South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-06-24
Attempt to Gain UncOlOred
Account of Causes of Mine
War Brings Variance.

HERRIN. Ill, June 23.-(By A.
P.)-Attempts 20 sift through the
maze or rumOrs. reports. cOntradic-
tons and facts of the mine war TO
obtain an uncolored account of the
events leading up to it Friday night
after everything was quiet, brought
TWO authentic reviews OF the affair,
one from union Official and another
from a state military official.
Hugh Willis, district board mem
Der of the miners union. in the first
statement from union officials con-
corning the massacre. told news
paper reporters the blame lay
squarely on the coal operators who
imported strikebreakers.
He declared that the first shots
We're fired by the strikebreakers and
that these shots were without provo
/ cation and that one of the chief
causes of the disaster was the high
handed manner IN which the i'm
ported workers held up private
citizens and refused to let them
traverse the public highway by the
mine" He made no attempt TO deny
that the affair really was d mas
sacre, but insisted il was not started
by miners.
Col. Samuel Hunter of the state
adjutant generals office. reviewed
his Official investigation Of the dis
after, the following being the salient
( points of his report:
That Col. Hunter on half a dozen
/ occasions asked Sheriff Thaxton and
OF ,ey nff a Il q
, wanted troops sent here but was
told each times-even after the
lighting started-that the local auth
critics could handle the matter.
Urges Close-dOwn
That he urged the mine officials
to close down the mine to avert a
( disaster, but the request was re-
\ fused.
That an indignation meeting of
/ 600 miners was held just outside
Herrin the day before the fighting
] started.
That he pursuaded the besieged
workers TO run up a white flag and
/ obtain consent from mine officials
for a truce, but that this truce wa.
! broken by the strike breakers.
1
guards at the mine gunner. Mr.,
| Willis version follows in part:
The Southern Illinois Coal com
pany has been running this mine
about a year When work was sus-
| pended on April 1, it VAS agreed by
/ the mine union members and the
| operators that stripping OF dirt was
! TO be allowed but that no coal was
TO be loaded for industrial pur-
poses.
After six weeks Of stripping the
/ company informed me by letter that
they no longer would recognize the
agreement, that they wanted to load
and ship coal for industrial pur-
| poses and would do so. / told them
1 would not give permission for this
Needed Money"
Ten days later Mr.. Lester, owner
OF the mine, asked me 10 set aside
the agreement. 1 told him I could
not repudiate it. He said that unless
/ repudiated he would open the mine
even if he had to repudiate his agree
ment.
Lester said his company was in
bad financial straits and that ne
could not overlook a chance like this
10 make a financial cleanup. He
said he did not regard his contract
with us as meaning anything wher
he could make a lot of money by
breaking H. This statement was
made TO me when he knew the gov
eminent had officially said there
should be no profiteering in coal be-
cause Of the strike.
ION June l 5, l was informed thai
Lester had discharged all uniOr
workers in the mine-dirt shippers
that is-and had imported workers
including armed guards from Chi
cago, TO work the mine. I visited
the mine and was met by men with
guns. They said Lester was not there
when / asked for him and told ms
that the sooner I left the better sat
isfied they would be. Naturally,
left
Later other officials Of the miner:
called at the mine in the hope OF
reaching an amicable adjustment