Hellraisers Journal: International Socialist Review: “The Class War in Colorado” by Leslie H. Marcy, Part I, Battle of Ludlow

Share

Quote John Lawson 1913, after October 17th Death Special attack on Forbes Tent Colony, Beshoar p74—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday June 2, 1914
“The Class War in Colorado” by Leslie H. Marcy, Part I

From the International Socialist Review of June 1914:

CO Miners Prepared to Defend Colonies, ISR p709, June 1914

THE CLASS WAR IN COLORADO

By Leslie H. Marcy

“SOCIETY AS A WHOLE IS MORE AND MORE SPLITTING UP INTO TWO
HOSTILE CAMPS, INTO TWO GREAT CLASSES DIRECTLY FACING EACH
OTHER: THE CAPITALIST CLASS AND THE WORKING CLASS.”

[Part I of II]

FOR thirty years an industrial warfare has been going on in Colorado between the coal miners and the coal owners. In fact, in every state and country where coal is mined we find an irrepressible conflict of interests. Temporary truces are signed from time to time in the way of contracts mostly CON so far as the men are concerned-and again, there is open warfare as witnessed recently in England, West Virginia and South Africa.

Time was when the coal miners of this country worked 16 hours a day, but, by combining their strength into unions they have cut the hours of their slavery to eight and improved their working conditions. No wonder that their battle cry is “The Union Forever”! No wonder that the Coal Barons cry out for the standing army to protect them when all else has failed!.

Militiamen on Way to CO Strike Zone, ISR p708, June 1914

The Battle of Ludlow was inevitable. For seven months the southern coal fields of Colorado have been divided into two hostile camps: the Owners organized into the Operators Association; the Workers organized in unions of the United Mine Workers of America, with interests diametrically opposed.

The main issue is the right of the miners to organize. The Colorado Statutes are very clear on this subject and the miners have the legal right of way, but, the “law is a dead letter in the section of Colorado 100 miles square,” or wherever the Operators own the land.

On September 23, 1913, the union miners went on strike to enforce their constitutional rights: to organize; to work an 8-hour day, to semi-monthly pay, to have their own Check-weighman, to trade where they pleased,-ALL OF WHICH WERE DEAD LAWS. Each proposition related to a law that was being violated. The whole proposal simmered down to a single statement is this: “If you coal diggers will give up your union, the operators promise to obey the state laws which have been passed for your protection.”

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: International Socialist Review: “The Class War in Colorado” by Leslie H. Marcy, Part I, Battle of Ludlow”

Hellraisers Journal: New York City-Vivid Testimony of Pearl Jolly and Mary Thomas Counters Claim of Major Boughton That Gov. Ammons Has “Neutral Attitude”

Share

Quote Pearl Jolly, Ludlow Next Time, Women Will Fight, Tacoma Tx p3, May 25, 1914—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 29, 1914
New York City- Testimony of Ludlow Survivors Describe Actions of “Neutral” Militia

Judge Lindsey, M Thomas, P Jolly, M Petrucci, Thomas Girls, Tacoma Tx p3, May 25, 1914
Judge Lindsey with (left to right) Mary Thomas, Pearl Jolly,
Mary Petrucci, and daughters of Mrs. Thomas
Dear Reader: We will leave it to you decide just how neutral has been the attitude of Governor Ammons during the ongoing conflict in Colorado between the Coal Operators, led by Rockefeller’s Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, and the strikers, lead by the United Mine Workers of America. Read the following article in which Major Boughton, in his position as Judge Advocate of the Colorado National Guard, indicates the testimony that he will present today before the U. S. Commission on Industrial Relations. Then read the testimony of Pearl Jolly and Mary Thomas, both of them miners’ wives who withstood the machine-gun fire from that “neutral” militia all throughout that terrible day of the Ludlow Massacre.

