The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-07
Terrorism Spreads Tug River Valley w Va With Outlaws Driven
Mountains Pouring Deadly Fire Into Mines and Settle
ments---Federa Troops Fail to Stop Murders
By B. C. CLARKE.


IT. HE Valley of Tug River. region of
sudden death. stronghold of moon
sinners. breeding ground of feuds in
years gone by. and slackers' paradise during
the war. is again echoing the bark of the
feudist's gun.
Tug River is the dividing line between
West Virginia and Kentucky. 1t is the To-
cation of one Of the finest coal producing
regions In the United States. For months 1t
has been the scene of strike of the coal
miners.
Thousands Live in Daily Dread.
Lawlessness is rampant in this valley.
Thousands of innocent people living In
daily dread for their lives Law enforce
ment officers are either apathetic, or stealth
lily conniving with the feudists and gunner
who are rowing along the border, "heeled
for trouble" and taking almost daily toll
in lives.
The whine of bullets from ambushed rifle
men In the mountains. speeding with deadly
aim into the towns and settlements in the
valley are heard with every passing day.
Feudists and gunner, armed with high pow
cred rifles and heavy army revolvers, are
skulking through the crevices of the noun
tains, and from behind rocks and wooded
foliage pouring deadly streams of bullets on
unsuspecting men in the valley below.
Human life is the cheapest thing in this
region, and men being sent to their
death with no more warning than the crack
of the rifle that spells their doom.
Mines Closed or Under Armed Guards.
The reign of lawlessness grows out of the
strike of the GOAL miners. Some of the mines
those in Mingo county, in West Virginia
are closed down and are targets almost
daily for leaden showers from the
tains above. Other mines, in Pike county, in
Kentucky In operation. WORK being
made possible by the heavily armed and
sure-shot deputies that Gov Morrow has
stationed along the border with the tieclara-
ton that lawlessness on the west side of the
river must stop.
The buildings of mines are being dyna-
mited; men are being attacked ana beaten
to insensibility while walking along the
roads; political gatherings are being fixed
on from the surrounding woods and eleta-
tons.
Twenty five years ago this region was the
scene of the deadly feud between the Hat
fields and the McCoys. Clansmen of Devil
Anse" Hatfield engaged in fatal clashes
with the McCoys on the hills overlooking
Williamson. Other lives were lost on Black
berry Creek-stronghold of the McCoys-
which empties into Tug River from the Ken
lucky side, near Williamson, or on the
rocky precipces Of Devils Backbone Noun
tain, where the Hatfields defended them
selves from their foes.
Peace has been restored between the Hat
fields and the McCoys, and their feud has
long ceased to exist. But fearsome events
like those of that conflict are again sweep
ing over the border country, with murder
and assassination the common occurrence of
almost every day.
I~vI - CL.~L Lxr II
The strike of the coal miners is only an
incident in the reign of lawlessness in the
border country. From the 1900 men among
5000 miners who Joined the strike at the
outset, their number has dwindled to TOO,
But as the ranks of the strikers have d.
mirished the reign Of terror has increased
in intensity, and to-day only the presence of
400 Federal soldiers patrolling the coal re-
gion for a length of forty miles prevents the
probable outbreak of an epidemic of feuds
and assassinations that would pale into in
significance the clash of the Hatfields and
the McCoys. Gov. Cornwell has withdrawn
the State constabulary of West Virginia and
surrendered the matter of law enforcement
to the Federal troops.
1.-THE presence of these troops is the only
thing I believe that is standing between
this region and an unparalleled reign of
outlawry and assassination" said an army
officer who is on guard at Matewan, On Mate
Creek, the chief danger point in the valley
Law enforcement in Mingo county has not
merely broken down; ii has disappeared-if,
indeed, 1t ever existed That is manifest in
the necessity for these troops. AS well might
there be deputy sherffs and each man
become his own protector"
On the eastern side of Tug River - Mingo
county, a narrow strip of land not more than
twice as large as Greater New York and
resembling the State of New Jersey in it's
geographical outline. Lawlessness prevails
from one end of Mingo county to the other
Pike County Cleared by War Veterans.
On the west side of Tug River is Pike
county, Kentucky. Law and order prevail in
Pike county. Until the coming of the Fed
eral troops Gov. Morrow had the State
militia in the regon-veterans of French
battlefields who few months ago repealed
n mob with machine gunfire on the steps OF
the Court House in Lexington. When the
state troops were withdrawn, Gov. Morrow
sent special deputies into the border county
to assist the Federal soldiers in maintaining
order.
With the coming of Gov. Morrows SOL
diers the feudists and gunner deserted Pike
county. They crossed the river into Mingo
county-just as the branch of Hatfelds
headed by Devil Anse," did years ago, after
an outrage In Kentucky-and, ascending
the mountainsdes, poured bullets into the
towns and mining settlements In the valley
or engaged In rifle duels with the soldiers
on the opposite hills.
Three thousand miners are working in the