Tag: Deputized Company Gunthugs

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Comes to Duluth to Support Striking Mesabi Iron Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Plea for Justice, Not Charity, Quote Mother Jones

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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday August 27, 1907
From The Labor World: “Labor’s Little Angel” Speaks in Duluth

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

Mother Jones spoke at the Duluth Armory on Sunday August 18th. With her on the platform where William E. McEwen, editor and publisher of The Labor World, and C. E. Mahoney who served as acting president of the Western Federation of Miners until the recent release of Charles Moyer from jail in Boise.

The striking iron miners of the Mesabi Range were supported by the speakers, and the steel trust and their gunthugs were condemned.

During her speech Mother Jones declared:

When they bring in the guns and the military, they think they have conquered; they rejoice at the thought they have conquered labor. You can conquer the steel trust, you can conquer the paper trust—every other trust in the world, but put it down for the editor in the morning that you can’t conquer the labor trust. If you wipe out the working class, what are the rich people going to do; they can’t even cook a meal of victuals for themselves.

From The Labor World of August 24, 1907:

ARMORY MASS MEETING WAS
MOST SUCCESSFUL
—–
Mother Jones Tells Working People of
Duluth Something About
Labor Conditions.
—–
Large Crowd Turned Out in Spite
of Inclement Weather—
Interest Was Great.
—–

The mass meeting at the armory last Sunday evening [August 18th] brought out 300 of the faithful. The weather was most unfavorable. The worst storm of the season was at its height, and even those on the program as speakers didn’t expect to see more than the committee on hand. However, the attendance was good, and spirit was high.

The meeting was called lo order by W. E. McEwen. On the platform with him were Alderman Jos. Shartell, Mother Jones, C. E. Mahoney, acting president of the Western Federation of Miners, and M. Kaplin. The Finnish band opened the meeting with the playing of the Marseilles.

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Hellraisers Journal: From Appeal to Reason: Woman Representatives Score Butte & Bisbee, Article by Rosa McKay

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I am not a member of the I. W. W.
or an industrial workers of the world sympathizer
but a woman who believes in
the constitutional rights of every man and woman.
-Rosa McKay

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Hellraisers Journal, Thursday August 23, 1917
From the Appeal to Reason: Two Brave Women Speak for Labor

The Appeal to Reason of August 18th featured the opinions of two women elected to represent the people: the first, Miss Jeannette Rankin of the United States House of Representatives, and the second, Mrs. Rosa McKay of the Arizona House of Representatives. Yesterday we featured the speech by Miss Rankin who outlined conditions at Butte. We conclude today with an article by Mrs. McKay who describes recent events in Bisbee.

Butte and Bisbee Outrages Scored
by Brave Woman Representatives

Rosa McKay, WTUL Life and Labor, Nov 1918

…In an article to the Appeal, Mrs. Rosa McKay, member of the Arizona House of Representatives from Bisbee, Cochise county, Arizona, tells of the Bisbee deportation….

By Mrs. Rosa McKay

Member Arizona House of Representatives

For fourteen years I have claimed Bisbee as my home. But after Thursday, the twelfth day of July. I hang my head in shame and sorrow for the sights I have witnessed here. When the full truth about Bisbee reaches the outside world, it will be looked upon with deserved aversion.

In this article I shall give an honest and unbiased statement, from a fair and impartial standpoint, of the labor situation in Bisbee today. I belong to no labor organization or mining corporation. I am merely an onlooker and spectator, and a firm believer in the constitutional rights of all American citizens, whether by birth or naturalization, the rights that our forefathers fought, bled and died for.

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Hellraisers Journal: Mesabi Miners Strike, Pinkertons Arrive, Warrant Issued for Organizer Teofilo Petriella

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Sunday July 28, 1907
Mesabi Iron Range, Minnesota – Pinkerton Gunthugs Arrive

One wonders what would happen should strikers import into the state of Minnesota 100 armed gunthugs. We expect that the militia would be immediately called out and the bullpen made ready. The Pinkertons, however, entered the state and proceeded on up to the Range where they will most likely be sworn in as Sheriff’s deputies, as is per usual.

Meanwhile, an arrest warrant has been issued for the peaceful strike leader, Teofilo Petriella, organizer for the Western Federation of Miners.

