—————
Hellraisers Journal – Monday February 23, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mother Jones Gagged and Silenced by Ammons and Chase
From the Seattle Union Record of February 21, 1914:
Category: Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike 1913-1914
Hellraisers Journal: Sarah Slator, Age 16, Testifies Before Congressional Committee, Describes the Charge of General Chase Against Parade of Women and Children
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Saturday February 21, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Sarah Slator, Age 16, Kicked, Foot Smashed, Jailed
Miss Sarah Slator appeared before the Congressional Investigating Committee February 20th. She is the 16-year-old girl who was kicked in the breast and the shoulder by General Chase just before the brave old soldier order his troops to “Ride Down The Women,” thereby causing the so-called “Mother Jones Riot.” Miss Slator gives a vivid description of the events of that day and relates how she held her own against soldiers on horseback armed with swords, rifle butts and bayonets:
Sarah Slator, a witness produced and sworn before the committee, on oath testified as follows:
Examination by Mr. Brewster [Attorney for the Miners]:
Q. Your name is Sarah Slator ? — A. Yes.
Q. You spell your name S-l-a-y-t-o-r ? — A. S-l-a-t-o-r.
Q. S-l-a-t-o-r?— A. S-l-a-t-o-r.
Q. Where do you live, Miss Slator? — A. At — on 818 East Main
Q. In what city? — A. Trinidad.
Q. Colorado? — A. Colorado; yes, sir.
Q. How old are you? — A. I am 16.
Q. Were you born in Trinidad ? — A. Yes, air.
Q. Is your father living? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. What do you do ? — A. I attend school.
Q. And you have been to school this morning ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Just got in ? —A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, do you remember the parade A. Yes, sir.
Q. The women’s parade? -A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see a man known as Gen. Chase on that day? — A. Yes,
Q. Now, begin and tell in your own way where you were when you first saw Gen. Chase, and what happened to you thereafter ?- A. Well, I was in front of Dr. Espey’s place when I first — – —
Q. Dr. Espey’s place is on the corner of what street ? — A. Of Main – and Walnut.
Q. Main and Walnut? As related to the post office, where is it? — A. It is a block east of the post office.
Q. A block east of the post office. That is, this way from the post office? — A. That way [pointing apparently north].
Q. Oh, Espey’s place is beyond the post office? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. I see. Now, tell where you were standing and what happened? — A. I was standing in the middle of the car tracks this side of Espey’s when I first saw Gen. Chase, and he was on horseback: and there was also another officer on horseback, and they were running through the ranks backward and forward, and trying to make the women return toward West Main; and I was standing alone watching the women go ; and then Gen. Chase came up on horseback, and he rushed right by me on his horse, and he said, “Get back there,” and I was somewhat dazed by the horse running up against me, and I stood there, and he kicked me and told me to get back.
Q. Now, where did he kick you? — A. He kicked — his foot went right up this way on me [indicating breast].
Q. Well, go on. — A. And then he told me to go back ; and then the other officer came to him to help him to make me go back.
Q. Wait a minute. It needed two — was this Gen. Chase that you speak of a small man? — A. No, sir.
Q. Is he a pretty large man? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. And it needed another officer to help him — to make you get back? — A. Evidently; because the other officer came up to him.
Q. Well, what happened then ?— A. Well, then a good number of women had passed, and they gave a sort, of a triumphant yell as they passed ; so both the officers turned to attend to the other women, and got past; and then Gen. Chase’s horse became frightened at some thing — I don’t know what it was — and it ran into a horse and buggy that was there, and he fell off the horse.
Q. That is, Gen. Chase fell off the horse ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Go ahead. — A. And he had been treating us so mean that everybody screamed and laughed at him, and that made him angry; and he gave the order that they were to “ride down the women.”
Q. What, precisely, were his words? — A. Well, I didn’t hear all of his order, but I heard that — “Ride down the women,” and “Make them get back.” So then the cavalry that were stationed in front of Maoluff’s place — that is a little bit beyond Walnut Street — they commenced to try to get the women to return to Main Street, or to Commercial Street.
Q. By the way, how did you know this was Gen. Chase ? — A. Well, I didn’t
Q. Describe him? — A. I didn’t know him then, but I met him afterwards.
Mr Brewster: Describe him also.Chairman Foster [U. S. Representative, Chairman of Committee]: She needn’t do that.
