Tag: Vigilantes

Hellraisers Journal: From the Spokane Industrial Worker: “Capitalist Sluggers in Fresno” -Mob Destroys IWW Camp

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Quote Frank Little, Fresno Jails Dungeons, FMR p6, Sept 2, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 22, 1910
Fresno, California – Mob Destroys I. W. W. Camp as Police Stand By

From the Spokane Industrial Worker of December 15, 1910:

Fresno FSF, Telegram StJ CRTN re Mob Attack, IW p1, Dec 15, 1910

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Fresno FSF, HdLn Capitalist Sluggers in Fresno, IW p1, Dec 15, 1910

Again we have been taught another lesson in LAW AND ORDER. On Dec. 7, F. H. Little, secretary of the I. W. W. local in Fresno was tried in that city on a charge of DISTURBING THE PEACE. Disturbing the peace meant to use his constitutional rights to address an audience of workers or whoever wished to stop and listen to him expound the teachings of the I. W. W. At the trial of Little it was discovered (after men had been tortured in the cells of the Fresno jail for breaking LAWS) that there was no LAW in Fresno denying a man FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Fellow Worker Little was acquitted and it was then up to the authorities to release all the prisoners from the dungeons, where they had been tortured with the fire hose and other barbarous methods. The following dispatch to the Spokesman-Review from Fresno proves our statement:

The Industrial Workers of the World have won their fight for “free speech” in Fresno and are speaking throughout the city advocating the principles of their organization, while the police, helpless to interfere, are merely watching to see that none of the agitators incite rioting.

The victory was due to the discovery today that the ordinances of the city do not prohibit speaking on the streets without a permit. Police officials say that probably the 49 I. W. W. speakers now in the county jail will be liberated tomorrow.

Several of the prominent merchants here have advocated the organization of a citizens’ committee to force the industrialists out of the city, but no one has been willing to take the initiative.

The headquarters of the organization, just outside of the city limits, was the scene of jollification this evening , over the acquittal of F. H. Little, secretary of the organization, on a charge of disturbing the peace.

When the authorities could find no legal way to stop FREEDOM OF SPEECH they began to throw out hints to the Citizen’s Alliance and other thugs to go at it themselves and clean out the I. W. W. men with violence. The following dispatch to the Spokesman-Review on the 9th again bears out our statement that the respectable mob was invited to do bodily harm to our members, and probably murder in cold blood:

Following an order given by the chief of police to all patrolmen to allow members of the I. W. W. to speak unmolested on the streets of Fresno, and a statement that the citizens might do as they wished, a large mob gathered in this city tonight about 7 o’clock, attacked and severely beat a number of industrial workers, who sought to speak, and then marched to the I. W. W. camp, outside the city limits, and burned a big tent in which the members lived, together with all the supplies kept there.

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Hellraisers Journal: Fresno Free Speech Fight Continues: Jailed Fellow Workers Get Water Cure; Pimps Get Turkey Dinner

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Quote Frank Little, Fresno Jails Dungeons, FMR p6, Sept 2, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday December 12, 1910
Fresno, California – “Water Cure for Workers; Turkey for Pimps”

From the Spokane Industrial Worker of December 8, 1910:

IWW Fresno FSF, Jail Workers v Pimps, IW p1, Dec 8, 1910

Fighting for the right to tell the truth to workers so that they will organize and put an end to this CLASS STRUGGLE is no play for children. The rich are rich by virtue of the fact that the great mass of the people are IGNORANT.  It pays to keep the workers in IGNORANCE, as no one recognizes the old axiom that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER any better than the parasites that revel in luxury from the toil and misery of others. Under the guise of PATRIOTISM  the children are taught to murder each other in the name of their country when in reality they have no country and are fighting for the boss. Under the guise of the GOLDEN RULE they are taught to suffer on earth, and that the more they surfer and starve on earth the better off they will be after they die. Ay one who preachers this SPOOK DOCTRINE  will never be cast into jail even if all the street cars in America are stopped because of the crowd.

