COLORADO. 



135 



mines: tin- managers refused on the ground that 

 they could not afford it : and after months of fruit- 

 less efforts to come to an adjustment, these minors, to 

 the number of 800 or more, were ordered out l>y the 

 union. The strike extended to 10 or 12 properties. 



On June 23. 5 mines, which had been paying $3 

 to their men. were closed by the managers for an 

 indefinite period, swelling the number of idle miners 

 to about 1.600. and ultimately as many as o.OOO were 

 involved. Some nonunion men were employed in 

 the course of the summer, but the strikers kept a 

 close watch to prevent any such from entering the 

 town. Sept. 21 the trouble culminated in a riot in 

 which the attacking miners used dynamite, and 

 hundreds of shots were fired. Six men were killed 

 and as many more were wounded, and the works at 

 the Coronado mine, which was working with non- 

 union men, were laid in ashes. More than 1,000 of 

 the State militia were in Leadville the next day, 

 and troops were kept there for months. Martial 

 law was proclaimed Sept. 23. There were frequent 

 skirmishes between the militia and the strikers, but 

 without serious results. 



According to the muster roll. Xov. 22. the guard 

 consisted of 735 uniformed soldiers, including of- 

 ficers, and about 300 ununiformed emergency men. 

 The Cloud City Miners' Union issued an address to 

 Gov. Mclntyre and the people of Denver, in which 

 they said : "The miners of the union are anxious 

 for an amicable settlement of this trouble. They 

 opened the field of this immensely productive dis- 

 trict. The made it possible for millionaires to arise 

 from it. They have in it the interest of their day's 

 pay. bread and meat, shelter and clothing for 

 themselves and their humble dependents. Others 

 have in it the interest of rapidly accumulating for- 

 tunes. The miners are ready and willing to enter- 

 tain and consider any reasonable proposition look- 

 ing toward a settlement. They will meet the 

 operators in a spirit of fairness and justice. They 

 can not, of course, consent to the destruction of the 

 union, for that is the bulwark of their safety. Neither 

 can they consent to perform their hard and ex- 

 haustive labor, undergo its constant hardships, and 

 face its manifold dangers for less wages than will 

 supply them with the necessities of life." 



Disasters. A terrible explosion of gas took 

 place Feb. 18 in the Vulcan coal mine, near New- 

 castle, probably the greatest mine disaster that has 

 ever occurred 'in the State. The number of lives 

 lost was about 50. The buildings and trestle at the 

 mouth of the slope were completely wrecked, a hole 

 100 feet square was carved out of the hillside at the 

 mouth of the incline, while timbers 2 feet square 

 were blown into the Grand river 100 feet away. 

 The mine was examined by the State inspector, 

 Feb. 8, and pronounced in better condition than it 

 had ever been before. 



A wind storm swept over some parts of the State, 

 April 12. accompanied by snowfall. The damage 

 was especially severe at Cripple Creek, where many 

 buildings were blown down, trees broken, bent, and 

 carried long distances, and tents and loose lumber 

 carried away. 



Cripple Creek was visited, April 25, by a dis- 

 astrous fire, which destroyed the main portion of 

 the business section 4 "entire blocks, including 

 the post office, 2 banks, the stock exchange, the 

 opera house, 2 theaters, 2 hotels, the Gold Mining 

 Exchange, and 2 churches. Estimates by insurance 

 adjusters place the loss at $950,000, with insurance 

 of 'about $250,000. On April 29 another fire de- 

 stroyed nearly all that was left from the first. 

 Three persons were killed by explosions of dyna- 

 mite used in the attempt to prevent the spread of 

 the fire, and nearly a score were injured. The loss 

 was greater than that by the first fire, being placed 



at $1,320,000, but the buildings were more heavily 

 insured. 



Great loss of life and property resulted from a 

 cloudburst and floods in Hear Creek canon. July 24. 

 Many cottagers and campers from Denver and 

 other places wen; spending the summer in the 

 valley. As many as 30 lives were lost : among 

 these' were 3 families of children, who with their 

 mothers were spending the summer together at a 

 cottage on the bank of the creek near Morrison. 



Decision. The Supreme Court of the United 

 States, on April 27. gave a construction of the act 

 of June s. 1S72. relating to what is known as"Chip- 

 pewa half-breed scrip." confirming the policy of 

 the general land ollice, which construed the law to 

 permit the location of the scrip upon land either in 

 the limits of the reservation made to the Chippewas 

 or upon land within the public domain. 



Political. A convention of Democrats for the 

 purpose of choosing delegates to the national con- 

 vention was held in Denver, April 15. The resolu- 

 tions dealt only with the silver question, declaring 

 as follows : 



"Believing that the evils that now oppress the 

 people are the direct result of a departure from the 

 true principles of Democracy; that the policy in- 

 augurated by the Republican party for the contrac- 

 tion of the currency, and for many years continued 

 by it to the gradual and certain impoverishment 

 of the people, in the face of a steadfast opposition 

 from the Democratic party, but adopted and ap- 

 proved by the political administration, has resulted 

 in the creation of an enormous bonded debt in a 

 period of profound peace, visiting a deadly blight 

 on every industry and carrying discouragement and 

 dismay 'into the household of every wealth producer 

 in the land ; that there never can be a condition of 

 general welfare until the volume of a sound and 

 stable currency is equal to the demand of industrial 

 and commercial pursuits: that the first step in this 

 direction should be the immediate restoration of 

 silver to the place it occupied in the currency of the 

 world for centuries previous to ls;:j 



" \Ve therefore favor the immediate restoration of 

 the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at 

 the present legal ratio of 16 to 1. as such coinage 

 existed prior to 1873. without waiting for the aid or 

 consent of any other nation, such gold and silver to 

 be a full legal tender for all debts, public and 

 private." 



Delegates were chosen with the understanding 

 that they were to bolt the national convention 

 unless it should declare for free silver. 



The convention for nomination of State officers 

 prepared the following ticket, Aug. 20 : For Gov- 

 ernor, Alva Adams; Lieutenant Governor, James 

 M. Ellis: Secretary of State. C. H. S. Whipple; 

 Treasurer, Olney Newell; Auditor. W. W. Rowan: 

 Attorney-General. A. L. Moses: Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction. Miss Grace E. Patton ; Regents 

 of the University, Oliver J. Pfeiffer and M. J. 

 Hogarty. 



Early in the year it was proposed by Republic- 

 ans to delay the State convention until after the 

 national convention, allowing the State committee 

 to select the delegates to the national convention, 

 since it was felt that the State could not be held for 

 the party without a silver plank in the national 

 platform", and that the ticket would be defeated, as 

 it was in 1892. when the People's party candidate 

 'was elected by reason of the silver agitation ; while. 

 if the State convention should be delayed, it could 

 then declare for the nominees of the party favoring 

 free coinage, and thus leave the State ticket to go 

 on its own merits. A convention was, however, 

 held at Pueblo. May 14. though the State ticket was 

 not then nominated. A letter was received from 



