Evening star., 1921-07-19
TELLS Of KILLINGS
In M|NG0 DISTRICT
Operator Says He Bought
Machine Guns, Rifles and
Hounds for Men.

Twenty-seven persons are known to
have lost their lives in the Mingo, w.
Va, coal fields disorders since the
middle Of May, 1920, Harry Olmstead,
representing the operators, testified
today before the Senate investigating
committee. OF these, he said. three
state police and national guardsmen
were "shot in the back while in the
performance of their duties
A witness for the miners previously
had testified that 100 persons had
been killed during the period.
After the strike was called Mr..
Olmstead said, operators "solicited'
workmen from outside territory. and
when these men alighted from their
trains they were surrounded by doz-
ems and perhaps hundreds of strikers,
who would seek first to induce them
to refuse to go further and to accept
transportation back"
IF persuasion failed" he said. "it
was followed by a system Of abuse,
scathing denunciation, villification,
threats and, in frequent cases. as
sault."
Refutes Miners Charges.
Charges Of union officials that miners
were enslaved and held in peonage
were absolutely without foundation
Olmstead testified. Private detectives.
designated as deputy sheriffs. had been
paid by the operators, he said. because
the county had insufficient funds.
Senator Sterling. republican, South
Dakota, questioned propriety OF such
procedure. Mr.. Olmstead explained that
I the mine owners. needing protection
| loaned the money to the county for the
payment of deputies with an understand
| ing for reimbursement
| Ernest L. Bailey, superintendent or
| the Portsmouth Solvay Coke Company
| at Freeburn, KY. across the Tug river
from Mingo county. testified that a car
| load of miners who refused to strike
were fired on from the West Virginia
| side of the river while going to work.
| Two thousand shots were fired,
wounding two men. he added.
! Workers at his mine, Mr.. Bailey said
agreed to continue work. despite the
| shootings, but demanded arms and
I ammunition.
"I bought a hundred or more high
powered rifles. machine gun and
two bloodhounds for the protection
! Of our men and their families" he
said.
! Determination of coal operators in
the Mingo, w. Va, field to continue
their resistance to efforts to unionize
miners was expressed yesterday be-
| fore the Senate investigating COM
mittee by Mr.. Olmsted. represent
ing the operators in the territory
where disorders have occurred.
The reputation of the United Mine
| Workers organization" declared Mr..
Olmsted, who was the only witness
heard yesterday, "for breaking its
contracts and halting or suspending
the operation of mines for weeks at
\ a time without just reason or excuse
has become notorious in the history
of industry"
! Operators in the Mingo region. the
committee was told, also opposed the
F., miners union because of the con-
spiracy entered into between that or
| competitive states-Indiana, Illinois,
lOhio and Western Pennsylvania
| wherein it was proposed that the out
put from this state (West Virginia) }
| should not be permitted to grow but
| should be suppressed. by means of
unionizing. in order that the market
might be retained by the competitors
Of the four states"
! Tend to Cut Production.
Mr.. Olmsted charged that the gen
eral attitude" of the United Mine
| government" and that restrictions
| imposed by the union tend to de-
crease production. lower efficiency and
destroy initiative''
| Mine owners of the country have
from time to time bought ammunition
and guns to be used for the protec-
tion of themselves. their workmen and
| their property" he said. because prior
to January 1 last officials in Mingo
county were apparently without in
| clination to secure arrests or to sup
press crime"