Tag: Lumber Workers

Hellraisers Journal: Frank Little, IWW Organizer and Executive Board Member, Says: “Be Men. Don’t be a scab.”

Janet RayeFrank Little
Share

Payne County Farmer———————-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 14, 1911
From Yale, Oklahoma, Frank Little Exhorts Men Not to Scab on Fellow Workers

From the Payne County Farmer (Yale, Oklahoma) of December 13, 1911:

IWW Archive

The Explanation.

Editor Payne Co. Farmer: In the issue of Dec. 6 there was a letter from Texas, by Mrs. J. B. MacClain. She states that, in that county, the sawmills are idle for the want of men.

The sawmill worker of Texas and Louisiana have been fighting the lumber trust, trying to force them to pay living wages. There has been a strike on in that country for some time. All working men should stay away. Be men. Don’t be a scab.-F. H. Little, organizer of the I. W. W.

—————

[Photograph added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Frank Little, IWW Organizer and Executive Board Member, Says: “Be Men. Don’t be a scab.”” →

Hellraisers Journal: I. W. W. Calls for Convention to Form National Industrial Union of Lumber and Forest Workers

Janet RayeFrank Little
Share

Quote Ralph Chaplin, IWW Centralia n Lumber Barons, OBU Mly p19, May 1920———————-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday November 24, 1911
Recently Installed G. E. B. of I. W. W. Calls for Convention of Lumber Workers

From the Spokane Industrial Worker of November 23, 1911:

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: I. W. W. Calls for Convention to Form National Industrial Union of Lumber and Forest Workers” →

Hellraisers Journal: From The One Big Union Monthly: “The Background of Centralia” by Ralph Chaplin

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Ralph Chaplin, IWW Centralia n Lumber Barons, OBU Mly p19, May 1920 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday May 4, 1920
Ralph Chaplin on the Truth Behind the Centralia Conspiracy

From The One Big Union Monthly of May 1920:

THE BACKGROUND OF CENTRALIA

By RALPH CHAPLIN

Centralia Defendants, OBU Mly p11, May 1920—–

IN ORDER to get the truth of the Centralia conspiracy it is necessary to understand the circumstances leading up to the tragedy on Armistice Day, 1919. There are two distinct viewpoints from which this unfortunate affair may be observed: That of the lumber interests, which is to isolate the incident from its anteceeding circumstances and make it a “plain murder case”; and that of working people of the Northwest generally to consider all the facts in the case in order to find out, not only how the tragedy occurred, but what brought it about as well.

It is well to state here that the lumber interests, with the aid of the trial judge, the prosecuting attorneys and the press, succeeded in keeping from the consideration of the jury, all but the actual happenings on November 11th. The long and unbroken chain of threats, raids, deportations and murders perpetrated against the I. W. W. boys before they made a last stand for their lives in their union hall, was objected to by the lumber trust’s attorneys and ruled out by the lumber trust’s lackey on the judicial bench. In this manner men who were simply defending their lives and property from a mob were shown to be deliberate and wanton assassins, while their tormentors were held up to the world as splendid examples of unquestioned and persecuted patriotism.

The efforts of the defense to prove the existence of a conspiracy on the part of the lumber interests to raid and demolish union halls and to murder their occupants were painstakingly ignored by the press.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From The One Big Union Monthly: “The Background of Centralia” by Ralph Chaplin” →

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: 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” →

Hellraisers Journal: “Murder at Centralia” by Fellow Worker J. T. “Red” Doran for The Liberator, Lumber Barons Exposed

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

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

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 3, 1920
Centralia, Washington – Lumber Barons Plot Murder, Never Charged

From the New York Liberator of February 1920:

Murder in Centralia

By J. T. Doran of the I. W. W.

ON Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1919, a mob broke into the I. W. W. hall at Centralia, Washington, and five of them were killed. The attackers came from a passing parade of ex-service men. The same day an ex-serviceman, Wesley Everetts [Everest] by name, was seized by a mob, dragged through the streets and lynched.

Truth ab Centralia n Lumber Baron by Maurice Becker, Liberator p17, Feb 1920
The Truth About Centralia by Maurice Becker
—–

The lynchers of Wesley Everetts are known. They have not been indicted. They will never be tried for their crime. That is because Wesley Everetts was a member of the I. W. W.

