The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-08-21

their coal, lars were run over buS
scales so fast that one checkweigh-
man could not check on them, and
the first thing Corbishley's admin
istration did was to let the members
pass a Bylaw that their should be
two assistant acknowledgment. Six
weeks later the company refused to
let any assistant checkweighman on
the tipple, the checkweighman
walked off, the miners struck.
Corbishley asked the men to re-
turn to work, and started the reg
ular negotiations.
Bosses Decide Union Office
On August 4, 1925 the company
demanded of Sub-District President
Fox that Corbishley, the pit COM
mittee, the local president, and
the checkweighman be removed
from office. The corrupt sub-dis-
trict administration FASTENED to do
the hidden of the employers. D. B.
c b b, sub-district vice-president
came down, made a four day Gin
vestigation," and ruled in favor of
the company. The miers, greatly
indignant, struck again.
Lon Fox ordered a special meet
ing of Local 992 to be held on Aug.
18th.
Now the other fight that had
never stopped in Zeigler, was the
attempt of the ousted minority, the
old machine men, practically all
members of the xxx. to disrupt
the local, and capture its offices by
strong arm methods. Many meet
ing had broken up in fights; many
assaults had been committed by the
machine thugs, and there had been
attempts at assassination of mill
tants.
For several years, starting almost
Immediately after the Herrin trial,
the Klan gunner had been shoot
ing to pieces the Herrin local, divi-
ding and disrupting union organiza-
ton there, and there had been many
murders, and Glen Young, chief
xxx. gunman, openly threatened
to "clean up" Zeigler.
The harrington, Cobb, Fox and
K. X. X. machine came down to the
August 18th meeting in Zeigler
ready to kill. Cobb and Fox both
came, and with them Darby Bah
bington, district board member,
and Hezza Hindman, a sub district
board member. And with them came
also numerous gunner in their pay.
The Fight Starts.
The miners stood fast, and re-
fused to unseat the left wing off
Gals. The meeting adjourned, and
many of the members stated home.
A machine thug, Asa Wilson began
to beat up the 69-year-old father
of Oscar Farthing who had been a
left wing precedent. A general
fight started. Cobb swung a black
jack at IS enemi--, hut it was taken
away from him md several hard
miners fists poked him in the face.
Alec Hargis then pulled a 3S calibre
automatic, and shot Mike Sarovich,
one of the progressives, a militant
miner, and a personal friend of Cor
bishley's, through the abdomen, as
Sarovich was walking to the door to
leave. Sarovich died some hours
later. The bullet went through him
and struck Hindman in the hip, in
flicting a wound from which he re-
covered.
Many witnesses saw Hargis shoot
Sarovich. The coroners' jury
brought in a verdict that mike
Sarovich came to his death from a
gunshot wound inflicted by Alec
Hargis.;
But then the frameup started;
Fox and Harrington both issued
statements accusing Corbishley and
the other anti-machine men in Lo-
cal 992 of the murder and of trying
to murder Fox and Cobb. Judge
Kerr, Farrington's chief counsel,
took active part in the legal work
through subordinates, w. P. Seeber,
former attorney for the district adj
ministration, A. c. Lewis, at the
time an attorney for the Harrington
officials, and Rufus Nealy, hired by
harrington, with miners union
money.