Chapter XXIV (2)

“He had a very large wound in his side, large enough to admit two fingers right into his liver, and severely bleeding. I could not reach with my finger the piece of shell that caused the injury. It was a lacerated wound, much larger than could be made by an ordinary pistol bullet. I tampened the liver with gauze to prevent his bleeding to death at the station, and I went on to other officers in that way until I dressed in all between twenty-six and thirty at the station. When we got through with that, at three o’clock, Dr. Lee remained at the station while I went to the hospital to take care of those injured most severely, who were to be sent to the hospital. Officers Muller, Whitney, Keller, Barrett, Flavin and Redden are the principal men that I ordered him to send first to the hospital.”

Dr. Murphy then gave a list of the men and specified the particular character of their wounds.

E. G. EPLER, a physician and surgeon practicing at No. 505 South Canal Street, testified to having dressed a wound of Fielden between eleven and twelve at night on May 4.

“The wound was on the left side of the left knee joint, the bullet having passed in underneath the skin and passed out again five inches from the point of entry. He said he was crawling on the pavement trying to get away from the crowd when he received the injury, and the bullet glanced off from the pavement and struck him in that position.”

MICHAEL HOFFMAN, a detective connected with the Larrabee Street Station, gave evidence as to finding nine round bombs and four long ones.

“These two bombs (indicating) I found at the corner of Clyde and Clybourn Avenue, near Ogden’s Grove, under the sidewalk. They were empty. I found another one there which was loaded, and which I gave to Capt. Schaack. Gustav Lehman, who was a witness in this case, was with me when I found them. I got two coils of fuse, a can of dynamite and a box of caps at the same time. I found these two pieces of gas-pipe (indicating) at 509 North Halsted Street, under the house of John Thielen, who was arrested, with two cigar-boxes full of dynamite and two boxes of cartridges, one rifle, one revolver. The revolver and one box of cartridges were buried under the floor of the coal-shed, and two bombs which were loaded, the dynamite and rifle and other box of cartridges were buried under the house in the ground. The can of dynamite which Lehman pointed out to me, and which I found near Ogden’s Grove, held about a gallon. This can and the box of caps were on the stone of the pavement; the bombs were buried in the ground.”

At this stage of the proceedings I was myself put on the stand. My testimony, as taken by the stenographers, was as follows:

“I am police captain of the Fifth Precinct. My headquarters are at East Chicago Avenue Station. I have charge of two other stations besides. Have been connected with the force for eighteen years. Have been captain one year. I have seen Spies, Schwab, Neebe and Fischer. Had no personal acquaintance with them. The defendants Engel and Lingg were arrested and confined in my station. Lingg was arrested on May 14th; Engel about the 18th. I had my first conversation with Lingg about this case about three o’clock on the afternoon of May 14th. Lingg told me his name, and that he had lived at 442 Sedgwick Street. He had been out of work for about four weeks. I asked him whether he was at the meeting held in the basement of 54 West Lake Street on Monday night, and he said, ‘Yes.’ On Tuesday night, May 4th, he said, he was at home—not all the evening. He and Seliger had been on Larrabee Street, quite a ways north; had had several glasses of beer, and from there he went home. He said he had made some bombs to use them himself. He said he had reason for being down on the police; they had clubbed him out at McCormick’s. He said he was down on capitalists, and found fault with the police for taking the part of the capitalists. If the capitalists turned out the militia and the police force with their Gatling guns, they couldn’t do anything with revolvers, and therefore they had adopted these bombs and dynamite. He said he had learned to make bombs in scientific books of warfare published by Most, of New York. He had got his dynamite on Lake Street, somewhere near Dearborn, and had bought some fuse and caps, and told me what he paid for it. He had not used up all his dynamite. He said he had made bombs of gas-pipe, and also of metal and lead mixed. He found the gas-pipe on the street sometimes. The lead he got about the same way. He said the bombs they found in his place were all he made. We put Mrs. Seliger face to face with him, and she accused him that he had commenced making bombs a few weeks after he came to their house. He looked at the woman, but didn’t say anything. John Thielen, who was arrested at the time, faced him too. Lingg admitted he had given to Thielen the two cigar-boxes full of dynamite and the two bombs which Officer Hoffman brought to me; at the same time Lingg looked right square at Thielen and shook his head for him to keep still. Thielen said to him, ‘Never mind, you might as well tell it. They know it all, anyhow.’

