Hellraisers Journal: I. W. W. Men Arrive in Coalinga and Fresno to Help Out in the Struggle for Right to Picket or Speak

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Quote Frank Little, Fresno Jails Dungeons, FMR p6, Sept 2, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday October 18, 1910
Coalinga (Near Fresno), California – I. W. W. Taking Part in Strike

From the Spokane Industrial Worker of October 15, 1910:

for HJ 10-18-1910 IW Oct 15, FMR Oct 4 cpy

From The Fresno Morning Republican of October 16, 1910:

[Fellow Worker Albert V. Roe Released]

Albert V. Roe, the one-armed member of the I. W. W., was released from jail yesterday on an order from Judge Briggs. Bail was furnished by Roe’s friends. The young man was arrested by Patrolman Henry McCall on a charge of disturbing the peace. Roe was selling I. W. W. newspapers on the downtown streets and shouting at the top of his voice.

[Emphasis added.]

From The Fresno Morning Republican of October 17, 1910:

THIRTEEN I. W. W. MEN ARE THROWN
INTO JAIL BY THE POLICE
——-
Their Offense Haranguing in
the Street Without a Permit
——-
Report Is That the Workers Have
75 Agitators in Town at Call
——-

Thirteen members of the I. W. W. were arrested last night by Chief of Police Shaw and a squad of officers at the corner of I and Mariposa streets for violating the city ordinance which prohibits public speaking on the streets without a permit.

Using a box for a platform, F. H, Little, who at the jail gave his occupation as organizer for the I. W. W., was exhorting a small crowd when the chief and his squad approached. Little was ordered to stop speaking and when he refused, was forcibly stopped. Twelve other I. W. W. men then jumped upon the box and started to speak, only to be seized by awaiting officers.

The bunch was taken to the county jail and locked up. A search at the county jail revealed the fact that eleven of the men arrested were without money. One man had about $6 and another had 35 cents, and that was all the money in the crowd.

It was announced last night that there are about seventy-five I. W. W. agitators in Fresno and that reinforcements are coming into this city today from Los Angeles. The local lodge formerly had a hall over the Cosmopolitan restaurant on Mariposa street, but left that place and I. W. W. headquarters have since been in a large tent on Palm avenue, north of Belmont. Circulars telling of incidents in I. W. W. history in this city during the past few months were circulated about Fresno last Saturday night, also in violation of a city ordinance.

F. H. Little the I. W. W. organizer, who was arrested last night with the other twelve, was arrested on the 24th of last August for disturbing the peace and served practically all his time in the “dark cell” because he refused to abide by the jail regulations. The others arrested last night were John L. Sullivan, W. H. Gregson, Robert Locke, John Mertens, John McMahon, Harry Beverling, J. Mitchell, Paul Sholtz, Robert O’Brien, John Grant, J. H. Carmichael and E. F. Lefferts.

[Emphasis added.]

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SOURCES

Quote Frank Little, Fresno Jails Dungeons, FMR p6, Sept 2, 1910
https://www.newspapers.com/image/606951967/

Industrial Worker
(Spokane, Washington)
-Oct 15, 1910, page 3
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n30-w82-oct-15-1910-IW.pdf

The Fresno Morning Republican
(Fresno, California)
-Oct 16, 1910
https://www.newspapers.com/image/606953781/
-Oct 17, 1910
https://www.newspapers.com/image/606953830

IMAGE
FL Speaks Coalinga, Fresno Mrn Rpb p7, Oct 4, 1910
https://www.newspapers.com/image/606953253/

See also:

Tag: Fresno Free Speech Fight of 1910-1911
https://weneverforget.org/tag/fresno-free-speech-fight-of-1910-1911/

The Man Who Never Died
The Life, Times, and Legacy of Joe Hill, American Labor Icon
-by William M. Adler
Bloomsbury Publishing USA, Aug 30, 2011
(search together: “joe dock and ah sam” “sam murray”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=nCwHDiXYMRMC
Note: according to Adler, S. M.-see Industrial Worker article above-was Sam Murray, good friend of Joe Hill. Adler offers strong circumstantial evidence that Murray and Hill were admitted together to Fresno lockup on Nov 19, 1910.

Frank Little and the IWW
The Blood That Stained an American Family
-by Jane Little Botkin
University of Oklahoma Press, May 25, 2017
(search: “sunday evening october 16 1910”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=gBskDwAAQBAJ
Note: this is the definitive biography of Fellow Worker Frank Little. Documentation excellent, also with family history.

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This Land Is Your Land – Tom Morello (The Nightwatchman)
Lyrics by Woody Guthrie