The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-11
BLocTON IS PARALYzED
 OVER SUNDAY MURDERS
Today May Bring the Martial
 Law.
Unloatown Company Was on III-fated Train But None were Seriously Hurt--NationaI Vice Presi- dent of Mine workers Ar rived in City Yester-
 day.
BY BRUCE KENNEDY.

Birmingham. August 1o--(Special)- Pale corpses and the tear-stained faces Of heart breaking women. fruits of or ganised lawiessness at Blocton Sunday morning at 2 o'clock. have stirred the business men of Birmingham. and in < mass meeting today they demanded of Governor Conner that he take action at once to relieve the tense situation The meeting asked that martial law be declared in the Birmingham dis trlct ana suggested that the three regi- nents of infantry in Alabama be as- sembIed in Birmingham forthwith.
 It Is a significant fact that some of the men who attended this meeting subscribed money in 1894 to aid the striking miners. It Is also noteworthy that many of the thirty men arrested at Blocton today accused of taking {. part in the shooting. were brought to this district in 1894 as strike-breakers, but soon became members Of the Union.
 Sunday Birmingham was stunned by the news from Biocton. It was hard to believe that in a civilized country an organized body of men had ambus- caded a train bearing the States soi- diers and had fired over one hundred shots at those delegated. to preserve law and order. Three meh were killed instantly, one ts dying at hospital in Rirningham and thirteen are wounded
 This was the horror for Sunday breakfast tables. When business men came down town Monday morning, they found that a sentiment had crystalized Something he'd to be done. Webb w Crawford. President of the Alabama s4..N2 gatf fxFn A 6phoned5 to fifty or more representa- i've business men to meet him at the Commercial Club at 10:30 o'clock. governor Conner was invited. The men of Birmingham went to the meeting determined. They spoke their minds. Governor Conner was there. He heard some plain truths. Although the ut most secrecy was observed. it is known that the Governor was told flatly that the people of Birmingham looked to him to stop the disorders.
 It Is said that Governor Conner pledged himself to do what ever was necessary, providing 1t was approved by his legal advisers.
 Committee Created.
 4 committee of twenty-five was rreated, and to this committee was given power to represent the business welfare of the district. Then the meeting passed resolution request
 
 to publish anything about the gather Ing or its action. The afternoon news papers acceded to this remarkabel re- quest
 The committee of twenty-five met with Governor Conner this afternoon. No one is to know what decision was reached. but it would not be surpris- ing if tomorrow brings relief of some kind. It may bring an order for all of the Alabama Guard to assemble here. It may bring martial law, and 1t may bring an end to the strike and the re- sumption of normal conditions.
 The arrival here today of John P. White, of Indianapolis. National Vice President of the United Mine Workers of America. gives color to a report that the strike is nearing its end. At it's beginning on July G. w. R. Fairley, the strike leader here, said 1t would run thirty days. At the thirty-sIxth day MT. White comes. and Mir. White has 1t in his power to restore peace. His eyes cannot be closed to the hope 1essness of the contest.
 The tragedy at B1octon Sunday morn ing will not down. It has simply para lyzed Birmingham. It has brought an awakening to the terrible possibilities. One of the business men at the meet ing today expressed public feeling when he told the Governor that the shooting of National Guardsmen was the most serious thing that could oc- cur in the State and declared that a state of instruction now exists in this section.
 Some satisfaction is found in the belief that the men who committed murder at Blocton Sunday morning will be punished. Thirty persons, about equally divided between negroes and Slavs. have been arrested, and twenty-nine of them are in jail at Gen. nfU aF ty. The thirtieth prisoner is the only American accused, and although he is charged in the reported confession of five of the Slavs with having direct ed the ambuscade, he is merely held at Blocton by the soldiers, where, ac- cording to newspaper reports, he is being shown "the greatest considera- ton"
 Reported Confession.
 This man is Robert Hayes, President of Blocton Local of the Mine Work CTS. Reports from Blocton say that five of the Slavs confessed to being in the ambuscading party. saying that Hayes sent word to the miners that the ! special train was bearing a party of men to take their places in the mines, and that they must not allow them to como into the place. These confessions are said to have been wrung by a clev- CT ruse from the ignorant and fright ened Slavs by Major W. J. Walden of Uniontown, who commands the soldiers in the Blocton district.
 Hayes is a young man who, accord ing to reports, enjoys considerable in fluence in Blocton, where he is popular and is regarded as possessing & high character.
 Justice to Hayes makes 1t necessary to say that his friends deny that the Slavs confessed. and declare that the prisoners could not have confessed to Major Walden, as they do not speak English.
 It was the company from Uniontown that withstood the volleys at Bloeton Sunday morning. Captain Townsend