New-York tribune., 1922-08-30
800 w illnesses
To Testify at
Hern'ill 4 Inquiry
Survivor of the Massacre
Tells His Story and Hum
dreds of Others Are Ready
to Aid in Investigation
100 Defendants Named
Union Will Support Ac-
cused. but Realizes In
dictme1ats Are Inevitable


MARION, III, Aug 20. Inquiry into
the massacre OF twenty three men al
the strip mine at Herrin, III, June 21
and %, went forward to-day with grim
directness. The authorities have the
names of about 400 men who had some
sort of connection with the crime. OF
this number, approximately 500 will
be used as witnesses. They either saw
the murders or have first hand iSnowl-
edge of the plot and it's execution.
The remaining 100 will be defendants
on charges of; wholesale murder.
This is the first opportunity the few
people of Bloody Williamson County
who are not members of unions have
had to tell what they know of the long
years of terrorism they have suffered,
and now that they are assured Of pro-
lection they are talking freely. Agents
Of the state have been at work for
weeks gathering evidence They have
travelled over Bloody Williamson" in
the guise of book agents, peddlers of
musical instruments, insurance coll
lsctors, men seeking work, ordinary
hobos and buns, mingling with the
men suspected of the massacre, getting
q word here and there that patched
together forms rope of evidence that
may hang several insolent and defiant
union miners.
indictments Inevitable
Bloody Williamson which has
been law unto itself for years, is be-
ginning to realize all this. The boast,
nothing will come of it," referring to
possible prosecutions for the Herrin
massacre, is losing force in these parts.
Union leaders think indictments in
evitable. The union will throw it's de-
tense around those indicted not on
tho theory that murder and lawless-
ness should be condoned and protected.
out that these men may be innocent,
and that anyway this is "war" and the
National Coal Association is taking ad
vantage of the situation to try to break
the unions.
Names of witnesses who appear be-
tore the grand jury are not made pub
lie, at the request of that body, on the
ground that publication might inter
fere with the course of justice. Every
thing is placid enough OH the surface.
Inc miners are at work and apparently
paying no attention to the inauirv.
But underneath there is an element of
fear on the part of the witnesses. Some
have refused to give names Of men
they saw in the ammunition riots that
preceded the mine riot.
Witness Refuses to Testify
One man to-day refused to testify at
all. He was told to stay around the
courthouse while the Judge looked into
his case The testimony centered
largely around the identity and action
OF persons who seized rifles and am
munltion in hardware stores in various
nearby towns the day before the riots,
IN Marion, for instance, crowd visited
all the hardware stores and demanded
the stock. saying the union would pay
Tor 1t. The union has not done SO.
The men were. in many cases, known
to the proprietors and clerks. In some
cases these proprietors and clerks have
refused to identify the visitors. They
are afraid of the effect upon business.
But most of the witnesses have been
made to see that vital issue is at
stake and that it is their duty to tell
what they know.
Stores were raided and the mob gath
cred from three counties, although Her
rim had to bear the blame in large
| measure. An army consisting of 1900
men, many of them ex-seryice men
| marched ON the mine. Those with
rifles were In the lead.
A survivor of the massacre, Allen
Findlay, of Chicago, former timekeeper
at the strip mine, told his story of The
| tragedy to the grand jury to-day.