Hellraisers Journal: Charles Town, West Virginia, Stage Set for Trial of Miners; Nine Miners Marched Through Town in Chains

25th April 202225th April 2022 Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921

Quote Wm C Blizzard, Nine Miners in Chains Charles Town WV Apr 23, 1922, When Miners March p294 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 25, 1922
Charles Town, West Virginia – Stage Set for Trial of Miners

From the Baltimore Sun of April 24, 1922:

(From a Staff Correspondent.)

Charles Town, W. Va., April 23.-Excited, nervous, confident here, depressed there, a small army of defendants, witnesses, attorneys and newspaper men has taken possession of Charles Town on the eve of the trials of more than 200 men on charges including treason, murder and conspiracy, growing out of the “armed march” from Marmet on Logan county last summer.

It is estimated that fully 1,000 persons are in the little county seat of Jefferson county in connection with the trials.

Trials Are Sole Topic.

All over town, in the lobbies of the hotels, on street corners, gathered in knots here and there, they are discussing one thing-the trials. They have been arriving since Friday. A grim incident this morning was the arrival of nine men in handcuffs from Logan county. They were those who are unable to get bail after being indicted in Logan last year. They were escorted to the Charles Town jail.

Central figures in the whole West Virginia industrial controversy already are in town and others are expected tomorrow and on succeeding days. There is C. Frank Keeney, president of District No. 17, United Mine Workers, and the man, who, it is believed, will be the target for the heaviest artillery of the prosecution. He faces a charge of treason and is alleged to have instigated and aided the alleged insurrection. With him are Mrs. Keeney and their son. He is at one of the hotels, smiling and high-spirited as usual.

There is Fred Mooney, secretary of District No. 17, also charged with treason. He is a bit more self-contained than Keeney, yet you would scarcely know he was to be tried on a charge that might bring his neck into a noose.

Scores Of Notables Present.

There is H. W. Houston, chief counsel for the defense, often called the “brains of the United Mine Workers in West Virginia.” There is William Blizzard, accused of being the “generalissimo of the insurrection.” There are a half-dozen special lawyers engaged by the prosecution, famous in the annals of West Virginia criminal procedure. There are scores of others of lesser prominence, though all are well enough known in their localities.

Before the week is out, Gov. E. F. Morgan will be here, having been subpoenaed by both sides. William M. Wiley, of Sharples, picturesque figure among the operators, around whose mines the fighting raged last summer, will be called. John L. Lewis, international president of the United Mine Workers, will be here Tuesday.

One big, outstanding figure, however, from all that can be learned, will not be here. He is not here tonight and it is reported he will not come. That is Don Chafin, Sheriff of Logan county. Chafin has been for years the bete noir of the United Mine Workers. He has worked against them, resisted two armed marches, and in general earned for himself the undying hatred of many connected with the big mine union…..

—————

[Emphasis added.]

From the Baltimore Sun of April 23, 1922:

In the center is C. Frank Keeney, president of District 17, United Mine Workers of America, and active leader of the union forces of Southern West Virginia. Mr. Keeney has been indicted in Logan county for treason and conspiracy. He has also been indicted in Kanawha county for alleged conspiracy and in Mingo county on charges of murder. At the left is Fred Mooney, secretary-treasurer of District 17, United Mine Workers, with headquarters at Charleston. Within 10 miles of the capital the armed march on Logan county started last fall. Mr. Mooney faces charges of treason and conspiracy. At the right is William M. Wiley. He lives in Sharples, W. Va., on the Boon-Logan county line, where the battle raged over a front of 25 miles in the wilderness. He is vice-president of the Kanawha Coal Operators’ Association and vice-president of the Boone County Coal Corporation, with five large operations on the organized edge of Logan county. He employs 1,500 union miners. He will be a principal witness in the trials at Charles Town. He gave sensational testimony before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor in Washington recently, which investigated the armed march, and of which committee former Senator Kenyon was chairman.

[Emphasis added.

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Hellraisers Journal: From The Daily Herald, London’s Labour Newspaper: “First-Class First, Class Discrimination on the Titanic.”