That I. W. W. men want to block the streets and obstruct traffic is an absolute lie. This bunk was peddled daily by the Spokane lying capitalist press, while at the same time religious organizations were having free use of the streets. This same bunch of LIES is being peddle now in Fresno, where the fight for Free Speech is on. I. W. W. men in jail have had the hose turned on them by the POLICE for singing the Marsellaise. The capitalist press of Fresno is a unit in endorsing the actions of the police in this matter. One daily paper of Fresno gleefully tells how the prisoners were floating around in the water, but yet they sang the Marsellaise.

In another department of the jail were PIMPS that were arrested for dealing WHITE SLAVES. They were fed on good food and were given daily papers and tobacco, and were furnished with good beds. The WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC is a product of capitalism. The I. W. W. is the result of the best thoughts and intelligence of the workers who rebel against the rule of the master.

The CAPITALIST CLASS knows that if the workers are organized on the lines laid down by the I. W. W. that the smoke it off with them. Among the men in jail in Fresno for Free Speech is an old man 81 years of age. He was put through the horrors of the water cure with the younger men. This old white-headed man stands for Freedom on earth. The crawling coward that will stand for all the insults and misery that is handed out to him on earth, believing that he will be better off after death, is too despicable a thing to notice. When are we to profit by the torture that is being dealt out to us in the lousy cells of the master class? Fall in around the banner, boys, and organize to put the PARASITES to work doing something useful. The day of reckoning is yet to come. Down with  IGNORANCE.

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[Emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]

IWW Fresno FSF, Telegram Jack Whyte, IW p4, Dec 8, 1910

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Hellraisers Journal: Drumright Follows Tulsa: IWW Hall Raided, FWs Forced to Throw Bricks Thru Window

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday November 17, 1917
Drumright, Oklahoma – Takes Cue From Tulsa “Knights of Liberty”

From The Leavenworth Weekly Times of November 15, 1917:

DRUMRIGHT TAKES CUE;
ORDERS ALL I.W.W.’S TO FLEE
—–

ARE FORCED TO HEAVE BRICKS THROUGH
HEADQUARTERS WINDOWS
—–

IN FOR GENRAL CLEAN-UP
—–

Sheriff Issues Statement Urging Shooting on Sight of
Any I. W. W. Suspect Caught Molesting Property-
Plot to Aid I. W. W. Prisoners to Escape
Cook County Jail Frustrated-
Workers Call Convention in Omaha-
4,000 to 5,000 Members Will Be Present
—–

WWIR, IWW Flog Tar Feather, Morn Tulsa Dly Wld, Nov 10, 1917

Tulsa, Okla. Nov. 10.-Taking their cue from the actions of the “Knights of Liberty” of Tulsa who last night flogged, tarred and feathered seventeen members of the I. W. W. and warned all others to flee, officers at Drumright today raided the I. W. W. headquarters there, arrested the secretary and at the point of the pistol forced the men found in the hall to throw bricks through the window on which the sign had been painted. Then all were ordered to “get out.”

Drumright recently was the center of a threatened I. W. W. uprising in the adjacent fields.

Sheriff Griff Graham of Washington county issued a statement today urging the shooting on sight of any I. W. W. suspect caught molesting property.

Several letters were received today by Tulsa newspapers asking if they could put the writers in touch with the “Knights of Liberty” saying they would like to organize other bodies of the same order. No one here can be found who will admit knowing anything of the inside workings of the order.

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Hellraisers Journal: Night of Terror in Tulsa: IWWs Taken From Jail, Whipped & Tarred by “Knights of Liberty”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Strangle the I. W. W.’s.
Kill them, just as you would kill
any other kind of a snake.
Don’t scotch ’em; kill ’em.
And kill ’em dead.
–The Tulsa Daily World

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Hellraisers Journal, Monday November 12, 1917
Tulsa, Oklahoma – Fellow Workers Face Night of Terror

From The Tulsa Daily World of November 10, 1917:

WWIR, IWW Flog Tar Feather, Morn Tulsa Dly Wld, Nov 10, 1917

Three automobile loads of I. W. W.’s, in charge of policemen, were halted on Boulder avenue, near Archer, last night at 11 o’clock by a crowd of men garbed in long black robes and wearing black masks. The officers were forced to drive their prisoners to a secluded spot west of Irving Place, where, with impressive ceremonies each of the I. W. W.’s was lashed with a cat-o’-nine-tails. Then a coat of hot tar was applied to the bleeding back and feathers applied.

