A. I hear of the letter, of course, that was all. No truth in that letter. The letter was forged. I don't know who wrote it. Perhaps I might give a very good guess, and also, about other things. You have a great deal of knowledge that you cannot give legal force to.
Q. You have never been able to ascertain who it was, so as to prove it, who wrote the letter?
A. I was perfectly satisfied in my mind—no, I have never been able to prove it, but the time will come, undoubtedly, that I shall, and a good many other things, too.
Q. Did you find out what motive induced or actuated the man to send it?
A. It was, undoubtedly, a desire at the time—the men knew, and were perfectly well aware that our men were, for the time being, just terrorized. They knew, as well as I did, that if I could get our iron company men to work, the thing would stop, therefore it was necessary to drive them out to prolong the strike. For the same reason the Pennsylvania Coal Company's head-house was burnt.
Q. How many men did your company employ?
A. I think we have got about eighteen hundred or two thousand. I think there is about sixteen or seventeen hundred signatures on the pay-roll, and a great many of them draw pay for their children—two or three—sometimes. I suppose we have probably employed somewhere in the neighborhood of seventeen or eighteen hundred.
Q. Boys employed?
A. To a very large extent, boys who are under eighteen or twenty give their pay to their parents. Their parents draw it for them. My impression is, there is a law by which a parent can take the child's pay under age. I think they do draw it, though in many cases they do not do it. Their parents are paid.
Q. That includes the miners?