The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-21
(Continued from Page ID

officials of district IL. They warm up
to the subject of Harrington with real
feeling, and "thief," and CRATER" are
the prettiest names they call him.
Turnout the long auto rides the
miners pointed out to me the largest
mines in the district-all shut down.
RamshackIe HoVels.
Thayer is typical of the mining
towns of the district. The lawns and
gardens are we'll kept, but this is a
sign of poverty, rather than other
wise, as it shows that the miners,
due to unemployment, have plenty of
time on their hands to trim their
lawns. The houses are all one story,
with two small rooms, and there is
no inside plumbing. The backyard
toilets and backyard pumps are with
out exception the only facilities
supplied by the Chicago, Frank
lin and Wilmington Coal Company,
which owns the houses as we'll as the
only industry in the town.
l was scheduled to go to Divernon,
but the only auto found going there
was party of three young Ku Klux
Klansmen, who were first going to the
Khan picnic in Girard So | piled in
and went eight miles further south
with them to Girard. On the way
they talked about the Khan, and gave
me an application to join. l meekly
suggested that l didn't want to Join
as the Khan had a tendency to divide
the workers and lynch too many peo-
pie, but they good naturally told me
there is good and bad in all organ
izations.
5000 at Khan Picnic.
Three thousand people were at the
Khan picnic in Girard. The large
majority, it seemed, were there out
of curiosity and to find little amuse-
ment. Some of the younger men wore
streamers declaring, I'm looking for
girl" and some of the girls had
similar steamers stating, I'm your
vamp." 1t was like a cheap carnival,
with a merry-go-round, hot dogs and
dancing.
l tried to discuss the Khan with
some of the men, but they are very
cautious about showing their attitude
toward the Khan. Reverend Charles
Tate, hick-town preacher, was speak
ing from the bandstand. He made a
mealy mouthed speech, declaring the
Khan believes in the principles of free
speech and tolerance on which the
republic was founded, and pleaded,
True, we exclude the Negro, the
Catholic and the Jew, but can't we
have at least one 100 per cent Amer
lean organization in this country"
There was almost no applause.
KIansmen Fill Up.
At four o'clock the three "verile"
Klansmen had enough and we drove
across country northwest to Divernon.
There | talked with a group of miners
that Tom Parry called together on his
front porch. I was again congratulate
ed for the honor of being put out of
the Peoria convention by Farrington's
machine. Several of the miners were
subscribers to the DAILY WORKER
They talked about the political
situation, and chuckled over the con-
tradiction of the Illinois Federation of
Labor officials indorsing Len Small
and LaFollette at the same time.
They told me about a Khan celebra-
ton a few weeks ago on the Divernon
public square when a few rowdies,
melted by the speaker Protestant
preacher-beat up a Catholic priest.
Khan confuses Workers.
"The Khan will die out" one of the
men said. ut is fad now, but it has
nothing to live for. 1t has no purpose
tosserve except to confuse the work
ers."
1t is gratifying to learn that the
workers are really reading the articles
written by the DAILY WORKER
staff. 1t has been noticeable turnout
the trip so far that the mining camps
are no longer isolated from the events
in the world of militant labor. The
miners-thru the DAILY WORKER
are as we'll informed as most of the
Chicago comrades, and have the
Workers Party program and the mill
tant labor news at their finger tips.
Two miners drove me to virden,
where | was to take the traction back
to Springfield. They pointed out to
me the Mason mine at Virden, which
employs four hundred men. 1--WE are
working there one daysa week." said
one of the miners. ut keeps us eat
ing, anyway, but we are going into
debts hundreds of dollars.
nn,ho Mirdnn NINA L. IL. -. - -