Hellraisers Journal: From the Miner’s Bulletin: “In Memory of Our Murdered Brothers, Louis Tijan and Steve Putrich”

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Hellraisers Journal – Thursday August 21, 1913
Michigan’s Copper Country – “They never fail who die in a great cause.”

From the Miner’s Bulletin of August 19, 1913:

IN MEMORY of our murdered Brothers
LOUIS TIJAN  and STEVE PUTRICH

They never fail who die in a great cause,
The block may soak their gore,
Their heads may sodden in the sun,
Their limbs be strung to city gates and castle walls,
But still their spirits walks abroad and overwhelm
All others in advancing freedom.

No fitter words have been spoken, my dear, brave brothers. Your folded hands strike at the citadels of oppression with greater power than life could ever give. Your silent lips have the gift of eloquence beyond the power of speech. Though dead, you yet speak to us, and live in our heart of hearts.

None can doubt the sincerity of your sacrifice. None can put a greater gift on humanity’s altar than you have done. You fell, my brave young brothers, in life’s morning, ere the heat of the day had begun, while the air was filled with fragrance and song, and you held life’s sweetest dreams.

We pick up those dreams at your graveside; we will carry them on, a sacred trust, and strive to realize them in the lives of all. And when the day is hot, our hearts weary, when faith falters, we will come to your grave to gain new courage, to learn of a devotion that falters not, eternal through the years and across the centuries.

Then we will go forth to battle until victory comes.

You shall not have died in vain. Yours shall be an inspiration in all of freedom’s battles. You shall live in all of freedom’s sons, your grave a shrine for all her lovers.

On your tombs, we will write the words: “They died for us.” In our hearts, we shall carry the high resolve to be worthy of your sacrifice

[Emphasis added.]

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SOURCES & IMAGES

Quote Mother Jones, Pray for dead, ed, Ab Chp 6, 1925
https://www.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/6

Miner’s Bulletin
“Published by authority of
Western Federation of Miners.”
“To Tell the Truth Regarding
the Strike of Copper Miners.”
Tyomies Printing, Hancock, Michigan
-Aug 19, 1913
Copy in possession of Janet Raye.

See also:

Hellraisers Journal: From the Miner’s Bulletin of August 16, 1913
Two Strikers Shot Down by Gunthugs in Michigan’s Copper Country

The Day Book
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Aug 20, 1913
“Men, Women, Children Attacked in Their Homes”
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-20/ed-1/seq-26/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-20/ed-1/seq-27/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-20/ed-1/seq-28/

The Day Book
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Aug 26, 1913
Affidavit of Antonia Putrich
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-26/ed-1/seq-1/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-26/ed-1/seq-2/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-26/ed-1/seq-3/

Tag: Michigan Copper Country Strike of 1913-1914
https://weneverforget.org/tag/michigan-copper-country-strike-of-1913-1914/

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Jesus Lover of My Soul – 1913 Singers