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Hellraisers Journal – Saturday August 31, 1912
Joe Ettor Writes from Essex County Jail at Lawrence, Massachusetts:
From the Spokane Industrial Worker of August 29, 1912:
[Photograph added.]
Tag: Walker C Smith
Hellraisers Journal: Industrial Workers of the World Declares Great Victory in the Kansas City Free Speech Fight
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Hellraisers Journal – Saturday November 11, 1911
Kansas City, Missouri – Walker C. Smith Describe I. W. W. Victory
From the Spokane Industrial Worker of November 9, 1911:
KANSAS CITY HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE MAP
—————(Walker C. Smith)
Kansas City is built on a bluff, but they can’t bluff the I. W. W.
The I. W. W. has succeeded in putting K. C. on the map and today in that hilly village the principal topic of conversation in the One Big Fighting Union of the working class. It is conceded that the authorities had to back down and they made quite a neat job of it. Chief of Police Griffin, Judge Burney and Clark, together with the public persecutor, saved their face through the medium of the Board of Public Welfare. The board consists of well meaning, old fossils, recently retired from the cockroach strata of society, who spend their time and the “dear public’s” money in sprinkling cologne on the dunghills of capitalism or in poulticing boils on the body politic. With the threat of “ONE THOUSAND MEN FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER AT LEED’S FARM” haunting them like a specter, these souphouse reformers went straight up in the air, Kansas City under normal conditions cannot care for its “unfortunates” and the present business depression, coupled with threatened I. W. W. invasion made these sentimental gentlemen throw up their lily white hands in holy horror.
On Wednesday night with six arrests, the “hobo agitators” numbered two dozen. These boys were kangarooed to the tune of $500 each for which they thanked the judge in sarcastic terms. One of them, charged with speaking on the street so as to blockade traffic, stutters so it took him several minutes to tell his name and occupation.
Trifles like this, however, never block the road of capitalist justice. This last haul filled all available space at the municipal farm and since then no further arrests have been made although the meetings are being held exactly as heretofore. On Friday night the speaking started at Sixth and Main, as usual, and the box was moved up to 12th and Grand. This is the busiest section and the crowd that had followed the speakers and singers, together with those who quickly gathered, became so large as to block traffic for the first time. Coyle, Saunders, Lyons and myself were the speakers and the cop on the beat-well, he beat it accompanied by the jeers of the crowd. Saturday was spent in putting out “Bulletin No 1,” which was a statement of the position of the I. W. W.
On Saturday morning G. E. B. member Tom Halero and I, went to the board to get permit to see the boys on Sunday. We were told to return at 3 p. m. and upon doing so were taken down to the office of the chief of police. Some of the members of the board were there and they endeavored to maneuver it into a conference with Halero and myself protesting that we had no power to take action and telling them that the men in jail were the only ones who could settle the fight. Not withstanding this the conference continued for three hours and assumed the appearance of a treaty council between equal powers. It conclusively demonstrated the tremendous power of organized might and clearly showed that we are building the new society within the shell of the old. We are gaining general recognition as a fighting force disputing control with the powers that be…..
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Hellraisers Journal: I. W. W. Aniversaries – In November We Remember: Joe Hill, Wesley Everest, and Everett Massacre
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Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday November 3, 1920
Industrial Workers of the World – Some November Anniversaries
From The One Big Union Monthly of November 1920:
Some I. W. W. Anniversaries
The month of November is particularly rich in memories for the I. W. W.
The events of the day are crowding upon us so fast that we cannot devote much time or space in our publications to the memories of the past, but not for a moment should the workers of this country be allowed to forget the outrages committed upon us in years gone by.
For the time being we shall content ourselves with a very brief review of some of the most horrid anniversaries of the I. W. W., which should be “celebrated” this month, not forgetting such anniversaries as that of Frank Little, whose anniversary falls in a different month.
On November 19, 1915, Joe Hill was legally murdered in the prison of Salt Lake City, Utah. His ashes are scattered by loving friends, who believe in his innocence, over the flower beds of this and other countries, and his memory lives in the songs which the I. W. W. members sing on every occasion.
Besides being a writer of songs which made the workers of all countries listen, Joe Hill, the miner, was also an amateur cartoonist. We reproduce here with a couple of his cartoons.
On November 5th, 1916, The Everett Massacre took place. We shall not try to describe this terrible tragedy of the class struggle. We refer every body to the account of it, issued in a book of 302 pages by the I. W. W. This book, “The I. W. W. Massacre,” is written by Walker C. Smith and sold by the I. W. W. Should be read by every red- blooded worker. Five were killed and scores wounded.
