Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-29
w. VA. MINERS URGED
TO STOP RloTlNO
AND RESUME WORK
Continued from page i.

Immediately after receipt yester-
day OF report from Captain ]. II.
Erockus, commanding State troopers
in that district. stating the engage
ment had not been without casualties.
Governor Morgan hurriedly called Mr..
keeney into conference.
The governor and the miner'a ex~
ecutive soon agreed on plan OF
action and within a few nourn the
adjutant general and Mr.. Porter were
speeding to Logan on a special train.
The Chesapeake and Ohio station
agent at Sharples reported It's ar
rival there early last evening After
he had made his report TO the Hun.
tington office OF the railroad wire
communication was interrupted and
no word has since come out of the
town sharples is In the center OF
the district In which Sunday morning =
reported fight is said to have taken
place.
sfr. Porter CARVED with him an open
letter from President Keeney 10 the
logan county miners which read az
follows;
''Being advised that there In con-
siderable disturbance In the neighbor-
hood of Sharples and surroundings, /
hereby delegate and appoint Mr.. A. G,
Porter, an executive board member of
District No. IL. United Mine Workers
Of America. as my persopal represen-
tative TO visit the scenes of the re-
ported trouble and TO act for me and
In my behalf
II wish TO request Mat you and each
Of YOU remain at your homes. assist
In the preservation OF law and order
and refrain from any conduct other
than what may be necessary to pro-
tect yourselves and families.
81 also urge that at the earliest pos-
sible moment you put all the mines in
your section In operation.
Governor Morgan, I'm the presence
of William petry. vice-president Of
District No. II, United Mine Workers
of America, Harold w. Houston. attor-
ney for the district. William Wiley
manager of the Boone county coal
corporation, two associates and an at
torney, gave me n positive assurance
that there win be no invasion of your
section by deputies or other persons
from Logan county"
Interrupted telephone comtnunica-
tions and the peculiar location Of the
district wherein thetrouble is reported
TO have occurywd makes confirmation of
disuuieting reports extremely difficult.
Those received late last night and
early today place the number Of
wounded during the reported shooting
yesterday morning at four TO fourteen.
It is explained the shooting took place
before daybreak.
Captain Brncltus, in his report to
Governor Morgan. stated that mem
hers OF his detachment saw f1ve OF
the opposing force fall to the ground
They were quickly picked up by their
companions. however, and carried
from the vicinity. while the state
troopers retired. on account of the
darkness which made IL difficult tn
distinguish their own men from their
adversarieE.3
Another report reaching the gov
ernors of1lce and made public, was
that three deputy Hheriffs and "a JUS
tice OF the peace named Fulton
Mitchell. had been taken prisoners by
unidentified men and were being de-
tanned at, elothier. Boone county.
across the limo from Sharples.
Following the return Ia Washing
ton yesterday of Brigadier- General II.
III. Bandholtz. who came here last
week 90 investigate conditions Cor the
War Department. Colonel !. w. Leon
ard. of the Fifth Army Corps. Fort
benjamin Harrison. Indiana, was ex-
nected to confer with Governor Nor
gan today.
Colonel Leonard is understood to
have been detailed for indefinite duty
in West Virginia
Captain Brockus who IL at the head
of the troops at Sharples. West Yir-
ginia is reported to have stated that
some of the men were killed there
but he did not know how many. He
did not know either, If all the five men
reported 10 him as having been fatal
iy wounded had eied or not. He
possessed no other knowledge that he
bad heard that some of the miners
had been killed.
Captain Brockus said that later re-
ports from sharples indicated that the
state police had played i'm luck in
stopping where they did
We learned from sharples that
there were between 500 and 1000
armed miners waiting for us to walk
into a trap" Captain Brockus said
"and IL we had advanced 1t seems as
sured a very serious situation would
have developed"
All along the way, the State police
officer explained. pot shotsn were be-
ing taken at the officers from men
hidden in houses and in ambush.