The New York herald., 1922-06-24
SURVIVORS RELATE
MASSACRE HORRORS
Il Saw Sights Worse Than in
France World War Veteran
Says on Reaching Home.
ELKS' PASS SAVES ONE
Another Relates Story of Res
cue by Deputy Who Was a
Fellow Pythian.
ELKS' PASS SAVES ONE

Special Dispatch to THE NEw YORK RrHALp.
CHICAGO, June 23.-Four of the men
who escaped with their lives from
the Herrin massacre walked into
the George T. Berwind Employment
Agency this afternoon covered with
wounds. their clothes shredded by bull
lets and trembling from the horrors
they had experienced
The four men, after comparing
notes. declared they believed that be-
sides two others they were the sole
survivors of a caravan of twenty-five
men sent by the employment agency
to the mines.
I'VE were shot down like dogs"
Fred Bernard. a cook in the caravan
and world war veteran. said. THE
mon were blood crazy. / saw sights
more horrible than during my two
years In France. I saw five men
hanged to trees and another lying
over a barb wire ENHANCEMENT, filed
with lead"
The three with Bernard were James
Burt. c. J. Mullin and Anton Daniels.
The last two escaped when miners at
tackled a caravan of eleven men sent
by tsuck 10 the strip mine on Tuesday.
The other two who. they said. had
escaped, were an unidentified laborer
and Whitley williams.
FIJI Dead Bodies with Lend.
Bernard's story of his escape. in which
he told how he saved himself by crying
out that he was an Elk. follows;
Boys, / was in the great war, but In
this mine war we didn't have chance.
They shot us down like dogs. II was a
massacre. They didn't intend that any
one should escape. That was a sure
thing. Why. I saw them beating one OF
our men TO death. and then after his
body lay motionless on the ground two
men with automatics filled him full OF
slugs."
Bernard described the bloodshed and
brutishness that attended the fighting
all day Wednesday and part OF yester-
day.
"The first shot was fired at 2 20
p. NJ Wednesday" he said. I'VE had
breastworks for protection and thought
we were comparatively safe. was in
one OF the sleeping cars when II
started. OF course. I managed to get
further back In the line. That sure
was lucky" with n forced laugh. "for
later some one crept UP and placed a
dynamite bomb In one OF the cars. II
blow to smithereens The steam shovels
followed"
Bernard tried 10 laugh.
"The shooting. as I said. started at
2:29 p. NJ Wednesday. and the near
est can remember Il stopped at :45
A. NJ. Thursday. II was at this time
that the leader said II We quit we
worid he treated all RIGHT
1--WE had run up a white flag some
time before. so when the firing stopped
they came over In swarms. Our feet
were not tied. We were Just told 10
march along.
shot Going over Wire.
Several miles up the road man who
seemed 10 be the leader OF the crew
pointed at a wire fence and asked n
any one would want 10 try 10 reach II.
He said II they could get 10 Il and
mount over II alive escape would be
possible. That must have been one OF
their plots For on looking over 10
the left saw the body OF George More
lock who had shipped with us as a
waiter. He was hanging on the wire
His face was turned downward; his
BODY was perforated with bullets.
Near this spot five bodies were hang.
ing from trees. They must have beer
dead for some time. There was blood
everywhere.
II escaped by disobeying command
"
n