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Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 22, 1909
Fresno, California – Telegram from Spokane Tells of Free Speech Fight
From The Fresno Morning Republican of November 16, 1909:
TELLS OF SPOKANE INDUSTRIAL FIGHT
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W. F. Little Learns That His Brother Is
Doing 30 Days for Reading
Declaration of Independence.
W. F. [“Fred”] Little, of the local union of Industrial Workers of the World, received an official communication from the Spokane local yesterday reciting the treatment of members of the order in Spokane in their fight with the city authorities. The letter gives this bit of personal news.
I understand that you are a brother of F. H. [“Frank”] Little, the hobo agitator, in jail in Spokane with 200 more as a result of the free speech fight. He was reading the Declaration of Independence on the street corner. He was sentenced to thirty days for this terrible crime.
The letter describes some of the Third Degree methods pursued by the police and jailors. It is related that the men are crowded into stuffy cells, without creature conveniences and the steam temperature was kept on one occasion at 100 degrees for a period of thirty-six hours in an effort to “break” the men.
Mr. Little yesterday took up a private collection among the local “Industrial Workers” to aid their brothers in their Spokane fight.
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[Insert added from Spokane Press of November 3, 1909.]
Fellow Worker Frank Little was also jailed during the Missoula Free Speech Fight, and described that experience for Industrial Worker of October 27th:
THE BEATING OF JONES BY
THE MISSOULA SHERIFF.[-by F. H. Little]
On September 30th Fellow Workers Jones, Appleby [George Applebee], Tuchs [Herman Tucker] and myself were sentenced to 15 days each in the county jail. That night five more of the boys were arrested. The morning of October 1st, after breakfast, the prisoners called for a speech. We moved the table to the southwest corner of the jail. Jones got up and made a talk on Industrial Union. The sheriff sent in word not to talk so loud. So Jones lowered his voice. He talked for about five minutes, then we started to sing the “Red Flag.”