Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-04-27
AROUSE INTEREST
IN PERSONS CASE
Union Labor Men of Three
Cities Aiding Clinton Editor
Charged With Murder.
SEEKING CHANGE OF VENUE
Mass Meeting at Industrial Hall for
His Benefit Thursday Evening
VIII Be Well Attended.

Large delegations of working men
from Moline and Davenport will at
tend the public mass meeting that will
be held in Industrial hall. Rock Island
next Thursday evening.
The meeting will be held in the in
terests of Carl Person, the machinist-
newspaper man who is editing his pa
per from a cell in the Dewitt county
Jail at Clinton, ILL.,, where he faces a
charge of murder. The meeting will
be held under the auspices of the Tri-
City Federation OF Labor.
Attorney Frank Comerford of Chi
cago, counsel for the Illinois Central
System Federation and the man who
has been selected to defend Person,
will address the meeting. John II.
Walker, president of the Illinois State
Federation of Labor, will also speak.
Person, who is 26 years old. is
charged with killing Tony Musser, ex-
chief of police of Clinton. and a strike
breaker employed by the Illinois Cen
trail railroad. The penalty If he is
found guilty, is death.
Under Federal Charges.
II he escapes the gallows in the MUIR
der trial, he will then be tried in the
federal courts, where he faces a fed
eral indictment charging him with u.s.
ing the mails to circulate matter re-
fiecting injuriously on the conduct of
the Illinois Central" The seven
counts in this indictment carry a max
imum penalty of 80 years in a federal
prison and $4,000. fine
Person established his paper, The
Bulletin, 80 months ago. when he and
$4,000 other union shop men became
involved in labor difficulties with their
employers, the Illinois Central and the
Hartman lines. The men are still out
of work.
Person began a campaign of public
ity against the road. Last September
he was waylaid on the streets of De-
catur and slugged by mysterious as
sailants,> who made their escape.
Three weeks later. United States dep
uty marshals and railroad detectives
raided the Bulletin Office at Clinton
and arrested Person. He was taken
to Springfield where he was arraigned
on the federal indictment. He was re-
leased on big bonds and the next is
sue of the Bulletin came out on time.
On Dec. 80, last year. Person receiv- |
ed a telephone call from a man who |
said his name was Kirk. The man |
asked the editor to come down to the |
station to see him about a |
story" The defense now has affidav-
its from a telephone girl and a bar
tender, to show that the man who tele-
phoned Person was Tony Musser, the |
Illinois Central strike-breaker.
Walked Into Trap.
Person not knowing that the tele-
phone call was a decoy, walked into
the trap. He was attacked by Musser
and badly beaten. Musser was s feet
2 inches in height and weighed 220
Person is feet, inches in
height and weighs 129 pounds. Per
son pulled a revolver and fired. The
shot killed the strike-breaker. Per-
son declares that he fired in self de-
tense.
n II is now the effort of those inter
ested in the defense to get a change
If venue so that Person can be tried
n some county where an unprecedented
ury can be secured. The plea for the
mango OF venue Is DdS6O on |
he following alleged circum-
stances: The mayor of Clin-
on is an employee of the Illinois
Central, four members OF the city
are contractors and have
business relations with the road, the
ION OF the sheriff is a strike-breaker
IN the road. the roads attorneys, Lee
non and Lemon, are the reputed po-
itical dictators OF the county, Clinton
Exists on the monthly pay roll Of $780,
100 that the Illinois Central leaves
here.
Part Of Campaign.
Organized labor all over the country
s bringing pressure to bear on Gin
on to secure a fair trial for the edi-
or. A nationwide movement has
'een started to raise funds for his de-
ense. The public mass meeting
thursday night in Industrial hall has ,
'een arranged by labor leaders OF
took Island, Davenport and Moline.
rho believe that the union men and
II fair-minded citizens OF this section
Z the country should be familiar with
he case.