Author: Janet Raye

Hellraisers Journal: Gruesome Story of Vigilante Terror at Beverly Park Told by Everett Prisoners’ Defense Committee

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Thursday January 18, 1917
Seattle, Washington – Pamphlet Tells “Story of Outraged Toilers”

Yesterday we presented one of two pamphlets, published by the Everett Prisoners’ Defense Committee, which told the actually story of events leading up to the Everett Massacre. Today we feature part one of the second pamphlet which tells of the horrific vigilante terror at Beverly Park which preceded that terrible day in Everett, now known far and wide as “Bloody Sunday.”

EVERETT’S BLOODY SUNDAY
———-

THE TRAGEDY THAT HORRIFIED THE WORLD!
———-

A STORY OF OUTRAGED TOILERS
[Part One.]
———-

Everett Massacre, Beverly Park Cattleguard, WCS 1918

Five workingmen killed and thirty wounded! Two deputies dead and sixteen wounded! Such is the tale of disaster that follows in the wake of capitalist administration of “law-and-order.”

And this list of casualties is by no means complete. In the waters of Puget Sound, it is asserted, are many bodies of other working men who perished on that fateful day. Perhaps it will never be known how many gave up their lives for their beliefs on that day of red madness.

And now nearly three hundred workers lie in jail awaiting trial. One hundred and twelve of them have already been selected by the prosecution to face charges of murder. Attempts will doubtless be made to railroad the rest to long terms in the penitentiary.

What was, then, the fearful crime committed by these men? Of what dark deed were they guilty, that they should be thus shot down and hounded to the death-in-life of the jails?

Their crime? Their crime was that of being true to their class. Their crime was that of believing that in America there was still a measure of freedom. Their crime was that of struggling to obtain the right of free speech, that right which is supposedly guaranteed to every one of us under the American Constitution.

It is the duty of every workingman and woman, of every believer in freedom, to look into this matter,-to carefully consider the facts.

What was it, then, that happened in Everett?

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Hellraisers Journal: Pamphlet from Everett Prisoners’ Defense Committee Exposes Events Leading to Massacre

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday January 17, 1917
Everett, Washington – McRae’s Bloody Suppression of Free Speech

Today we present one of two pamphlets, published by the Everett Prisoners’ Defense Committee, which tells the actually story of events leading up to the Everett Massacre. Tomorrow we will feature the second pamphlet which tells the horrific story of that day in Everett now known far and wide as “Bloody Sunday.”

THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE CRIME
OF BLOODY SUNDAY
———-

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE
EVERETT MASSACRE
———-

Industrial Worker, IWW Seattle, Everett Massacre P1, Oct 21, 1916

A review of the activities in Everett prior to the events of Bloody Sunday, Nov. 5, will serve to give a better understanding of that tragedy.

On the First of May, 1916, the Shingle Weavers’ Union called a strike in the Pacific Northwest and by August the strike had been won or called off in practically every place but Everett. In that city the Jameson Mill was the bitterest foe of unionism, and before the mill gates the union maintained twenty pickets.

On Saturday, Aug. 19, the Everett police searched every picket to make sure that they were unarmed; and when that fact was determined, the Jameson Mill owners turned loose their entire bunch of thugs and scabs upon the defenseless men. The pickets were unmercifully beaten.

That night there was another clash between the pickets and the scabs, who were aided by the police. In the melee, one union man was shot in the leg.

No attempt had been made by the city to stop I. W. W. speakers from speaking on the streets until after the Shingle Weavers’ strike had been on for some time. James P. Thompson had spoken in Everett several times during the winter and spring of 1916.

James Rowan was arrested on, or about, August 2nd, on a trumped-up charge of selling literature without a license. He was given 30 days, with the choice of leaving town. He chose to leave town. He was not told how long he was to remain away from town and he afterwards came back. This was the first attempt on the part of the authorities to suppress Free Speech. They were not so boldly ruthless at first; they used the absurd pretext of charging absence of a license when selling literature.

On August 19, the I. W. W. opened a headquarters at 1219½ Hewitt Avenue, but made no attempt to hold street meetings. A large number of workers in Everett were very desirous of hearing James P. Thompson speak and therefore asked the Seattle locals to arrange a meeting for him in Everett. The date was accordingly set for August 22nd, and the meeting was to be held at the corner of Hewitt and Wetmore Avenues, the usual place for street meetings. On Monday, Aug. 21, the police notified L. Remick, who was in charge of the hall, to close up the place or he would be arrested on charge of vagrancy. Remick closed the hall up and came to Seattle on Tuesday morning. The members of the Seattle locals felt that there would be no interference with the Thompson meeting and decided to go ahead with it.

