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Hellraisers Journal – Friday June 28, 1912
Paint Creek District, West Virginia – Striking Miners Standing Firm
From The Wheeling Majority of June 27, 1912:
Miners Strike In Kanawha Valley
———-(By G. H. Edmunds)
Charleston, W. Va., June 24.—(Special)—After two months and one week of striking, the miners along Paint Creek and other places on strike, are standing firm. No desertions from the union ranks whatsoever.
This strike was forced upon the miners by the Paint Creek operators refusing to concede the same raise in wages that was granted by the other operators. The miners agreed early in March to work after April 1st, pending a settlement of the wage question, and the operators agreed to pay to them whatever scale was agreed upon, from the first of April. One-half of the Cleveland agreement was agreed upon, and three of the largest operators in the valley have refused to pay the scale.
They [the operators] at once resorted to the armed thug, and political tools some times called sheriffs and since the inauguration of the strike, one defenseless foreigner has been killed, one negro miner shot, and scores of men, women and children beaten, intimidated and insulted by this gang of gun men.
It is a disgrace upon the county of Kanawha and the state of West Virginia that such crimes could happen right under the “shadow of the dome” of the state capital, and the Honorable Governor at Chicago, singing for Roosevelt, and the high sheriff there also, joining in the chorus, while the poor common people are being killed, beaten, intimidated and exploited, and the Governor and sheriff thoroughly familiar with the entire situation, yet they refuse to prevent this continual violation of law and society, yet they are all lined up for Teddy.
No miner in this state can afford to vote for such politicians as these men…
On June 12th, the grand jury of Kanawha county returned indictments against eight Baldwin Feltz guards for first degree murder, in connection with their killing of the Italian miner [Donato di Pietro] at Wancomah, on June 4th. The 12th was on Wednesday, and the sheriff’s office made no attempt to apprehend or arrest these indicted mine guards until the following Monday, or on the 17th.
Yet six miners that were put in jail by these same guards, without the formality of a trial, were kept there, although the grand jury could find no indictment against them. Now Mr. Glasscock [Governor of West Virginia], did you not swear that you would see that the laws were strictly enforced? Please let us know under what law are these poor miners being kept in jail?
In the fact of all these hardships the miners are going to win this strike. Large mass meetings are being held daily all over the field to enlist support for the people on strike. Sunday there was a large meeting at Plymouth, in the south end of the field, and at Cedar Grove, in the central part of the Valley, and also on Paint Creek, up amongst the miners on strike.
Each week sees a new victory for the strikes. First was the winning Winnifrede. Next the complete victory of the men on Morris Creek. Next was the last past week we had two places on the Ohio river to sign up, making four victories of which we have a right to feel proud. Another gratifying condition, at this time is we are getting the miners to stand up for their rights in the courts, and by persistent fighting we are winning here and there. Organizer No. 3 has adopted a unique way of advertising the strike, by printing one thousand placards which reads as follows:
To all miners and other Workmen
You are hereby notified to stay away from Burnwell, Waucoma, Standard, Mucklow, Mahan, Hickory camp Tomsburg and Banner, all on Paint Creek in Kanawha county. West Va. Also from Cole river and Fort Defiance, as there is a strike of the union miners at each of these places. If you are not a strike breaker, please stay away.
These placards are being sent to all trade assemblies in the different cities and towns. The union miners of district 17, who are at work, are very anxious to declare for another strike in order to win Paint Creek. Vice President Griffith and G. H. Edmunds addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting at Hugheston last Tuesday night. We found these men doing all they possibly could to build up their local organization. Board member Watkins and Organizer visited Raymond City on Thursday night and found Bros. Duckwilder and Mills still leading the men at that place. Great credit is due them for what they did to hold their local intact during the two weeks’ strike.
As a whole, we find everything in tip top shape for the successful continuation of this strike.
—————
[Emphasis added, paragraph breaks added, newsclip added from Evansville (IN) Press of February 20, 1907.)
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SOURCES
Quote Mother Jones on Swearing & Praying, UMWC 1909
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=dyhRAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&pg=GBS.PA377
The Wheeling Majority
“Official Organ Ohio Valley and Belmont Trades Assemblies and
Tin Plate Workers International Protective Association of America”
(Wheeling, West Virginia)
-June 27, 1912
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092530/1912-06-27/ed-1/seq-1/
IMAGE
West Virginia Miner, Evansville IN Press, Feb 20, 1907
https://www.newspapers.com/image/138579830
See also:
Mar 30, 1912, Ft Wayne News
-UMW and Coal Operators Joint Conference Reach Cleveland Agreement
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104579545/
June 7, 1912, Beckley WV Raleigh Herald
-Wacoma on Paint Creek, Italian Miner Dead, Colored Man Shot
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104582346/june-7-1912-beckley-wv-raleigh/
-re Killing of Italian Miner, from Court Record:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx4igl&view=page&seq=107&skin=2021
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt/search?id=hvd.hx4igl&q1=italian+killed&sz=25&start=1&sort=seq&hl=true
MORE BATTLE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PAINT CREEK REGION.
LAST ARTICLE BY GAZETTE MAN ON BLOODY PHASE
OF SITUATION—SECOND SHOOTING.
By W. BRUCE REID.
Staff Correspondent of the Gazette.
The Devil Is Here in These Hills
West Virginia’s Coal Miners and Their Battle for Freedom
-James Green
Atlantic Monthly Press, 2015
(search: dipietro)
Note: according to Green, article by Reid is
from Charleston Gazette of June 16, 1912
https://books.google.com/books?id=tDojBQAAQBAJ
Tag: Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike of 1912-1913
https://weneverforget.org/tag/paint-creek-cabin-creek-strike-of-1912-1913/
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Tom Morello – Hold the Line\