Hellraisers Journal: Centralia Defendants Mike Sheehan and Elmer Smith, Found Not Guilty, Now Back in Chehalis Jail

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Wesley Everest, Died for my class. Chaplin Part 15———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 28, 1920
Chehalis, Washington – Mike Sheehan and Elmer Smith Back Behind Bars

From The Butte Daily Bulletin of April 23, 1920:

CHEHALIS JAILOR CHARY ABOUT RECEIVING VISITS
———-
Correspondent Tells of Conditions in Prison Where
Victims of Centralia Lumber Barons Were Confined
—–

(By John Nicholas Beffel.)

IWW Centralia, Sheehan n Smith, Stt Str p11, Jan 24, 1920

Centralia, Wash.-It’s difficult to get into the decrepit old jail at Chehalis unless you are a Wobbly. I wanted to get inside, but Sheriff John Berry wouldn’t let me. He was firm about it, and a bit peevish. Sanitary conditions within were a delicate subject, a cause for official sensitiveness.

That jail has an important relation to the Centralia tragedy story. Some of the I. W. W. defendants consented to make statements while confined there. Mrs. Mary McAllister, one of the vital witnesses for the defense, who testified that Eugene Barnett was in the Roderick hotel during the rioting and not in the Avalon hotel, was held in the Chehalis jail twenty days without warrant or charge, and then released.

And now Mike Sheehan and Elmer Smith, acquitted at Montesano, were back at Chehalis, imprisoned in a little cell, suffering for lack of proper ventilation, fighting live rats and enduring the odor of dead ones. Sheehan and Smith had been found innocent of connection with the death of Warren O. Grim, and then were immediately rearrested charged with conspiring to murder Arthur McElfresh, another slain Armistice Day parader.

I asked Sheriff Berry if I could see the interior of the jail.

“Who are you investigatin’ jails for?” he demanded suspiciously.

“For the labor press,” I said.

“It won’t be necessary for you to see the inside of this jail,” he decreed. “It ain’t the kind of place it ought to be, but I can’t help that. I’ve tried to get the county commissioners to fix things, but they won’t loosen up.”

Already I knew that Berry would not permit the prisoners to receive any copies of the Seattle Union Record or any other labor paper.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Centralia Defendants Mike Sheehan and Elmer Smith, Found Not Guilty, Now Back in Chehalis Jail” →

Hellraisers Journal: FW Manning Dies, Was Wounded in Massacre Inflicted Upon Miners by Anaconda Company Gunthugs

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote re IWW Martyr Manning ACM Massacre, BDB p1, Apr 26, 1920———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 27, 1920
Butte, Montana – Fellow Worker Thomas Manning Dies

From The Butte Daily Bulletin of April 26, 1920:

ACM Massacre, Thomas Manning Death, BDB p1, Apr 26, 1920—–

M’CARTHY AND SULLIVAN HOVERING ON BORDER
OF DEATH IN LOCAL HOSPITAL
———-

In the early hours of yesterday morning the spirit of Thomas Manning, first of the victims of the bloodlust of the Anaconda Copper Mining company’s gunmen as evidenced in the massacre of last Wednesday on Anaconda Road, fled to join the spirits of those who at Ludlow, and at other industrial centers of the United States have offered up their lives on the altar of devotion to the cause of the wage slaves.

On a cot in St. James hospital James Sullivan, with his spine shattered by a bullet from one of the company assassins and the lower part of his body paralyzed, lies awaiting the call of the Angel of Death. On another cot in the same institution, John McCarthy, his lungs riddled with shot fired by the murderers of Manning, also awaits the call and is hourly expected to join Manning in the Great Beyond.

Manning joined the ranks of the labor martyrs, sent to their deaths by the greed of the corporate interest who never hesitate to use the riot gun, the machine gun, the rifle and the bayonet to perpetuate the enslavement of the workers, at about 1:30 o’clock yesterday morning. Despite the severity of his wounds and the frequency of internal hemmorhage the merciful administration of opiates by the hospital authorities made his last hours on comparatively painless, although his tortured body tossed and turned in the delirium of approaching death.

The name of Manning, first of the martyrs of Wednesday, the twenty-first, has been emblazoned on the scroll of organized labor in Montana and from reports reaching Butte from the various organizations of workers throughout the state, “Manning!” will be the shibboleth around which the wage slaves will rally to end forever the reigns of the copper, the lumber, the power and the railroad kings in Montana.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: FW Manning Dies, Was Wounded in Massacre Inflicted Upon Miners by Anaconda Company Gunthugs” →

Hellraisers Journal: Eugene V. Debs: “Pious Pickets of Capitalism Prostitute Religion in the Service of Mammon.”

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
Share

Quote EVD, Religion n Socialism, AtR p2, Apr 23, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 25, 1910
Eugene Victor Debs on the Pious Pickets of Capitalism

From the Appeal to Reason of April 23, 1910:

EVD on Prostitution of Religion, AtR p2, Apr 23, 1910—–

EVD, crpd, Ipl Ns p16, Jan 21, 1910It may be set down as a rule that the gentry who constitute the self-appointed protectorate over the domain of religion and who charge socialists with being infidels and socialism with attacking religion are themselves hypocrites who are profiting by the ignorance and superstitions of the people and who use the cloak of religion to conceal their evil practices. Their pretended solicitude for socialism is a sham. What they really fear is not that religion will be destroyed, but that hypocrisy and false pretense will be discovered.

