Hellraisers Journal – Sunday May 22, 1910
Washington, D. C. – Congressman Wilson on Plan to Establish Bureau of Mines
From the Duluth Labor World of May 21, 1910:
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State to Establish Bureau of Mines Regarded
as Means of Checking Fearful Death Toll
of Those Who Work Beneath the Ground.
Signature of President Only Lacking.
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WASHINGTON, D. C., May. 20.—A death toll of over twenty thousand of human lives, lives of miners sacrificed in the United States in the last ten years, has at last forced congress to take the first tardy and hesitating step towards checking the senseless slaughter by establishing a national bureau of mines. The bill now only lacks the president’s signature to become law.
The Monongah W. V. Mine Disaster of December 6, 1907, 362 killed. —–The Darr (Pa.) Mine Disaster of December 19, 1907, 239 killed. —–
Asked as to the immediate effect which a bureau of mines would have upon the everyday life of the miner, Representative [Wiliam B.] Wilson, former secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America, himself a practical coal miner, first drew attention to the terrible loss of life in the American mines as compared with abroad. He said:
Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 20, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1910, Part II:
-Found in Washington D. C. Berating Author of Dick Military Law
From the Duluth Labor World of April 30, 1910:
MOTHER JONES RAKES OHIO’S
WATCH CHARM SENATOR
OVER COALS
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WASHINGTON, D. C., April 29.— Mother Jones, whose “boys” are working in every coal mine in Pennsylvania and every mineral camp of Colorado, met Senator Dick, of the notorious Dick military law, as that urbane member of the upper house was standing in the senate lobby of the [Capitol].
All smiles and gladness the senator acknowledged the introduction to the white-haired woman and offered his hand, but “Mother” dropped hers significantly to her side:
I’m fighting you, Senator Dick. It was your work that sent two thousand guns out to Colorado in the last big strike, and shot us up.
“You don’t look as if you had been injured, Madam,” flushed the senator.
“No thanks to your law and the guns that killed others while they missed me,” answered the woman whose appearance and participation in almost every miners’ strike during the last thirty years has earned for her the name of “stormy petrel.”
“But, madam,” argued Senator Dick, “don’t we need soldiers in time of revolution?”
[Flashed Mother Jones:]
In the revolution that drove King George back across the sea, yes. But do we need a law that will do for America what the Irish constabulary law did for Ireland? No, no. Senator Dick, I saw the brutal and bloody work of the militia in Colorado, and the truth is that the guns your law would place in the hands of the mine owners and the mill owners are loaded with bullets for the hearts of the workers.
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday May 19, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1910, Part I:
-Found in the Thick of the Fight on Behalf of Working Class Men and Women
From the Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Democratic Banner of April 5, 1910:
DROP THEIR PICKS AT STROKE OF TWELVE.
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Coal Miners’ Strike Is a Reality.
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200,000 MEN ARE IDLE
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D. H. Sullivan Falls Heir
to Ohio Situation.
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THINKS SETTLEMENT IN SIGHT
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General Belief Is That Suspension
Will Be of Short Duration and That
Country Will Experience No
Serious Result From Shutdown
-Pittsburg Operators Anxious to Sign.
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Columbus, O., April 1- Dennis H. Sullivan of Coshocton today assumed his duties as president of the Ohio miners’ union, and made the announcement that nearly every union miner in the state is now idle, work at all mines having been suspended in response to the general order to quit work until new agreements are signed between the operators and officials of the union, in accordance with the 5-cent increase demanded as an ultimatum by the miners present at the Cincinnati conference.
Mr. Sullivan said:
The miners of Ohio stopped work at midnight, but this is in accord with an understanding with the operators. Every miner in the state went out, with the exception of cases in which there has been special permission granted for them to run.
Some mines are run to furnish coal for some specific purpose. For instance, there will be a mine whose entire output is taken by certain locomotives or by a furnace. Here is a contract [picking one from his desk] signed by an eastern Ohio operating company. A furnace is absolutely dependent on these mines, and if they were closed the business would so to some other mine, outside the state, or the furnace would close. We’re not driving business from the state; we’re for Ohio. So in all these cases privilege is given to continue work, pending adjustment of local differences at some later time.
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday May 16, 1920
New York, New York – Socialists Nominate Convict 9653 for President
From the Washington Herald of May 14, 1920:
CONVICT 2253 MADE NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT
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Socialist Convention Delegates in Tears
at Mention Of Eugene V. Debs.
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CHEER SOVIET RUSSIA
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Stedman, Chicago Lawyer, Running Mate
on “Conservation Platform.”