But ten members of the I. W. W. (including five ex-servicemen) have been arrested and charged with conspiring to fire upon and kill the men in the parade as it passed their hall; they are charged with having plotted and planned to do this thing for two weeks in advance of the act; they are charged with doing this as an attack upon the Government. They are going to be tried for murder.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Murder at Centralia” by Fellow Worker J. T. “Red” Doran for The Liberator, Lumber Barons Exposed” →

Hellraisers Journal: “Barbarous Spokane” by Fred W. Heslewood from the International Socialist Review, Part II

Janet RayeFree Speech Fights
Share

Quote Sheep Herder Anderson re Spk FSF, ISR p712, Feb 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday February 2, 1910
Spokane, Washington – Fellow Workers Donates Last Dollar to Free Speech Fight

From the International Socialist Review of February 1910:

Barbarous Spokane
—–

By Fred W. Heslewood.
—–

[Part II of II.]

[Fellow Worker Donates All He Has.]

One man donated $50 to the defense fund and deposited $100 more, which was all he had, to be used if required. In thirty-four days he came from the horse doctor a living wreck, scarcely able to crawl, and said that Judge Mann had fined him $100; that he now wished the union to accept the money that he had left on deposit, to be used in giving hospital treatment to those who were in a worse condition than himself. He stayed around a day or so to regain some of his former strength, then off to the woods to hunt a master.

IWW Spk FSF, On the Rock Pile, ISR p610, Jan 1910

Some of the men only had four or five dollars. Some had $20. Some had $50, but all had money. They are hoboes, vags, and undesirable citizens; they should have taken their money to the jail and allowed themselves to be robbed by the thugs in blue, who formed the slugging committee in the dark corridors between the booking window and the cells. These men of honor that smash men’s jaws, blind men, knock them down and kick their ribs in; these honorable brutes who squeeze men into an air-tight cell and then coolly open the steam valve. These human hyenas who gently tell you that they have orders to kill the first man that says a word back to them. These human beasts that are responsible for 1,000 treatments of green capsules to men with broken jaws, broken ribs, blinded eyes, etc. Green capsules to men who are starving, to increase the pain in the stomach. An emergency hospital. God save the word.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Barbarous Spokane” by Fred W. Heslewood from the International Socialist Review, Part II” →

Hellraisers Journal: “Barbarous Spokane” by Fred W. Heslewood from the International Socialist Review, Part I

Janet RayeFree Speech Fights
Share

Quote Sheep Herder Anderson re Spk FSF, ISR p712, Feb 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 1, 1910
Spokane, Washington – Battleground of Great Fight for Free Speech

From the International Socialist Review of February 1910:

Barbarous Spokane
—–

By Fred W. Heslewood.
—–

[Part I of II]

Letter N, ISR p705, Feb 1910OT Mexico, but Spokane—the battleground of the greatest fight for Free Speech, Free Press, and Public Assemblage in America.

Where over four hundred men and women of the ranks of labor, using the weapons of Passive Resistance, are pitted against the law of brutality, tyranny, oppression and greed. Where the ancient methods of torture are being used to subdue the workers, who wish to safeguard the weapons of the dispropertied, disfranchised—yes, disinherited class. Where truth is crushed to earth, and where a lie is a wholesome morsel, and is relished by the arrogant and ignorant who do not want the truth. The truth hurts. It is a two-edged sword. It must be driven to the hilt. The people must be torn from their lethargy and made to realize that the boasted liberties of this country are fast being taken away.

Spk FSF, FW Beaten by Police, ISR p705, Feb 1910—–

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Barbarous Spokane” by Fred W. Heslewood from the International Socialist Review, Part I” →

Hellraisers Journal: J. H. Walsh: Spokane to Made Headquarters for the Migratory Lumber Workers of the Great Northwest

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

At the rate the organization is now growing
we shall soon have doubled our membership in this city
and the territory tributary to Spokane.
-J. H. Walsh
IWW National Organizer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday December 6, 1908
Spokane, Washington – J. H. Walsh Has Returned from Chicago

From The Western News of December 2, 1908:

LABOR NEWS.
—–

IWW Emblem, IUB p1, Oct 24, 1908

SPOKANE, Nov. 24.-Spokane is to be made the headquarters for over 5,000 members of the Industrial Workers of the World employed in the lumber industry in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Northern California.

