—————
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday July 3, 1921
From Leavenworth Penitentiary – Letter from Fellow Worker John L. Murphy
Fellow Worker John L. Murphy
From The Liberator of July 1921:
March 22nd, 1921.
THERE are some facts I would like to blot out from memory, but I cannot. Had you layed in Sacramento jail as I did, and seen your comrades dying all around you and seen them losing their reason from the inhuman treatment they were receiving, you too would want to blot it from your memory.
On Dec. 22nd, 1917, fifty-five workingmen from all walks of life were sitting in the Industrial Workers of the World hall at Sacramento, California, reading. Some of these men were members of the organization and others were not. Most of them had just come in from their work, and were sitting there reading. When without any warning the police drove up, and with drawn guns rushed into the hall and made everybody put up their hands. After finding nothing more dangerous than a red card, they then loaded every man of them into the patrol wagon and unloaded them in a drink tank at the city jail.
This tank or cell was just about 18×22, with a little barred window that let in a faint ray of daylight. Some of these men were members of the organization, others were not. All of them were migratory workers. Maybe two or three were not. I am not sure now. You see, I want to be careful to the very word to tell the truth, because the truth will always stand. It mattered not to those in charge anyway what they were. Now let me tell you what happened right in the very heart of California, and in the heart of Sacramento. These men were each handed an old wornout vermin-infested blanket so dirty that the smell would knock you down, and in this cage or cell without a bed to lay on these fifty-five men layed for sixty-five days in the middle of winter.
I don’t want anybody to think I am exaggerating as to the true facts. I don’t have to. They had to take turns at laying down. There was one toilet for all, and that was out of order. No chance to take a bath, nor were they allowed to take a shave. There they layed day after day. Not a friend was allowed to see them. Not having the chance to bathe, soon they were swarming with vermin. Their beards grew long and they grew weaker day by day. Two went insane, one kept trying to kill himself. They did take this man out after a while. All these men had money, and one of those in charge agreed to buy food if the men would pay for it, which they gladly did, because they were starving at the time. When the food arrived, others in charge of the jail would not let them have it. What I tell you now is almost too much to believe. They set the food just beyond their reach outside of their cell or cage, “and let it rot.” Soon the smell was unbearable from the rotting food. But those brave men in charge of the jail only laughed and said it was too good for them.
The men soon became more like wild beasts than men. No words can describe their sufferings. Their beards had grown so long and they were so thin. They were a sight to behold. At the end of sixty-five days they were turned into a county jail where it was some better, because they could now take a bath. But let me tell you, almost a year later, some of these very men, still not half their former self, sat in the court room, and when the judge gave the most of them ten years, they just received the sentence with a laugh of scorn and, on the impulse of the moment, with clear ringing voices, started to sing solidarity forever. It was a wonderful show of solidarity. They had not made any plans to do this. But their true feelings broke loose. It was sure grand, and they then walked out of the court house singing Hold the Fort. After all the long months we had lain in the filthy jails, we now knew we were going to where we could at least keep clean and, if sick, get treatment.
There is so much to say about this holy justice, I get ahead of my story. I will now let you know how these men were released from their 18×22 cage in the city jail. One little woman, sick herself, moved by the sufferings of these men, went before the court and with tears in her eyes pleaded for the very lives of these men. She told the court what was going on right under its very nose. She told them of the shame of it. She told them not to forget that this was America they were living in, too. What was her reward for this? Let me tell you; she was indicted with the rest of us. They even had to show their spite on one poor weak and sick little woman who had pleaded with tears in her eyes in the name of justice and humanity to save the lives of these men.
I was arrested just after these men were turned out of this hell hole, and turned into the county jail. I arrived at the time in the county jail myself. Never will I forget the sight of those men. They had fell away to nothing. Later on the flu struck Sacramento. These men in their weakened condition were soon victims. One by one they died, till five had passed away. They would not even let us have a doctor, till at the expense of the organization [I. W. W.] they sent one in to us. We were all sick and were up day and night doing the best we could to take care of those who were in the worst shape. In spite of all we could do five died. Really I don’t know how to describe what we went through at the time of the sickness. It was hell. That is the only way I can describe it. There we were all sick, trying to help the others in worst shape, falling all over ourselves. Nobody could come in to help us, only the department agent.
Get these facts to Washington in letters of protests. This is only a little.
JOHN L. MURPHY, 13586,
Box 7, Leavenworth, Kan.[Emphasis added.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCES
Quote Frank Little re Guts, Chg July 1917
Chaplin, Chapter 18-War, pages 208-9
https://books.google.com/books?id=n-ygPQAACAAJ
The Liberator
(New York, New York)
-July 1921, page 7
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/1921/07/v04n07-w40-jul-1921-liberator.pdf
IMAGE
IWW Sacramento Class War Prisoner John L Murphy,
-Leavenworth, Jan 25, 1919
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/117719377
Note: re date of arrival at Leavenworth, see:
Hellraisers Journal – Monday January 27, 1919
Leavenworth Penitentiary – Fellow Workers Arrive from Sacramento
See also:
Tag: Sacramento IWW Class War Prisoners
https://weneverforget.org/tag/sacramento-iww-class-war-prisoners/
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday March 13, 1921
Leavenworth Federal Prison – Letter from Fellow Worker John L. Murphy
Hellraisers Journal – Friday February 14, 1919
Sacramento, California – Sentence Suspended for
Theodora Pollock, Social Worker Convicted with Sacramento IWWs
WE NEVER FORGET:
The IWW Martyrs of the Sacramento County Jail
Who Died Awaiting Trial, October-November, 1918
The IWW Martyrs of the Sacramento County Jail
Between October 22nd and November 2nd, 1918, five Fellow Workers, members of the Industrial Workers of the World, died of influenza while awaiting trial on Federal Espionage charges.
FW Ed Burns-died October 22nd
FW James Nolan-died October 28th
FW R. J. Blaine-died October 28th
FW H. C. Evans-died October 31st
FW Frank Travis-November 2nd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willard Losinger Performs “I.W.W. Prison Song”
Lyrics by Ralph Chaplin
https://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF045327/00001/1j
