Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-11-17

Labor at its Eleventh Annual Session.
recently held in Los Angeles, to inves-
tigate the cause of the explosion
which wrecked the Los Angeles Times
building and killed number of that
papers employees:
Los Angeles, CAL, October 26, 1910.
To the Executive Council of the Cali
/ fornia State Federation of Labor:
Your committee, appointed October
| 4 to Investigate the circumstances Of
the Times disaster begs leave to sub
/ nit the following report:
On the afternoon of the 4th this
committee called upon Mayor Alexan-
der and informed him of our desire
| to cooperate with the committee of
/ business men which he had already
| appointed to report upon the causes
of the catastrophe. The Mayor refus-
| ed to grant our request, saying that
/ he had no right to give us permission
to go upon private porperty, and,
| further, that to allow us to act would
be, unfair to the other committee,
/ since the latter had already about
| finished its investigations.
| The Mayor told us that the owners
| of the Times had ordered the city en-
/ ployees off the premises, and that the
/ lahorers digging at the ruins had quit
work at noon that day. Mr.. Hum
t phreys, who was in charge of the city
gdiggers, happened to come into the
Office at this time, and upon being
asked the pointed question, asserted
that the city employees were still
| working, but casting a quick glance at
the Mayor, caught himself and said:
tgrhey are probably off the premises
by this time" -
These incidents your committee
took as evidence that their services
were not welcome, and that for some
treason the Mayor did not wish us to
Investigate too closely the Icircum-
distances surrounding the disaster.
| After some parley, however, this
4 coInmittee secured permission to pass
within the police lines at the Times
I building, and proceeded to view the
wreck from the adjoining property
which was as close to the ruins as we
were permitted to go. From these
points of vantage, we observed the
wreck for about two and one-half
hours The committee of business
men made brief investigation and
/ reported within few days. Your
/ committee has continued its, work I'M
ceasingly for period of nearly four
weeks; and has spared no effort nor
expense to uncover the truth, not
only of the immediate cause of the
catastrophe, but of the circumstances
4 and motives involved in the charges
of crime which have so readily been
made against organized labor in con-
nection herewith. &
The Public Should Now Be Able. to
3 Face the Facts.
Four weeks have now passed since
the terrible explosion which destroyed
the building of the Los Angeles Times
: wrecked its printing plant and snuffed
out the lives of twenty-one of it's en-
. ployees.
-Four weeks should be time enough
. for the public mind to regain its
equilibrium The average citizen, who
has no interests at heart except those
3 Of Justice and Fair Play, ought now
) | to be able to look the situation square
Iy in the face. He ought to be able
to hazard fair guess as to the cause
of the explosion, as well as to who are
the criminals, provided there are any
criminal acts connected with this
woeful affair.
+
been deliberately distorted flor rea-
sons that will hereafter appear), in
order that just Judgment may be ar
rived at, it win Be necessary here to
present the situation as it stands. We
n believe the following to be fair and
honest statement of facts:
At o'clock on the morning of
Il october 1, the Times building was
f. =. !. n
the fire enveloping the building so
! quickly that a score of the employees
! were unable to escape and were burn
: ed to death, while several others
were seriously injured.
Within an hour after the explosion,
Harry s. Andrews, managing editor
! of the paper, issued the Following
i public statement:
.sFhe Times building was destroyed
Inv dynamite early this morning by the
: enemies of industrial freedom.
! Why Were Union Men Accused When
There Was No Evidence?
This assertion was made before Mr..
Andrews had the slightest evidence as
4 to what caused the explosion, much
less, as to who supposing the cause
(. Ito have been dynamite committed
| the crime
Al few hours later the Times
issued an edition from its auxiliary
plant. Pagewide. its headlines read:
/. aUnionist Bombs Wreck The Times.
GenraI Harris Gray Otis, proprietor
lof the Times, although he had not yet
arrived in Los Angeles, nor had he
interviewed anyone who was acquaint.
ed with the primary fact osf the dis
y s<st<,. s,,,odn III nffnef she same state.