Evening star., 1924-11-03
DANGER Of STRIFE
NOT DEAD.|N NILES
Racial and Religious Hatreds,
Deepened by B|oodshed,
Still Exist.
By Consolidated Press.

By Consolidated Press.
NILES. Ohio. November 3.-Reign
OF terror, impending wherever race
and religious hatreds are 'engendered.
has held sway in this town for days
past and now has left it dazed-
just as 1t has done in Herrin time
and again before.
The clash of Saturday, which came
within an inch of being real civil
war, climaxed week of trouble
between the Ku Klux Klan and the
Knights of the Flaming Circle, an
anti-klan order. With their hatreds
now deepened by bloodshed. the op-
posing clans constitute another dan
ger center to be added to those
already sealed with blood in Illinois.
Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and the
South.
only the arrival of National Guards
men prevented a murderous battle
In Niles that would have eclipsed
anything Of it's kind in the peace
:ime history Of the country. Thought
or 1t makes the membership of both
factions shudder. but 1t does not
seem to have tempered the animosi-
ties of klansmen and anti-klansmen,
but the thought of what might have
happened has resulted in the mill
tary Insisting on prompt and Wig
orous action against the ringleaders.
Real Armies Lined Up.
Two real armies faced each other
Saturday afternoon. The klan army,
$4,000 strong and well armed, was
assembled at tristate konklave of
pennsylvania, Ohio and West Vir-
ginia, a mile north OF the city. The
and-klan army of more than 500
w.
entrance to the city where the klans-
men would have to pass if they pa
raded. as they announced.
hlan scouts sent up the road to test
out the enemy fired and drew IRE in
An exchange or two. 1t was in these
skirmishes that the casualties oc-
CURED. The Klan army was Just
preparing to move, its thousands were
assembling. about to start an advance,
when guardsmen came hurrying to
the town from Youngstown. They
saved the day. For had the march
started it would have resembled the
BRUSH retreat from Concord, with
beside every telephone
pole. rock and tree, picking off kIans-
men, whose superior numbers probably
would have led to a later massacre.
Bitterness which led to this open
warfare has been developing here for
months 1t started last June when
klansmen were beaten up in Youngs-
town, near here. But a truce was
signed them. This was considered
broken when the mayor. who in Sep
tember had granted permission to the
klan to parade on November /, re-
FUSED last Tuesday to allow the
Knights of the Flaming Circle to pa
rade at the same time That night
his home hal
high and the mayor asked for troops,
winch were refused. An attempt then
was made to bomb the Khan head
quarters, in Rummel's poolroom here
but it failed.
Troops Agnin Refused.
After that the sheriff asked for
troops. but again they were refused
The klan meeting followed on Sat
urday with its attendant bloodshed
Whether now there will be an aft
ermath as at Herrin. ILL.,, with bat
ties on the slightest pretext, is un-
certain, but the same symptoms are
present in both places. The knights
OF the Flaming Circle are an impor-
tation from Herrin. where they were
started by Ora Thomas. deputy
sheriff. who has been the center of
the fight there.
'u$ III the HSnt started
over the attempts Of the Klan to en-
force the prohibition law when it
thought the sheriff did not do his Job.
Here the fight is over religious and
racial difference. Foreigners are said
to make up third of the population
in this city Of $4,000. Natives organ
lied klans to oppose the foreign ele-
ment throughout Mahoning Valley. at
Niles. Youngstown and Warren, where
the steel mills employ large numbers
Troops Temper Hatreds.
Both sides have drawn blood and
may continue the terrorism. City off,
cials and the sheriff, however, are
busy issuing statements protesting
a determination to enforce the law
and prosecute the guilty parties.
Meantime Gen. Benson W. Hough
In charge of the guard, says that
troops will be withdrawn only gradu-
ally, so that the city may get back to
normal.
The citizens here are not accus-
toned to troops as they are at Her
rim, and, being awed by them, may be
less inclined to start new battles. II
the insistence' Of the military Is car
ried out that the guilty be punished
for their part in the fighting. the ex-
ample may be q tempering influence
that has been lacking in the Illinois
city.