That old blood sucker,
the kaiser, ought to
be kicked off his throne.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Friday December 28, 1917
“In Flanders fields the poppies grow…”
From the United Mine Workers Journal of December 27, 1917:
“In Flanders Fields” by John McRae-
———-
That old blood sucker,
the kaiser, ought to
be kicked off his throne.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Saturday December 22, 1917
Mother Jones News for November, Part II: Supports President Wilson
From the Pittsburg, Kansas, Sun of November 15, 1917:
MINERS VOTE TO REJECT THE
AUTOMATIC PENALTY
—–MAJORITY WAS 18 WITH KANSAS MINERS
OUTVOTING THE OTHER DISTRICTS.
—–Howat Stands Pat in a Fiery Speech
—–President John Wilkinson and “Mother Jones”
Urges Miners to Vote for Wilson
and Against the Kaiser
—–
Kansas City, Nov. 14.-Delegates representing the coal miners of Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas in convention here tonight voted to reject the automatic penalty clause insisted on by Dr. H. A. Garfield, federal fuel administrator, as a part of their working agreement. The vote was 185 to 167…
Kansas Outvoted Others.
…It was announced that the vote by districts was as follows: Kansas, for the resolution, 129; against, 11; Oklahoma-Arkansas, for 22; against, 105; Missouri, for, 34; against 51.
Howat for Rejection.
The adoption of the resolution came at the end of a day of debate in which “Mother Jones” and John Wilkinson, president of district 21, counseled against the rejection of the clause and Alexander Howat, president of district 14, vehemently urged its rejection.
“Mother Jones” and Wilkinson urged the acceptance of the clause on the ground of patriotism.
[Mother Jones declared:]
It’s our to stand by the president and the nation in this crisis. Our business now is to help the government lick hell out of the Kaiser and then we will lick hell out of the operators. President Wilson and Dr. Garfield will see that no injustice is done you through the working of this hateful clause. And I pledge myself to go before the president and Mr. Garfield and obtain relief if you want me to.
As “Mother Jones” left the platform she said:
Vote for the clause, boys, it’s a vote for Wilson and he’ll vote for you.
Hellraisers Journal, Friday December 21, 1917
Mother Jones News for November, Part I: Attends District Miners Convention
Mother Jones began the month of November in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she was found addressing a meeting of the employes of the Locomobile Company who were seeking organization with the machinists union.
We next found her in New York City at the headquarters of the Democratic Party where she shook hands with Mayor-elect Hylan.
At near mid-month we found her in Kansas City attending the convention of the miners of the Southwestern districts, whose delegates were there assembled to debate the “automatic penalty clause,” a bone of contention within the United Mine Workers of America. Regardless of her stand on that issue, Mother remains much beloved by the miners. She was welcomed into the convention on the arm of the President of District 14 (Kansas):
Howat entered the hall with Mother Jones on his arm. He introduced her as the “angel of the miners,” after she had been heartily cheered.
Hellraisers Journal, Saturday December 8, 1917
Christopher, Illinois – All Bodies Recovered from Old Ben Mine
From the United Mine Workers Journal of December 6, 1917:
Eighteen Men Die in Illinois Explosion
Christopher, Ill.—On the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day an explosion occurred at the Old Ben Mine, four miles north of this town, that wrecked both shifts and all the approaches to the workings.
Eighteen day hands were in the mine at the time of the explosion, and all of them were killed.
Rescue teams worked day and night in the hope that some of the trapped men might be found alive. Timbers had been blown out and all the entries were blocked with rock. It was necessary to establish a ventilating system as the rescuers advanced into the wrecked workings. The bodies of all the victims were recovered.
The immediate cause of the explosion is not determined. It is believed that a fall of rock drove a body of gas that had accumulated on the open lamps of some of the men; coal dust and gas together made for the terrible explosion that ensued. The first party of rescuers that entered the mine were driven back by afterdamp. Some members of this rescue party were overcome; pulmotors were used to revive them.
Some 700 men are employed in this mine. Had the explosion occurred on a working day, the loss of life would have been far greater.
Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brother Thomas Baldwin
of the United Mine Workers of America
Murdered by Company Gunthug
November 13, 1917
Raleigh, West Virginia
Brother Thomas Baldwin, union miner, was going about his business in Raleigh, West Virginia on the evening of Tuesday November 13, 1917, when company gunthug, Sam Crews, snuck up behind him and slugged him over the head with a blackjack. He died three hours later. He left a widow and three small children to survive as best they could without a husband and father. Brother Baldwin’s grave can be found marked by a simple stone at Raleigh Cemetery, Glen Morgan, Raleigh County, West Virginia.
