The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1917-01-12

SWITCHES ITS
INFORMATION
By Charles Ashleigh
In the Seattle Union Record,
of January 6.

On the red and tragic day of No
vember 5, there were five workers
killed by the murderous cross-fire of
the Everett vigilantes. OF five, at
least, we are certain but there is
persistent rumor that others fell
overheard and that their bodies have
later been disposed Of secretly by
those who feared the dread and ac
cusing evidence Of these slaughtered
workers corpses. Two deputies were
also killed, Lieut.. G. o. Curti5s, of the
National Guard, and Deputy Jeffer-
son Beard. They were killed, it is the
belief of the defense, by the cross
fire of another posse opposite them
on another dock. But seventy-four
workingmen, passengers on the I'VE
rona," are in prison in Everett
charged with murder on this account.
The men are charged with the murder
of Beard only; not of Curtiss, as in
the first charge. The reason for this
change is significant and interesting.
The Prosecution Switches
The two informations originally
filed against the boys in jail charged
! them with the murder of Lieut.. c. 0.
Curtiss. Later, after holding these
informations on record for about six
weeks, the district attorney, O. T.
Webb, filed an affidavit in which he
set forth that an investigation of the
law relative to these two Informal
tons showed that it would probably
be impossible to obtain convictions
upon that charge. Therefore, he ask
ed that the informations be dis
missed. This motion was granted by
the court He then Immediately filed
three informations against the seven
ty-four men, dividing them into three
groups instead of two, charging them
with the murder of jefferson Beard.
Behind this change of front on the
part of the state lies grim story
which Mr.. Webb did not put into his
affidavit. The real facts are that
neither the seventy-four men in Jail,
nor anyone of their number, killed
Curtiss. And Mr.. Webb knows this
and everyone in Snohomish county
knows it.
Curtiss was killed by one of the
members of Sheriff McRae's own
body of "citizen vigilantes" or depu-
tized gunner. On his deathbed Cur
tiss gasped out the fatal story. Cur
tiss's wife knows the facts and those
who stood by the bedside have told
the tale.
Madness in Wake of Massacre
There is a man, writing on his
bed in a private sanitarium, who is
shrieking out that he has killed his
friend, Curtiss. This man was carry
ing a gun in Everett and had it taken
away from him by the police depart
ment few days before November 5
on the ground that he was mentally
unbalanced. On November he was
impressed into service as one of the
sheriff's posse and his own gun was
given back to him! On Bloody Sun
day, November 5, he went down to
the dock with the rest of the vigil
lantes to greet the free speech fight
ers on the Verona with a shower of
lead. He says that it was there that
he fired the shot that killed Curtiss.
If this man was insane at the time,
as the authorities admitted he was,
he should not have been given back
his gun and decked with the badge of
authority. If he became insane sub
sequently, was it through remorse at
having killed his friend? If he was
sane enough to be officially armed on
November 4, why is he not sane
enough now to have his statement
believed? These are some queries
that the official tools of the lumber
trust in Snohomish county will find
hard to answer!
Jury for Edith Frenette
The new jury has been selected to
try the case of Edith Frenette, the
woman rebel and free speech fighter
whom the authorities are trying to
railroad on a charge of attempting
to kill Sheriff McRae with revolver.
Sixty names were called and turned
over to the sheriff. Thirty-two of
these the sheriff reported mot found"
or We're exempted. But no exemption
was claimed, nor was it hard to find
Harry Ramwell, leader of the Com
mercial Club, vigilante organizer and
open shop advocate This gentleman
uroposes to SIC as a juror to try Mrs.
- NJ L.