El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-31

] know that we can just make IL pay
the cost Of operating We are sup
posed TO be buying 2 coal mine, acW-
ally we are buying customers-Jhe coal
miners. They are our chief asset,
4 listed under the head of good viii. 20
Keeping Out Competition
- cheeky independent opens store
on 'Our" boundary line tries to steal
our" assets by cutting prices DO we
let him. Not much First of all, we
won't allow hi INTO deliver goods "a
I our town. We may instruct our
. police the mine guards, to turn back
. any asset" that strays in his direction.
+ Others do this, why shouldn't We2
T Then we decide to have only one pay,
. day each month instead Of two. That
means that our miner won't be able
/ TO pay cash for what he buys. lie
/ doesn't need money. anyway II he had
. il, ne would buy whisky. Wen give
: him credit at Our" store. We are now
! Il benevolent institution.
As for our miner, Il is no longer
{ a question of how much he can earn
} digging coal. but OF hOW much he viii
B have left after he pays his store Gin
Without quite understanding how il
mas happened, be VIII very often find
: himself in debt to the company az the
I end OF the month
The Nine Guards.
: The mine guards are the chief sup
: port OF feudalism- This must now be
! plain to the reader. 1t must also be
plain to him why the bill TO place the
. guards under heavy bonds was so
{ strenuously opposed in the legislature
five years aSO. There is q IavOriuc
{ fiction among the mine owners that
the guards are simply employed to
protect property But note this phase
of their work. A black list DINNERS
is sent out by the Baldwin FeIts de-
. IectlFe agency. which employs the
guards, 1 quote from this list-a report
furnished by these employees:
James Clark, strong union man and
agltatcs organization of the New River
fields, and has held office with the
L. NJ W IN Pennsylvania. Description
Of James Clark. ScOtchman. about So
seven inches, red muStache, one eye
has cast The above party is now
working at Carlisle, but we have asked
for his discharge"
Simply protecting property
There are the names of over 300
miners on this list Many of those
described in the circular have three or
four children.
Brutality of Guards.
As Tor the brUtalities committed by
these guards upon officials of the min
ers union, the record is appalling.
One man deserves special notice. He
is Ernest GaujOt, whose brutal deeds.
written IN every chapter of the labor
history OF W est Virginia, have caused
the miners TO crown him the King
Guard, q title which even his COM
panlons are willing should be his
Baldwin has acquired a sufficient
fortune 10 retire to his old home in
J.
as &. -elts, now directs the guards
and keeps the owners OF the mines
and lumber camps firmly planted uDon
the backs o. the workers.
The Strike.
On April %. 1912. the free miners of
Paint Creek Quit work The operators
had previously refused to make a new
agreement with their union and had
attempted TO impose the mated guard
system upon them EaulOt and his vet
the machine guns, searchlighJs. rifles
ana ammunition. ana. without making
any secret of why they were there. .
prepared Tor war They Were presently .
Joined by the volunteers from the city II
slums. They were Cuwasaed, uushaven,
their clothes Were shabby, their shoes f
broken through but every man in the
brigade carried brand new repeating
rifle, and at his hip a blue barreIed .
Colts A mine owner described them &
Well They were not he said, lady F.
ike or EeuLe hammered
The reign Of terror commenced. The
new Calling gun had to be warmed q
up As the days were so fun. the .
guards had to practise at night. and .
-imid women. aroused from their sleep. -
hid beneath beds through fear of bull &
lets that sang dangerously near the
cabins.
Homes Fired Into.
George 5. Romine, an old Iumberman.
was awakeded at night by five bullets
that plOWed their way into the cabin +
which ne occupied with his wife and
nine children. As a souvenir Of the
per and lead that grazed the cheek
IF one Of the youngsters.
Every miner who dared TO show
himself on the streets, If only to walk
10 the pOstOftice, was halted and his +
pockets searched. an art in which the
'ecrults from the city eNCelled- With !
10 warrant other than their Winches- ;
erS. they entered the miners homes;
umbled babies, furniture and other
household goods Jopsy-tUrvy; ordered
GOD and drink topped off an enjoy
-ble evening by cursing their host.
ma, apropos Of nothing, remarked
hat he would make an awful purity
Woman Chased From Home.
Mrs. Frank Russo. ABOUT TO Secome
mother, was chased out Of her house
~ the armed merCenarieS. who cursed
Ter and slapped her face.
GauJot and his recruits searched the
.ome Of Tony Sevilla while Tony was /
n Ohio, where he had gone to look for
SOrk. nen neiElbOr came TO the
ouse after the King Guard had de- I
arted, she found Mrs. SevilIa on her .
nees making the sign Of the cross.
w hat has happenedg' asked the
elghbCr- The Italian mother. point
1g to her side, where GaujOt had
licked her, answered in broken Eng 7
sh, Il don't hear my baby calling I
he now"
The coal companies did not believe Is
n AG4 tape " LEn there. was Work
D be done they wanted il done in
usinesslike fashion and with the least
OsSible delay. So the mercenaries. q
lothed with the authority of their re- .
eating rifles, put the miners out of
heir homes, thus assuming the func-
ions OF the courts and the sheriff y
Importing Foreign LabOrers. {
The strikers finally established their D
ornament camps at HOlley Grove, at
he mouth of the creek, and at Mossey, b
ear its headWaters. u
1t was evident before the strike was
month old that the men were licked. %
verifying pointed that way. Their f
zeal organization was believed to be O
% weak to stand a long fight. The p
)mpanies were bringing in the strike . a
reakerS-" transports as the men D
allied them. How these transports" II
rincipally ignorant foreigners. were Is
aited by Turing advertisements in the
ewspapers of New York and other -
advertisements that promised
very kind OF work. from digging a IL
Itch in California to operating a street II
IT In IlmbuCtOO. or any ether place j.
Efficiently remote from West Vir- o.,
mia; how the victims found them NJ
Ives, with other victims, locked in Il
lssenSer coaches in charge Of the ~
aldwln guards, whose business it was
get them to the mines. never mind M
Nv, but to get them there. how some
them We're dubbed and some shot at