Anarchy and Anarchists: A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the ConspiratorsSchaack, Michael J.
History
Anarchy and Anarchists: A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the Conspirators
I told him that that was all right and asked him into the back yard,
when he said he would talk to me. I made the stranger go ahead of me,
and when we reached the yard the man gave me a long story.
“I dare not,” said he, “write to you. I dare not come near you during
the daytime. I don’t want you to know me, but I think you are the right
man to talk to. I would not talk to anyone else.”
[Illustration: A BACK-YARD INTERVIEW.]
During the whole conversation the man kept his improvised mask on,
and made it clear that his motive in so doing was to prevent the
possibility of his being made to appear in court to verify the
statements he desired to communicate. He gave information mainly
bearing on the conspiracy meeting which had been held on the evening of
May 3, at No. 54 West Lake Street, and the interview lasted until about
three o’clock.
When we parted I was no wiser as to his identity than I had been
before, and to this day I don’t know with whom I talked there in my
back yard that early morning.
In the forenoon of the 9th of May my trusted assistants again met in
the office to compare notes. At this meeting I told Mr. Furthmann what
a ghost I had seen that night, and in our deliberations that ghost
aided us a great deal.
As a result the detectives started out with new instructions, and they
were ordered to be back at the office at one o’clock in the afternoon.
All reported promptly except a few who had struck a good trail and who
kept out until six o’clock. The reports of those present showed good
results. They started out again at two o’clock with new instructions
and were ordered to report as soon as they had completed their work.
Between three and five o’clock that afternoon things became exceedingly
lively. The Anarchists began to move about like hornets disturbed in
their nest, and some jumped around as if charged with electricity.
Towards six o’clock the detectives reported back to the office, and
an exchange of notes showed that it had been a day more fruitful of
results than the day preceding. I found that a strong chain had been
wrought connecting all the leading Anarchists in Chicago with the
Haymarket murder, and I knew that no mistakes had been made in the
arrest of those who had already been locked up.
During the same evening Mr. Grinnell and Mr. George Ingham gave me
a call, and anxiously inquired about the progress made in the case.
Mr. Grinnell assured Mr. Furthmann and myself that Mr. Ingham was all
right, being with them, and with this statement all the facts were laid
before them.
When the whole situation had been explained, Mr. Ingham said:
“Mr. Grinnell, now you have a case.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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