“In Lingg’s trunk I discovered a false bottom, and in there I found two long cartridges of dynamite, and some fuse four inches long, with caps on, and a big coil of fuse. I asked Lingg if that was the dynamite he used in his bombs, and he said yes. The dynamite in the package is lighter in quality than what was found in his bombs, except one that was black. I got three kinds of dynamite. That in the gallon-box that Lehman testified was given to him by Lingg looked like charcoal; the dynamite in the trunk was white, and the dynamite in most of those bombs is dark-colored. Lingg said he had tried a round bomb and a long one in the open air somewhere, and they worked well. He put one right in the crotch of a tree and split it all up. He said he had known Spies for some time. He had been at the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office about five times, bringing reports of Socialistic and Anarchistic meetings to the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_. He stated he had been financial secretary of a branch of the Carpenters’ Union. He had been a Socialist ever since he could think. He told me he had been in this country since last July or August; he had been a Socialist in Europe.”

“Now give the conversation which you had with Engel.”

“Engel said, in the first conversation that I had with him, that on Monday, 3d of May, he was doing some fresco work for a friend by the name of Koch, somewhere out west. He had been for a little while at the 54 West Lake Street meeting that night, but made no speech there.

“Several days afterwards I had another conversation, when his wife and daughter came. Engel complained that his cell was dark and no water running in it, and I told him we would give him another cell if we had it. The cells were crowded right along that night. And his wife said, ‘Do you see now what trouble you got yourself into?’ and Engel answered, ‘Mamma, I can’t help it.’ I asked him why he didn’t stop that nonsense, and he said: ‘I promised my wife so many times that I would stop this business, but I can’t stop it. What is in me has got to come out. I can’t help it that I am so gifted with eloquence. It is a curse. It has been a curse to a good many other men. A good many men have suffered already for the same cause, and I am willing to suffer and will stand it like a man.’ And I think he mentioned Louise Michel as having taken a leading part in the Anarchist business. Engel said on the evening of May 4th he was at home tying on the lounge.

“I have experimented with all dynamite that was brought me; also the bombs. I gave a portion of the lead bomb which Officer Schuettler testified he found in Lingg’s room to Professor Haines. I took the dynamite from that bomb and put the dynamite in a piece of gas-pipe, about five inches long, with ends screwed on. I had a box made two feet square, of inch boards, pretty well nailed together, and we dug a hole three feet deep out at Lake View, in the bushes, put the box into the hole, cut a hole in the top of the box, let the bomb into it, put a fuse and cap to it, and touched it off. This was found as the result of the explosion (indicating fragments). The box was blown all to pieces, and some of the pieces flew up in the trees. Everything in that box was smashed to pieces. This bomb here (indicating) I have made in the same way, and filled it with some black dynamite from that gallon can which was given by Lingg to Lehman, as stated here. This here (indicating fragments of the exploded bomb) was the result of the examination. I put some dynamite also in a beer keg. It smashed the keg all to pieces.

“Now here are the fragments from a lead bomb which Lehman gave to Hoffman and Hoffman to me. We got a piece of boiler-iron a quarter of an inch thick, nineteen inches high, and thirty-four inches wide. Then we had a steel top weighing 140 pounds. On the ground I put two-inch plank. On top of the plank I put four large metal sheets. I put the bomb right in the center, and a big stone weighing about 125 pounds on top, and the inside of the boiler-iron, the tub, I had painted so we could see where the lead would strike. I touched it off myself. It knocked the tub away up in the air, and the stone on top was crushed all to pieces. This is the result of the lead after we picked it up on top of the boards (indicating fragments of the tub). Here is the bolt (indicating) that was on the bomb. The nut we did not find. I counted 195 places where the lead struck the painted boiler-iron. There is a crack clear through the boiler-iron. In six places it is bulged out. Professor Haines has got a piece of this bomb (indicating), and Professor Patton another piece. I gave to the professors pieces of metal from other bombs.