Q. You met him afterwards ? — A. Yes, sir. So they then came up, and then when they started in I went — stepped on the sidewalk then — I had been in the middle of the street — and then I saw the soldiers take the flag from a woman — I don’t know who the woman was — and that made the women angry, and those that had banners, they tried to hit the militia that had the swords, and I saw several of the hats that the women had that were thrown in the mud in front of Maoluff’s place; and then I stepped up on that little platform in front of the printer’s place there, and of course the horses could not come up on the platform, and we stood there for a few minutes; and then they sent the infantry to make us get off the platform. And after that I attempted to try to go up Walnut Street to return home, and then they ordered me back to Main Street; one of the militia was on horseback — he tried to hit me with his sword.
Q. Now, what happened when he tried to hit you with his sword ? — A. He was just trying to order me back to Main Street, and I was standing there watching him, and he came up and he attempted to hit me with his sword, and I stepped behind a telephone post, and he hit the telephone post instead of me.
Q. Was it a light tap [tapping] ? — A. No ; he hit it pretty hard — if it had hit me. Then I said to him, “Break your sword ; I don’t care,” and he again attempted to hit me, and he hit the telephone post twice after that. And then I went across the street — that is, to the north — southwest corner of Walnut, and I was there met by a militiaman on horseback, who was talking to a woman, and he told them — she asked them what right they had to chase women away like cattle, and he said, “When the women sink beneath our respect, they need to be treated like cattle,” and I asked him how we had “sunk beneath his respect,” and he didn’t answer me. Then I went up Main Street, and I was left alone, practically, until I got to Kuver’s, and when I was in front of Kuver’s there, there was three militiamen came up to me and told me to move on. I had been going at a pretty slow rate; so I went on, and I got in front of the — in front of Zimmerman’s, I saw two militia — I mean four militia, with two women, taking them to prison; and I shamed them for having to take four militia to take two women.
Hellraisers Journal: Mary Hannah Thomas, Striker’s Wife, Resident of the Ludlow Tent Colony, Testifies Before the Congressional Committee Investigating Colorado Strike
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Friday February 20, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mary Thomas Testifies Before Congressional Committee
Tuesday February 17, 1914 – Trinidad, Colorado
Mrs. Mary Thomas, a resident of the Ludlow Tent Colony, was called before the Investigating Committee, and gave this testimony regarding her 11 days of confinement by the military:
Mary Thomas, called as a witness and duly sworn, testified as follows:
Examination by Mr. Clark [Attorney for the Miners]:
Q. State your name. — A. My name is Mary Hannah Thomas.
Q. Where do you live? —A. What is that?
Q. Where do you five ? — A. Ludlow.
Q. In the tent colony ? — A. In the tent colony.
Q. Do you remember the date of the woman’s parade here in Trinidad ?— A. I do.
Q. That was about — were you in town the day of that parade ? — A. I was, sir.
Q. What time did you get to town? — A. About 15 minutes to 3, is the nearest I could think it was.
Q. Were you in the parade at all? — A. I was not, sir.
Q. State what happened to you that day. — A. I came down town to do some purchases that I wanted to — buy some things, and came down in an automobile, and I reached town, I guess, about 15 minutes to 3, and the parade and everything had passed over, and they were bringing the people back from the first block on West Main Street. I was about 20 yards farther away than the First National Bank. When I turned back — I saw a crowd coming back, and there was some militiamen pulling me over with a fixed bayonet, and told me to keep on moving, and I went on and reached Judge Bowers’s office here. I guess I walked about 30 or 40 yards when I went up three of the steps, and this militiaman said “Move on,” and I said, “I don’t have to.” He said, “You want to be pinched?” I said, “Please yourself,” and he pulled me down by my fur here and twisted me around until I nearly stumbled on my face. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, and he knocked again right back here [indicating her back with her right hand] until I stumbled on about 2 yards, and I stumbled, and then I tried to knock back on him until he knocked me again as if he was a pugilist, and he kept on knocking me and I tried to do the best I could with my muff, and some one came up and gave an order to have me arrested, and two soldiers took me a little farther down near the post office and kept me waiting there, I guess for about an hour, and Gen. Chase came along, and I heard one of them tell him that “there is Mrs. Thomas.” “Oh, that is her, is it,” he says, “from Ludlow, is it,” he says, and they marched me on with about 12 men up to the county jail. They kept me there 11 days, and I demanded to have my children with me, and they brought the children down.