“Raleigh Cemetery Watcher” at Topix has posted an article from the Raleigh Register Herald of November 1917 (exact date not given) which describes Brother Baldwin:
Baldwin, say his neighbors at Raleigh, was a good, reliable man, a steady worker, and provided well for his wife and three children. He was a member of the United Mine Worker’s local that had been organized there some time ago, but was not inclined to give trouble. It appears that there was no reason whatever for his assailant’s attack upon him.
He lived with his family about 200 yards from the company store at Raleigh. After supper, on the night of the murder he had gone to the store for some purpose. As he started for his home he noticed that Crews was following him. He stopped and spoke in a friendly manner to the guard, who replied in kind and then suddenly dealt him a heavy blow on the head with some blunt weapon, presumably a blackjack. Badly wounded, Baldwin made his way to his home and dropped upon a bed. Two physicians were called. They found his skull fractured and an artery severed. In about three hours he died.
Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for living.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Monday December 3, 1917
Raleigh, West Virginia – Union Miner Murdered by Gunthug
Reported by U. M. W. Executive Board Member, Lawrence Dwyer:
On last Wednesday night one of our members, Brother W. P. [Thomas] Baldwin, was brutally murdered at Raleigh, W. Va., by one of the professional gunmen of that camp. His name is Sam Crews. He sneaked up behind Brother Caseybolt, who was on his way home, and slugged him with a blackjack. Thirty minutes afterward he sneaked up behind Brother Baldwin and struck him over the head with a blackjack, crushing his skull. He died one hour and thirty minutes afterward. Brother Baldwin leaves a widow and four small children, who were dependent upon him. The thug walked away and has not been arrested.
During last week four of our members were assaulted and beat up by the thugs.
From the United Mine Workers Journal of November of 29, 1917:
FROM WEST VIRGINIA
Agreement Satisfactory—The Thugs Again[By Lawrence Dwyer,
International Board Member,
District 29 of Beckley, W. Va.]Beckley, W. Va., November 22. — Doctor Garfield on November 12 O.K.d and approved the penalty clause adopted by the representatives of the operatives and our district officials, and beginning on November 1, 1917, every member will receive the same advance as was granted in the four competitive states. I feel that the penalty clause adopted meets with the approval of the rank and file, as I have not heard of one member criticising it. I wish to advise, from several reports that came into our district office, that there are some operators who are putting a wrong interpretation as to the meaning of the penalty clause, as they are telling the men that in the future should any of them remain from their work one day they will be fined, so I will take this method to inform our members that such statements are wrong. By adopting the penalty clause we promised and assured our government that in the future there would be no stoppage of any mine contrary to the provisions of the present existing contract between the miners and operators of this district; therefore, section 2 of our agreement reads: Should any employe, without the consent of the mine foreman, absent himself from his work for two continuous days, or should an employe, unless due to sickness, persist in working irregularly, it shall be construed as sufficient cause for discharge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal, Sunday November 24, 1907
Eugene V. Debs on “The Grand Old Woman of the Revolutionary Movement”
From the Appeal to Reason of November 23, 1907:
“MOTHER” JONES.
—–BY EUGENE V. DEBS.
—–
“The ‘Grand Old Woman’ of the revolutionary movement” is the appropriate title given to Mother Jones by Walter Hurt. All who know her—and they are legion—will at once recognize the fitness of the title.
The career of this unique old agitator reads like romance. There is no other that can be compared to it. For fifteen years she has been at the forefront, and never once has she been known to flinch.
From the time of the Pullman strike in 1894, when she first came into prominence, she has been steadily in the public eye. With no desire to wear “distinction’s worthless badge,” utterly forgetful of self and scorning all selfish ambitions, this brave woman has fought the battles of the oppressed with a heroism more exalted than ever sustained a soldier upon the field of carnage.
Mother Jones is not one of the “summer soldiers” or “sunshine patriots.” Her pulses burn with true patriotic fervor, and wherever the battle waxes hottest there she surely will be found upon the firing line.
For many weary months at a time she has lived amid the most desolate regions of West Virginia, organizing the half-starved miners, making her home in their wretched cabins, sharing her meagre substance with their families, nursing the sick and cheering the disconsolate—a true minister of mercy.
During the great strike in the anthracite coal district she marched at the head of the miners; was first to meet the sheriff and the soldiers, and last to leave the field of battle.
Again and again has this dauntless soul been driven out of some community by corporation hirelings, enjoined by courts, locked up in jail, prodded by the bayonets of soldiers, and threatened with assassination. But never once in all her self-surrendering life has she shown the white feather; never once given a single sign of weakness or discouragement. In the Colorado strikes Mother Jones was feared, as was no other, by the criminal corporations; feared by them as she was loved by the sturdy miners she led again and again in the face of overwhelming odds until, like Henry of Navarre, where her snow-white crown was seen, the despairing slaves took fresh courage and fought again with all their waning strength against the embattled foe.
