New Britain herald., 1927-11-21
Governor Adams Gives National Guard Abso-
 lute Authority in Coal District-Issues Dras- tic Order as Situation Gets Beyond Control.
Ten Strikers Reported Slain - Many Workers and State Officers Are Wounded-ROcks, Clubs and Knives Used in Battle.

Denver, Colo, Nov. q LPt-First blood was shed in the l. W. W. coal strike in Colorado early today, when state policemen fired on several hundred strikers who stormed the Columbine mine Of the Rocky Moun- tain Fuel and Iron Company, 30 miles north of Denver.
 Three strikers were known to have been killed and more than q score were injured. Strikers assert ed that from seven to ten had been slain, but this could not be verified. Many of the state officers were in- Jured.
 Governor W. H. Adams, ordered out the Colorado National Guard and indicated that martial law was in force in the coal fields of northern Colorado.
 Troops were on their way to the Columbine mine when the governor signed an order shortly before 10 q. m., giving the National Guard abso- lute authority in the strike dis trict.
 Fire on Strikers. ! The state policemen turned hail of bullets into the strikers after | hand-to- hand battle in which the officers were overwhelmed by the large crowd that swarmed into the mine property and ignored com mands to halt.
 There were some women sympa- thizers in the ranks of the strikers and at least two women were wounded.
 Strikers appeared at the mine at 5:3o a. m., and started through the gates. Welding their guns as clubs, the policemen made futile attempt to halt the advance. The strikers used clubs. knives and stones to force their way fin. Louis N. Scherf chief of the state police, then rallied his officers and forming a new line, again ordered the strikers to halt. When they kept coming, Scherf fired two shots over the heads of the crowd. and then ordered his men to shoot into the ranks. The strikers apparently were unaware they were being fired on until their ranks began to thin and i the shrieks of the wounded pierced | the air. Then they retreated hastily, taking many of their wounded with i them. Later they erected white | flag over an automobile and return | ed for several more wounded. | One of the dead and several of the wounded were left on the mine property. The wounded were rushed to hospitals al Longmont and Bould- CT,
 Several Officers Hurt.
 Several of the state officers also were taken to hospitals suffering from painful injuries. They sus- tained broken shoulders. from being struck with clubs. sam Lee, one of the policemen. lost finger.
 One of the injured was a woman dressed in the clothing of a man. Another woman was in q hospital at Boulder with a bullet wound but her condition was not serious.
 First reports that Adam Bell. leader of the striking forces in the northern Colorado field, was killed. were found 10 be erroneous. Bell was ill the hospital at Longmont with serious injuries.
 Six Expected 10 Die.
 Physicians at the hospital said that six strikers being treated there probably would die. Thirteen others were expected to survive their wounds
 One troop Of cavalry. two armored tanks. one headquarters company. four companies of infantry and a medical detachment were ordered out for strike duty by Colonel Paul
 P. Newton. adiutant of the state
 guard. He said all would be on active duty in northern Colorado early this afternoon.
 Disturbances broke out In south
 ern Colorado today but there were no casualties Tickets appeared tr the Aguilar district in Las Anlmas county and strikers and state officers and deputy sheriffs fought hand. to-hand battle. Twenty of the strik-
 CTS were arrested and placed In iai
 at Trinidad.