Evening star., 1921-09-07
Miners Quiet, But Defiant,
Preparing for New "War''
CONTINUED from First Page.)

f! Preparing for New ''War"
| Continued from First Page.)
here. as they feel that II am forced
out the will be just one more union
| sympathize- out OF the way.
f. Fought to state Capital.
! My license THIS year was obtained
only afte. a long legal dght costing sew
| eral hundred dollars. and ending IN the
state capital But am still here and
am going to stick. Right in this hotel
is a man who just before the outbreak
went to Logan to get his naturalization
papers He found it necessary 10 re-
! main all night. After retiring he was
i awakened and man told him that he
| had just one hour to live or get out of
! the county. He went and found 1t nee
! essary to sleep in the woods. the
mountain passes are almost impossible
| to negotiate at night. but particularly
with mine guards and spies heavily
i armed prowling around looking for peo-
pie on this side of Blair mountain.
! Il am glad the troops came. They
! certainly relieved a tense situation.
| But l am afraid it is not all over.
J Peace will reign as long as the fed
| eral forces are here, but when they
! 80, you just watch
/ Everywhere one goes down in this
! country he hears the name of Don
Chafin, high sheriff of Logan county.
in the hearts of the people in the
| union fields. Although state officer.
| they do not trust him. Every kind
| of crime is charged to him and
/ his deputies. He is king of the king
dom of Logan" He reigns supreme
F.; by virtue of state machine. backed
| by the power of the operators. 1t is
| Don Chafin upon whom the miners
! and the people in this section place
| the blame for this latest blot in the
| states history.
| Fields in Danger of UniOnfxing.
! Logan fields were in danger OF
being unionized at the last election.
| Sheriff Don was in danger of losing
, prestige carried with his job. His
, Job was going. too. for there was a
| possibility that the ballot would not
! carry him through. He went to the
! operators with threat that within
| thirty minutes after he was defeated
| he would unionize every mine in the
| Logan operators district. His power
! is shown by the fact that he was
| elected. Even the operators answer
| ed his commanding threat.
| When the CnitSd States troops go
the ,mincrs will come back. Though h
| Some of their arms and ammunition
| were taken they have others hidden
+, in the hills. and they are making more
! of the crude SiX-inch guns. the maiden
| one of wich was being hauled to the
i heights when the federal troops ar
j rived on the scene.
. These guns could prolong a siege
| more terrible than any ever expert
f; enced anywhere. The one hat was
| found was heavily charged w:tn pow
/ der. and the projectile consisted OF
nails, slugs. and rocks IaraPed nearly
f; to the r,uZzle. And. strange as it may
seem. tn. gun vas not designed by the
miners but is the product of the brain
| and Drawn of a Red Cross agent. who
: it would have been effective from a
destructive standpoint. 1t consisted
of si~-inch vel; ;dr:lled pipe. ri;led,
with a jacket of tWelve-inch pipe, the
| space between the Two being filled
| with tabbitt metal.
! Fighting Sure to BE Resumed.
There is little doubt that the
act which has been lost sight of in
the news of the active operations will
| be resumed when the federal forces
are removed. The troubles have
| been brewing for some weeks over
| the contests for organization. The
when they came, heavily reinforced.
across the dead line" on Blair noun
tain into the big coal mining dis
trict and arrested several miners on
warrants-that is, they claimed they
had warrants. but no one ever saw
them or even knew what the charges
WERE They took these miners and
marched them at the head of a col
umn as a means of protection from
miners who, they feared. would fire
on them. They were taken to the
mouth of a mine and the miners in
They refused and started firing, the
captured miners dropping. The
deputies returned. About this time
the word must have been passed
through union circles to mobilize. for
it was at this time that the forces
began to congregate.
The deputies retreated to Blair
mountain and spies for the miners
went up the mountain pass. where
they found men busily cutting trees
to fall across the roads to impede
the progress Of organized bands
and stone breastworks thrown up.
The word was passed that the dep
uties, or thugs" as they are termed,
were preparing for war. and the ad-
vance of the miners began. 4,
Heard Report Of Firing.
When at Madison they received the
word that the President had called on
them to disperse they started to COM
ply with the command. but had only
gone short distance when the re-
port came of the deputies firing on
Blair mountain. Nothing could stop
them then. and nothing did stop them
until the federal troops arrived.
When the advance guard Of the 10th
Infantry started upon the Logan side
Of Blair mountain the commanding
officer heard no firing. but as soon as
the troops hove in sight every gun
and rifle started popping away to give
the impression of a real warfare. The
troop commander stepped up and in
formed the defenders commander
that he was relieved, and all left the
mountain top except the troops. The
Army then set up its own machine
gun nests. and patrols were started
down the Blair side of the mountain
to make a contact with the 26th In
fantry. which came down by way of
st. Albans and Madison.
The troops have their mountain ma
chine gun carts ready for action, field
wireless and searchlight stations set
up and are prepared for action. But
there is little for them to do now, and
they are contenting themselves with
cleaning up the towns. In Blair the
town hose cart was hauled out and
the buildings occupied by the troops
were washed inside and out by water.
Great piles Of debris were collected
and fired and animals which have been
allowed to roam at will through the
streets were ordered restricted for
to-