Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1921-05-14
MINE WAR RESULTS
IN DEATH Of FOUR;
TROOPS ON SCENE
WEST VIRGINIA STRIKERS CROSS
BORDER INTO kENTuCkY--fOR
TY SAID TO BE SURROUNDED
BY REBElllOUS FORCES.

Willamstown, W Va, May IA
Three men are reported Killed ny
state troopers today in terrific firing
at McCarr, Ky, and telephone reports /
to the office at Gates Indicate lorly
miners are surrounded by bclligerent ,
forces. Fifteen state police leIt Tor
the seat Of trouble shortly after noon. {
The firing Is reported to be increasing /
in intensity.
Heavy firing also has begun at the I
mines of the new Howard company |
at Gates. Advices relative to tn" for
ty miners being hemmed in said the
men had retired to sheltered spots in
their camp and We're being subjected
to a verilable hail OF shots.
The mountain battle over the seven
mile front from Kawl, w. Va, 10 Me
Carr, Ky, in the Williamson coal dis
trlct believed by authorities to be an
outgrowth Of disturbed industrial con
ditiOns was general again today, ae-
cording to witnesses returned here
tonight. Terroriled women and chill.
dren are reported hiding in cellars
and dugouts, in many cases without
food and water.
Dan Whit, said by state police to
be uonuniOn miner, was shot and
killed AT Matewan trying 10 obtain
water tor women aud children.
state troopers asserted most of the
shooting was directed from mountain,
side to mOuntnnside on the Kentucky
and West Virginia sides Of the Tug
river Shots were said To be falling
into various towns in the lighting
zone
Richard Beverly said to be a mem
Der OF the United Mine Workers OF
America was arrested in the Ken
lucky mountains, charged with par
tictpating in the battle.
Mrs. Carl Butcher and Miss Winnie
StrotheIs. said they left Williamson
this morning with Mr. Butcher and
Charles Stafford for Merrimac 10 in
quire about relatives, AS they got
off the train they We're fired upon,
Mrs Butcher said, bullets raining
from the Kentucky mountains around
them, and they craWled into a Culyert.
After hiding thirty minutes they de
oided to try to escape on treigh,
train stopping nearby.
AS they attempted to board the
train the rife fire increased and both
of the men were hit, the women said
Mrs. Butcher and Miss Strothers
escaped without being hit making
their way to East Williamson, where
they obtained an automobile and came
into the city. Mrs. Butcher was un
able to say whether her husband aud
Stafford had been killed or whether
they are still beside the track wound
ed.
Latest reports place the number OF
casualties IN the conflict at tour XIII
ed and two wounded.
The tlercest fight occurred at Nc
Carr, according to Capt BrOckus
Sympathizcra Of miners and men on
guard at the mines are armed with
machine guns and automatic rifles, he
said
The combined force Of state police
and deputies covering the twenty
miles Of mountainous country where
Industrial hOstiities have centerel fcr
year is only sixty men
Capt Brockus said the firing al
Merrimac is controlled by mar
with a usty fox horn. With one lone
blast firing commences, and with two
every gun is silenced
Unions Of Open Shops.
Williamson, w. Va. May 1.-THE
battle in the mountains Of MingC
along the Tug river which has rageC
for several days, fierce as it has beer
is merely phase of a greater strug
gle in which this rich coal distric
is locked the industrial struggle owe,
the question Of unionizing or keep
ing open the mines and that greater
struggle j. being Waged with every
known weapon.
Union miners on lockout strike" al
the leaders describe it, are eyicte,
from homes owned by the coal com
panies, to settle near by on LEASED
land in tent colonies. No longer abb,
to trade at the company cOmmissar
les at the various mining towns. they
subsist on ratons shipped in by The
international union Deprived o
funds as a result of being out O
work they draw benefits from the in
ternational union, Propaganda is be
ing circulated by both sides, eacl
blaming the other for disorders. Ac
rimoniOuS statements and charges
are launched by supporters of botl
factions. Threats and rumors OF
threats are discussed in virtually ev
cry gathering.