Q. Your children are small, are they? — A. Very, very small; one about 3 and the other 4.
Q. How long did they keep you in there ? — A. Eleven days.
Q. In the upstairs part of the jail ? — A. Upstairs part of the jail.
Q. Was anyone else up there ? — A. Yes; there were other prisoners there.
Q. Men and women there? — A. There was an old man there when I was taken first, about 82 years of age, I guess.
Q. In the cell in which you were confined state whether there was any toilet there. — A. There was a toilet outside and I told him I wanted to go there, and there was a militiaman came up and gave me authority, and I went out to the toilet and then the militiaman came up and gave general orders to put me back in my cell.
Mr. Clark. That is all.By Capt. Danks [Representing the “military organization of the State of Colorado”]:
Q. You were confined upstairs in the county jail ? — A. Upstairs.
Q. All the time ?— A. All the time.
Q. Do you remember looking out the window and hollering to the soldiers when they were bringing women up ? — A. Hollering ?
Q. Yes. — A. I remember of singing the union song; that is all.
Hellraisers Journal: Mary Petrucci of Ludlow Tent Colony Testifies on Insults to Women by Colorado State Soldiers
You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday February 19, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mary Petrucci Testifies on “Insults” to Women
During the afternoon session of February 17th, the Congressional Investigating Committee heard testimony from Mary Petrucci, a resident of the Ludlow Tent Colony. Few, if any, newspapers seem interested in the plight of the women at the hands of soldiers, especially after their husbands are taken away by these very same militiamen. We, therefore, offer the entire testimony of Mrs. Petrucci as a small glimpse into the lives of the coal mining women as they cope with the military occupation authorized by Governor Ammons, Democrat of Colorado.
———-
Testimony of Mary Petrucci
-afternoon session, Tuesday February 17th, Trinidad.
Mary Petrucci was called as a witness, and having been first duly sworn testified as follows:
Direct examination by Mr. Clark [Attorney for the Miners]:
Q. State your name ? — A. Mary Petrucci.
Q. Where do you live ? — A. At Ludlow.
Q. In the tent colony?— A. Yes, sir.
Q. I will ask you if, at any time recently, and about when, you attempted to come to Trinidad on the 6.10 morning train — A. On the 1st day of February it was in the morning, and I come to take the train for Trinidad, and my sister was sick.
Q. You say your sister was sick ? — A. Yes, sir; my sister was sick.
Q. And who, if anyone, was with you, and did you have any children with you or not? — A. Yes; I had two babies.
Q. How old were they?— A. One 4 months, the other one 2 years old.
Q. Was your husband with you ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many people tried to board the train that morning ? -A. There were two from the tent colony and they were stopped there by the soldiers.
Q. Was there a big crowd there that morning? — A. Not so very.
Q. How many? — A. Oh, about two.
Q. Two or three people besides yourself and your family ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, what happened — you say you were stopped?— A. Yes, sir; we went to go to the depot and the soldiers told us that we couldn’t come to town this morning, and we asked them why, and they told us they didn’t know why; and the other woman asked them if they wanted to come to see the doctor, and they had to come to telephone to the headquarters of the militia here in Trinidad, and they let them pass and we had to turn back.
Q. Did you talk to the brakeman or the conductor about it? — A. When we were turning back, he asked us what was the matter, and I told him the soldiers would not let us go to the depot, and he asked us why and I told him I didn’t know, and he told me to get onto the last coach, and the soldier says, “Halt, before you get a bullet in you.”
Q. What was it he said ? — A. Before I got a bullet in me.
Q. Did you have your babies with you at that time ? — A. Yes, and my baby very nearly frozen.
Hellraisers Journal: John Lawson Testifies Before House Sub-Committee Investigating Conditions in the Coal Mines of Colorado
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Monday February 16, 1914
Denver, Colorado – John Lawson Testifies Before House Sub-Committee
From the Denver United Labor Bulletin of February 14, 1914:
From Las Vegas Optic of February 11, 1914:
MILITIA GAVE CONFISCATED ARMS
TO MINE GUARDS, SAYS LABOR LEADERSECRETS OF THE CONVENTION WITHHELD
———-UNION OFFICIAL ASKS COMMITTEE TO EXCUSE HIM
FROM ANSWERING QUERIES
———-
Denver, Colo., Feb. 11-John R. Lawson, Colorado member of the international executive board of the United Mine Workers of America today asked the house investigation committee to excuse him from revealing all the details of the district convention at which the Colorado coal strike was called.
