The Washington times., 1922-01-29
Woman Saves Two Wounded
Men From Hail Of Bullets

carnsgis Hero Medal 10 Be Ask.
Cd for hrs. Bertha Trent, Of
Dry Branch, Nv. Va, Who Res
cued Two State Troopers Who
Mere Shot Down From Am
bush .While Taking an Alleged
Murderer to Prison:
CHARLESTON. w. Va. Jan. 2s.--
High State officials and coal mine OPP
orators are leading a movement to OBJ
tain q Carnegie hero medal for Mrs.
Bertha Trent, of Dry Branch. w. Va,
who is credited with saving the lives
Of two State troopers who were shot
down from ambush by friends Of u
striking coal miner they had arrested
4 on murder charge.
While bullets hailed around the pros
trRte bodies of the State policemen.
Mrs. Trent waded shoulder deep Into
the creek and pulled them behind an
embankment. out of sight Of their at.
Hackers. She> then gave them first
aid treatment until they could be taken
to st. Francis Hospital. Charleston.
WHSh3 ~ 10 bdiu, tncy Will TcCONcr.
Mrs. Trent was assisted In her first
aid work by Mrs. HI. Z. Fletcher, also
OF Dry Branch, wife of the superin-
tendent of a coal company.
Charged With Murder.
The troopers. Lane II. Black, of
Morgantown, and Zachariah Taylor, of
Terre Alta. had arrested Henry Al
ford, Of Dry Branch, who was wanted
In Logan county on a charge of being
q party to the staying Of John Gore
and tive fellow deputy sheriffs on
Blair mountain during the march Of
armed miners last year. As they were
taking Afford to prison they were
fired upon from ambush. Following
this ambush other State troopers ar
rested Leo Allison, also of Dry Branch,
on charge Of shooting Black and
Taylor.
While Afford and Allison were in
the kanawaha county jail. the police
also arrested Jack Brinkman, Of
Charleston. a professional pianist. on
of the armed miners in Logan county.
Brinkman tells a sensational story of
the march, in which he took part un-
der duress. he says.
Accuses Allison.
He declares, according to tho po-
lice, Allison was one Of the miners
who fired upon Gore and his party,
and that he personally saw Allison
fire q bullet that lodged In Cores
body" '..E.
Brinkman was with q vaudeville
troupe at Danville. Boone county,
when the crest of the wave Of miners
passed through. While he was on
his way to the postoffice one morn
sv.. ha fn<p NY .iv,a
approached him and he was forced
to accompany them to Blair. He was
with the detail that killed Gore and two
other deputies, he says, and he de-
clares two negroes of the miners
army We're killed I'm the battle. He
also says several miners were shot
and killed by their comrades" when
they refused to obey orders.
Fries to Escape.
Brinkman says he and a half doz-
en- other men, acting under orders.
seized passenger trains on the Coal |
river division on two occasions, and
on three separate nights, confiscated q
freight train operating on the Chesa-
peake and Ohio railroad. With this
rolling stock, he says, miners were
q distance of twenty-five miles.
Although he made frequent at
tempts to escape, he says, he was
prevented in each instance by miners
who threatened him with death.
After the ambush at Dry Branch,
Allison and four other miners were
captured two days later across the
mountain in Boone county. When
Brinkman had told his story they
took Allison and Afford to Logan,
where a first degree murder charge
was placed against Allison.