Those pious misfits who do not know what real religion is are one in raising the cry against socialism in the name of religion. Most of them have never read a chapter of socialist economics and are utterly ignorant of what socialism really means, or else, knowing what it means, deliberately misrepresent it to receive the “well done” and the stipend from their masters.

It is so much safer for the average clergyman to speak against socialism than for it, so far as his charge is concerned, his income and his position in society. Some of them are by reflex so imbued with the hostility for socialism of the capitalists who pay their salaries that they deem it their special duty to denounce socialism as an attack upon the church and a conspiracy against religion. Of course they speak in the name of religion, the religion of Jesus Christ, the homeless wanderer who sympathized and associated with the poor and lowly, and whose ministrations were among the despised sinners and outcasts.

These pious pickets of capitalism prostitute religion in the service of Mammon. Of all men on earth they are the least fit to speak in the name of religion. They have no religion or they would not serve in such a degenerate role.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Eugene V. Debs: “Pious Pickets of Capitalism Prostitute Religion in the Service of Mammon.”” →

Hellraisers Journal: From The Butte Daily Bulletin: City in Shock due to Slaughter of Unarmed Miners by A. C. M. Gunthugs

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Frank Little re Guts, Wobbly by RC p208, Chg July 1917———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday April 23, 1920
Butte, Montana – Gunthugs of Anaconda Copper  Shoot Down  Striking Miners

From The Butte Daily Bulletin of April 22, 1920:

ACM Massacre, Miners Near Death, BDB p1, Apr 22, 1920—–

ACM Massacre, Butte Shocked by Slaughter, BDB p1, Apr 22, 1920

Butte today was shrouded in grief, mixed with considerable awe, as the result of the unprovoked massacre of unarmed, peaceful striking miners by Roy Alley and his selected band of Anaconda copper Mining Company’s hired killers, which occurred on Anaconda Road about 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon. All night and today, awed groups of men stood in clusters on the streets and discussed in quiet tones the facts of the outrage as they have developed and frequently the belief was openly expressed that the time has come when the rule of the Anaconda company in Butte and Montana through the use of its political crooks, backed by armed thugs must cease…..

———-

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From The Butte Daily Bulletin: City in Shock due to Slaughter of Unarmed Miners by A. C. M. Gunthugs” →

Hellraisers Journal: From The Butte Daily Bulletin: A. C. M. Gunthug Advocates for “Some More Killings and Hangings”

Janet RayeFrank Little
Share

Quote Frank Little re Guts, Wobbly by RC p208, Chg July 1917———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday April 22, 1920
Butte, Montana – Gunthug of Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Wants More Hangings

From The Butte Daily Bulletin of April 20, 1920:

HdLn Butte Gunmen Active, BDB p1, Apr 20, 1920

Alley Openly Urges Murder
—–

“The wobblies have got us tied up again. It wouldn’t be so bad if they only quit themselves but they are interfering with our loyal men.

We need some more killings and hangings here, and if there were any red-blooded Americans in the camp it would be done.”-Roy Alley, secretary to John D. Ryan of the A. C. M. in the Thornton Hotel barber shop about 9:30 yesterday morning.

So Roy Alley wants to hang someone AGAIN!

He wants some MORE killings and hangings!

WE need some more killings!

WHOM does Roy Alley mean by WE?

WHAT does he mean by MORE?

The Bulletin desires to call the attention of the county attorney to the fact that this individual-the distributor of the corruption fund of the Anaconda Mining Co.-is openly urging murder as a means of settling the strike of the miners.

We desire to call the attention of the federal authorities to the fact that this gentlemen is “preaching violence” and “defiance of constituted authority.”

The Bulletin also desires to call the attention of the county attorney to the fact that Mr. Alley said MORE hangings. To us this appears to indicate previous activities in that direction.

We do not believe that Roy Alley can be quite sane if he thinks that he or anyone else is going to settle anything by a few MORE murders.

More than that, if any of the strikers or their supporters are to be murdered by the thugs of the Anaconda Mining Co. as an example of red-blooded Americanism, Mr. Alley wants to be sure that he has enough troops in here at the time to keep him and his band of degenerate outlaws from the wrath of an outraged working class.

———-

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From The Butte Daily Bulletin: A. C. M. Gunthug Advocates for “Some More Killings and Hangings”” →

Hellraisers Journal: IWWs Get Heavy Sentences; “Centralia: An Unfinished Story” by Anna Louise Strong

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Wesley Everest, Died for my class. Chaplin Part 15———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 21, 1920
Centralia Defendants Get Heavy Sentences; Anna Louise Strong Reports on Trial

From the Washington Standard of April 6, 1920:

HEAVY SENTENCES GIVEN I. I. W.’S
———-

TWENTY-FIVE TO FORY YEARS GIVEN MEN CONVICTED OF
SECOND DEGREE MURDER; PRACTICALLY MEANS LIFE
TO MOST OF THEM; CASE TO BE APPEALED.
———-

Centralia Trial, IWW Defendants Names, Spk Chc p1, Feb 7, 1920—–

The seven men convicted at Montesano March 13 of second degree murder for the slaying of Warren O. Grimm, Centralia Armistice Day parade victim, were sentenced to not less than 25 years in state’s prison and not more than 40 years, by Judge John M. Wilson Monday afternoon.