24th April 202224th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Ben Tillett for Dock Workers re Titanic Class Antagonism, to Brd of Trade Apr 19, 1912 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 24, 1912
London, England – Statistics Prove Class-Discrimination on Titanic

From The Daily Herald of April 22, 1912:

The various representatives of the capitalist Press have taken Mr. Ben Tillett sharply to task for declaring, in a printed statement, that obvious discrimination was apparent in favour of the cabin passengers when the “Titanic’s” lifeboats were being manned. Mr. Tillett probably overstated himself when he spoke of “the vicious class antagonism shown in the practical forbidding of the saving of the lives of the third-class passengers.”

That the facts in the long run justify Mr. Tillett, however, is shown in the proportions of those rescued in each class to their several totals, which the DAILY HERALD here prints for the first time. They are as follows : Per cent:-

—————

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Letter to Editor Condemns Ben Tillett for Claiming That “Vicious Class Antagonism” Resulted in Deaths of Third Class Passengers of Titanic

23rd April 202224th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Ben Tillett for Dock Workers re Titanic Class Antagonism, to Brd of Trade Apr 19, 1912 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 23, 1912
Cambridge, England – Letter to Editor Condemns Ben Tillett

From the Cambridge Daily News of April 20, 1912:

MR. BEN TILLETT AND THE TITANIC,

TO THE EDITOR.

Received by Board of Trade
April 19, 1912

Sir,-According to the “Labour Gazette,” Mr. Ben Tillett is reported to be circulating a resolution passed by the Executive of the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Workers’ Union, protesting “against the wanton and callous disregard of human life and the vicious class antagonism shown in the practical forbidding of the saving of the lives of the third-class passengers on the ill-fated Titanic.”

Does Mr. Tillett know that as far as is known at present an equal number of each class has been rescued, and that several millionaires have perished, giving their lives heroically for the sake of the women and children? Mr. Tillett ought to be thoroughly ashamed of himself, and the sooner he publicly apologises for his insults to those brave men the better will be his position in the eyes of the workers. He is called a champion of the workers, but if this is a sample of the sympathy he extends then my opinion is that he ought to change places with one of those bravo first-class passengers who so heroically sacrificed their lives irrespective of class. The sooner the workmen select different men for their leaders the sooner will their needs be granted. Such men as these are not worthy to be called Englishmen.- Yours, etc.,

C. C. P. BARRETT.
79, Hills-road.

[Resolution to Board of Trade and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Justice Dept. Considers Amnesty for Nef, Fletcher, Walsh and Doree of Philadelphia Marine Transport Union

22nd April 202222nd April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Matilda Robbins ed, Ben Fletcher, p132 PC —————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday April 22, 1922
Washington, D. C. – Amnesty Possible for Fletcher, Nef, Walsh and Doree

From the Baltimore Sun of April 20, 1922:

(From The Sun Bureau.)

Washington, April 19.-In the face of a renewed effort, led by the American Civil Liberties’ Union, to secure the pardon or commutation of sentences of 113 so-called political prisoners who still are in Federal prisons, it was learned today that the Department of Justice has no thought of recommending amnesty for the group. It is willing, however, to take up individual cases in the usual way, it is said. Apparently only Presidential intervention can accomplish general amnesty, and of that there is no sign.

Four cases are now concretely before the department-those of Walter T. Nef, Ben Fletcher, John J. Walsh and Edward F. Doree. They were members of the Marine Transport Workers’ Union, of Philadelphia, which is affiliated with the I. W. W. They were sentenced to prison by Judge Landis, in Chicago, because of their activity in the I. W. W., although, it is asserted by their friends, they had been wholly loyal to the Government in their work at Philadelphia.

No Evidence Yet Of Disloyalty.

Investigation made thus far by the Department of Justice has failed to disprove contentions of champions of Nef, Fletcher, Walsh and Doree that the Transport Workers’ Union in Philadelphia, which Nef, dominated and which embraced practically all of the dock workers in Philadelphia, performed its work with complete loyalty to the Government.

Dr. Frederick Edgerton, of the University of Pennsylvania, a champion of the men, has said that the Philadelphia dock workers did better than those anywhere else.