With each stroke of the brush the black-robed man in charge of the ceremony uttered the words:

“In the name of the outraged women and children of Belgium.”

With nothing on but their trousers the men were started toward the Osage hills. Hundreds of rifle and revolver shots were fired in the air and they sped into the inky darkness of the night.

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Hellraisers Journal: From Appeal to Reason: Woman Representatives Score Butte & Bisbee, Article by Rosa McKay

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I am not a member of the I. W. W.
or an industrial workers of the world sympathizer
but a woman who believes in
the constitutional rights of every man and woman.
-Rosa McKay

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Hellraisers Journal, Thursday August 23, 1917
From the Appeal to Reason: Two Brave Women Speak for Labor

The Appeal to Reason of August 18th featured the opinions of two women elected to represent the people: the first, Miss Jeannette Rankin of the United States House of Representatives, and the second, Mrs. Rosa McKay of the Arizona House of Representatives. Yesterday we featured the speech by Miss Rankin who outlined conditions at Butte. We conclude today with an article by Mrs. McKay who describes recent events in Bisbee.

Butte and Bisbee Outrages Scored
by Brave Woman Representatives

Rosa McKay, WTUL Life and Labor, Nov 1918

…In an article to the Appeal, Mrs. Rosa McKay, member of the Arizona House of Representatives from Bisbee, Cochise county, Arizona, tells of the Bisbee deportation….

By Mrs. Rosa McKay

Member Arizona House of Representatives

For fourteen years I have claimed Bisbee as my home. But after Thursday, the twelfth day of July. I hang my head in shame and sorrow for the sights I have witnessed here. When the full truth about Bisbee reaches the outside world, it will be looked upon with deserved aversion.

In this article I shall give an honest and unbiased statement, from a fair and impartial standpoint, of the labor situation in Bisbee today. I belong to no labor organization or mining corporation. I am merely an onlooker and spectator, and a firm believer in the constitutional rights of all American citizens, whether by birth or naturalization, the rights that our forefathers fought, bled and died for.

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WE NEVER FORGET: FW James H. Brew who gave his life in freedom’s cause on July 12 1917 at Bisbee, Arizona

Janet RayeWe Never Forget
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Pray for the dead
and fight like for the living
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE NEVER FORGET James H Brew, Bisbee AZ, July 12, 1917

—–

Fellow Worker James H. Brew
Card-Carrying Member of the Industrial Workers of the World

WNF James H Brew, Tombstone, d. July 12, 1917

Fellow Worker James H. Brew was a card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World. He was a miner and a boilermaker, and a seasoned veteran of the Cripple Creek Strike of 1903-1904.

During the early morning hours of July 12, 1917, he was asleep at his rooming house when a band of Sheriff Wheeler’s army of deputized gunthugs and citizen vigilantes came to grab him as part of their warrantless round-up of the striking miners and strike sympathizers of Bisbee, Arizona.

Leading this band of kidnappers was Orson P. McRae, shift boss at the Copper Queen Mine and a member of the Loyalty League. McRae was accompanied by five deputized gunthugs.

FW Brew warned the would-be kidnappers not to enter, but with McRae in the lead, they were determined to force their way inside.

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Hellraisers Journal: Bisbee Deportee, Attorney W. B. Cleary, Issues Statement from Hermanas, New Mexico

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday July 16, 1917
From Hermanas, New Mexico – W. B. Cleary Speaks

Bisbee Deportation Miners and Supporters July 12, 1917

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In a statement issued from Hermanas, New Mexico, where the miners and their supporters, deported from the Bisbee district of Arizona, were left stranded at 3 a. m. on July 13, Attorney W. B. Cleary said in part:

About 5 o’clock in the morning of the 12th a rounding-up of the men on strike began. The strikers were members of the I. W. W. and the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. Men from Bisbee, Lowell, Warren, and Douglas, and the county adjacent thereto, to the number of 2,200, mostly armed with rifles and revolvers and some with clubs, assisted in the work of the round-up. Some of the miners were treated without any show of violence by the men taking them from their homes, while in other instances the men were forced at the point of a gun to leave their homes, and in many instances their wives and families.