Deported at the point of bayonets, she bore herself so true a warrior that she won even the admiration of the soldiers, whose order it was to escort her to the boundary lines and guard against her return.
No other soldier in the revolutionary cause has a better right to recognition in this edition than has “Mother” Jones.
Her very name expresses the Spirit of the Revolution.
Her striking personality embodies all its principles.
She has won her way into the hearts of the nation’s toilers, and her name is revealed at the altars of their humble firesides and will be lovingly remembered by their children and their children’s children forever.
[Photograph added.]
Hellraisers Journal, Friday November 23, 1917
Mother Jones News for October, Part II: Claude G. Bowers on Mother Jones
Claude G. Bowers, journalists, spent a few hours with Mother Jones while she was traveling from Colorado to Indianapolis sometime around October 19th (see Mother Jones News for October, part 1), and writes about that meeting for his column, “Kabbages and Kings.” Bowers notes that Mother “is not afraid of man or devil,” and as an example tells of her experiences in Colorado during the Colorado Coalfield Strike of 1913-1914. During that struggle, Mother was held for almost one month in the “Military Bastile,” a cold cellar cell which had already claimed the life of a miner held prisoner there. She counseled “her boys” not to attempt a rescue, “Maybe I can do some good in the bull pen,” she said.
Hellraisers Journal, Thursday November 22, 1917
Mother Jones News for October, Part I: Up Against the West Virginia Gunthugs
During the month of October 1917, we find Mother Jones in Raleigh, West Virginia, once more facing the Baldwin-Felts gunthugs. Lawrence Dwyer, organizer for the United Mine Workers of America, described the encounter:
So Mother Jones, accompanied by District President Gilmore, Lawrence Dwyer and other representatives, went to the meeting in an automobile, and as the meeting was assembling alongside of the county road, three shots were fired from a rifle on the hillside and sixty gunmen came from the hills, each having a high-powered 30-30 rifle. They swarmed around Mother Jones and the officials with her and they all having their rifles pointing at Mother Jones, and they said they would “shoot her damned head off,” but Mother Jones didn’t appear to scare at all; in fact, when they threatened to shoot her she told them back, “Oh, no you won’t.” In fact, I know I felt more uneasy than Mother Jones did.
Mother was also found in Washington, D. C., and in Colorado during the month of October 1917.
From The Beckley Messenger of October 2, 1917:
MINERS HOLD MEETING
A large number of miners from Raleigh and intermediate mines met in Beckley Sunday afternoon and held a meeting at the court house. Plans looking to the betterment of working conditions were discussed. “Mother” Jones was present and expressed the wish that the coal companies might dispense with the services of armed guards, wherever they were employed.
Hellraisers Journal, Thursday November 14, 1907
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October, Found in Utah & Chicago
From Utah’s Eureka Reporter of October 4, 1907:
Mother Jones Will Speak Here Again
—–The Ladies Socialist Club will hold a meeting in the Elks Hall tomorrow evening the program to include an address by Mother Jones who will arrive in town again tomorrow morning. The ladies will probably prepare refreshments for the occasion.
———-
[Photograph added.]
From The Eureka Reporter of October 11, 1907:
Political [News]
—–From the present indication the voters of Eureka will have to choose between the Republican and Socialist tickets as the Democrats are undoubtedly down and out as far as the coming election is concerned. Some of the prominent members of the party are in favor of putting up a ticket but it would be a hard matter to secure candidates who would willing to dig up for campaign expenses as they realize that there is absolutely no chance to elect anyone upon a Democratic ticket in Eureka. One or two who have taken a prominent part in Democratic affairs here state that they would rather see an endorsement of the Socialist ticket than to allow the matter to go by the board but we believe that the rank and file of the Democratic party here are with the Republicans as they realize that the city is in splendid condition as a result of the clean business like city government which we have had here for the past four years.
—–
The Ladies’ Socialist Club held a meeting at the Elk’s hall last Saturday night [October 5th] and selected the following new officers: Mrs. D. J. Russell, financial secretary, Mrs. Robert Adamson, organizer and Mrs. George A. Udall, recording secretary.
Mother Jones was present and addressed the meeting and after the adjournment of the Miners Union the members of the two organizations enjoyed a nice banquet.
The Ladies Socialist Club will hold regular meetings in the future.
———-
Hellraisers Journal of October 11, 1907, reported on the death, on Labor Day, of Federal District Judge John Jay Jackson who so famously tangle with Mother Jones during the U. M. W. of A. organizing drive of 1902 in state of West Virginia.
Mother later described her thoughts on her exchange with the “Old Injunction Judge,” whereby, by most accounts, she got the better the him:
