“At that time did you know there was any import attached to the word?”—“I did not.”
“When did you next hear of it?”—“The next afternoon Balthazar Rau asked me if the word was in the paper. I said: ‘Yes.’ He asked me if I knew the meaning. I said: ‘No.’ Then he said: ‘The armed section had a meeting last night and adopted the word ‘Ruhe’ as a signal to keep their powder dry and be in readiness in case the police precipitated a riot.’ I asked if that had anything to do with the meeting I was to address at the Haymarket, and he said: ‘Oh, no; that’s something the boys got up themselves.’ I said it was very foolish, that it was not rational, and asked if there was no way in which it could be undone. Rau then went to see the people of the armed section and told them the word was put in by mistake.”
“Were you a member of the armed section?”—“No, not for six year.”
“Did you ever have dynamite and a fuse in your desk?”—“Yes, I had two packages of giant powder and some fuse in my desk for two years. I had them chiefly to show to reporters, they bothered me a good deal. They always wanted some sensation. Then, too, I wanted the dynamite to study it; I had read a great deal about explosives.”
“Do you know anything about a package of dynamite found on the shelf in the closet of the Arbeiter Zeitung?”—“Ab-so-lute-ly nothing.”
“Do you know anything about a revolver that was found in the Arbeiter Zeitung office?”—“No. I do not. I carried a revolver myself, but it was a good one.”
“Did you carry a revolver?”—“Yes. I always thought it was a good thing to be prepared. I was out late at night a good deal.”
“Did you have a revolver that night?”—“No, it was too heavy. I left it with ex-Ald. Frank Stauber.”
“You were arrested May 5?”—“Yes.”
“Tell us how.”—“Well, an officer—James Bonfield, I think—came to my office and asked for Schwab. He said Chief Ebersold would like to see him. Schwab asked me if he should go. I said yes, he might. Then the officer turned to me and asked me if my name was Spies. I said yes. Then he said Superintendent Ebersold would like to see me about that affair of last night. I went over there, unsuspectingly. I was never so treated before in all my life.”