Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 18, 1919
Leavenworth Penitentiary – Fellow Worker Ralph Chaplin Pens a Sonnet
From The New Appeal of February 15, 1919:
A Rebel in Jail
Fellow Worker Ralph Chaplin, Prisoner #13104
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[Note by Upton Sinclair]
Recently I was addressing the ladies of one of the large clubs in Los Angeles, and they were much amused when I told them that whenever I was in jail I found myself irresistibly impelled to write poetry. Moreover, that was my one chance to get poetry published; newspapers were ready to give it space, because it had been written in jail! You will note from the following letter that others also make verses in captivity. You see, there is nothing else you can do; and you have an irresistible impulse to tell the people outside what is happening to you!
Wherever you live in America you will read in your daily paper about those desperate criminals called I. W. W.s, who want to destroy society, but whom a wise government has put behind bars where they cannot do harm.
From this letter you may see exactly what desperadoes they are. They write sonnets, and beg you to send them good literature to read!
Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday April 17, 1918 As Chicago Trial Continues, IWW Found Guilty by Kept Press, Part II
Today we offer the conclusion of our two-part series featuring the article by Boyden R. Sparkes which appeared as a full-page spread in the April 14th edition of the New York Tribune.
THE I. W. W.: AN X-RAY PICTURE
Chicago Trial Shows Searing Sparks from the Anvil Where Industrial-Military Power is Being Forged Endanger Progress-
Sabotage, Malcontents’ Principal Weapon,
a Menace to Farm, Factory and Home.
If one man has a dollar he didn’t work for,
some other man worked for a dollar he didn’t get.
-Big Bill Haywood
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Hellraisers Journal, Saturday November 3, 1917
Cook County Jail, Illinois – Big Bill Haywood Speaks
From the International Socialist Review of November 1917:
HAYWOOD LONGS FOR “OTHER BOYS” IN JAIL
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Wants All I. W. W. Prisoners Brought Here—
“It Will Be so Homelike”
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By Carl Sandburg
Thru a steel cage door of the Cook county jail, Big Bill Haywood today spoke the defiance of the Industrial Workers of the World to its enemies and captors.
Bill didn’t pound on the door, shake the iron clamps nor ask for pity nor make any kind of a play as a hero. He peered thru the square holes of the steel slats and talked in the even voice of a poker player who may or may not hold a winning hand. It was the voice of a man who sleeps well, digests what he eats, and requires neither sedatives to soothe him nor stimulants to stir him up.
The man accused of participation in 10,000 separate and distinct crimes lifted a face checkered by the steel lattice work and said with a slow smile:
Don’t worry, fellow-worker,
all we’re going to need from now on is guts.
-Frank Little
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Hellraisers Journal, Friday September 7, 1917
Nationwide Raids Against Industrial Workers and Socialists
The nationwide raids conducted by federal agents on September 5th against the Industrial Workers of the World and the Socialist Party of America are described by the Spokane Spokesman-Review of September 6th:
US Officers Raid I. W. W. Headquarters
Over Nation
[Report from Associated Press]
Indictments May Follow.
MAGNOLIA, Mass., Sept. 5.— Attorney General Thomas W. Gregory was a guest at the summer home of Colonel E.M. House here this evening when he received word that raids on the headquarters of the Industrial Workers of the World in many cities had been carried out as arranged by the federal Department of Justice.
“It is no secret,” said Mr. Gregory, “that the Industrial Workers of the World have been under suspicion for some time. The Department of Justice conducted a quiet investigation until I was convinced that we were warranted in taking such action as this.
“I do not need to say the the raids will be followed quickly by indictments if we find anything to warrant them, and the men will be prosecuted to the extent of the law if they deserve it.”
There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday August 28, 1917
Bisbee, Arizona – Deputized Company Gunthugs Control City
From the Appeal to Reason of August 25, 1917:
The Truth About Bisbee
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Bisbee, Ariz., has not formally seceded from the Union, but the mining companies of that district have set up an independent sovereignty-an industrial despotism-in utter defiance of American laws and the rights of American citizens. In the presence of this organized outlawry of capitalism, the great government of the United States remains passive and idle. Official Washington has virtually ignored the situation in Bisbee, just as it ignored the outrages in West Virginia and in Colorado and in a score of other places where capitalistic despotism sought to crush the workers. In connection with the Bisbee trouble it is interesting to note that one of the leading mining corporations of that district is the Phelps Dodge Company, and to recall that Cleveland H. Dodge, vice president of the Phelps Dodge Company, was a heavy contributor to the Democratic national campaign fund. A full and disinterested account of the happenings in Bisbee is given by the San Francisco Bulletin in a personal interview with Thomas McGuinness, a real estate dealer of Bisbee. The following is Mr. McGuinness’ story:
Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday July 24, 1917
Butte, Montana – Fellow Worker Frank Little Speaks
Fellow Worker Frank Little arrived in Butte, Montana, on July 18th as a representative of the Industrial Workers of the World. The Butte Metal Mine Workers Union is officially unaffiliated with the I. W. W., and yet, Frank Little, a leader of the Metal Mine Workers Industrial Union No. 800, was welcomed whole-heartedly by the striking miners and was invited to speak at a mass meeting held on July 19th at the Columbia Garden Baseball Park.
As he spoke, a light rain began to fall. Frank looked upward into the raindrops, raised his hands and remembered the miners left in the New Mexican desert following the Bisbee Deportation:
Oh man, if this rain could only descend upon that bull pen in the hot, sun-parched desert of New Mexico, and bring some relief to the two thousand noble men held there by the uniformed federal thugs, it would be appreciated.
Frank Little closed his speech with a call for Solidarity and Unity, the only means by which the working class can gain liberty from oppression.
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:
Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday September 5, 1916
Evansville, Indiana – Two Interviews with Mother Jones
The people of Evansville were fortunate enough to enjoy the presence of Mother Jones at their Labor Day celebration yesterday. While in Evansville, Mother was interviewed by two of the town’s newspapers-which interviews we are pleased to offer in full.
From the Evansville Press of September 4, 1916:
MOTHER JONES DEMANDS 6-HOUR DAY;
WANTS WILSON
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Eight-hour day! Huh!
Mother Jones, in Evansville Monday to speak at the Labor day picnic, thinks that six hours a day is enough.
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