“Lingg in his conversations with me said there would likely be a revolution through this workingmen’s trouble. There was a satchel brought from Neff’s place. The satchel was filled with bombs. Thielen was present. I asked him if he brought the satchel there. He said he saw the satchel there, saw it stand there when he left, and that was the last he saw of it. Lingg said he made the molds to make these bombs himself. He made them of clay, and that they could be used to cast in only about twice. He said he saw the ‘Revenge’ circular on the West Side, I believe at 71 West Lake Street. I asked him when he had had his hair trimmed and his chin beard shaved. He said on or about the 7th of May. He said there had been several persons in his room on the afternoon of May 4th, among them the two Lehmans.

“I experimented with fuse. I cut a fuse four inches long and set it on fire, and you could count just six until it struck the cap within. I experimented with dynamite cartridges. I drilled a hole in one end about an inch and a half deep, shoved a percussion cap in, put a fuse on, and exploded it. I had it stand free up in the air in a stone weighing about twenty or thirty pounds. When it went off it broke the stone all up. I put one right in the center of a lot of shrubs and bushes, and it broke everything up—took around about four feet each way.”

On cross-examination I stated that I had never taken Lingg before any magistrate for examination. There was no complaint entered against him.

FREDERICK DREWS saw some cans underneath the sidewalk at his home, No. 351 North Paulina Street, about three miles from the Haymarket, and testified to having turned them over to me. His residence was about a mile and a half from Wicker Park.

MICHAEL WHALEN, a detective connected with the Chicago Avenue Station, testified to having seen the cans referred to by the preceding witness in the yard at No. 351 North Paulina Street, and that there were four of those cans, one of which they emptied.

DANIEL COUGHLIN, a police officer, testified as to the explosive character of one of the cans found at North Paulina Street, with a fulminating cap and fuse about eight inches long. After igniting the fuse an explosion was caused which shattered the can, throwing the contents, some kind of vitriol, four or five feet around.

CHARLES E. PROUTY, manager of a gun-store at No. 53 State Street, recalled a visit of Mr. and Mrs. Engel at the store the previous fall.

“They made some inquiries in regard to some large revolvers. They found one there that seemed to be satisfactory, and wanted to know at what price they could get a quantity of them, perhaps one or two hundred, and wanted to buy that one and pay for it and present it at some meeting of some society. They took the pistol and paid for it. A week or two after they returned, said the pistol was satisfactory, and wanted to know if I could get them a lot. I said I knew of one lot in the East, and would inquire. I wrote East, and found the lot had been disposed of. They were somewhat disappointed, but said they had found something else for a little less money that would answer the purpose, and with that they left our store. Mrs. Engel comes frequently to our store. She has a little store on the West Side, and buys fishing-tackle and other things in our line. I sold cartridges to them in a small way, as she might want them in her store. When I spoke of guns I meant large revolvers, something about seven-inch barrel—I think 44 or 45-caliber, at $5.50 apiece. When I stated the price was very cheap they replied they didn’t care to make profit on them, it was for a society. I remember seeing Mr. Parsons’ face in the store. Never had any dealings with him.”

WILLIAM J. REYNOLDS, in the employ of D. H. Lamberson & Co., gun business at No. 76 State Street, testified:

“I think about February or March of this year Mr. Parsons came to our store. He said he wanted to buy a quantity of revolvers—I think forty or fifty. He wanted what is called an old remodeled Remington revolver, 44 or 45-caliber. I agreed to write and get a quotation of the revolver. He came in again, and I quoted him a price upon it. He did not purchase any revolvers, and was in once or twice after that. He seemed undecided about it.”