During the last year the number of sawmill workers and men employed in logging camps who have become members of the Industrial Workers, has attained large proportions, 3,000 members being located in Montana alone.

The Industrial Workers have now decided to form a department for men engaged in the lumber industry in these five states and in British Columbia, placing all local organizations in various towns and cities under the jurisdiction of the head officers of the department, who, it is stated, will have their offices in this city.

Organizer J. H. Walsh, of the Industrial Workers of the World, has returned from Chicago where he has been in conference with prominent members of his organization.

[Declares Mr. Walsh:]

Since the fourth annual convention of the I. W. W. at Chicago during the latter part of September, the organization has become thoroughly united and unaffected by factional differences.

The Western Federation of Miners is now practically co-operating with us. We have gained remarkable strength in the Coeur d’Alene country and in Montana we have control of the lumber situation and our organizers are meeting with phenomenal success in the formation of strong new unions. We are well organized in the Flathead country and after a few small tussels with employers have gained control of considerable work.

At the rate the organization is now growing we shall soon have doubled our membership in this city and the territory tributary to Spokane.

Mr. Walsh anticipates that he will shortly be ordered to Montana to assist in the organization work now in progress in that state.

—–

[Emblem of I. W. W. added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: J. H. Walsh: Spokane to Made Headquarters for the Migratory Lumber Workers of the Great Northwest” →

Hellraisers Journal: Fellow Worker J. H. Walsh Completes Tale of the Overall Brigade’s Journey to IWW Convention

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote JH Walsh Overall Brigade, IUB p1, Oct 24, 1908~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 2, 1908
The Overall Brigade “Abroad the Nation” from Missoula to Chicago

IWW Gen Adm Emblem, IUB, Mar 14, 1908

In the Industrial Union Bulletin of September 19th, J. H. Walsh described the journey of the Overall Brigade, riding the rails from Portland, Oregon, to the I. W. W. Convention in Chicago. He ended his account with the Brigade encamped near Missoula, Montana. The Brigade was bent on making it to Chicago by September 21st, the first day of the Convention. The story of the journey to Chicago is found completed in the latest edition of the Bulletin.

From The Industrial Union Bulletin of October 24, 1908:

ABROAD THE NATION

By J. H. WALSH.

The “Overall Brigade,” en route from Portland, Ore., to Chicago to the Fourth Annual Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World at this point, has finished another successful propaganda meeting at Missoula, Mont. This makes three successful meetings in this city. Literature sales have been the best here of any place so far on our route, while the song sales have doubled, running as high as $10 or $12 per meeting. The collections have been in the same proportion. In fact, it is the first place where the audience has thrown dollars into the crowd at the feet of the singers, as well as many smaller pieces of change that came jingling along at the same time. One collection in the hat was $14.25. This all tells one story in brief-and that is the growing sentiment toward Industrial Unionism.

It is plain to see that the lumbermen’s union, which was generally understood to be a part of the W. F. of M., will soon be a part of the I. W. W. But with all the favorable conditions and enthusiasm, and a thousand invitations for the “bunch” to return, we are off again for the railroad yards to continue our journey to the city of Butte-the noted mining camp.

Our special car is found. It goes in our direction as far as Garrison Junction. It is not a long ride, and we are now spinning along at passenger speed. The long blast of the whistle which sounds and resounds through the mountain tops and valleys on this cold morning, announces that we are approaching the junction. We are there, unloaded and off for the jungles. The cook and a delegate are on their way to the store for supplies, while the rest and the “bunch” is shivering around the camp fire.

Soon the fire is burning bright, the breakfast is cooking and the sun is making its appearance above the horizon, which adds some comfort to our condition on these cold mornings in the Rocky Mountain country. The delicious breakfast is ready and the “bunch” is congregated to partake of the passover.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Fellow Worker J. H. Walsh Completes Tale of the Overall Brigade’s Journey to IWW Convention” →