The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-08-14
Guns, Courts in West Virginia

is to attack swiftly, displayed enor-
nous superiority in tactics. By the
end of the week they had broken
the coal operators line, captured
most of the machine gun nests, had
driven the conscripts into disorderly
retreat, and had killed between 100
and 800 Baldwin-Felts gunner and
deputies, all with loss of only eight
miners killed, and an unknown num-
Der wounded.
On the second day of the fight
ing, Don Chafin, commander in the
field for the operators, sent his two
aeroplanes to bomb the miners
towns; the first bomb fell between
two women washing clothes, but did
not explode. After that the women
and children took cover when the
planes were seen.
The federal troops arrived in time
to rob the miners of their victory,
and over 800 miners were arrested,
and charged with treason.
In test case, William Blizzard,
president of Sub-district 2 of Dis
trict II, U. M. w. A., was placed on
trial in Charlestown, West Virginia.
County Attorney Potterfield refused
to prosecute, on the grounds the
man was innocent. The coal opera
tors association paid all the ex-
penses of the trial, as does the cot
ton mill combine in the Gastonia
case, and provided the chief prose-
cutor, Belcher. as the Manville-
Jenckes mill in Gastonia provides
the prosecution with its attorney,
Major Bulwinkle.
The jury, of farmers, acquitted
Blizzard. The facts of class war
were too well known in West Vir-
ginia to enable conviction before
any but well packed jury, and at
that time the victory of the miners
in the open field had so demoralized
the Baldwin-Felts and the operators
that they slipped up on this i'm
portant characteristic of frame
up.
All the others under Indictment at
the time were released, but the case
was not finished. In the Beech creek
sector of the battle line, the miners
were led by one preacher" Wilburn.
In that sector the chief officer of
the Baldwin-Felts, John Gore, a man
who had conducted the assassina-
tons of dozens of miners during the
years preceding the battle, was kill
ed. Murder indictments had been is
sued against 813 miners for his
death. Only Edgar Combs and
Frank Keeney (Gary's precedent
AGAIN. were placed on trial. Combs
was not arrested until 1923. By that
time another march had taken place,
the frame-up system was working
better, Lewis had betrayed the West
Virginia and Connellsville miners,
the 1922 strike had been lost, the
union was on the retreat.
A Preachers Treachery
Combs had no hope of the sort of
trial that Blizzard got. Wilburn, the
Baptist preacher, to save his own
neck, for he was indicted too, and
perhaps bribed in addition, swung
over to the side of the prosecution,
and swore to any lie the prosecution
demanded. Combs. was placed un-
der torture in prison in addition to
the usual threats and assaults made
by Don Chafin, was deprived of all
water but boiling water. Finally to
escape his torments, he pleaded
guilty, and was sentenced to 80
years. 1t was later changed to II
years. When Keeney was placed on
trial, Combs testified for him, and
Keeney was acquitted. That was in
1924. Other charges for murder
were dismissed.
The defense in all these cases was