11
tttr rn-TVfJ OREGOXIAX. FRIDAY, .APRIL, 5, 1912.
HICKS INSISTS HE
SHOT IN DEFENSE
Wortman Reaching for Pocket j
After Personal Attack, i
Says Defendant.
, - - " ' ' f
' : ,
CLOSING fflCiOTHING
FEAR OF DEATH RELATED
Man on Trial -for M order Says He
Thought He MoM Shoot or We.
Threats by Picket Are
Part of Testimony.
Testlfyln In his own behalf yester
day. Burt Hlcka. accused of the mur
der of W. A. Wortman. declared that he
hot and killed the onion machinist and
plcketer while defending himself from
a ferocious attack, and that he did not
lire the fatal shot until after Wortman
had reached bis hand towards a side
pocket.
He said that he Instantly felt certain
that Wortman was reaching for a
weapon, and there swept over him a
reeling that either he must die or kill
his assailant.
"I reached into my left-hand Inside
coat pocket." said the prisoner, "and
drew the revolver. I pressed It up
close against his side and the shot was
nred. I saw him stumble back towards
the door with his hand on his side, and
knew In a dazed sort of way that he
was probably badly hurt. I did not de
vote my attention to him altos-ether,
though, as I was expecting attack from
the other pickets and stood glancing
around In all directions. The revolver
I held In my hand at my side."
Words With Dim rteealled.
The defendant declared that O. B.
Raser, the picket captain, said to him:
You killed that man: you're a mur
derer." or words to that effect, and that
he answered: I didn't. Tour pickets
can't beat me up." All other witnesses
who overheard the exchange between
Raser and Hicks. Including those called
by the defense, have been unanlmoua
In testifying- that Hicks' retort to Ra
ser was: "I did not: he Insulted me;
he called me a scab-herder."
I was standing In the alcove at thfevj
entrance or the shoe department of the
Markell store when Wortman. Raser
and another picket came a Ions;." aald
Hicks In his narrative. I did not aee
them until they were within five or six
feet of me. Then I heard one of them
ray "Look, there he la.' and apply a vile
name. Wortman said something; about
a scab-herder and rushed at me. throw
Ins; me back several feet Into the alcove
and knocking- my hat off. I shoved him
hack and told him several times to go
away and let me alone.
Wertaaaa Itaeaea, Says Hleka.
"Paring no attention to my words, he
rushed me a as In and my back went
aralnst the west glass of the alcove
with a crash. He closed In on me and
pinned my left hand down tight aralnst
my side. When his hand went towards
hie coat pocket I was certain that my
last hour had come. I was sure that he
had a weapon and meant to kill me."
The witness told his story In a calm
and quiet tone, breaking; down and cry
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THOMPSON
209-10-11 Corbett Building,
6th and Morrison."
Inr only when he told of e-olnr to the i
back of the store and calling his wife
up over the telephone to tell her what
had happened. He exhibited aome emo
tion when Mr. afalarkey was aues
tlontnr him about his gradual rise by
"era won irom a journeyman machin
ist to a shop owner, but at na time did
he attempt the dramatic. He had never
r-een arrested In his life before, he de
elared. and never, either as boy or man.
had he engaged In phyalcal combat
with anyone.
Growtfe of lislit Related.
The defendant testified that he Is It
years of age and that he has lived
in rortiami since Ills, with the
ceptlon of four years nassed In Ran
Francisco during- a dull period la this
city. He was In the California city
irom nit to ins. He had been born
in mw Hampshire and left school
wnen i years or age. later supple
menting his education by attending
nini acnooia. in ! he had atarted
his first shop and for a time be was
tne only workman. This was at I0
i oiumDIa street. Business mv snd
he moved to the corner of Raat Water
.treat and Hawthorne avenue and be
came able to give employment to two
and three men. In 1101 be moved his
snop to tne present location, at the
corner of East Third and East Oak
streets. a
Hicks said that he employs from four
10 six macninista. a blacksmith and
two or three -apprentices and up till
the time of his arrest on the night of
the killing. November J, 1111. had al
ways been In personal charge of the
shop, often working with the men. He
had never asked a man who sought
employment whether or not he be
longed to the union and dM not dis
criminate between union and nonunion
men. his only requirement being that
the employes attend to business and
show an Interest In the welfare of the
establishment- Ho paid I! 10 for nloe
hours, he said, but when he found a
man who kept his lathes elean and
demonstrated that hla heart was In his
work his pay went up to IJ.71 a day.
Letter Cssaia Proas t'atea.
His own men bad never -come to him
asking for more pay or shorter hours,
the witness declared, but he had re
ceived a letter from someone claiming
to represent the union apprising him of
the demand for higher wagee and eight
hnura a day. He bad paid no atten
tion to the communication, not even
mentioning to hla employes that he had1
received It.
"Ton wera rather rough spoken with
your awn. weren't yoar Special
Prosecutor Davis asked on cross-examination.
"Rough bark often covers one
grained wood." answered the defend
ant. "I suppose I dM cues' there some
once In a while."
