The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1908-09-03
BY gibson GARDNER.

/ @hio iCBiOu q SOdl iiiliC loJ at piCo-
ent, a military proposition. To en-
ter one must have a pass or know
the countersign.
The local servant Of the steel
trust passed me in, and was
shown around.
Here are the barracks for the
| guards, and here the arsenal" ex-
. planned the man in charge-a big,
sun burned, determined looking
chap. And here the quarters for
the men brought in to break the
strike. And here is where they eat.
And in this house the guards are
fed. And here we keep the dogs;
and here are extra guns"
Shotguns and rifles were stacked
up to the number of should say
so. Then there were dozen or
rs extras in closet. Besides these
| there were so which were out on
duty-the whole property being sur
rounded by picket line several
miles in length.
And there are bloodhounds In
this shed?"
'Oh, yes," replied the guard. eve
couldn't get along without our
dawgs. They track down suspicious
characters, or follow skulkers
through the brush"
The barracks were big, white
washed buildings filled with hunks.
All around them the brush had
been cleared away and standing
trees had coat of whitewash on
their trunks.
"That is to make 1t less easy for
q man to skulk at night
The local superintendent of the
Tennessee Coal and Iron company
ut Ensley kindly furnished box car
transportation through the yards.
Better not stand right in the
door, he warned. Someone might
just take shot for luck"
Possibly the superintendent was
Overcautious, but few days before
he had received five perforations in
his shirt while attempting to con-
duct q train of would be workmen
to mine. On that occasion he
haSsf6und protection behind the To-
connective water tank, whence he
mSsned Calling gun, until party
of militia came to his relief.
A little girl of six shook a sun
tanned fist at us and the cars of
coal that trailed behind. She knew,
poor child, that there were no
wages for their household in that
load Of coal.
At intervals about the yards we
saw the guards, ugly looking GUS
toners, lettering with the shotgun
carried on the arm or seated with
It in the lap.
1--WE have special guard we call
the flying squadron the guide
explained. There are 10 of them,
and they are all desperate men,
They have been under fire and can
be relied upon to shoot to hit We
keep them at the court house and
draft them wherever needed"
The most serious shootings which
have occurred have resulted from
the interference by strikers or their
sympathizers with trains bringing
strike breakers to the mines. A few
days after the present strike began
a train load Of new men was at
tackled at small place called Bloc
ton, near this city, three being
killed and II wounded. The fatali-
ties were all on the side of the
party on the train, so far as known.
The attack was from ambush at 2
o'clock in the morning, and 1t ap-
pears that the miltiamen who were
aboard for the supposed purpose OF
protecting the passengers had no
cartridges In their guns.
Another skirmish took place near
Ensley. suburb of Birmingham. In
this the company's guards behaved
shamefully. 1t appears that train
bearing nonunion miners, under
guard, was proceeding along what
is known as the drift track,
thickly settled community of col
ored miners, when a colored boy
threw a stone at the train This
was the signal for a general fusi-
Made by the guards, who leaped
from the cars and ran, shooting
right and left into the crowd.
|0uses were penetrated a quarter
OK a mile from the railroad and in
p.ocent people were dragged from
their homes and placed under ar
rest. There was no semblance OF
discipline, and the guards appar-
enatly acted in frenzy OF panic.
This is the account as | received Il
from sources friendly to the oper-
ators.
Since the strike began constant
bushwhacking warfare has been 60
ing on. Under cover Of darkness
attacking parties shoot from hill
sides and other vantage points into
the armed camps where the strike
breakers are housed and fed Few
II any casualties have resulted from