On Tuesday night as scheduled the meeting took place. Thompson was arrested after speaking about 20 minutes. Fifteen police officers were present and in turn they arrested James Rowan and Edith Frenette as they attempted to speak, and after stopping several local speakers the police surrounded 14 other I. W. W. members and marched them off to jail. A delegation of about 800 citizens marched to the jail and expressed their indignation at the high-handed actions of the police. The prisoners, with the exception of Rowan and Beck, were deported to Seattle without any legal process having been taken. Rowan and Beck were released later and they remained in Everett. During the balance of the week street meetings were held and there was no trouble of any kind.

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Hellraisers Journal: “Remember the Fifth of November,” by Walker C. Smith, for the International Socialist Review

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Today we pay tribute to the dead.
Tomorrow we turn, with spirit unquellable,
to give battle to the foe!
-Charles Ashleigh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday January 16, 1917
From Seattle, Washington: The Everett Martyrs Remembered

In this month’s edition of the International Socialist Review, Walker C. Smith gives a moving account of the great mass funeral given by the Industrial Workers of the World to honor our fallen fellow workers, Hugo Gerlot, Felix Baran, and John Looney. Gus Johnson and Abraham Rabinowitz are also honored as martyrs. They were buried separately by their families.

Everett Martyrs, Death Masks, ISR, Jan 1917

Remember the Fifth of November

By WALKER C. SMITH

“Do you remember the fifth of November,
With its gunpowder, treason and plot?
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!”

THIS ancient English verse in commemoration of the exploits of Guy Fawkes applies so undeniably well to the operations of the murderous master-class mob on Bloody Sunday at Everett, Wash., that it should be accorded a place among the songs of the social revolution.

Why should we forget that five members of our class were shot down in cold blood by the scab-loving lackeys of the lumber trust on November 5, 1916? Why should we forget that many of our brothers were punctured by the poisonous copper bullets and soft lead slugs from the guns of the open-shop camoristas [camorristas] acting for the commercial clubs on the Pacific coast? Why should we forget that seventy-four stalwarts of labor, absurdly charged with first degree murder, are at the mercy of the half-crazed sheriff of Snohomish county and thirty-four more are imprisoned in the King county bastile on the charge of unlawful assembly? I see no reason why any of these things “should ever be forgot” by the working class.

Felix Baran, Hugo Gerlot, Gus Johnson, John Looney, Abe Rabinowitz-French, German, Swedish, Irish, Jewish—these are the true internationalists who died in the fight for free speech in this “land of liberty.” In the words of Courtenay Lemon, “That the defense of traditional rights to which this government is supposed to be dedicated should devolve upon an organization so often denounced as ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘un-American’ is but the usual, the unfailing irony of history.” The names of those who are martyrs to the cause of free speech will be a source of inspiration to the workers when their cowardly murderers have long been forgotten.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Remember the Fifth of November,” by Walker C. Smith, for the International Socialist Review” →

Hellraisers Journal: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Coming to Seattle to Assists 74 Fellow Workers Jailed in Everett

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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Prison bars do not frighten when
one has truth and right
deep in the heart.
-Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday January 15, 1917
Seattle, Washington – Miss Flynn, of Mesabi Fame, Coming Soon

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn has barely had time to visit her family and her little son in New York City since the long struggle up on the Mesabi Range of northern Minnesota came to a close, when now comes the call from the fellow workers of Washington state for assistance to save the 74 imprisoned free speech fighters locked behind the bars of the Snohomish County Jail on charges of first degree murder. She is preparing to answer that call, and her arrival in the the city of Seattle, where the Everett Prisoners Defense Committee is headquartered, is expected soon. This story and further news regarding the Everett situation can be found below.

From The Seattle Star of January 12, 1917:

ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN
WILL SPEAK HERE
FOR I. W. W.

Everett Massacre, EGF Coming, Stt Star, Jan 12, 1917

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the well known I. W. W. leader, and reputed the best woman labor speaker in America, is coming to Seattle to assist in the campaign for the defense of the 74 men in jail in Everett. Miss Flynn has just concluded a long campaign in Minnesota in connection with the strike of the iron ore miners on the Mesaba Range.

One of the usual subriquets applied to Miss Flynn by her admirers is that of “the Joan of Arc of the Labor Movement.” She has been a speaker in the working class movement since her 15th year and has since become prominent thru her activities in the Lawrence strike, the Paterson, N. J., strike and other great labor upheavals.

Miss Flynn is billed to speak at a meeting at Dreamland on Sunday, the 21st.

A dance in the evening will be given to raise funds for the defense of the accused.