He aald that the acta of violence
and the rough and abualve language of
the ptcketers preyed on his mind and
that he came to believe that his lire
was In danger. He had gone to Cap
tain Baty, of the police department af
ter two of his men. Dennis and Conn,
had been badly beaten, the latter being
left unconscious on the street and be
ing unable to resume his work for
weeks, and had asked permission to
carry a revolver. The police official
had Intimated, that he would not be
arrested If be did so.
Pear of Pickets Held.
The picketers had seldom addressed
him. he said, but he had often been
followed and he became Imbued with
tn fear that a plot was on foot to
murder him. Tbla fear cauaed him to
- cut down the weeds en a lot adjoining
his bouse belonging to some other per
son and to put a strong bolt on the
woo! lift door In his kitchen. This was
to make certain that no person could
get to the main part of the house by
meana of the woodllft after gaining
entrance to the basement through a
loor leading directly from tbe out
side. Special Prosecutor Davis sought to
ridicule his fears on cross-examination.
He asked the defendant If he
hadn't really cut down the weeds be
cause they were unsightly.
"No, sir." anawered the witness. "If
I hadn't been ahown that letter threat
ening to dynamite our shops and mur
der the ahop proprietors and the men;
if Victor Nealond hadn't told me that
I would be shot; and If Raser hadn't
told Paul Stewart that some morning
they would find me lying cold and not
known what had happened to me. the
weeda would never have been cut."
Hick's Has Two Itevelvers.
Nealond and Raser are striking ma
chinists, the latter being the picket
captain and Stewart, an apprentice In
the Hicks' shop, la a relatlvs of Raser's
wife and was formerly a frequent vis
itor at Raser's home, according to
the teatlmony.
The defendant admitted on cross
examination that he had a .3t-callber
Colt revolver at his home on the night
of the shooting. He said that he waa
carrying tbe automatic becauae he was
sometimes out late at night and need
ed It for protection.
"Yee. but It waa onl i o'clock Jn
the afternoon when you were rfolng
home that day. wasn't It?" Private
Prosecutor Davla aaked.
Hlcka then said that he 'couldn't ex
actly say what had prompted him to
put the gun In his pocket when leaving
the shop on the afternoon of the homi
cide. He said that he probably car
ried the two extra clips containing
seven cartridges each. which- were
found on him. becauae he wished to
keep the weapon and all articles per
taining to It together.
State Holds Remark Iaapartaat
On direct examination Hlcka said
that he turnei) around and made a dirty
remark to a couple of pickets wro ad
dressed him a few minutes prior to the
homicide, as be was walking tovards
Grand avenue, on East Morrison street.
Mr. Davts aaked a great many ques
tions about this remark, striving to
leave the Impression that a man who
was frightened aa badly as the defend
ant declares he waa would not have
dared to make such a statement prac
tically In the midst or 20 or 10 pick
eta.
That ho often got up at night and
looked out the window. Imagining that
he heard noises and fearing that the
plcketa were around hla houae and
might dynamite or burn it, was another
statement of the defendant. He said
also that on one occasion the pickets
had appeared at his plant to the num
ber of li after It had been 'tipped" off
to him that they had made statements
that they Intended to 'eatroy hla shop
that night. Five or six policemen
were on hand and nothing happened.
Mrs. Hicks preceded her. husband on
the witness stand and told of the cut
ting of the weeds, the placing of the
bolt on the woodllft and other precau
tions taken by her husband to guard
against possible assault. His manner
had changed completely since the strike
commenced, she said. Previously he had
been bright and cheerful, but be be
came morose and gloomy. He had of
ten spoken to her of his fear of the
pickets.
- Firearms Experts Testify.
At the night session A. E. King and
Joseph Williams went on the stand aa
experts on firearms. After the coat
and vest worn by Wortman had been
exhibited to them, they testified that
the bullets must have been fired
with the muzzle of the weapon
not more than a half Inch from.
and probably much closer to. Wort
man's coat They bad made - ex
periments with an automatic pistol
similar in every way to that used by
Hicks and had uaed exactly the aame
kind of cartridges. The coat would not
have been torn around the hole made
by the bullet or powder-burned had
the gun been further away than that
described, they declared.
Thla tenda to bear out the statement
of the defendant that the bullet waa
fired when the mussle ot the pistol was
pressed close to Wortman's aide and
to discredit the testimony of witnesses
for the state. O. B. Raser and H. L.
Born, who declared that the mussle of
the weapon waa at least two feet
away from the body of Wortman.
Both witnesses admitted that, until
aaked to experiment for the purpose
of testifying at thla trial, they had
never sought to ascertain the effect
of bullets fired Into cloth. Neither
knew anything about cloth. They had
tied a vest over a sack filled . with
straw In experimenting and did not
know whether the effect would have
been different had a real man . been
Inside the vest. Special Prosecutor
Davis succeeded In making unpleasant
King's stay on the atand during cross-
examination. Judge Oatens ruled that
the evidence of tha two men could be
considered by the jury for "what It
la worth."