From The Minneapolis Tribune of July 27, 1907:

Mesabi Miners Strike, Petriella, Mpls Tb, July 27, 1907

—–

BULLETIN.

DULUTH, July 27,-(Special.)-One hundred Pinkerton detectives have arrived in Duluth. It is expected that they will go out to the strike district at once. They are here to protect the interests of the United States Steel corporation.

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WE NEVER FORGET Frank Thornton Who Gave His Life in Freedom’s Cause at Troy, Montana During July of 1917

Janet RayeWe Never Forget
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Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE NEVER FORGET, Frank Thornton, Troy MT, July 1917


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Fellow Worker Frank Thornton

Organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World

Fellow Worker James Rowan, in his work entitled “The I. W. W. in the Lumber Industry,” described the death of Frank Thornton:

LWIU, IWW Label, Lumber Rowan, ab 1920

Near the end of July there occurred at Troy, Montana, an incident of shocking barbarity. A man named Frank Thornton was arrested in a saloon after a quarrel with the bartender, and the constable took him to the jail, a small wooden structure. According to the statements of by-standers who witnessed the arrest, two Lumber Trust gunmen followed them, and the sound of blows was heard coming from the jail, as if they were giving Thornton a terrible beating. That night the jail was burned down and Thornton, the only prisoner, was burned in it. It is thought by some that Thornton was beaten to death by the constable and gunmen on the afternoon of his arrest, and that the jail was purposely set on fire to cover up the crime. Others claimed that while the jail was burning, they could see Thornton writhing in agony among the flames. This much is certain: the jail burned and either Thornton or his dead body was burned with it. Thornton was beaten to death or burned alive in the jail, and the authorities who arrested him and put him in that jail are responsible for his death.

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WE NEVER FORGET: FW James H. Brew who gave his life in freedom’s cause on July 12 1917 at Bisbee, Arizona

Janet RayeWe Never Forget
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Pray for the dead
and fight like for the living
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE NEVER FORGET James H Brew, Bisbee AZ, July 12, 1917

—–

Fellow Worker James H. Brew
Card-Carrying Member of the Industrial Workers of the World

WNF James H Brew, Tombstone, d. July 12, 1917

Fellow Worker James H. Brew was a card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World. He was a miner and a boilermaker, and a seasoned veteran of the Cripple Creek Strike of 1903-1904.

During the early morning hours of July 12, 1917, he was asleep at his rooming house when a band of Sheriff Wheeler’s army of deputized gunthugs and citizen vigilantes came to grab him as part of their warrantless round-up of the striking miners and strike sympathizers of Bisbee, Arizona.

Leading this band of kidnappers was Orson P. McRae, shift boss at the Copper Queen Mine and a member of the Loyalty League. McRae was accompanied by five deputized gunthugs.

FW Brew warned the would-be kidnappers not to enter, but with McRae in the lead, they were determined to force their way inside.

Continue reading “WE NEVER FORGET: FW James H. Brew who gave his life in freedom’s cause on July 12 1917 at Bisbee, Arizona” →

Hellraisers Journal: Bisbee Deportee, Attorney W. B. Cleary, Issues Statement from Hermanas, New Mexico

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday July 16, 1917
From Hermanas, New Mexico – W. B. Cleary Speaks

Bisbee Deportation Miners and Supporters July 12, 1917

—–

In a statement issued from Hermanas, New Mexico, where the miners and their supporters, deported from the Bisbee district of Arizona, were left stranded at 3 a. m. on July 13, Attorney W. B. Cleary said in part:

About 5 o’clock in the morning of the 12th a rounding-up of the men on strike began. The strikers were members of the I. W. W. and the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. Men from Bisbee, Lowell, Warren, and Douglas, and the county adjacent thereto, to the number of 2,200, mostly armed with rifles and revolvers and some with clubs, assisted in the work of the round-up. Some of the miners were treated without any show of violence by the men taking them from their homes, while in other instances the men were forced at the point of a gun to leave their homes, and in many instances their wives and families.

They were herded by gunmen with an automobile which carried a machine gun. This machine gun was trained on the miners….

The men were entrained on twenty-four cars waiting on a siding near the park. Cattle cars and box cars were used for this purpose. About noon the train was started toward New Mexico. On top of each car were a large number of armed guards and along the railroad track for miles the train was accompanied by automobiles with men holding guns fixed upon the railroad cars.