We only ask that our readers remember that it is ultimately Governor Ammons, Democrat of Colorado, who is in command of the Colorado National Guard. And, we might add, we know of no instance when those machine guns were ever aimed at the homes of Rockefeller or of his managers in Colorado, and, to our knowledge, none of them have ever been arrested and held incommunicado in spite of having, year after year, ignored the labor and safety laws of the state of Colorado:

From the New York Sun of May 28, 1914:

WILL TELL OTHER SIDE OF
COLORADO RIOTING
———-
Major Boughton of National Guard to Appear
before Industrial Commission
———

“AMMONS WAS NEUTRAL”
———-
Judge Lindsey Leaves Without Getting
to See J. D. Rockefeller, Jr.
———-

Major Edward J. Boughton, who commanded a battalion of the Colorado National Guard during the fights with the striking miners at Trinidad, arrived yesterday to give testimony before the United States Commission on Industrial Relations now sitting here in the matter of the coal strike. His presentation of the incidents of the strike will supplement the testimony given yesterday before the commission by Mrs. Pearl Jolly arid Mrs. Mary Hannah Thomas, wives of striking miners.

While Mrs. Jolly and Mrs. Thomas denounced the militia, Major Boughton will present the situation in a new light. He would not go into details when seen at the Waldorf-Astoria, but he admitted he had come here in answer to a subpoena that he might “tell the people of New York of the real conditions In Colorado.”“I want to correct,” he said, “the erroneous impression that prevails here regarding the part taken by the State troops.”

Major Boughton was an important factor during the strike trouble. On October 28, when the troops were called out, he served as Field Major. On November 20 he was made Judge Advocate for the military district. While he was Judge Advocate there were 172 cases presented lo the military commission.

“In this controversy between capital and labor,” said the Major, “Gov. Ammons has maintained a neutral attitude toward both parties. He did all he could to avert the bloodshed. He did not leave a stone upturned in his effort to have the matter settled amicably by arbitration. He is still doing all he can in this direction.”

Mrs. Jolly and Mrs. Thomas asked to be heard by the Commission and there was some objection, Whereupon Mrs. J. Borden Harriman of the commission, said: “I believe that if there has been gross wrongs committed against these women, they ought to be heard and I represent the women and children of the country on this commission.”

There was no further demur. Mrs. Jolly told practically the same story which she gave on Sunday in the Manhattan Lyceum, as did Mrs. Thomas…

Judge Ben B. Lindsey, who has been trying to see John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in an effort to get him to use his influence toward having the Colorado difficulty submitted to a Federal arbitration board, will leave this afternoon for Colorado without having seen Mr. Rockefeller.

“Although I did not see Mr. Rockefeller personally,” said Judge Lindsey, “we have communicated. From what I have learned I have reason to hope that Mr. Rockefeller’s attitude has changed in regard to the situation and that he will help toward having the matter arbitrated.”

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

Note: Mrs. Mary Petrucci, who lost her children in the Ludlow Massacre, has returned to Colorado. According to Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Petrucci has been “grieving herself to death.”

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: New York City-Vivid Testimony of Pearl Jolly and Mary Thomas Counters Claim of Major Boughton That Gov. Ammons Has “Neutral Attitude””

Hellraisers Journal: Louis Tikas, Hero of Ludlow, Honored by Thousands of Striking Miners Marching at Trinidad, Colorado

Share

Quote re Louis Tikas by Paul Manning, 2002—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 28, 1914
Thousands of Striking Miners Join in Funeral Procession in Honor of Louie Tikas

April 27, 1914, Trinidad, Colorado:

Funeral Louie Tikas Hearse by Dold, Trinidad CO, Apr 27, 1914Funeral Louie Tikas by Dold, Trinidad CO, Apr 27, 1914Funeral Louie Tikas, Trinidad CO, Apr 27, 1914

From The Denver Post of April 27, 1914:

Funeral of Louie Tikas, DP p3, Apr 27, 1914

The body of Tikas lay before an alter on which were branched candles, holding high, burning tapers. The priest, assisted by [Pietro Catsulis], now the leader of the Greek colony, intoned the mass, the response being made by Catsulis.