Defense Attorney Vanderveer took exception to the sentences and gave notice of appeal.

Judge Wilson said that he could not pay any attention to the jury’s plea for leniency in the case of John Lamb and Ray Becker in the light of the evidence submitted. He said he regarded the case against all of the men as identical. Loren Roberts, whom the jury found insane, was ordered sent to the criminal insane ward at Walla Walla penitentiary.

The seven men sentenced to 25 to 40 years were O. C. Bland, Bert Bland, John Lamb, Eugene Barnett, James McInerney, Ray Becker and Britt Smith.

Motion for a new trial was made by Vanderveer, and argued at length but was denied by Judge Wilson before the sentence was passed.

The minimum sentence for second degree murder is 10 years, the maximum life imprisonment. The defense has 90 days in which, to carry the case to the supreme court.

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

From The Nation of April 17, 1920:

Centralia: An Unfinished Story

By ANNA LOUISE STRONG

Anna Louise Strong, Stt Str p 5, Mar 4, 1918

NEITHER side was satisfied with the compromise verdict rendered by the jury at Montesano in the trial of the eleven members of the I. W. W. charged with the murder of Warren 0. Grimm in connection with the Centralia tragedy on Armistice Day. The prosecution asked that all eleven be convicted of murder in the first degree, as having conspired to commit murder. The defense asked that all be acquitted, as men who had planned only to defend themselves and their hall against a threatened raid. One of the defendants was freed on a directed verdict. Of the ten considered by the jury, two were acquitted, one adjudged insane, and seven convicted of murder in the second degree. Even to the jury itself this verdict was not satisfactory. It brought in first a verdict of murder in the third degree for two of the defendants, but was informed by the judge that this was inadmissible, and upon further consideration changed the verdict to that of murder in the second degree. It is generally conceded that three of the jurors held out for some time for absolute acquittal of all defendants.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: IWWs Get Heavy Sentences; “Centralia: An Unfinished Story” by Anna Louise Strong” →

WE NEVER FORGET the Men, Women and Little Children Who Lost Their Lives in Freedom’s Cause at Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Pray for dead, ed, Ab Chp 6, 1925———-

WE NEVER FORGET WNF List of Ludlow Martyrs ed———

Sept 15, 1913 – Trinidad, Colorado
Convention of District 15 of the United Mine Workers of America

The delegates opened their convention by singing The Battle Cry of Union:

We will win the fight today, boys,
We’ll win the fight today,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union;
We will rally from the coal mines,
We’ll fight them to the end,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union.

The Union forever, hurrah boys, hurrah!
Down with the Baldwins and up with the law;
For we’re coming, Colorado, we’re coming all the way,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union.

The miners faced the grim prospect of going out on strike against the powerful southern coalfield companies, chief among them, John D Rockefeller’s Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. The coal operators had steadfastly refused to recognize the Union and had ignored all attempts at negotiation.

The miners had had their fill of dangerous working conditions, crooked checkweighmen, long hours, and low pay. They lived in peonage in company towns, were paid in company scrip, and were forced to shop for their daily needs in high-priced company stores which kept them always in debt. But, mostly they hated the notorious company guard system. Every attempt to organize had been met with brutality on the part of the coal operators.

Mother Jones addressed the convention for over an hour, urging the men to:

Rise up and strike! …Strike and stay with it as we did in West Virginia. We are going to stay here in Southern Colorado until the banner of industrial freedom floats over every coal mine. We are going to stand together and never surrender…

Pledge to yourselves in this convention to stand as one solid army against the foes of human labor. Think of the thousands who are killed every year and there is no redress for it. We will fight until the mines are made secure and human life valued more than props. Look things in the face. Don’t fear a governor; don’t fear anybody…You are the biggest part of the population in the state. You create its wealth, so I say, “Let the fight go on; if nobody else will keep on, I will.”

Continue reading “WE NEVER FORGET the Men, Women and Little Children Who Lost Their Lives in Freedom’s Cause at Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914” →

Hellraisers Journal: From the Seattle Socialist Workingman’s Paper: “The Blanket Stiff” by Cartoonist Fowler

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Joe Hill, Poor Ragged Tramp, Sing One Song, LRSB 5th ed, 1913———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 19, 1910
“The Blanket Stiff, he built the road…” by Cartoonist Fowler

From the Seattle Socialist Workingman’s Paper of April 15, 1910:

Migrant Workers, Blanket Stiff by Fowler, Workingmns p3, Apr 15, 1910—–

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From the Seattle Socialist Workingman’s Paper: “The Blanket Stiff” by Cartoonist Fowler” →