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Hellraisers Journal: Ralph Chaplin’s “When the Leaves Come Out” Announced for Sale in International Socialist Review

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They’ve got us down-their martial lines enfold us;
They’ve thrown us out to feel the winter’s sting,
And yet, by God, those curs can never hold us,
Nor could the dogs of hell do such a thing!
-Paint Creek Miner
Paint Creek, W. Va., 1913

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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday April 17, 1917
International Socialist Review: “A New Revolutionary Song Book”

“When the Leaves Come Out” by Ralph Chaplin is now available for sale from the Review or from The Industrial Workers of the World, Chicago.

A New Revolutionary Song Book— The most popular poem ever published in the REVIEW was, beyond any question, Ralph Chaplin’s famous “When the Leaves Come Out,” written at the time when the mine guards in West Virginia had been guilty of killing and injuring scores of striking miners. Many letters came to this office asking the name of the “Paint Creek Miner.”

These friends will be delighted to learn that the I. W. W. has brought out a book of poems and new songs by Ralph Chaplin, songs and poems as rhythmical with rebellion as the pulse of that splendid organization itself.

“When the Leaves Come Out” is a beautiful book with a cover, about which the I. W. W. has a right to boast, and the sketches within, by the author, are full of strength, revolutionary symbolism and artistic charm. The sign of Black Cat is everywhere.

Next month we hope to quote one or two of our favorite poems from this book. But in the meantime send in 50 cents and get it. We understand the I. W. W. sells this new book in quantities at 35 cents a copy. Address I. W. W., 164 W. Washington street, Chicago, Ill.

The cover of FW Chaplin’s new book features the drawing, “The Miner” by Charles A. Winter, published in the June 1913 edition of The Masses:

Chaplin, When Leaves, Cover-fr Masses by CA Winter, 1917

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Hellraisers Journal: Tracy Defense Presents Its Case: Louis Skaroff Testifies to Brutality at Everett Jail

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday April 16, 1917
Seattle, Washington – Charles Ashleigh Reports on Tracy Trial

Everett Defense News #20, Apr 14, 1917

Everett Massacre, Snohomish County Jail, WCS p116 w text

SEATTLE, Wash., April 14th.-During the last week the Defense, in the case of Thomas H. Tracy, one of the 73 men charged with murder of a deputy on Nov. 5th in Everett, has been bringing its big guns to bear upon the edifice of lies and falsity which the Prosecution had erected. The covering has been torn away from Everett and the city has been exposed in all its native reek.


EVERETT MAYOR’S BRUTALITY REVEALED.

Last Monday, Louis Skaroff, a young Russian boy, gave his testimony which the Defense announced was intended to impeach the evidence of Mayor Merrill. Skaroff was in Everett on Bloody Sunday, Nov. 5th. He had the courage to get up on the street corner, after the massacre at the dock, and begin to speak. Of course, he was immediately arrested. Following is his account, under examination, of the treatment he received in jail:

On Monday evening following my arrest I was lying on a table in the tank, asleep, when the jailer called for me. Somebody woke me and told me to put on my clothes as the Mayor wanted to speak to me.

THE MODERN INQUISITION.

[Continued Skaroff:]

I was taken into a room in the jail where there was an iron bed. It appeared to be an officer’s rest-room. There were three men in there: the night officer, a man who posed as an Immigration Officer and Mayor Merrill. They sat me in a chair and started asking questions. Then they talked some more; and then the night officer began to beat me up. When he got tired, the Mayor started in on me. He beat me terribly and then threw me on the floor and walked on me. Then they put my fingers under the leg of the bed and the Mayor and another jumped on the bed. Then they took me back to the cell and on the way knocked me down four times.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Tracy Defense Presents Its Case: Louis Skaroff Testifies to Brutality at Everett Jail” →

Hellraisers Journal: “Everett Brutality Revealed in Tracy Case!” by Charles Ashleigh for Defense News Letter

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday March 27, 1917
Seattle, Washington – The Trial of Tom Tracy Continues

Everett Massacre, EDNL 17, Mar 23, 1917

Everett Massacre, Poster, Remember by M. Pass, IW Nov 25, 1916

SEATTLE, WASH., March 23rd,-Slowly the history of the foul attacks on Free Speech and the right of Labor to organize is emerging in the course of the trial of Thomas Tracy, the first of 74 workingmen charged with the killing of Deputy Jeff Beard on the waterfront of Everett, Wash, on Bloody Sunday, Nov. 5th. These 74 men are tried for the killing of one deputy. Nobody, however, is being tried for the death of five workingmen on that red day. The trial of Tracy is, in reality, the trial of Labor.