They were herded by gunmen with an automobile which carried a machine gun. This machine gun was trained on the miners….

The men were entrained on twenty-four cars waiting on a siding near the park. Cattle cars and box cars were used for this purpose. About noon the train was started toward New Mexico. On top of each car were a large number of armed guards and along the railroad track for miles the train was accompanied by automobiles with men holding guns fixed upon the railroad cars.

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Hellraisers Journal: Tracy Defense Presents Its Case: Louis Skaroff Testifies to Brutality at Everett Jail

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday April 16, 1917
Seattle, Washington – Charles Ashleigh Reports on Tracy Trial

Everett Defense News #20, Apr 14, 1917

Everett Massacre, Snohomish County Jail, WCS p116 w text

SEATTLE, Wash., April 14th.-During the last week the Defense, in the case of Thomas H. Tracy, one of the 73 men charged with murder of a deputy on Nov. 5th in Everett, has been bringing its big guns to bear upon the edifice of lies and falsity which the Prosecution had erected. The covering has been torn away from Everett and the city has been exposed in all its native reek.


EVERETT MAYOR’S BRUTALITY REVEALED.

Last Monday, Louis Skaroff, a young Russian boy, gave his testimony which the Defense announced was intended to impeach the evidence of Mayor Merrill. Skaroff was in Everett on Bloody Sunday, Nov. 5th. He had the courage to get up on the street corner, after the massacre at the dock, and begin to speak. Of course, he was immediately arrested. Following is his account, under examination, of the treatment he received in jail:

On Monday evening following my arrest I was lying on a table in the tank, asleep, when the jailer called for me. Somebody woke me and told me to put on my clothes as the Mayor wanted to speak to me.

THE MODERN INQUISITION.

[Continued Skaroff:]

I was taken into a room in the jail where there was an iron bed. It appeared to be an officer’s rest-room. There were three men in there: the night officer, a man who posed as an Immigration Officer and Mayor Merrill. They sat me in a chair and started asking questions. Then they talked some more; and then the night officer began to beat me up. When he got tired, the Mayor started in on me. He beat me terribly and then threw me on the floor and walked on me. Then they put my fingers under the leg of the bed and the Mayor and another jumped on the bed. Then they took me back to the cell and on the way knocked me down four times.

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Hellraisers Journal: “Everett Brutality Revealed in Tracy Case!” by Charles Ashleigh for Defense News Letter

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday March 27, 1917
Seattle, Washington – The Trial of Tom Tracy Continues

Everett Massacre, EDNL 17, Mar 23, 1917

Everett Massacre, Poster, Remember by M. Pass, IW Nov 25, 1916

SEATTLE, WASH., March 23rd,-Slowly the history of the foul attacks on Free Speech and the right of Labor to organize is emerging in the course of the trial of Thomas Tracy, the first of 74 workingmen charged with the killing of Deputy Jeff Beard on the waterfront of Everett, Wash, on Bloody Sunday, Nov. 5th. These 74 men are tried for the killing of one deputy. Nobody, however, is being tried for the death of five workingmen on that red day. The trial of Tracy is, in reality, the trial of Labor.

EVERETT MAYOR TAKES STAND.

One of the star witnesses for the Prosecution was Mayor Merrill of Everett. He didn’t turn out quite such a star as they thought he would. Under the rigid cross-examination of Attorneys Moore and Vanderveer for the Defense Merrill showed that he was either a rotten Mayor and a good witness or a good Mayor and a very prevaricating witness. A dramatic moment in court was when he was confronted with Louis Scaroff [also Skaroff], a boy who has sworn that the Mayor beat him up brutally in a bedroom in the City Jail and that his fingers were placed, one by one, under the leg of a bed upon which the Mayor and two other men then sat. Even the capitalistic press of Seattle remarked that the Mayor’s face whitened and his voice thickened when faced with the victim of his beastlike brutality.

THE SORDID STORY OF BEVERLY PARK.