Three times the priest kissed the cheeks of the dead leader. Three times he anointed the brow with wine. Three times he sprinkled dust on the face of the dead, while a Greek in overalls and corduroy coat swung the silver censer and wailed dolefully.

“Jesus give a place in Heaven to Louis, chanted the priest in the Greek tongue.

“Jesus give a place in heaven to Louis. Bring life from the grave,” solemnly repeated the dark-faced fighting men who crowded the undertaker’s chapel.

“Jesus, if Louis has any enemies, may they forget their hostility,” chanted Catsulis.

The tapers burned low. The place was dim with incense. But the priest chanted on, his iron-gray hair and flowing beard in somber contrast with his gold and silver woven robes.

This was the funeral of the man beliked by all he led and served. But a handful of women were present, and no arms were carried to remind those who watched that war was on.

Orderly, reverent, deeply religious, was the service. When the body was carried from the chapel, 488 Greeks followed the line before the hearse. The American colors, draped in crepe, were lifted, and in utter silence the cortege moved down Main Street to Commercial, past the headquarters of the United Mine Workers and on over the hill to the Knights of Pythias cemetery.

Before the funeral four Greeks carrying their muskets entered the chapel. They lifted their hats, muttered an oath to “avenge Louis’ death” pounded for times on the floor with their muskets, turned and left the room.

[Emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Louis Tikas, Hero of Ludlow, Honored by Thousands of Striking Miners Marching at Trinidad, Colorado”

Hellraisers Journal: Celebration of Greek Easter, a Joyful Day at Ludlow Tent Colony

Share

Gunthug re Roast Tomorrow, Ludlow Tent Colony Baseball Field CO, Apr 19, 1914, Beshoar p168—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 20, 1914
Ludlow Tent Colony, Colorado – Colonist Celebrate Joyful Greek Easter

Sunday April 19, 1914 –  Ludlow Tent Colony, Colorado
– Greek Easter, a Day of Celebration

Baseball Game at Ludlow Tent Colony CO, 1913-1914
Baseball Game at Ludlow Tent Colony

Sunday was a gala day in the Ludlow Tent Colony for the Greek Easter was celebrated, and the Greeks had declared that they would outdo the Catholics in their celebration of this Holy Day. The colony is made up of residents from many different nationalities, and, on this Holy Day, they came decked out in their various national costumes bringing the colony to life in a riot of color. Snow still covered the prairie here and there, but the sun was shining its warmth upon the strikers and their families on this glorious Easter Day.

Louie Tikas, leader of the colony, was resplendent in his traditional Cretan vraka. He walked through the colony greeting every one with a kiss and the joyful cry of “Christ Is Risen.” Louie’s bright smile was welcomed at every tent, well respected for his calm manner and steadfast courage.

Music filled the air and the children played around the tents. Later on, after church services, there was a feast in the main tent. A lamb had been put on the fire, and there were barrels of beer for the adults.

After the feast the colonist played a game of baseball in the ball park built next to the tents. American style gym bloomers had been provided as an Easter present for the women, and one of the games was played, men against the women, with the women wearing their new bloomers for the first time.

—————

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Celebration of Greek Easter, a Joyful Day at Ludlow Tent Colony”

Hellraisers Journal: Hell Hounds of the Colorado Militia Slowing Killing Mother Jones in Damp Cellar Cell at Walsenburg

Share

Mother Jones Quote, Let My Friend Villa Know, Cold Cellar Cell, Walsenburg CO, Mar 31, 1914, AtR p2, Apr 18, 1914—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 6, 1914
Walsenburg, Colorado – State Militia Slowly Killing Mother Jones

From The Wheeling Majority of April 2, 1914:

HdLn Killing Mother Jones Cold Cellar Cell, Wlg Maj p1, Apr 2, 1914

“The Charge on Mother Jones” by Henry M. Tichenor”

POEM Charge on Mother Jones by Henry Tichenor, Wlg Maj p5, Apr 2, 1914

THE CHARGE ON MOTHER JONES

The patriotic soldiers came marching down the pike,
Prepared to shoot and slaughter in the Colorado strike;
With whiskey in their bellies and vengeance in their souls,
They prayed that God  would help them shoot the miners full of holes.