The Everett Massacre was one of the foulest deeds ever committed by the dirty hirelings of the capitalist class. It can be compared only to the indescribable horrors of Armistice day in Centralia, Wash., on November 11, 1919. The gruesome death of our Fellow Worker Wesley Everest on that day is enough to stagger the world. We cannot go into details. Read the book “The Centralia Conspiracy,” by Ralph Chaplin. It describes in word and illustration those terrible days.
Fellow Worker Bert Bland, who with a number of others is now serving a sentence equal to life imprisonment in Montesano as a result of the Centralia conspiracy, writes a touching tribute to the memory of the martyr Wesley Everest, which is published herewith.
Wesley Everest’s last greeting was: “Tell all the boys I did my best.” Joe Hill’s last message was: “Don’t mourn. Organize!” Frank Little’s last message is known only to his murderers, but we have no doubt it was like Joe Hill’s.
Hellraisers Journal: From The Butte Daily Bulletin: “Seven of Centralia Defendants Found Guilty in Second Degree”
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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday March 16, 1920
Montesano, Washington – Seven Centralia I. W. W. Defendants Found Guilty
From The Butte Daily Bulletin of March 15, 1920:
(Special to the Bulletin.)
Montesano, Wash., March 15.-Ignoring Judge Wilson’s instructions that their verdict must be either acquittal or first degree murder, the jurors in the trials of the 10 I. W. W. charged with killing Warren O. Grimm during the rioting which resulted from the attack of a group of legionnaire paraders on the I. W. W. hall at Centralia last Armistice day, late Saturday night brought in verdicts of acquittal for Elmer Smith, Mike Sheehan and Loren Roberts and second degree murder in the cases of Britt Smith, Ray Becker, James McInerney, Bert Bland, Eugene Barnett, John Lamb and O. C. Bland. Robert’s acquittal was based on the grounds of insanity.
The verdict was the second returned by the jury in the case, the jurors having come in earlier in the evening with the announcement that they had found McInerney, Becker, O. C. Bland and Bert Bland and Britt Smith guilty of second degree murder, and Eugene Barnett and John Lamb guilty of third degree murder. On this occasion Judge Wilson refused to accept the verdict and ordered them to return and deliberate in accordance with his instructions, holding that a verdict of third degree murder was not permissable under his instructions.
Immediately after the last verdict was read to the prisoners and the court, Sheriff John Berry of Lewis county immediately rearrested all of them on charges of having murdered Arthur McElfresh, who also was killed during the Armistice day rioting.
Hellraisers Journal: Harrison George on the Chicago Trial, the IWW Preamble, the Magna Carta, and the Sab-Cat
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Hellraisers Journal, Friday June 14, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – The Sab-Cat Enters the Courtroom
From The Ohio Socialist of June 11, 1918:
A Second Runnymede
—–By HARRISON GEORGE
It is no new thing-this struggle for human rights. Every morning we Chicago prisoners are taken in irons from the Cook County jail, the tomb of the old “Eight-Hour Movement,” and dumped into a gloomy court room of the Federal Building. How often have court rooms served as undertaking parlors for the aspirations of rebellious workers?
Here in the sepulchral atmosphere of the Law are gathered the class conscious social forces of this age in cut and thrust contest of Capital versus Labor.
Fathoming the shadows of the big room, our eyes discern an inscription within an arch among the mural decorations-“No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseized of his freehold or liberties or free customs, or be outlawed or exiled, or otherwise damaged, but by lawful judgment of his peers. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay, right or justice.” Did Simon De Montfort and his followers, who forced he tyrant John to accept this Magna Charta at Runnymede, dream that six centuries later in a land whose boasted jurisprudence is based upon their great conquest, these words would lend a sanctity to such hypocritical persecution? We think of Ludlow and Lawrence, Paint Creek and Everett, of Bisbee and Butte-and we wonder why that inscription should not be painted out.
Throughout the month of April we I. W. W. men sat in the dock listening to the endless stream of questions and replies between lawyers and prospective jurors. Nebeker, the Copper Trust attorney, seeking always to constrain the issues and select employers; Vandeveer, for the I. W. W., groping in a basket of bad eggs for those the least bad, seeking to obtain men who have the social mind. “Industrial democracy”-“the class war”-“the right of revolution,” are phrases that flow like sparks from an anvil as Vandeveer, or Cleary, hammer home their questions and forged the tremendous issues. For here is a second Runnymede, and here the I. W. W. must enforce upon a tyrant master class the recognition of a new Magna Charta- the Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World..
