The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-15
CONFESSIONS WERE
 PURELY VOLUNTARY
tcontlnaea From Pase one.,

sary arrankehient.
 At Bessemer Thursday night mass meeting was held to protest against the arrangement. The union men pre- fer to be issued money 90 that they may expend 1t ass they please This plan. of course. would be more desir- able for the merchants of the district whose business has been paralyzed oy the likeness of SO many men
 When I talked with Leader Lewis. Ward Hayes was present. MT. Hayes Is a union miner on strike. He is the father 3f Robert Hayes the young man against whom tremendous resent meat is felt for directing the Sunday mornins tragedy near Bloeton.
 Hayes Not Leader.
 The Elder Hayes appears to be an honest~minded citizen and he deplores the Killing Of men on the train. Nat urally he believes his son is guiltless but he does not defend him entirely.
 T would not undertake to say" said MT. Hayes. "that my son did not tell the foreigners to commit lawless acts. That would De mere assertion Twill say. and l will testify, that my son was with me all of Saturday night. We were in Dagat0wn that night until g o'clock arranging to send provisions there for oHr men. A Blocton mer- chant was with us, and he will swear that Robert Hayes did not counsel vio- lence.
 From Dagotewn we went home and Robert Hayes slept in 6 room adjacent to mine. We did not hear of the shoot Ing until the following morning."
 Robert Hayes Is a young man. he Is 26 years old. married and has four children. Both he and his wife were born in Bibb County. He was a strike breaker four years ago, when he went ha nf pany here where non-union miners have been worked since. Until July 6. when the strike began, Robert Hayes was loyal to the company. Then It was dis covered that the miners had been or- ganized. and that Robert Hayes was President of the local union.
 Blocton is a more or less isolated place, and all of the details of the train tragedy of last Sunday morning have not been given to the public. They are full of interest and they will have an important bearing on the trials that are to be held at centreville.
 The Tennessee company had secured thirty-two strike-breakers in Knox vile, Tenn. They reached Birming- ham at 10:20 o'clock Saturday night. and the company officials had decided to send them straight through to the mines at Blocton. Governor Conner was asked for soldiers to accompany the strike breakers. who were in charge of Major F. NJ Dodge. labor agent for the mine company.
 Objections were raised by the mill tary officers against sending out train of strike breakers late at night, but they were assured that Blocton was the most quiet and peaceable place in the district.
 Colonel Hubbard assigned the Union town company of forty five men, com r1aa Fnd AzF AA company the strikebreakers. Major ". J. Walden, also of Uniontown. was directed to go along. His order was to report to Major Dodge at the train which left Birmingham about il o'clock. Major Dodge told Major Walden that the soldiers would occupy the middle coach in the train. The strike breakers were in the forward and rear cars, and a number of deputy sheriffs were with them.
 Everything went well until Biocton Junction, five miles from Blocton was reached. Leaving Bloeton Junction, the train struck a number of torpedoes easily distinguished the report of tor pedoes from weapons and were not dis turbed.
 The BIocton Tragedy.
 Two miles north of Blocton the train began to slow down. Then there was the sharp report of single rifle.
 Major Walden, at one end of the ear cried out the command '1ie down" Every soldier fell to the floor. In- stantly a vol1ey swept the train. Ma ior Walden whipped out ehis army re- volver, and poured five shots through the window. He grabbed rifle and fired again. Captain Townsend. at the other end of the coach, emptied his pistol and also fired from a rifle. several volieys were fired by the ann buscaders.
 By this time. the train was running fast Major Walden rushed Into the forward car and met the brakeman, who reported that Conductor Collins and two other men had been killed.
 Stop the train" thundered Major walden. But the train was then enter ing the station at Blocton. When it was stopped the soldiers were deployed on either side, and the deputy sherIffs and strikebreakers aiighted. 1t was discovered that a number of the strike. breakers had jumped from the train. only twelve of them remained in Bloc ton and they are now at work in the mines.
 As soon as the strikebreakers were delivered to the offices of the Tennessee Coal Company and the dead and wounded had been cared for. Major Walden proposed to take the soldiers in pursuit Of the criminals. The mine officials advised against if. saying that they desired the soldiers to stay in Blocton to protect the property of the company there.
 We had been fired upon" explained Major Walden, and I wanted to en- gage those men. but our orders were to report to the mine company ohicials | and these was nothing else to be done"
 It should be said that already q mil- itary order has been Issued commend ing Major Walden and the men under his command for the way they be- haved
 Major Walden says the young sol dieTs acquitted themselves admirably. There was no spirit of fear. On the contrary the Uniontown men still har- Dor resentment against the men who shot at them, and if they get a second opportunity they will shoot some them selves.
 Some surprise has been expressed that the soldiers were allowed to travel on dangerous duty without cartridges In their guns. Major Walden says that soldiers are never permitted to travel on trains with loaded rifles, as 1t is dangerous to do SO. He says he had numbey of locked rifles loaded for an emergency, and 1t was these rifles that Major Walden and Captain Town. send fired from the train.
 As soon as the soldiers reach ed Bloc ton that morning, 1t was about 2:30 o'clock, they took up their quarters In the high school building near the