In front of these brave soldiers loomed a sight you seldom see:
A white-haired rebel woman whose age was eighty-three.
“Charge!” cried the valiant captain, in awful thunder tones,
And the patriotic soldiers “CHARGED” and captured Mother Jones.

‘Tis great to be a soldier with a musket in your hand,
Ready’ for any bloody work the lords of earth command.
‘Tis great to shoot a miner and hear his dying groans
But never was such glory as that “charge” on Mother Jones!

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Hell Hounds of the Colorado Militia Slowing Killing Mother Jones in Damp Cellar Cell at Walsenburg”

Hellraisers Journal: News from Colorado Coalfield Strike: Robert Uhlich and Louie Tikas Held in Cold Snow Covered Jail

Share

Quote John Lawson 1913, after October 17th Death Special attack on Forbes Tent Colony, Beshoar p74—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday December 16, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado – Tikas and Uhlich Held in Cold, Snow-Covered,
Jail

News from Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike

Sunday December 7, 1913, Trinidad, Colorado
Tikas and Uhlich covered in snow in jail as a blizzard raged.

Dangerous Uhlich Trinidad CO Jail, TCN p1, Dec 3, 1913
Trinidad Chronicle News
December 3, 1913

The jail cell in Trinidad where Louie Tikas, Bob Uhlich, and fifteen other striking miners are being held, is unheated. Also, there is a broken window through which the wind and snow filled the gloomy cell as the blizzard raged across Colorado a few days ago. The men were forced to sleep, as best the could, on bunks covered with 3 inches of snow, and no blankets.

Brothers Tikas and Uhlich were interrogated by Major Boughton, chief legal officer of the militia. The men were grilled for several hours. Uhlich refused to give any testimony whatsoever, stating that only the civil authorities had the right to question him. Brother Uhlich has been designated a “dangerous and undesirable alien.” Tikas was promised his freedom if he would persuade the Greeks at Ludlow to turn themselves into scabs. We may assume that he refused this offer, for he has not yet been released. Brother Adolph Germer was arrested returning from Denver recently. We are unsure at this time where he is being held.

—————

Saturday December 13, 1913 Cedar Hills, Colorado
Lt. Linderfelt Recruits Hard-Core Veterans and Mine Guards

Lt. Linderfelt has been recruiting new soldiers to fill the ranks of Company B of the Second Battalion. This company is camped at Cedar Hills, near to the Ludlow Tent Colony at the entrance of Berwind Canyon. Word has it that he has turned to the veterans with whom he served in the Philippines and Mexico.

More and more mine guards are also being recruited to fill the ranks of Company B. Linderfelt dislikes the part-timers now serving in Company B. He is only too happy to replace them as they seek to return to their civilian lives. Linderfelt prefers to approach the job of keeping the peace in the strike zone through the use of company gunthugs and battle-hardened soldiers. Company B has frequent run-ins with the colonist at Ludlow. They go heavily armed into the camp, unlike the soldiers of the other companies who often visit the Ludlow camp in small groups and without arms.

