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Hellraisers Journal – Friday December 18, 1903
New Castle, Colorado – Homes of Union Leaders Bombed

From The Denver Post of December 17, 1903:

Thursday December 17, 1903, New Castle, Colorado
Homes of Five Strike Leaders Bombed While Families Sleep

At 4:47 this morning, while the families of striking coal miners slept, bombs went off in five homes of known strike leaders. Amazingly, no-one was seriously injured. In one of the homes, that of John Lawson, his wife, Olive Lawson, and little three-year-old daughter, Fern, were sleeping in the dining room, which had been turned into a bedroom due to the small size of the actual bedroom. The bomb went off underneath that small bedroom, where the bomber must have thought it would cause the most injury.

The home of W. G. Isaacs was also bombed. Brother Isaacs was away from home at time, which is the only reason that his two children were not killed. Mrs. Isaacs had brought the two little ones into her bed to sleep with her. The house was set on fire by the blast but Mrs. Isaacs was able to escape through a window near her bed, and managed to save both of the children. The family dog was sleeping near the children’s bed, and was found burned to death after the fire was put out.

The homes of three other strike leaders suffered similar damage, including the homes of William Doyle and Evan R. Davis. A building owned by John and James Doyle, occupied by six families was also bombed.

The bombs all went off early in the morning. The local union is planning a meeting today to form a committee to investigate the attacks since the local authorities seem disinclined to do so.

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