INVESTIGATING THE DYNAMITE OUTRAGE
TWO WITNESSES EXAMINED

      A Coroner's jury, was Impaneled yesterday morning and began an inquiry into the deaths of John and Ed. Collier and Henry Morris, the three men who were killed at an early hour Monday morning by a dynamite explosion in a house near the High Top Copper Mining Company's mines in Greene county on the Blue Ridge Mountains. The testimony of two witnesses was heard and the Inquest was adjourned until 10 o'clock Saturday morning. Excitement runs high in the neighborhood. The theory that the tragedy might have been due to so accident is losing ground, and the suspicion that the men lost their lives as the result of a malicious plot is rapidly growing into a fixed conviction in the minds of many. The victims have not been buried and it is feared that the funerals may attract a large crowd and the obsequies result in a clash between the friends of the deceased and the friends of those to whom suspicion in said to point.

      Dr. E. D. Davis, of Stanardsville, the Greens County Coroner, arrived at the mines Shortly after 10 o'clock yesterday and proceeded to impanel the jury of inquest which was composed of Cleveland Jarrell, Zirkle Blakey, Erasmus Dean, James A. Blakey, Alonzo Herndon and Ed. H Mondy - all well known residents of Stanardsville. After viewing the mutilated remains of the victims, whose bodies had been blown in various directions and for a great distance from the scene of the explosion, and examining such portions its remained a of the building wherein the men were housed, and the saw mill and the large Peerless engine which stood near by, the jury proceeded with the hearing of evidence.

      The first witness examined was a man a named Roach. The testimony of Mr. Roach threw little or no light on the cause of the disaster and his examination was not prolonged.

      Dr. E. W. Sims, of Stanardsville, the next and only other witness examined, testified chiefly as to the character of their injuries received by the dead men, as revealed by an examination of their mangled bodies. His examination was chiefly for the purpose of complying with the requisite legal formalities and did not tend to throw any light on the cause of the tragedy.

      At the conclusion of Dr. Sims' examination, Coroner Davis adjourned the inquest until 10 o'clock Saturday morning, when it will be resumed at the mines, unless in the mean time a change is made in the program.

      So far as can be ascertained with any degree of definiteness the cause of the explosion remains unsolved. Rumors are rife, however, and developments, it is said, may be expected at any time. The accident theory has practically been abandoned and the consensus of opinion is that the men lost their lives as the result of a diabolical plot.

      The scene of the outrage is in a mountainous region that is not a great distance from a section in which bitter feuds and violent murders were at one time not in frequent. The locality, nevertheless, has been a quiet one for some years past, but Monday's fatality has stirred it as it has not been stirred for a long time. It will not be surprising if serious clashes occur at any time.

      Since the High Top Copper Mining Company has begun the development of mineral rights in the locality considerable feeling has cropped up against the company, in spite of the fact that it has furnished labor at remunerative wages to many of the natives. Many who are in possession of property for which the company holds title deeds are fearful of being ousted and resent the operations of the industry as an invasion. This condition is cited by some as an explanation for Monday's occurrence.

      Others who claim to be familiar with the situation say that mountain fires destroyed considerable fencing and other property last fall and that many of the natives who suffered thereby took up the idea that S. D. Brown, as principal owner in the Company, was responsible for their losses.

      Mr. Brown and his company have their friends in the mountains as well as those who look with disfavor upon them. The section known as Bacon's Hollow, which is at no great distance from the mines, has furnished the company a considerable quota of laborers. These men are said to look with greater favor on the enterprise than many of the residents of the immediate neighborhood. In years gone , by the two sections were none too friendly, and the conditions now existing, especially since the calamity of Monday, are said to have become much strained.

      It is not known when the funerals of the victims will be held. It has been suggested that they should all take place at one time, one service sufficing for the three, but it is feared that in the event the attendance would be immense and that if trouble of any sort occurred bloodshed might result.

      Mr. S. D. Brown is not at the mines. He is in New York City, where he has been for the past ten days. News of the explosion has been communicated to him over long distance phone, and he has expressed profound regret at Monday's awful loss of life. Wednesday, March 8, 1905