“You gentlemen must remember,” he said, “that this strike is not over yet, and we do not care to reveal anything that might give away our hand to the operators.”
The labor leader was allowed to give such information regarding the convention as he saw fit and was not pressed for union secrets.
Asked by Chairman Foster for his reasons for insisting upon recognition for the unions, the labor leader said:
“There is no basis for settlement between workman and employer. The union prevents strikes and without it few men strike without justification. Then, unorganized workers cannot obtain redress for abuses or change of working conditions. If they make complaint, they are discharge.”
At the opening of this morning’s session of the strike investigation it was announced that Edward Costigan had been added to the list of attorneys for the miners. John R. Lawson was called to the stand to resume his testimony. The Colorado member of the executive board of the United Mine Workers of America told of the arrival of the militia in the strike zone.
“Almost immediately after the arrival of the troops at Trinidad, detachments were stationed at various points in Las Animas and Huerfano counties,” he said.
“When the troops arrived, the leaders of our organizations informed the men on strike that if they were satisfied the militia was going to enforce the laws, not to take part in the labor controversy.”
The witness then told of having informed Adjutant General John Chase that the Baldwin-Felts detectives employed by the operators were importing arms. He said the general ordered a captain to capture the guns which were taken from an express office by the troops.
“Later,” he resumed, “General Chase admitted that this particular shipment of arms, taken from the express office, was distributed to the guards.”
Hellraisers Journal: From The Socialist and Labor Star: “The Capture of Mother Jones” by W. A. Pease of Rock Springs, Wyoming
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday February 15, 1914
“The Capture of Mother Jones” by W. A. Pease
From The Socialist and Labor Star of February 13, 1914:
Hellraisers Journal: House Sub-Committee Hearings on Mine Conditions Underway in Denver, Colorado and Hancock, Michigan
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Saturday February 14, 1914
House Sub-Committee Hearings Underway in Colorado and Michigan
From The Day Book of February 14, 1914
Representatives Casey, Howell and Taylor Are on the Job in Michigan:
From The Indianapolis News of February 9, 1914
U. S. Sub-Committees to Investigate Mining Conditions in Michigan and Colorado:
HOWELL SNOWBOUND;
STRIKE INQUIRY DELAYED
———-CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE IN MICHIGAN LACKS QUORUM.
———-
REPRESENTATIVES KEPT IN
———-HANCOCK, Mich., February 9.-The train bearing Representative Joseph Howell, of Utah, the member necessary to make a quorum of the congressional investigating committee, was reported storm-bound somewhere on the lower peninsula today and prospects for a meeting dwindled as the day advanced. Chairman Taylor said that it was unlikely that hearings would begin before tomorrow.
The heaviest snowfall of the winter has kept Mr. Taylor and Representative Casey of Pennsylvania indoors since their arrival on Saturday and they have had no opportunity to see any of the copper country beyond the range of vision from their hotel.
—————
OPENS HEARING IN DENVER
———-
Congressional Subcommittee Seeks Evidence
of Law Violations.DENVER, Colo., February 9.-Hearing of testimony in the federal investigation of the Colorado coal miners’ strike began in the senate chamber of the state capitol today. The subcommittee of the house committee on mines and mining which arrived from Washington yesterday, will hold hearings in Denver and at Trinidad, Pueblo, Boulder and other points, to determine whether federal statutes have been violated and to determine on recommendations for the settlement of the Colorado strike and the prevention of future labor struggles.
When today’s hearing opened E. V. Brake, deputy labor commissioner; Professor Russell D. George, state geologist, and James Dalrymple, chief coal mining inspector, gave testimony as to general coal mining conditions in Colorado.