On October 30th, 41 men, coming from Seattle to Everett to hold a meeting were met at the Everett Dock, loaded into automobiles and taken to Beverly Park, a lonely spot on the outskirts of Everett. There they were severely beaten up and made to run the gauntlet. The story of Beverly Park is gradually emerging under the insistent pressure of the Defense’s cross-examination. One Hawes, who keeps a scab stationery and printing establishment in Everett, admitted that he was one of the guards on that occasion. He also was forced to admit that the deputies were strung out on either side of the road and that the workingmen were made to proceed on foot towards Seattle, which means they had to pass down between the two lines. This is virtually admitting the gauntlet. He stated that some of the men “got a swat or two” which is the most definite admission of violence so far. Hawes stated that he ran after one man who tried to get away off the road into the woods. When asked why he did that he said the man was a “big baby.” Hawes, himself, stands about six feet two inches and says he weighs 250 pounds. At this moment, Fred Moore brought in two lads who were among the Beverly victims.

“Stand up!” commanded Attorney Vanderveer, and the hulking fellow stood up. Then the two boys were placed next to him, reaching about to his armpits.

“Are these the big babies you talked about?” thundered Vanderveer.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “Everett Brutality Revealed in Tracy Case!” by Charles Ashleigh for Defense News Letter” →

Hellraisers Journal: Defense Wrings Important Admissions from State’s Witnesses at Trial of Tom Tracy

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday March 20, 1917
Seattle, Washington – Charles Ashleigh Reports on Tracy Trial

Everett Defense News #16, Mar 16, 1917

Everett Massacre, Tom Tracy in Seattle Courtroom, Stt Str Mar 9, 1917

SEATTLE, Wash., March 16th.-In a courtroom the battle for the life of Thomas H. Tracy, the workingman charged with the murder of Jefferson Beard at Everett, Wash., on November 5th, is now proceeding. Thousands of workers are awaiting eagerly the news of this, one of the greatest labor trials in history.

CITIZEN DEPUTIES AS WITNESSES.

The Prosecution has already introduced several “citizen deputies,” as are styled the vigilantes recruited by the Commercial Club, as witnesses. The first was one H. W. Shaw who was on the dock when the “Verona” came in, and who participated in that red tragedy. There followed one Owen Clay, an employee of the Weyerhauser mills and a Mr. Booth, ex-saloon keeper and real estate agent of Everett. Then came Charles Tucker, a workingman who admitted that he had served as guard in a struck mill. Of such are the witnesses of the state.

WHERE DID THE FIRST SHOT COME FROM?

Of course, the witnesses for the state have all stated that the first shot came from the boat. But there their unanimity ceases. As to where it came from,-what portion of the vessel,-and the moment when it came, they contradict each other most satisfactorily. Also, none of them have seen the shot or the shooter, they have only heard it! The grilling of the Defense attorneys, Moore and Vanderveer, sadly confused some of the witnesses. One of them, Tucker, flatly contradicted his former testimony in the important matter of where he thought the first shot came from! When faced with his earlier statement, he denied it, thus discrediting the Court Stenographer!

LIGHT BEGINS TO SHINE ON BEVERLY PARK!

On the evening of October 30th, 41 workingmen coming to Everett with the object of holding a street meeting were met at the dock by a mob of vigilantes, armed and with automobiles. The workers were loaded into the autos and taken out to Beverly Park, on the outskirts of Everett where they were made to run the gauntlet and were severely beaten up.

This outrage the Prosecution had no desire to see revealed and the cross-questioning of the first few witnesses elicited no information. Mr. Booth, however, caused a thrill to run through the court when he stated that he had taken part in the “procession” of autos loaded with men through Everett. He said that he had taken no part in the gauntlet-running because “he would not participate in beating up” a virtual admission that the others had done the beating up.

WHAT ABOUT THE RIFLES AND SHOT-GUNS?

The Defense had also quite a fight before the fact began to emerge that the citizen deputies were armed, not only with revolvers, but with rifles and shot-guns. The first State witness to acknowledge that he had even seen such things on November 5th was Judge Bell, of Everett, who was a deputy. He said first that he had seen men with long-barrelled guns,-he didn’t know whether they were rifles or shot-guns,-down at the dock. Later, he denied this same fact, although the stenographic report showed plainly that he had so stated, but still admitted that he had seen them at the Commercial Club. To have gone so far, with only the first half-dozen witnesses out of a couple of hundred which the Prosecution has on its list, is to be counted as definite progress for the Defense.

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