—————

From the Trinidad Chronicle News of December 15, 1913:

Louie Tikas Released fr Jail in Trinidad CO, TCN p1, Dec 15, 1913

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: News from Colorado Coalfield Strike: Robert Uhlich and Louie Tikas Held in Cold Snow Covered Jail”

Hellraisers Journal: “Louie the Greek”-According to Judge Jesse Northcutt, Coal Operators’ Attorney, Master of Public Opinion in Southern Colorado

Share

Louis Tikas, Song by Frank Manning—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday November 20, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado – Northcutt Attacks Louie Tikas, Leader of Greeks at Ludlow

From the Trinidad Chronicle-News of November 13, 1913

Louie the Greek re Tikas, TCN p1, Nov 13, 1913

Jesse G. Northcutt, former Colorado district judge, is the publisher of the Trinidad Chronicle-News, he has also been hired on as attorney for the coal operators. Furthermore, he is known to assist John J. Hendrick, the district attorney for Colorado’s Third Judicial District which covers Las Animas and Huerfano counties. How handy for the operators to have one of their own working within the criminal justice system under which striking miners are being prosecuted!

Thus, we see that Judge Jesse G. Northcutt plays several roles within the strike zone: “respected” former Judge, attorney for the coal operators, and the assistant to the District Attorney. Let us now add to that list, the role of master of public opinion through the pages of the Trinidad Chronicle-News:

“Louie the Greek” leader of three hundred of his country men-striking miners at the Ludlow tent colony, is perhaps the most conspicuous figure in the industrial war in southern Colorado. “Louie the Greek” is shrewd and fearless-a veteran of the Balkan war, and he controls the Greeks at the tent colony with a spoken word, a lift of the eye brows or a gesture of his hand.

[Emphasis added.]

The above is from the November 13th edition of the Judge’s newspaper. A week earlier (November 4th), the Chronicle described Louie’s fellow Greek miners as:

..a band of warlike Greeks who have been carrying on guerrilla warfare in the hills for weeks and who have repeatedly declined to obey the orders of the strike leaders.

[Emphasis added.]

As far as reporting goes, the job done here is not such a great one. Tikas never went to war in the Balkans, although several of his fellow Greek miners did. Louie Tikas is, in fact, a United States Citizen. He is a respected leader in the Ludlow Tent Colony where he is known for his quiet, calm manner in the face of severe provocation from the deputized company gunthugs.

And as to armed Balkan War Veterans in the Ludlow Tent Colony, all we have to say is: Thank God, the miners and their families have some protection from the hundreds of imported deputized armed gunthugs with their machine guns, high powered rifles, searchlights, and the Death Special which roams the strike zone at will.

Judge Jesse G. Northcutt was seen riding in that very same Death Special which flaunts the mounted machine gun that killed Brother Luca Vahernick at the Forbes Tent Colony. The Judge was found in the Death Special along with the gunthugs Belcher and Belk at Forbes, by John Lawson, the morning after the attack. It was Louie Tikas who stepped between Lawson and Belk in that quiet, calm way of his, and perhaps, saved Lawson’s life.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Louie the Greek”-According to Judge Jesse Northcutt, Coal Operators’ Attorney, Master of Public Opinion in Southern Colorado”

Hellraisers Journal: News Round-Up from the Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike: Company Town “Marshal” Killed

Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday October 6, 1913
News Round-Up from the Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike

From the Trinidad Chronicle News of September 25, 1913:

HdLn re Killing of Robert Lee, TCN p1, Sept 25, 1913

Note: The Chronicle News is published by Judge Jesse G. Northcutt, attorney for Rockefeller’s Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

———-

Thursday September 25, 1913
Segundo, Colorado – Company Gunman, Bob Lee, Shot and Killed by Greek Miners

Bob Lee, a gunman brought in to work as a coalfield marshal, was shot and killed by Greek miners near Segundo yesterday. Lee was found on the ground where he had fallen from his horse. His rifle was on the ground beside him still cocked.

The trouble started when the miners were not allowed to send a wagon to the mining camp in order to retrieve their belongs. Bob Lee heard that the Greek miners were taking their anger out on a company footbridge that crossed Las Animas Creek. At about noon, Lee road up on the bridge to confront the miners. Tempers flared as Lee used his horse to push the miners back, and they resisted. As Lee reached for his rifle, shots rang out, and Lee was killed.

