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Hellraisers Journal – Friday July 18, 1919
Mother Jones News for June 1919
-Found Speaking at Memorial for Coal Miners of Herrin, Illinois
From Springfield [Massachusetts] Republican of June 1, 1919:
Mother Jones has participated in many a successful strike. During the war she is reported to have said to miners: “Let us lick the kaiser first, then we can lick the operators.”
From the Belleville [Illinois] News-Democrat of June 2, 1919:
MOTHER JONES PAYS VISIT TO CITY SUNDAY
—–
Labor Organizer, 89 Years Old,
Is Healthy and Active as Ever
—–On Sunday Mother Jones, who is well known here, and Ed Carbine, vice president of the Illinois State Federation of Labor, were the guests of Mrs. Carbine and her mother, Mrs. L. M. Engler of 24 North Jackson street.
Mother Jones is known throughout the nation for her successful work in behalf of organized labor, and has often been called the “Angel of the Miners,” as all her life she has worked in their behalf and is a representative of the United Mine Workers organization.
Although Mother Jones has passed her eighty-ninth birthday, she is in the best of health and as active as ever in attending and addressing meetings. They arrived in this city from the East on their way to Herrin, Ill., where they spoke Monday at Memorial services held there for miners who were killed in an explosion two years ago.
On Friday, May 23rd, a parade with 7000 in line and mass meeting of all organized labor was held in Zeigler, Ill., with Mother Jones as the principal speaker. Years ago Jos. Leiter, millionaire mine owner, declared that no organized labor would be tolerated in Zeigler, and no labor leader, especially Mother Jones, would be allowed to speak there.
The meeting the 23rd was the largest ever held there, and Mother Jones was taken into Zeigler on a special train. The following day a parade and mass meeting was held in Centralia. Moving pictures were taken of both demonstrations and will be shown here in the near future.
Mr. Carbine had been engaged by the miners to arrange these meetings and is busy planning others throughout the state.
[Emphasis added.]
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SOURCES
Quote Mother Jones, Kaisers here at home, Peoria IL Apr 6, 1919
From:
The Speeches and Writings of Mother Jones
-ed by Edward M. Steel
University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988
https://books.google.com/books?id=vI-xAAAAIAAJ
Speech by Mother Jones at Peoria, Illinois, on April 6, 1919
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735035254105/viewer#page/216/mode/2up
Springfield Republican
(Springfield, Massachusetts)
-June 1, 1919, page 37
Mother Jones, Labor Leader, Spgfld Rpb p37, June 1, 1919
https://www.genealogybank.com
Belleville News-Democrat
(Belleville, Illinois)
-June 2, 1919, page 2
https://www.genealogybank.com/
See also:
June 2, 1917
Rend No. 2 Mine Explosion-9 Killed
-W. P. Rend Coal and Coke Company
Herrin, Williamson County, Illinois
https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/rend.htm
Hellraisers Journal – Friday June 20, 1919
Mother Jones News for May 1919
-Found Speaking to Coal Miners in Watson, West Virginia
The Correspondence of Mother Jones
-ed by Edward M. Steel
University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985
(see esp: “john h walker”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=EZ2xAAAAIAA
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735057897435/from_search/12cd783b710390bfc729a898f7f8fc9b-0#page/1/mode/2up
Charleston, W. Va.,
June 19, 1919.Mr. T. V. Powderly,
502 Quincy St., N. W.
Washington, D. C.My Dear Friend:
I am just going to drop you a line to let you know that we are having awfully hot weather down here, I came back [to WV] a week ago from Illinois, where I had some tremenduous meetings. Went to Ziegler, the mines belonged to Joe Lighter [of Ziegler Coal Company], eight years ago, when I went there they turned two machine guns on me, this time I went in on a special train and was met at the depot by the Mayor of Ziegler and a delegation there, and the Mayor is a Miner and I was their guest at his home that night, next morning I left and got the truck car and went to Christopher and there I got the Train for Sentralia [Centralia], where I also had a tremenduous meeting. Then I came back to Fairmot [Fairmont], West Va., and had a parade of 14000 miners, there were no sky-pilots or no politicians or nor pike counter hunter speakers of that day the speakers all were from the rank and file. Ex—Senator Watson [of Consolidation Coal Company] gave them a park to meet in.
fifteen months ago if you would have gone in there in any mining camp in that district you would have been asked what your business was and put you out at the point of the gun even if your own brother would have been there, what a change has taken place, so we are making progress, but I had to leave there that night for Pittsburgh and from Pittsburgh I went back to Herin [Herrin], Ill, then came into Chicago, and held three big meetings there with the cigar and Shoe workers,
I have not had a moments rest until the last week, I have not been working very hard, so I am beginning to geather up my strength again. I see they are having a great convention up on the sea-shore [AFL Convention at Atlantic City, New Jersey]. I don’t know what the out come will be this week, but I am looking for some pretty hot times, but perhaps they will get weakning [a reckoning?], I don’t look on the labor movement of this country with very much enthusiasm for the people, they have not the men at the helm, and to tell you the truth going over the country as I do, if a revolution started tomorrow I don’t know where they would get a leader, and I think the capitalist have got that down fine. however, we have to keep on pounding and hammering away.
I don’t know when I will get to Washington, tell Mr. Powderly to take caer of himself this hot weather.
With best wishes to everybody in the house, I am fondly,
Yours,
Mother[Emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]
Note: spelling, punctuation errors in original.
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The Spirit Of Mother Jones – Andy Irvine