Dr. Frederick Edgerton has said that enormous quantities of munitions were shipped from Philadelphia during the war without a single accident at the dock or on any ship loaded at the dock; that many accidents occurred at other ports, and ships loaded elsewhere were taken to Philadelphia and reloaded. He also asserted that there was no strike in 1917 among the Philadelphia longshoremen, although strikes occurred elsewhere; that Nef used his influence against a strike, and also intervened against strikes in Boston and Baltimore; that many of the members of the Philadelphia union entered the service and that the members of the union bought $115,000 of Liberty bonds.

Thinks Record Should Count.

All of this, according to Dr. Edgerton and others, should outweight any significance that may attach to the activity of the four men in the central organization of the I. W. W., which led to their indictment and conviction with a large number of others, under the Espionage act, on charges of conspiracy. And it seems that Government officials, so far as they have gone into these cases, have no evidence that the men were not helpful to the Government at Philadelphia or that they were guilty of any overt acts elsewhere.

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Hellraisers Journal: From The Labor World: Mother Mary Jones in Duluth, Speaks to Large Meeting at the Head of the Lakes

21st April 202221st April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote re Mother Jones, LW p3, Apr 20, 1912 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday April 21, 1912
Duluth, Minnesota – Mother Jones Speaks at Lincoln Park Auditorium

From The Labor World of April 20, 1912:

Mary Jones, the little mother of the miners, and familiarly known throughout the country as Mother Jones, was a visitor in Duluth Monday and Tuesday. She delivered an address Monday evening at the Lincoln Park Auditorium in the interest of the shop employes of the Harriman lines who are on strike.

Mother Jones has been sent out by the United Mine Workers’ Union to help the striking railroad men. She is meeting with much success in soliciting funds. A fairly good collection was taken up at the Lincoln Park meeting.

During her visit to Duluth, Mother Jones spent much of her time in the office of the Labor World. We have’ known her for almost twenty years, and blamed if she does not look younger today than she did two decades ago. She attributes her youthful appearance to the fact that she has not been in jail lately nor has she been quarantined for smallpox.

Is Eighty Years of Age.

Mother Jones will be eighty years of age on May first. She is as active and as sprightly as a woman of thirty. She never looked better in her life. Her complexion is as clear as that of a baby and there is not the sign of a furrow on her kind old face.

Fight? When she is asked a question about labor conditions in the mining regions of America, her eyes flash, her mouth is set firm, her fist is clenched and she stretches out her arm with the vigor and force of an athlete. She tells a story of social injustice that reaches the heart of the most hardened.

In her speech at Lincoln Park the daily newspapers dwelled only upon the shafts she hurled at men and women of the toady type who “bend the cringing hinges of the knee that thrift may follow fawning.”

Knows the Labor Movement.

Mother Jones understands the philosophy of the labor movement. She has a peculiar way, which is distinctly her own, of driving her points right to the hearts of her listeners. For a moment she will philosophically discuss the growth and development of production; then like a flash she will clinch her argument with a militant attack upon both men and women who are responsible for injustices that have been permitted to creep into the industrial system.

Mother Jones is said to be without fear. During her strenuous life she has been cast into prison, confined in bull pens, driven at the points of bayonets, and once or twice has had a pistol aimed close to her face by willing servants of the capitalistic class.

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Hellraisers Journal: Children’s Crusade for Amnesty Heads to Washington Lead by Kate Richards O’Hare, Former Political Prisoner

20th April 202220th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Kate O’Hare re War Profitters, Address to Court, Dec 14, 1917 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday April 20, 1922
Children’s Crusade for Amnesty Heads to Washington, D. C.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of April 13, 1922:

MRS. KATE RICHARDS O’HARE, whose five-year sentence under the espionage act was commuted by President Wilson after she had served 14 months, greeting, at Union station today, the families of other prisoners similarly convicted and still imprisoned. Mrs. O’Hare will accompany them to Washington to beseech President Harding to release their husbands and fathers.

The woman at the extreme left is Mrs. Walter Reeder of Wilson, Ark., with her son, Don, 16 (rear row), and her daughter, Elbertina, 9 years old. The woman behind Elbertina is Mrs. Stanley J. Clark of Fort Worth, Tex. Next are Mrs. O’Hare’s son, Victor, and Mrs. O’Hare. Beside Mrs. O’Hare is Mrs. William Madison Hicks of Guthrie, Ok., with her son, Robert, 9, and her daughters, Rose Alice, 3, and Helen Keller, 6. The group at the right of the picture are Mrs. William Benefield of Saskawa, Ok., and her five children, Beulah, 12, Willie, a girl, 5, Dock, 18, George, 10, and Eugene, 6.

