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# LOSES SIX HUNDRED. A Topeka Boy's Money and Clothing Burned At the Explosion at Blossburg, New Mexico. Narrow Escape From Death - The Starvation Wages Paid Miners- Lawlessness Breeding on Parsimony. The following interview with W. H. Caldwell, of 820 North Harrison street, gives the facts of the blowing up and burning of the store owned by the Blossburg, New Mexico, Mercantile Co., of which C. M. Higginson, is president, A. Douglas, manager, and E. Wilder, treasurer. This store is located at the coal mining town of Blossburg, six miles west of Raton, in Colfax county. Mr. Caldwell's son, Robert, went out there some two or more years ago, when the store was first established by C. J. Devlin, and has been there as an em- ploye ever since, mines having passed from the direct control of the Santa Fe Railroad company, to the control of the Maxwell Land Grant company, under the direct control of the above named officials. Being in constant communica- tion with his son, Mr Caldwell has been kept informed about matters at Bloss- burg, through letters written by him, and has known for some time that trou- ble was likely to occur there at any mo- ment. A Journal reporter visited Mr. Cald- well at the office of the receivers of the Investment Trust company, in the Real Estate building and drew from him the facts as gleaned by him from recent telegrams and letters, as follows: "Mr. Caldwell, will you give me some facts relative to the trouble at Bloss- burg, as briefly noted in last evening's Journal?" "Yes, sir, I can speak quite advisedly about it, and will read you some para- graphs from my son's letters. Some time last week Frank Woodard, fuel inspector for the Santa Fe, now residing at Trinidad, was here and visited my family. He told us that trouble was likely to occur at Blossburg, because the coal miners were very restless on account of short work and being stirred up by traveling agitators. He also re- counted to me the scene that occurred some time ago when one of these agi- tators came there and made a violent anarchistic speech. In a day or two after this we received a letter, dated September 5, 1897, from my son, Robert who is employed at the store, and I'll read you this paragraph. 'Mr. Wiggs expected to open the works about the 15th or 20th of this month (September), then the men will have work four or five days a week: if he doesn't we will have to defend ourselves and the company property againse mobs. The people are desper- ate. They are positively destitute and have not even enough to live on in a strike so they dare not strike. Some time ago an agitator came here and spoke in the street. His first words were: 'Save your pennies and buy a gun, pawn your shoes and socks and buy a gun-get a gun if you have to steal one!' Then he rounded out the most infamous anarchistic speech that was ever delivered anywhere, saying, among other things, 'Start with the President at Washington and kill him. Then come down to your senate and house of representatives and shoot them down! Don't let one escape! If you do you are cowards. When you have finished them come to Raton and kill every member of the Maxwell Land Grant company. Then come here to Blossburg, your home, where you see your wives and children starving be- cause the company store won't trust you for something for them to eat. Get some dynamite and blow up the store, but first take all you want out of it- it is yours, they stole it from you and if you haven't got sense enough to steal it back you ought to starve. Steal all you want from the company store then blow the thing into eternity and string every operator in it to the first pole you come to.' "That very night they learned for the first time, of the existence in Blossburg, of an anarchistic organization of over 100 members, calling themselves The Iron Brotherhood. They held a meeting