THOMAS MCNAMARA, a police officer, testified:

“I found thirty loaded and one empty gas-pipe bombs under the sidewalk on Bloomingdale Road and Robey Street. The loaded bombs were fixed with caps and fuse. They were in an oil-cloth. The corner where I found them is about four blocks from Wicker Park. Found them on the afternoon of May 23 last. Three coils of fuse in a tin can and two boxes of dynamite caps—probably about two hundred caps—were also in the package.”

Prof. WALTER S. HAINES examined a number of bomb fragments and testified as follows:

“I am professor of chemistry in Rush Medical College in this city. I devote most of my time to practical chemistry. I have examined several pieces of metal at the request of the State’s Attorney. I received from Capt. Schaack, on June 24 this year, a piece of bomb said to have been connected with Lingg. I call it ‘Lingg bomb No. 1.’ I received from Dr. J. B. Murphy, on the same day, a piece of metal said to have been taken from Officer Murphy. I designate it ‘Murphy bomb.’ On July 22 I received a piece of metal said to have been taken from Officer Degan. I designate it ‘Degan bomb.’ The last piece I received from Mr. Furthmann. I subsequently received from Officer Whalen a piece of bomb said to have been connected with Lingg. I designate it ‘Lingg bomb No. 2,’ The next day I received from Capt. Schaack pieces of two other bombs also said to have been connected with Lingg. I designate as ‘Lingg bombs Nos. 3 and 4.’ I received from Mr. Furthmann a portion of a bomb said to have been connected with Mr. Spies, which I designate as ‘Spies bomb.’ These were all subjected to chemical examination. Lingg bombs Nos. 1, 3 and 4 were found to consist chiefly of lead, with a small percentage of tin and traces of antimony, iron and zinc. The amount of tin in these three bombs differs slightly. One of them contained about 1.9 per cent., another about 2.4 per cent., the third about 2½ per cent. of tin. Lingg bomb No. 2 contained more tin, consequently less lead; also a little more antimony and a little more zinc. The amount of tin in this bomb was very nearly seven per cent. The Murphy bomb was composed of a small proportion of tin, chiefly lead and traces of antimony, iron and zinc. The amount of tin was in round numbers 1.6 per cent. The Degan bomb contained in round numbers 1.6 or 1.7 per cent. The remainder was lead, with traces of antimony, iron and zinc. The Spies bomb consisted chiefly of lead with a small quantity of tin, about 1.1 per cent., in round numbers, with traces of antimony, iron and zinc. The different pieces of the same bomb differed slightly in the proportions of the metals present. The Degan bomb contained slightly more tin than what I call the Murphy bomb. There is no commercial substance with which I am acquainted that has such a composition as these bombs. Commercial lead frequently contains traces of other substances, but, as far as I know, never tin. Solder is composed of from a third to a half tin and the remainder lead. Lead must have been the basis for the preparation of the various articles which I examined, and this must have been mixed either with tin or some substance containing tin, as for instance solder.

“Lingg bomb No. 2 had a minute trace of copper. This piece of candlestick (indicating) is composed of tin and lead, with a certain amount of antimony and zinc and a little copper. Professor Patton has been sick for about two weeks. I worked in connection with Professor Delafontaine instead of working with Patton.” (The Spies bomb is the one which the witness Wilkinson identified.)

Prof. MARK DELAFONTAINE testified as follows:

“I am a chemist, teacher of chemistry in the High School in this city. Have been a chemist for over thirty years. I made an examination of the substances described by Prof. Haines, compared results with him, and they agreed as closely as they can. I found the piece of candlestick to be a mixture of antimony, tin, lead, zinc and a trace of copper. I made experiments with old lead pipes upon which there was solder. I took a piece of old lead pipe that had been very much mended, had much solder put on; I melted it, analyzed it, and the amount of tin contained in the mixture was about seven-tenths of one per cent. I don’t know of any one commercial product of which the pieces of bomb that I examined could be composed. I never found a sample of lead containing the least traces of tin.”

MICHAEL WHALEN, recalled, testified that he gave to Prof. Haines two pieces of lead which I had given to him.

EDMUND FURTHMANN, Assistant State’s Attorney, stated that the piece of lead he gave to Prof. Haines he had received from Dr. Bluthardt, and designated the various halls and places spoken of by various witnesses as being all located in Cook County and the State of Illinois.

