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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday December 27, 1910
Fresno, California – Jailed Fellow Workers Given “Water Cure”
From The Fresno Morning Republican of December 24, 1910:
As the result of a second hostile demonstration in two days on the part of eighty Industrial Workers of the World, a fire hose attached to engine No. 5 was brought into play at 6 o’clock last night at the jail. For twenty minutes the howling prisoners put up a frenzied but futile resistance, and were finally subdued. This method of enforcing discipline within the confines of the jail proved effective and half an hour later the men informed Sheriff Chittenden that they would respect prison rules in the future.
From early morning until 6:30 last night the I. W. W.’s stormed within the jail. The riot was continuous and the authorities were powerless in their efforts to quell the raving Industrialists.
One minute they were singing their “Red Flag” song and the next they were climbing up the bars of the “bull pen” cursing and fuming. Not content with abusing officers and yelling with all the strength their lungs afforded, the men rushed to the windows and hurled insulting remarks to men, women, and children who were passing through the court house park.
Riot Lasts All Day.
The second riot started at 8 o’clock yesterday morning when the trusties appeared at the bull pen with a quantity of bread and water. The obscene demonstration of Thursday night, when the eighty I. W. W.’s wilfully broke the jail rules, resulted in an order from Sheriff Chittenden to place the men on a bread and water diet.
When breakfast arrived the Industrialists rebelled and the sight of the loaves of bread and buckets of water fanned the flames of fury within them. As the bread passed in the men in a long line accepted the loaves. After all had been served the riot began. As if from a gattling gun the loaves were hurled at the trusties and Major Ed Jones, day jailer. In the afternoon at 4 o’clock the men were again offered bread and water but they refused to eat a bite and declared with a shower of oaths that they would starve to death before they would partake of a bite of bread.
Women Are Insulted.
At 5 o’clock, after singing all afternoon, the men broke loose with a torrent of vituperation. The terrific noise had served to attack about two hundred people around the jail. Through the windows the Industrialists continued their railing. The vile epithets could be heard for a block. Scores of women were insulted by the howling mob. The pleas and commands of the officers were to no avail, and at 5:30 o’clock Major Jones threatened the rioters with a drenching from the fire hose. The agitators defied him and the remainder of the deputies. As Jones was talking through the bars to the men one in the gang hurled a bucket of water into his face. Immediately there followed an obscene demonstration that has never been equaled in the history of the Fresno jail.
Rioters Fortify Bull Pen.
The rioters began piling their straw mattresses against the bars and within a few minutes an improvised fortress had been erected. As Jones turned a stream of water from a garden hose into the bull pen the mob howled with glee and continued to taunt and defy the officers. Heretofore this method has prove effective in enforcing discipline, but last evening the rioters were not to be stopped by a small stream of cold water.
Under the direction of Chief Wintemute and Assistant Baird, Clarence Goodrich, second assistant chief, and four firemen, rushed a line of new fire hose into the jail. As the stream was turned into the bull pen the rioter rushed to the front end and placed their shoulders against the straw mattresses. Armed with iron bars, the firemen shoved the mattresses to the floor and as the men ran toward the north end of the bull pen a stream of water two inches in diameter, under fifty pounds of pressure, was turned in the direction of the fleeing men.
The force of the water knocked them from their feet and as fast they arose from the cement floor the water knocked them down again. Finally a few of the men rescued a dozen mattresses from the water and hauled them to the far corners where the beds were used as a protection from the stream.
Raving Men “Give In.”
For twenty minutes the rioters withstood the drenching. Then they gave in, although for five minutes after the water had been shut off they quarreled among themselves as to the proper course to pursue. The majority prevailed on the others to give in, however, and peace was restored within the jail. One fellow who insisted that the Industrialists should not give in was smashed in the mouth and knocked to the floor by two others who were ready and anxious to surrender.
