The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-08-25
MINERS NOT HELD
SAYS Mr.. MABEN
Gives Out Statement About the
Brookside Incident
A KEG OF BEER TEMPTED
President of sIoss Says Force of
Guards Not Large Enough to
Restrain Men Even If He
Wanted To.

Brookside, where mines are operated by
the sloss-S Sheffield Steel and Iron COM
pany has furnished the first real SEN
satIon of the strike and the whole trouble
has grown out of a note written by
negro woman and scrawled on the
coarsest of wrapping paper,
The note was addressed to the United
Mine workers and said that number
of men were held in the mines by guards
against their will and that they We're
brought to Alabama under a misrepresen-
tation of the facts
Soon after this note was received by
President Flynn of the United Mine Work.
ers the report rapidly spread and on Mon
day Mr.. Flynn and other officials of the
organization went to Brookside and made
speeches to a gathering of miners and in
cidentally sough more information about
the note.
At Sherlffs Office.
1t now develops that the sheriff's office
took cognizance of the note as published
in the newspapers and sent a man to in
vestigate the situation. While the sheriff
ject President Hfaben of the Sloss COM
pany says he was informed az the sheriff
office that w. l. Love, who made the in
spection reported that no men were re-
strained of their liberty.
In the meantime about twenty of the
miners employed at Brookside have quit
work and are now with the strikers by
whom they are being fed and cared for.
President Flynn's version of the affair
is as follows:
Il am informed by reliable persons
that Deputy Sheriff Love went to Brook
side to investigate the report that men
were being held there by guards and
that the guards left When the guards
were removed twenty-five miners came
out of the quarters and joined the strikers
over In Brookside, and we are now taxi
ing care of Them
Mr.. Maben's Statement.
President Maben. of the Sloss company,
says:
1.-The report that the Sloss-Sheffeld
company has been holding men in the
mines at Brookside against their will is
absolutely untrue and the men who start
ed the report know that it Is untrue.
Learning that a deputy sheriff had been
sent to Brookside to make an investiga-
ton, | went to the sheriffs office and
asked for information concerning the ma
ture of his report. l knew nothing of
an officer having been sent there. l was
told that Mr.. Love had reported that he
had talked to all of the men, and they
| told him individually and collectively that
they could go and come when they
| pleased.
| las you probably know" continued Mr..
Maben, there is a little bridge at Brook
side that separates the town from the
company's property. The end of this
bridge is the dead line, and the miners
cannot come over 1t without being guilty
of trespass. When Mr.. Love started to
make his investigation it became known
all over town, and a large number of
miners assembled on the town side of the
bridge.
when the non-union miners were told
that they could go where they pleased
the strikers on the other end of the
ridge invited them to come over and
join them in keg of beer. Many of them
vent over and so far as | know have
rot returned to work. AS the strikers
had iLduged In threats If the miners
didn't CONE over l think this the worse
kind Of Intimidation. AS a matter of fact
we have very small force of guards at
Broohs.de and not enough to hold the
men even If such a thing were desired.
Believes 1t a Ruse.
81 believe the starting of such a report
was ruse on the part of the miners
union to create an impression that the
Sloss company was holding men against
their will. understand that such move
ment may be attempted at the mines of
other companies.
I'VE are moving along smoothly" con-
cluded Mr.. Maben, "and the output of our
mines is gradually increasing Our min
ing force is increasing every day and In
fact we are not having as much diff
ficulty In getting men as we had anti
! cipated Outside of the Brookside incident.
which believe the result of a conspiracy.
there is really nothing new in the situa-
ton"