Hellraisers Journal: As Jury Selection Continues in Chicago, New York Tribune’s Full-Page Article Finds IWW Guilty, II
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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.By Boyden R. Sparkes
Chicago, April 13, 1918.[Part II]
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Hellraisers Journal: IWWs Brought to Chicago from New York City & Seattle; St John Arrested in New Mexico
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday November 6, 1917
Chicago, Illinois – More “Agitators” Arrive to Face Charges
From The Chicago Sunday Tribune of November 4, 1917:
I.W.W. AGITATORS TRICKLE IN
FROM ALL OVER THE U.S.
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One by one I.W. W. agitators, have been brought to Chicago from all parts of the United States until more than 100 of the 167 recently indicted by the federal grand jury are locked in Chicago jails. Charles F. Clyne, United States district attorney, said yesterday that he expected to see the case go to trial soon-probably within thirty days.
Three defendants arrived from New York yesterday. They are Elizabeth Gurney [Gurley] Flynn, Carl Tresca, and Arturo Giovannitti and will be given a chance to get bond. A fourth from the east, John Bladazi [Giovanni Baldazzi], an anarchist, is to be denied bond, it is said, as the government considers him too dangerous to be at large.
Seven more have just arrived from Seattle in charge of six officers. They are Harry Lloyd, J A. McDonald [MacDonald], , Walter Smith [Walker C Smith], J. T. Doran, James F. Thompson [James P Thompson], John M. Foss, and George Hardy. Claude R. Porter of Des Moines has arrived in Chicago to take the place of Frank C. Dailey, prosecutor, whose resignation has just been announced.
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[Photograph added.]
Hellraisers Journal: From the I. W. W. Newspaper, Solidarity: “The Kitten in the Wheat” by Shorty
And have you fix the where and when
That we must slave and die?
Here’s fifty thousand harvest men
Shall know the reason why!
-Shorty
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Hellraisers Journal, Monday June 25, 1917
A Song for the Harvest Workers of the American Mid-West
From Solidarity of June 23, 1917:
Hellraisers Journal: May Day in Seattle: IWW Martyrs Honored, Joe Hill’s Ashes Scattered, Prisoners Serenaded
Don’t waste any time in mourning-organize.
-Joe Hill
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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday May 2, 1917
Seattle, Washington – I. W. W. Honors Martyrs on May Day
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Members and supporters of the Industrial Workers of the World celebrated International Workers’ Day by honoring their martyred dead with a grand march to the graves of three of the five Free Speech Fighters who were murdered at Everett last November. Joe Hill’s ashes were scattered to the winds, after-which the marchers made their way to the King County jail to sing for the I. W. W. boys imprisoned there.
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Hellraisers Journal: An Interview with “Poet-Tramp” and I. W. W. Journalist, Charles Ashleigh
They came, that none should trample Labor’s right
To speak, and voice her centuries of pain.
Bare hands against the master’s armored might!-
A dream to match the tolls of sordid gain!
-Charles Ashleigh
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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday April 18, 1917
From The Tacoma Times: An Interview with Charles Ashleigh
POET-TRAMP-JOURNALIST A CLOSE OBSERVER
OF BIG SEATTLE TRIALBy Mabel Abbott
SEATTLE, Wash, April 17.-A poet, a tramp, a newspaper man and an I. W. W. sit each day at the press table in Judge Ronald’s courtroom, where a great class struggle is being fought around the stocky figure of Tom Tracy, I. W. W.
They are Charles Ashleigh.
He is in charge of publicity for the Everett Prisoners’ Defense league, and he is a radical of the radicals; so revolutionary that he even dares to defy the tradition that a revolutionist shall be a sinister and mysterious-looking person.
He is young, small, mild-mannered, and speaks literary English with a fine British accent.
He was born in London. As a boy he was for a time an assistant secretary in the Fabian society of socialists and free-thinkers, and saw and heard Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and other famous members.
A little later, he tramped through England with the army of the unemployed, haranguing the crowds and stirring the miners of South Wales to organization.
Loves Adventure.
Ordinary life was tame, naturally, after that, and Ashleigh, went to South America.
In Buenos Ayres he was for a little while in the accounting department of a railway; then he took a contract to string telegraph wires along the right of way.
He had never strung a wire in his life, or seen it done, but he hired a foreman who did know how, assembled a gang of Guarani Indians, and started out.
It was a colorful experience. “The Indians aren’t really a bad sort at all, you know,” Ashleigh explains, “but they do drink. One night the cook shot his brother, in my tent. They were all rioting around so it was hard to tell anything about it, and the authorities got hold of me, as being the handiest person, I suppose, and put me in jail, until the British consul came and cleared things up.” Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: An Interview with “Poet-Tramp” and I. W. W. Journalist, Charles Ashleigh”
