Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-14
OFFICERS TAKE
WOW" OUT OF
l. ". ". P0WW0W
at Socialist Hall
Consists Principally Of
Songs by Volunteer
"FeIIoW Workers."

The presence of half dozen uni.
formed policemen, representatives o.
the Northwest Warriors committee
on Americanization and several
other members of 1.-The despised
bourgeois who looked like opera.
tives from the federal Department
of Justice completely took the
WOW" out of the "powwow" staged
last night by members of the In
dustrial Workers of the World or
ganization and sympathetic friends
OF the "wobblies" at the Socialist
hall, Twenty-first and Cunning
streets.
About $50 men and several wom-
en- and children attended the meet
ing. The program consisted prin-
cipally of musical numbers of doubt
full quality, the majority of them
consisting of volunteer work on the
part of enthusiastic fellow work
ers" whose confidence seemed to
exceed their ability. The hall was
blue with smoke from cigars and
cigarettes, and was dimly lighted
by few electric globes.
Daley Opens Program.
"Fellow Worker Daley opened
the program by leaning nonchalant-
ly against the platform and leading
the audience in "wobbly" song.
He was clad in overalls, into the
pockets of which he thrust his
hands while responding to an en-
core with a song relating his I'M
pressions of the county jail.
A touch of bolshevism, reminis-
cent of soviet Russia, was added by
a Cossack dance by James Fergu-
son, without costume, and a sing
song number by a Russian" quar-
tet in the tongue of the motherland.
The sorrows and cares of the
proletariat women were touched
upon by Mrs. James Sechrest, who
read an article from the magazine
of the Soldiers and Sailors union,
an organization which excludes for
mer officers from its membership.
The article described in glowing
terms the "lovely" things which
soviet rule i'll Russia has done to
relieve the lot of the women of the
laboring class. "
Child Entertains Audience.
Mabel Noonan, 8-year-old daugh-
ter of Pat Noonan, secretary of the
|. w. w. in Omaha, obliged the
with songs and recitations
about the downtrodden laboring
class and the insufferable autocracy
of the capitalists. Two other young
girls won applause with song
called THE Queen of the Redlights,"
a tragic story of the suicide of a
fallen laundry girl. forced into a life
Of shame by the starvation wages"
OF a boss"
Pat Noonan. |. w. w. secretary,
was the only speaker of the evening.
He condemned the capitalist or
profit system, which he said was
unfair, inhumane and all wrong.
Pat reviewed the "deplorable"
Centralia tragedy and said in de-
Tense of the I. w. w. that former
soldiers of the American Legion
parade were the tools" of cap
italists and that the plot was
hatched in the headquarters of the
Northwest Lumber Co. He pleaded
for funds to assist unfortunate "fel-
low workers behind prison bars.
Prisoners Expect Help.
These heroes have gone to prison
for the sakes of the laboring class"
said Pat. They expect you to help
them. Ten years from now you will
tell us that you heard our plea but
did not dare declare yourselves. The
men in the prisons deserve your
help" f
Noonan scored the press for the
'lies and infamy" spread about the
red terror" of |. w. W.ism. He
said that even Omaha daily papers
were opponents OF the laboring
class.
Refreshments OF coffee. ice
cream and homemade "wobbly"
cake which were compared favor
ably with the delicacies upon which
the hated bourgeois are supposed to
have an option, were served. At the
close of the program a Dutch"
aution OF pair of shoes and other
articles was help to raise funds for
the benefit of the |. w. w. organiza-
ton.
Literature, including THE New
Solidarity the I. w. w. paper, any
many pamphlets containing radical
uere distributed at the