Two distinct strikes are included in the investigation, to be made by the committee. The miners in the northern Colorado coal fields were called out in April 1910, and that strike never has been settled. Since then, many of the strikebreakers who took the places of the union men have been organized by the United Mine Workers of America, and a considerable part of them walked out with the southern men when the strike of all the coal miners in the state was called on September 23, 1913.
The investigating committee consists of Martin D. Foster (Dem.), Chairman, Illinois; James Francis Byrnes (Dem.), South Carolina; John M. Evans (Dem.), Montana; Richard Wilson Austin (Rep.), Tenn., and Howard Sutherland (Rep.), West Virginia.
[Emphasis added.]
Hellraisers Journal: From The Masses, Drawing of Mother Jones by Art Young: “Come On, You Hell-Hounds!”
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday February 12, 1914
Drawing of Mother Jones by Art Young: “Come On, You Hell-Hounds!”
From The Masses of February 1914:
Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Surrounded by 150 Soldiers, Seized and Taken to Military Bastile at San Rafael Hospital, Held Incommunicado
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday February 8, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mother Jones Seized by Soldiers, Held Incommunicado
From the International Socialist Review of February 1914:
Hellraisers Journal: Mary Thomas, of Ludlow Tent Colony, Held in Filthy Jail Cell, Keeps on Singing Through Broken Window
—————
Hellraisers Journal – February 6, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mary Thomas Held in Filthy Cell
SINGING IN JAIL THROUGH BROKEN WINDOW
Mary Thomas, noted singer and resident of the Ludlow Tent Colony, was one of the women arrested on January 22nd, the day that General Chase tumbled from his horse and ordered his troops to “Ride Down the Women!” Soon her two little daughters, three and four, were brought to her, and the three of them were held in the filthy cold cell for eleven days.
Her crime was talking back to an officer who had ordered her to move off the sidewalk from where she had been watching the parade. She told him:
You go on and go wash your dirty clothes you have on before you order me off of the sidewalk.
The militiaman began to pull her and she fought back using her fingernails on him. She was taken to jail where she placed a call to Louie Tikas at the Ludlow Tent Colony to let him know of her arrest.
At night she stood at the broken window and sang beautiful arias to her supporters gathered outside in the ally. She gives this account:
Then the hundreds of men prisoners in the basement jail…joined in. It almost drove the police and military out of their minds. It caught on through town, and soon all you could hear was “Union Forever” throughout Trinidad. I continued this procedure daily. The crowds came, and grew bigger and bigger. Finally it got so that the police had to disperse them. This made them angry and they would break the jail windows. It was no use to replace the panes, for they would just be broken again the next day.
Apparently, the little girls also caused some trouble in the jail cell. Mrs. Thomas tells the story of her release:
In the middle of the night two officers came rattling the door. “What are you trying to do?” they yelled. I didn’t know what they were talking about having been wakened out of a sound sleep. Then I noticed that the place was swimming in water. My children must not have turned off the tap. A mopping crew came immediately, supervised by a guard.A few hours later the jailer and another man unlocked our door and said angrily, “Get out!” “What? Without notice?” I said jokingly. “Get out, and take that wrecking crew with you!” I lost no time in obeying that welcome command, and we headed for the union headquarters.
Note: Newsclip from The Rocky Mountain News of January 23, 1914.
—————
MARY THOMAS DESCRIBES COMPANY TOWN
Mary Thomas, the greet-singer at the Ludlow Tent Colony, came from Wales with her two little daughters last July. Her husband, Tom, picked her up at the Trinidad train depot, and on the way back to the Delagua mining camp, he warned her in a whisper, “Don’t talk about anything important within hearing of that stool pigeon driver for the company.” As they approached the camp he cautioned her, “Don’t be nervous if the mine guards question you. I’ll answer their questions.”
It was dark when they arrived at that camp, and two big guards shined their lights into the automobile, inspecting Mary and the two little girls. Tom was thoroughly interrogated and had to explain to the satisfaction of the mine guards that he was bringing his wife and children into the camp. Finally, they were permitted to enter.
Mary states that she was completely demoralized when she saw the tumbled down shack that was to be her home. The door opened directly onto the dirt street in front of the house. There was no front yard and no porch, only a block of wood for a step. The cupboard was broken, the chairs were rickety, and the walls were lined with thin cardboard, torn and sagging in several places. Should a fire ever get started, she thought, the shack would go up in flames like a tinderbox.