The twenty minutes had served to cool off the hot-blooded leaders, and as the eighty men waded up to their knees in cold water they began to give in. A few believed the drenching to be extremely humorous and a half dozen remarks coming from the bull pen caused the officers to laugh. One of the Industrialists was busily engaged in diving under the water with his hands in an effort to locate his shoes. As he conducted his search he began singing softly “Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly?” Another facetious fellow shouted “Come in, the water’s fine.” Still another asked Jailer Jones for a bit of pasteboard in other than he might post a sign, reading: “Notice, No Duck Shooting on This Lake.”
Beds Float on Water.
Later in the night the water was drained off. During the flooding of the bull pen the water was turned in all directions and eighty beds were floating about the big room. One man saved a pair of blankets from the “cloudburst,” but when his fellow workers saw him with a dry covering they rushed at him and tore the blanket into shreds. After the men had taken off their clothes and wrung the water out of them they held a conference.
At 7 o’clock a committee of three notified Sheriff Chittenden that they would behave like the other prisoners. The sheriff declared that he was ready to quit if the men were, so the announcement was made to them that beginning this morning the Industrialists will again be served with the regular jail rations.
Square Meals Again.
Previous to Thursday night when the first obscene demonstration occurred, the I. W. W.’s were treated the same as the other prisoners. They received two meals a day and were not compelled to work. New clothes were furnished to the men who need them. When the prison rules were wilfully violated the rations were cut to bread and water and tobacco and reading matter was refused them. When the demonstration occurred last night the men had not had anything to eat since 4 o’clock Thursday afternoon. It was their own choice, however, as the rioters were offered bread twice yesterday.
This is the first time the fire department has been called out to quell a riot in Fresno. Although the engine was removed from the vicinity of the jail after the I. W. W.’s were cowed, the line of fire hose was kept handy during the remainder of the night.
Guards Surround Jail.
Last night the jail was surrounded by three guards armed with sawed off shotguns. Several times yesterday it appeared as though the rioters would break out of jail. They beat against the walls and tugged at the bars for hours, at the same time shouting threats of dynamite and vituperation though the windows.
City is Very Quiet.
The city was peaceful yesterday. In the morning Patrolman Jim Cronkhite arrested John Whyte, an I. W. W., on a charge of vagrancy. Whyte had an I. W. W. card in his pocket and admitted proudly that he was a member of the organization. Frank Billings, one of the men arrested Tuesday afternoon while speaking at I and Mariposa streets, was arraigned in the police court yesterday. Following the example set by seventy-nine other Industrialists, Billings pleaded not guilty to vagrancy and demanded a separate and immediate trial before a jury. This is the first time Billings has been arrested, although a few days ago it was believed that he was under a suspended sentence of ninety days. No commitment could be found, however, so Billings was allowed to enter a plea.
According to John Murdock, one of the convicted leaders now serving six months in jail, no more Industrialists will arrive here until after the holidays when five hundred men will invade Fresno. Most of these are said to be coming from Spokane, Seattle and Portland.
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[Emphasis added.]
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SOURCES & IMAGES
Quote John Whyte, re Fresno Aroused Working Class, IW p1, Dec 22, 1910
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n40-w92-dec-22-1910-IW.pdf
The Fresno Morning Republican
(Fresno, California)
-Dec 24, 1910
https://www.newspapers.com/image/607041116/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/607041130/
See also:
Spokane Industrial Worker of December 22, 1910, page 1:
-“The Disgrace of Sunny Fresno”
-“On to Victory” by John Whyte, Secretary
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n40-w92-dec-22-1910-IW.pdf
IWW Archive Project
-see Historical Landmark & articles from
Fresno Morning Republican re Fresno Free Speech Fight:
-see esp:
Dec 22: Fresno Police Secure Third Conviction
-William Andreas defended by Frank Little.
Dec 23: IWWs Start Riot in Jail
http://mikerhodes.us/iww-archive-project/
Tag: Fresno Free Speech Fight of 1910-1911
https://weneverforget.org/tag/fresno-free-speech-fight-of-1910-1911/
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The Marseillaise – Louis Graveure
Lyrics in English
https://www.loc.gov/resource/amss.as108470.0/?st=text