EVERETT MAYOR TAKES STAND.

One of the star witnesses for the Prosecution was Mayor Merrill of Everett. He didn’t turn out quite such a star as they thought he would. Under the rigid cross-examination of Attorneys Moore and Vanderveer for the Defense Merrill showed that he was either a rotten Mayor and a good witness or a good Mayor and a very prevaricating witness. A dramatic moment in court was when he was confronted with Louis Scaroff [also Skaroff], a boy who has sworn that the Mayor beat him up brutally in a bedroom in the City Jail and that his fingers were placed, one by one, under the leg of a bed upon which the Mayor and two other men then sat. Even the capitalistic press of Seattle remarked that the Mayor’s face whitened and his voice thickened when faced with the victim of his beastlike brutality.

THE SORDID STORY OF BEVERLY PARK.

On October 30th, 41 men, coming from Seattle to Everett to hold a meeting were met at the Everett Dock, loaded into automobiles and taken to Beverly Park, a lonely spot on the outskirts of Everett. There they were severely beaten up and made to run the gauntlet. The story of Beverly Park is gradually emerging under the insistent pressure of the Defense’s cross-examination. One Hawes, who keeps a scab stationery and printing establishment in Everett, admitted that he was one of the guards on that occasion. He also was forced to admit that the deputies were strung out on either side of the road and that the workingmen were made to proceed on foot towards Seattle, which means they had to pass down between the two lines. This is virtually admitting the gauntlet. He stated that some of the men “got a swat or two” which is the most definite admission of violence so far. Hawes stated that he ran after one man who tried to get away off the road into the woods. When asked why he did that he said the man was a “big baby.” Hawes, himself, stands about six feet two inches and says he weighs 250 pounds. At this moment, Fred Moore brought in two lads who were among the Beverly victims.

“Stand up!” commanded Attorney Vanderveer, and the hulking fellow stood up. Then the two boys were placed next to him, reaching about to his armpits.

“Are these the big babies you talked about?” thundered Vanderveer.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Everett Brutality Revealed in Tracy Case!” by Charles Ashleigh for Defense News Letter” →

Hellraisers Journal: Ida Crouch-Hazlett, Editor of Montana News, Has a Little Talk with Big Bill Haywood

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday March 22, 1907
Caldwell, Idaho – Socialist Editor Reports on Moyer-Haywood Case

From the Socialist Montana News of March 21, 1907:

Side Lights on the Trial
—–

Making Laws to Suit Prosecution-
Gooding and His Body Guard


by Ida Crouch-Hazlett.

HMP, Pettibone Moyer Haywood, AtR, Feb 16, 1907

Caldwell, Idaho, March 13.-Perhaps the chief feature that will make the Moyer-Haywood case historic is the part the government has played in the matter from the beginning. The governor of the state, supposed to be a disinterested party, is a prosecuting complainant. His boast that the men would never leave Idaho alive, before any trial, leaves no room for his recognition as an unprejudiced party. Senator Borah is one of the leading attorneys for the prosecution. Indeed, we have been informed privately that he is the real push behind Gooding, and that Gooding is a mere puppet in his hands. Borah tells Gooding what to do, makes all the plans, but he is skulking behind the governor so far as responsibility is concerned. The legislature is controlled entirely by Borah and Gooding. Its appropriation of $104,000 on this case has already been noted.

This session it has passed two measures altering the criminal code, with emergency clauses, showing that they were passed entirely for this case. One had to do with the selection of a judge according to the attorneys employed in a case. The prosecution at first had sixteen attorneys and the defense four. But the addition of the firm of Groffith Brothers at Caldwell, removed the advantage that the new law would have given, when another twist was made. Another case was the passage of a law making the number of peremptory challenges the prosecution was allowed equal to that of the defense. For forty years the statute has been that the defense should have the right of ten challenges and the prosecution five. That the change should have been made at this time with an emergency clause to equalize it immediately, can admit of but one interpretation for such unseemly haste as this at this time, which is unprecedented in the modification of the criminal code.

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