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: Henry Dubb Has No Worries on the Job; the Boss Assumes ALL the Risk

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Sunday January 14, 1917
From the American Socialist: Henry Dubb Works Risk-Free

Henry Dubb by Ryan Walker

Henry Dubb and Boss, The Risks, Ryan Walker, AmSc, Jan 13, 1917

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Hellraisers Journal: Luella Twining Reports From New York on “Frenzy” of Central Federated Union to Save WFM Officials

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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If that is frenzy, I plead guilty
and I notify the Globe
I shall not soon recover.
-Luella Twining

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Sunday January 13, 1907
From the Appeal to Reason: New York Workers Aroused!

Luella Twining of Denver can now be found in New York City assisting in the organization of the defense movement for Comrades Haywood, Moyer and Pettibone by the working men and women of that city.

From the Appeal to Reason of January 12, 1907:

NEW YORK IS AROUSED
—–
Working Class of City Organizing
Powerful Defense Movement
for W.F.of M. Officials.
—–

By Luella Twining.
—–

Luella Twining

New York, Jan. 4.-New York workingmen and women are demonstrating the solidarity of the working class. The second meeting of the Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone conference, composed of all workers who want to save their brothers in Idaho, irrespective of race, color, creed or politics, was more enthusiastic even than the first. Many new delegates were seated. Among the unions represented were the District Council of the Carpenters and Joiners, Central Federated Union, Brewers, Bill Posters, Typographical Union, Tobacco Workers, Bakers and Confectionary, Cloak and Suit Tailors, Cigar Makers, Butchers, Hat and Cap Makers, Beer Drivers, Beer Bottlers, Painters and Decorators, Steam Fitters, Bricklayers, Machinists, United Hebrew Trades, Sick and Death Benefit and Waiters. All of these trades were represented by more than one local, most of them by three or four.

The financial secretary reported the receipt of $2,760.20 for the “Defense Fund,” and $1,500 for the “Agitation Fund.” While we are laying particular stress on the necessity of money to carry on the trial, still we are setting forth also the necessity for agitation. We shall hold many meetings to warn the workers of the murder that is being planned in Idaho. We shall also distribute tons of literature setting forth the facts. New York City shall be buried in papers and pamphlets. Everybody shall know of this conspiracy, planned in New York, in that magnificent stone building on Broadway, and to be executed in that desolate, isolated region of Idaho. We do not intend to wait till our brothers are in their graves for the working class to say: “We did not know, we thought they would have a fair trial.”

The unions visited show intense interest. Many of them are holding special meetings for the reason that their by-laws do not permit them to give more than a prescribed sum. For instance, the “Sheet and Metal Workers” gave the maximum amount at their regular meeting. They held a special meeting the next week and gave $500. No unions before which speakers have appeared have refused to assist. All have displayed the greatest enthusiasm and expressed their indignation in burning words at the foul conspiracy to break up organized labor, and all resistance to capitalistic encroachment. They realize that Standard Oil, successful in ridding themselves of Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone, would be like wild animals after having a taste of human blood, and thirsting for more. They know they would be the next victims.

The action of the Central Federated Union, in displaying such intense interest in the “Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone Conspiracy” was a hard blow for the prosecution. The Globe commented on it editorially, and said that the C. F. U. should not have allowed such statements to be made on its floor. They called me a “Maenad” (frenzied woman). I suppose that was for portraying the sufferings of Comrade Haywood’s invalid wife, also the agony she has endured during the long year in which her husband has been incarcerated in a cell, denied every right of an American citizen. If that is frenzy, I plead guilty and I notify the Globe I shall not soon recover. I am not alone. The C. F. U. all became “frenzied,” gave all they could and promised all moral support possible.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Luella Twining Reports From New York on “Frenzy” of Central Federated Union to Save WFM Officials” →

Hellraisers Journal: Robert Minor, of International Workers’ Defense League, on the Mooney Frame-Up

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, January 12, 1917
San Francisco, California – Frame-Up of Tom Mooney Examined

Writing in this month’s edition of the International Socialist Review, Robert Minor, Treasurer of the International Workers’ Defense League, exposes a few interesting details in the ongoing frame-up of the San Francisco labor leader, Tom Mooney:

The Suitcase Ghost

By ROBERT MINOR

Tom and Rena Mooney, ISR, Dec 1916

LIKE the giant trees that astonish the eye of the traveler, like the wonderful climate and other marvels of the state, California produces the most amazing manifestations of the Labor Struggle.

Since the McNamara plea of guilty, there has been a ghost in nearly every labor dispute. That ghost is “the Suitcase.” There is a suitcase in every strike. Sometimes made of yellow leather, some times of black morocco, the suitcase is more often built of nightmares—pure imagination. But the suitcase, in one form or another, is a California institution.

