OSCAR KING DAVIS