Attorney Malarkey announced that
the defense would conclude the In
troduction of testimony this morning.
Special Prosecutor Davis says that he
probably will require three or four days
for rebuttal.
Evans Meeting Postponed.
The meeting arranged for Walter H.
Evans. Republican candidate for Dis
trict Attorney, at St. Johns last night.
was not held. The meeting has been
Doatponed until some night next week.
probably Wednesday, when the many
friends of Mr. Evana In that populous
suburb promise him an enthusiastic
reception. Mr. Evana will conduct an
active campaign until tbe day of election.
MEN OF PORTLAND:
There is a law in the statute books of
Oregon, making it unlawful to publish
- : : ; j fraudulent advertising:. Ihis law is
quoted in full right here. Statements made in this advertisement are made with full.knowl
edge of the provisions of this law. You will readily understand, therefore, that these words are
HERE'S THE LAW:
FALSE STATEMENT IN ADVERTISEMENTS.
Section No. 2230 Lord's Oregon Law.
Any person, who in a newspaper or other periodical,
on in public advertisement, or by letter 'or by circular
knowingly makes or disseminates any statement or as
sertion concerning the quantity, the quality, the values,
the price, the method of producing or manufacture of
his merchandise or professional work, or the manner or
source of purchase of such merchandise, or the motive
or purpose of any sale, which is untrue or calculated to'
mislead, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not
less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00, or by imprison
ment in the county jail not exceeding twenty days, or by
both such fine and imprisonment. (L. 1909, c. 104, p.
164.) .
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everywhere all colors and all patterns all sizes absolutely new
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JDSSELYH IS SPEAKER
POSITION OF TRANSPORTATION
LINES SET FORTH.
Persons at Club Luncheon Told Ore
gon's Prosperity Depends on
Railroads' Success.
Oregon's prosperity Is dependent
largely upon the prosperity of the rail
roads In Oregon, said B. S. Josselyn.
president of the Portland Railway,
Light aV Power Company, at the week
ly meeting; of the Transportation Club
at the Imperial Hotel yesterday. He
urged his bearers, of which there were
more than 100. to explain to the people
of the atate the Important position oc
cupied by the transportation compa
nies and the necessity of maintaining
laws on the statute books that will not
be detrimental to their successful operation.
I do not believe that you are fully
aware," he said, "of the fact that out
of the $S0,000,000 worth of assessable
pnperty In the state of Oregon In
1911, I170.964.989 waa assessed against
tbe transportation companies. Of this
amount $31,000,000 was against elec
tric railways, and 125.000,000 against
the company I represent. It follows,
then, that one-fifth of the burden of
maintaining the official status of the
state of Oregon Is placed upon the
transportation companies that Is.
they pay one-fifth of the taxes. In
reality they psy more, for there are
special assessments In the way of pav
ing, rentals of bridges, franchises and
corporation taxes and other forms of
obtaining money for the support of the
government. If the entire amount
were counted. It would be a huge one,
Indeed. Therefore. In case you have
occasion to speak with regard to what
the transportation companlea do for
Oregon, keep in mind thla thought:
That of every 5 paid In support of
the state and county government, $1
comes from the transportation compa
nies, i
"If we took this sort of reasoning
into account and applied It to the pop
ulation of the state. In other words. If
the assessed valuation corresponded
with the population, then every fifth
person is working for a transportation
company. That would make the num
ber of employes In the state of Oregon
engaged In transportation something
like 170.000. But of course It Is less
than ,hls number, and while there are
no statistics at hand upon the subject,
I am told that the number of employes
engaged In transportation work in
Oregon will total 20.000. Of this 20,000
nearly all are voters; and inasmuch as
we have 125.000 voters in the state of
Oregon, you can say that 18 per cent
of them gain their livelihood In work
similar to that in which you and I are
engaged. I bring out these facts to
show you the Importance of your posi
tion as transportation employes In re
lation to the welfare of the state.
"Therefore, It Is quite Important to
you that the concern for which you
work secures justice at the hands of
the people, and I mean by Justice an
equitable and fair treatment. No one
engaged In the railroad business ex
pects to receive from the people more
than he is Justly entitled to. I have a
great regard for the good sense of th
people of this city and state, and I
have the utmost confidence In. the In
tegrity of its citizenship."
W. T. Buchanan, publicity director
of the Portland Railway, Light & Pow
er Company, presided. H. E. Vernon,
general agent for the Santa Fe, will
be chairman of the meeting next week.
and W. D. Fenton, attorney for the
Southern Pacific, will be the principal
speaker.
The club will hold a smoker Friday
night, April 19, at which time the pri
mary election returns will be road.
IF you are -contemplating the opening of a bank
account or a change in your present banking ar
rangements the officers in this bank will be pleased
to explain to you in detail the facilities and service
we have to offer, in addition to assuring you of a
personal interest in your success and welfare.
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Washington and Second Sts.