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New York, May 13.-Eugene Victor Debs, convict 2253 [9653] in Federal Prison at Atlanta, where he is serving a ten-year sentence for violation of the espionage act, today was nominated as candidate for President of the United States by the Socialist party convention. Seymour Stedman, of Chicago, attorney and close friend of Debs, was chosen as candidate for Vice President.
Radicals in the convention experienced their second defeat at the hands of the conservatives when an attempt to substitute the left wing platform, declaring for a soviet form of government in the United States, was defeated by a vote of 74 to 55.
Swept by an emotion which brought tears to their eyes, the delegates sprang to their feet at the first mention of the name of Debs, whose nomination was proposed by Edward Henry, of Indiana. For thirty minutes delegates and visitors shouted and gesticulated, sang [the “Internationale”] and cheered…..
[Emphasis added.]
Note: The Herald is using “Convict 2253,” the number given to Debs at Moundsville Prison. When Debs was transferred to Atlanta in June of 1919, he became “Convict 9653.”
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday May 15, 1910
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Brewers Stung by True Talks of Mother Jones
From the Duluth Labor World of May 14, 1910:
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CHICAGO, Ill., May 13.—”Mother Jones” told too much truth about the conditions under which the girls employed in the Milwaukee breweries work and the brewery interests think she has gone far enough. So they are calling to their aid detectives in an effort to suppress the printed matter which is being prepared in pamphlet form.
There was such a demand for the articles exposing the conditions in Milwaukee that it was decided to publish the material in pamphlet form.
Acting through a detective agency by the name of Mooney & Boland, the Northwestern Printing Company, which had the contract to print the article, were intimidated into turning over all the pamphlets.
William Vorsatz, who had charge of the distribution of the pamphlets, immediately complained to the postmaster, Daniel Campbell. Apparently the postal officials were more interested in the power of the brewery combine than the weakness of the girl slaves, and charged that “Mother Jones'” article was “obscene.” They especially referred to a paragraph telling about the treatment of the girls by the brutal foremen.
Twenty thousand copies of the pamphlet were printed and the question of sending them out regardless of the postal ruling is being considered.
In substantiation of “Mother Jones'” story of the breweries a delegation from the Women’s Trade Union League of Chicago visited Milwaukee and verified the statements made.
Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 14, 1920
Harlan County, Kentucky – Company Gunthugs Shoot Down Miners
From the United Mine Workers Journal of May 1, 1920:
Reports which have reached the Journal indicate a terrible condition of affairs in the Harlan coal field of Kentucky. Gunmen and thugs in the employ of the coal companies run wild in that section, without fear or hindrance. They are shooting down innocent and helpless miners and members of miners’ families. Three members of the United Mine Workers were shot down in cold blood by these ruffians and murderers on March 20 at the Banner Fork Coal Corporation Mine No. 2. The following are the names of the victims:
K. S. TAYLOR, instantly killed. Leaves a widow and seven children without any means of support.
JAMES BURK [John Burkes], deputy sheriff, fatally wounded. Died the next day in a hospital at Harlan, leaving a widow and family without support.
GENERAL GIBSON, fatally wounded. Died on an operating table in a hospital at Harlan, leaving a family without support.
One of the gunmen, Jim Hall, was severely wounded and was sent to a hospital at Harlan [has since died]. Banner Fork Local Union No. 3319 has adopted resolutions of condolence to the families of the deceased brothers, all of whom were good men and highly respected. They gave their lives to uphold the principles of the United Mine Workers of America.
Since the shooting the membership of Banner Fork local union has reached 100 per cent, and the coal company has locked out its employes.
According to reports from Harlan county, Jim Hall, the thug, beat up and disfigured a young son of K. S. Taylor, afterward locking him up in a boarding house. When attempting to give bond for the release of his son the father was shot down. The thugs suddenly appeared from the office of the coal company and ordered the miners to throw up their hands. There was a hailstorm of bullets for ten minutes. Hall is said to boast that he kills a miner a month. He and five other thugs are said to receive $10 a day for their bloody work. Hall wore a steel breast plate as a protection against bullets, but it did not save him.
Following the shooting, the sheriff searched the company boarding house and another house and found three machine guns and two cases of high-power rifles with an ample supply of ammunition ready for instant use.
[One of the reports said:]
This is what they use on American citizens whose only offense is their effort to protect themselves and their families. Everything is peaceful at present, but the miners are greatly stirred up over the outrage.
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CHICAGO, Ill., May 13.—”Mother Jones” told too much truth about the conditions under which the girls employed in the Milwaukee breweries work and the brewery interests think she has gone far enough. So they are calling to their aid detectives in an effort to suppress the printed matter which is being prepared in pamphlet form.
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