The suspects are Tom Larius and four other Greek miners. Word has it that they have fled to New Mexico. A mounted posse has been unable to apprehend them.

———-

From The Rocky Mountain News of September 27, 1913:

Colorado, Bridge where Robert Lee Killed, RMN p3, Sept 27, 1913

———-

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: News Round-Up from the Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike: Company Town “Marshal” Killed”

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones in Southern Colorado; Delagua Coal Miners Discharged; Gunthugs Threaten Union Hall

Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday September 7, 1913
Southern Colorado Coal Camps – Mother Jones Arrives; Union Miners 
Discharged

From the Denver United Labor Bulletin of September 6, 1913:

Mother Jones Arrives in So CO, Delagua Miners Discharged, Dnv ULB p1, Sept 6, 1913

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones in Southern Colorado; Delagua Coal Miners Discharged; Gunthugs Threaten Union Hall”

WE NEVER FORGET: June 10, 1913, Nicholetta Paudelopoulou Shot Down by City Police at Gates of Ipswich Hosiery Mill

Share

Quote BBH IWW w Drops of Blood, BDB, Sept 27, 1919—————

WE NEVER FORGET  – Tuesday June 10, 1913
Ipswich, Massachusetts – Nicholetta Paudelopoulou, 27,
Shot Down by Police on IWW Picket Line

Ipswich Murder of N Paudelopoulou Charged to IWW, NYTb p16, June 12, 1913
New York Tribune
June 12, 1913

On Tuesday June 10, 1913 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, Nicholetta Paudelopoulou left Brown’s Essex Mill at the end of her work day and walked down the street to the Ipswich Hosiery Mill. Here she stopped to observe a picket line of I.W.W. strikers. The Industrial Workers of the World had been conducting a strike at this mill for seven weeks. Five hundred of the strikers were Italians, and one hundred were Greeks, perhaps friends of hers. Sadly, five hundred English-speaking workers had chosen to scab on their fellow workers.

Suddenly, the police opened fire on the picketers, wounding eight. They later gave the excuse that the “foreign” strikers were “jostling” the English-speaking strikebreakers. Seven of the wounded were taken to a hospital in Salem. Miss Paudelopoulou was shot in the top of the head. She was taken to a nearby doctor’s office where she died just before 8 PM without regaining consciousness.

Nicholetta Paudelopoulou was 27 years old. She was survived by her mother, six sisters and a brother in New York, and her father and brother-in-law in Greece.

—————-

From The Boston Globe of June 12, 1913:

Funeral of Miss Pandelopulos.

[…..]

Ipswich N. Paudelopoulou, Witness says police shot her,  NYTb p2, June 14, 1913
New York Tribune
June 14, 1913

The funeral of Miss Pandelopulos, the only victim of the engagement of last night, was held this afternoon. A large company of men and women of her race gathered in the tenement at 22½ Market st, where she lived with her mother, six sisters and a brother, at 3:30  for prayers. Subsequently, they followed the body to the Greek Orthodox Church on Agawam Heights, where the services were conducted by Rev. Paulikop Marinika.

The ritual was punctuated by the pitiful lamentations of the members of the family of the young woman. Later, at the grave in the Highland Cemetery, the burial service of the church was supplemented by demonstrations of grief by the sisters of the deceased, the rending of the fabric of their waists and the mutilation of their braided hair.

The dead woman had been the sole support of her mother, five sisters and brother. All but the youngest girls worked in the mills, and all save the girl now dead were on strike. The father is in Greece and the husband of one of the sisters is serving in the Grecian Army.

Nicolata Pandelopulos, when shot, was an innocent witness of the encounter between the police and her striking countrymen.

[Newsclip and emphasis added.]

Massachusetts Death Certificate for Nikoleta Pantelopolou

Continue reading “WE NEVER FORGET: June 10, 1913, Nicholetta Paudelopoulou Shot Down by City Police at Gates of Ipswich Hosiery Mill”