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Hellraisers Journal: From the London Daily Herald: Survivors of the Titanic Headed to New York City; All Honour to the Crew

19th April 202220th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

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

Hellraisers Journal – Friday April 19, 1912
London’s Labour Newspaper on Crew of Titanic: “We’re Proud of Them”

From the London Daily Herald of April 18, 1912:

—–

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Hellraisers Journal: From the London Daily Herald: Titanic Sinks with 1,300 on Board; Stricken Mourners Gather at Many Ports

18th April 202219th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

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

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday April 18, 1912
Staggering Loss of Life as Titanic Sinks Mid-Ocean

From the London Daily Herald of April 17, 1912:

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Hellraisers Journal: From the London Daily Herald, Labour Newspaper: Titanic Collides with Iceberg; Great Loss of Life Feared

17th April 202219th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

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

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 17, 1912
The “Unsinkable” Titanic Collides with Iceberg; Many Feared Lost at Sea

From the London Daily Herald of April 16, 1912:

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for March 1912, Part II: Found Speaking in Spokane, Washington and in Missoula and Butte, Montana

16th April 202218th April 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Awaken to Power, Spk Chc p6, Mar 28, 1912 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 16, 1912
Mother Jones News Round-Up for March 1912, Part II
Found in Spokane, Washington and in Missoula and Butte, Montana

From The Daily Missoulian of March 28, 1912:

From the Spokane Daily Chronicle of March 28, 1912:

WOMAN SUFFRAGE, BAH! SAYS MOTHER
———-
“Mother Jones” Has No Use
for Equal Rights Issue.
———-

“Woman suffrage-bah! The mere thought of the movement makes me tired.”-“Mother” Jones.

“Mother” Jones, who has championed the interests of working men, women and children for over a quarter century and who has promoted strikes in various sections of the nations is a socialist but by no means a suffragist.

[She asserted at Machinists’ union headquarters this afternoon:]

The woman’s place is in the home, molding the character of her children, if she has any, and preparing them to meet the issues that will confront them later in life-educating them to the economic problems that affect them,” she asserted at Machinists’ union headquarters this afternoon.

Why, the men haven’t learned yet to vote intelligently and just the same as men are now selling out their votes for a schooner of beer to cunning politicians, the woman’s vote will be influenced with a bouquet or a box of candy.

Calls It Worthless Cause.

Women are simply wasting their time upon a worthless cause in their struggle for the ballot, for as soon as the economic system has become straightened out the way it ought to be, woman will be the equal of man anyway.

That time will come when the great army of working people have become awakened to their power and have taken possession of the machinery of production and the greedy capitalistic class that is now grinding out the lives of the little children of the poor for profit have been made to step down and out.

The employing class is scared almost to death of the working men and women of the nation right now, and if the workers only knew it, they would not be in want over night.

While the working people of the world are no more than a day or two from the poorhouse the year round, as a rule, the poodle doge of the rich are having banquets given in their honor and are treated better than children of the poor.

Prohibitionists say that the prevalence of the drinking habit among the working people is the cause of so much poverty, yet government statistics show that the average workingman has but $12 a year to spend for such luxuries as an occasional drink of liquor.

She 80 Years Old.

All over the nation the working people are gradually waking up and though I will be 80 years old on the first of May, I hope to see the time that the economic system has changed completely and that the working class is in power.

“Mother” Jones spoke in behalf of the striking shopmen on the Harriman railway system Wednesday night at the armory building and will leave tonight over the Great Northern for the east, expecting to be in Minneapolis in a short time.

Despite her advanced age, “Mother Jones is a splendid specimen of vigor and health and her voice is still steady and strong.

—————

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for March 1912, Part II: Found Speaking in Spokane, Washington and in Missoula and Butte, Montana” →

MR. BEN TILLETT AND THE TITANIC,

WOMAN SUFFRAGE, BAH! SAYS MOTHER———-“Mother Jones” Has No Usefor Equal Rights Issue.———-

WOMAN SUFFRAGE, BAH! SAYS MOTHER
———-
“Mother Jones” Has No Use
for Equal Rights Issue.
———-