Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1888 — DYNAMITERS OX TRIAL. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DYNAMITERS OX TRIAL.

The Squealers Tell Their Story, Which Is Highly Sensational. John J. Kelly and Others Oire Startling Testimony Against the Defendants. [Chicago special.] The six men charged with engaging in the lat< dynamite conspiracy against the “Q.” Road have been placed on preliminary trial before Coinmls, sioner Hoyne, at Chicago. The defendants, George J. Coding and J, A. Bauereisen, who were out on bail, were in the court-room early, in earnest conversation with their attorneys. Donshoe and David. These young barristers clamored far an opportunity to confer with their other clients, three of whom, J. Q. Wilson, J. A. Bowleg, and Thomas Broderick, were brought over from the county jail, so eurly that they wero comp ailed to pass away a long hour in the narrow limits of the three-cornered cage in the Marshal’s office. Hundreds of people forced their way into the office and gazed at the men, much as they would at wild beasts in a menagerie. Detective Plunkett-entered the court-room with a natty young man, at whom the hardy, bronzed men in the audience glanced contemptuously. It was John J. Kelly, one of the “squealers.” Almost immediately a deputy marshal entered with a poorly dressed, uncomfortable-looking, lank young man, who was placed far away from his old companions, in a seat behind a party of railroad officials, including General Manager Stone, Paul Morton, and Attorneys Chester

Dawes and Frank H. Collier. The lank young man was Alexander Smith, an ex-fireman on the “Q,”who is also regarded as a traitor to his fellows. Then the other defendants were brought in, and the quintet were arranged in a row along the south wall of the room. A demand was made for separate trials for the men, as they were arrested on three different complaints, but the Commissioner ruled against it and ordered the trial to proceed on the “omnibus” plan. All witnesses were excluded from the court room, savo in the case of Manager Stone and Inspector Bonfield, who were allowed to remain. The plot about which so much has been said, as told in brief by Attorney Ewing, is as follows : On May 29 and June 14, at about 10 o’clock on each night, there were explosions of dynamite under engines drawing trains on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Road, the former at Eola and the latter near South Aurora. Mr. Ewing said that the prosecution would prove that several days prior to the first explosion Bowles called at the Grand Pacific Hotel and showed to Chairman Hoge several dynamite cartridges, and that the two men talked of their use ; that later Bowles told Smith how the cartridges were used, and invited him to accompany him ; that the two hired a buggy in Aurora on May 29, at 9 o’clock at flight, and drove to Eola, where Bowles placed a dynamite cartridge on the tracks; that a day or two later Bowles told Smith he was going to Indiana for more cartridges, and that after he was gone Bauereisen told Smith he would find a package for him in the hotel, which Smith secured, and which contained cartridges, caps, and fuse. A few days later Bauereisen asked Smith if he had “set off any of the stuff,” and again, on June 14, told him it would “be a good night to Bet it off,” and Smith accordingly tied the cartridge oh the track near Sonth Aurora. Banereisen told him next day that he had heard the explosion. The District Attorney said it would be proved /■hat while Bowles was away there was a correspondence between him and Bauereisen, in which the latter advised him to be careful, to look out for persons supposed to be following him, and not to “buy any more of the stuff. Mr. Ewing tola of meetings between Bowles, Bauereisen, Wilson, Broderick, Goding and Smith, July 4 and 5, and how Goding took Smith to his house and gave him the four cartridges, the caps and the fuse, with which Broderick, Wilson and Bowles were subsequently arrested on the train. Mr. Ewing concluded by relating his experience in exploding gome of the captured dynamite, and exhibited shattered pieces of the pipe used for the purpose. After the testimony of two or three unimportant witnesses, John J. Kelly was put on the stand. He said: “InMay last I was secretary to Stewart E. Hoge in room 34 of the Grand Pacific Hotel. I knew J. A. Bowles. One day I saw a package there, which I was told contained

dynamite. It was marked ‘Heronlea.’ Bowles had the pack <ge and he showed it to Hoge. He also had some little caps in his pocket, which he said were used to explode the dynamite. He spoke of going ujp on the Fulton branch to use the dynamite. He told me personally that the ■way he used the dynamite was to fasten it to the track with sheet lead, and that the caps would explode it.” Among a number of Indiana witnesses was one Thomas C. Lloyd. He stated that he o« ned a hardware store at Noblesville, Ind. Ho identified Bowles as the man who had on three different occasions, between the latter part of May and the latter part of June, visited his store, each time purchasing about five pounds of dynamite, or Hercules powder, with caps and fuse. Andrew E. Barnes, a clerk in Lloyd’s store, corrobogated his employer and also identified Bowles as a man to wh«m he had sold dynamite on at least two different occasions. The material he sold to him was either 40, 45 or 50 per cent, of nitro-glycerlne and very powerful. Bowles had asked him if there was any danger in handling it, and was thereupon fully instructed in its use. When Bowles visited Noblesville he was in the habit of stopping at the house of a man named Sapper, who lived a mile and a half from the town. Thomas Jester, who also lived with Sapper, was called to the stand and told of Bowles’ visits. He swore that on one occasion Bowles boasted in his presence that he was “going over to Creston, lowa, to raise a little h 1 among the boys.” Kirk Howe was the last of the damaging witnesses from Indiana. He is a clerk in a store at West/leld. He positively identified Bowles as the man to whom he had sold eight sticks of “D" dynamite some six weeks ago. He described accurately how he packed the dynamite and the fuse in a wooden candy-box and delivered it to Bowles. He examined one of the cartridges captured with the three men on July 5, and said it was the same in appearance as that sold by him. Sensational evidence is anticipated as the examination progresses. No new arrests are anticipated for the present.

THE FIVE DEFENDANTS.

SMITH AND KELLY, THE “SQUEALERS.”