When made of more than imagination, the suitcase has usually been (since the McNamara case) in the hand of an agent of the corporations, and loaded with dynamite.

In Stockton, three years ago, Anton Johannsen, labor organizer, “got the drop on” a gunman who came to his hotel room to kill him for the Merchants,’ Manufacturers’ and Employers’ Ass’n. The trapped gunman confessed that it was his intention, after killing Johannsen, to place a suitcase of dynamite in his room, another suitcase of the same explosive in the Santa Fe station checking room, with the check slipped into the pocket of the Secretary of the Building Trades Council. One of the other plotters, J. J. Emerson, was caught by a bungling policeman with a suitcase of dynamite, confessed to the plot to “plant” it so as to blame the strikers, but was, of course, acquitted in spite of the confession. (What are courts for?) Ed Nolan and Tom Mooney were instrumental in the expose.

In the same strike, Warren K. Billings, then 19 years of age, out of a job, was accosted by strangers who offered him $50 to carry a suitcase to Sacramento, to be delivered to two men whom he was to meet in a saloon. The boy accepted the offer. The men waiting for him in the saloon in Sacramento proved to be detectives, the suitcase contained dynamite, and Billings was given a two-year sentence.

When an explosion occurred in the San Francisco preparedness parade and killed ten persons, the blame was laid upon labor organizers with a suitcase. This in spite of the fact that the most reliable witness, a prominent physician, and several others whose names the police promptly lost, stated that they had seen a large, cylindrical bomb thrown.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for December 1916: Found Visiting President Willson with UMWA President

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I am yours in the struggle for
a nobler civilization.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Thursday January 11, 1917
Mother Jones Found in Nation’s Capital During Month of December

From Washington Evening Star of December 11, 1916:

APPEAL TO PRESIDENT TO
PARDON LABOR MAN
—–
Frank P. Walsh, John P. White and “Mother” Jones
at the White House.
—–

Mother Jones, John P White, UMWJ, Feb 10, 1916

President Wilson remained indoors all of today, having been prevented from a morning game of golf. He worked upon various matters that have been pending some time. In the afternoon he had engagements for a number of visitors. He received Frank P. Walsh, former chairman of the industrial commission; John P. White, president of the United Mine Workers, and “Mother” Jones, labor’s incessant champion. They asked the President, it was said, to grant a pardon to a labor leader erroneously convicted and sentenced to prison….

———-

[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for December 1906: Articles Found in Appeal to Reason and Labor World

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Thursday January 10, 1907
Mother Jones Found Featured in Socialist and Labor Press

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

As to the actual whereabouts of Mother Jones during the month of December 1906, we could find very little. However, we were able to find her featured in an article in the Appeal to Reason and as the author of an article in the Duluth Labor World. The article in the Appeal details the campaign, last fall, of William Dettrey in Pennsylvania where he ran as the Socialist candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives from Luzerne County. The article notes the hard work done by Mother Jones during that campaign and the lack of interest shown by the two most famous union leaders in the American labor movement.

From the Appeal to Reason of December 1, 1906:

DETTREY’S CAMPAIGN IN PENSLYVANIA.
—–

BY ONE OF THE BOYS.
—–

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for December 1906: Articles Found in Appeal to Reason and Labor World” →

Hellraisers Journal: Big Bill Haywood Sends Daily Letter from Ada County Jail in Idaho to His Invalid Wife in Denver

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday January 9, 1907
From Ada County Jail, Idaho – Big Bill Haywood Writes to Family

Kidnappers Special Detail by BBH, AtR, May 19, 1906

From his cell in the Ada County Jail, beneath the Courthouse where he will be put on trial for his life, William D. Haywood, Secretary-Treasure of the Western Federation of Miners, sends out a daily letter to his invalid wife in Denver. His wife, Nevada Jane Minor Haywood and his two daughters, Vernie and Henrietta, remain in that city and hope for the return of the husband and father who was kidnapped by the authorities of Colorado and Idaho and spirited away to Boise aboard the “Kidnappers’ Special” on February 18th of this past year.

From The Leavenworth Times of Kansas, January 5, 1907:

Accused Miner Sends Daily Letter To Wife

BBH, Nevada Jane, Leavenworth KS Tx, Jan 5, 1907

Denver, Colo., Jan. 4.-There is a chapter in the life of Wm. D. Haywood, leader of the Western Federation of Miners and accused accomplice in the assassination of former Gov. Steunenberg, of Idaho, now in jail at Boise, Idaho, awaiting trial, not generally known. The story this chapter tells places this one accused and censured as an anarchist in the true light of faithful and home-loving father and husband.

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