THEODORE J. BLUTHARDT was then called and gave the following evidence:

“I am County Physician. I made a _post-mortem_ examination upon the body of Mathias J. Degan, on the 5th day of May last, before the Coroner’s inquest, at the Cook County Hospital. I found a deep cut upon his forehead, another cut over the right eye and another deep cut, about two inches in length, on the left side. I found a large wound, apparently a gun-shot wound—a hole in the middle of the left thigh. I found seven explosive marks on his right leg and two on the left leg. The large hole in the middle of the left thigh was the mortal wound caused by an explosive, a piece of lead that had penetrated the skin, destroyed the inside muscles and lacerated the femoral artery, which caused bleeding to death. Besides that he had a wound on the dorsum of the left foot, also caused by a piece of lead, which forced its way through the bones of the ankle joint. I found a piece behind the inside ankle of the left foot. Both pieces I gave to Mr. Furthmann. The external appearance of that wound on that left thigh was that of a rifle ball. It was round and not very ragged; it was clean cut through the skin, but the muscles of the thigh were all contused and torn—formed a kind of pulpy cavity as large as a goose egg on the inside. The missile was lodged in the upper part of the thigh, about four inches above the place where it entered. Mathias J. Degan died of hemorrhage of the femoral artery, caused by this wound that I described.

“I made a _post-mortem_ examination on the body of John Barrett on the 7th of May, at 171 East Chicago Avenue. A missile had passed through the eleventh rib into the upper part of the liver, about three inches deep. There I found a piece of lead and a piece of blue cloth with lining in. The right lung was collapsed. From the opening into the diaphragm the air rushed into the cavity of the chest and compressed the lung. In consequence of the wound in the liver there was a good deal of hemorrhage into the chest as well as into the abdomen. This wound, by this explosive piece of material, was the cause of his death. He had several other wounds.

“On the same day I made a _post-mortem_ examination on the body of George F. Muller, at the Cook County Hospital. This man died, in my opinion, from the effects of a pistol ball which wounded the small intestines and caused inflammation of the bowels.

“On May 8th I made a _post-mortem_ examination on the body of Tim Flavin. He had a small wound in the back four inches to the left of the spine. The missile, which was not a pistol ball, passed into the abdomen below the twelfth rib. I found much blood in both cavities, and the cause of his death was internal hemorrhage.

“On May 10th I made a _post-mortem_ examination on the body of Michael Sheehan. He died from exhaustion caused by a pistol shot wound upon the right side of the abdomen, three inches to the right and four inches above the umbilicus. The ball passed through the mesentary and lower part of the liver into the muscles of the abdomen. There was considerable blood in the abdomen and the liver. The surroundings were very much inflamed.

“On May 17th I made a _post-mortem_ examination on the body of Thomas Redden, at the Cook County Hospital. I found an abrasion over the right eye, a slight lacerated wound upon the lower part of the left hip, a large lacerated wound perforating the right forearm, a compound fracture of the left tibia, a large lacerated wound upon the posterior part of the left leg, a circular wound upon the right leg two inches below the knee joint, extending to the bone, another wound upon the right leg about seven inches above the ankle, a large lacerated wound upon the left side of the back. I found the lungs badly inflamed and the blood valves enlarged above the kidneys, and the liver somewhat inflamed with so-called cloudy swelling. In my opinion he died from the effects of these wounds bringing about blood-poisoning.”

JAMES BONFIELD, being recalled, stated:

“I found a number of banners at the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_. I found, altogether, about forty banners. I can identify only a few of them as found at the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_.”

State’s Attorney Grinnell here announced that the prosecution rested its case. Thereupon counsel for the defendants moved that the jury be sent from the court-room while they would present and argue, on behalf of Neebe, a motion that the jury be instructed to find a verdict of not guilty as to Neebe. Judge Gary refused the motion.

A like motion on behalf of the other defendants, except August Spies and Adolph Fischer, was also overruled by the court.