The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-08-15
Rally to the Defense Of
the Harlan, KY. Miners

HARLAN, Ky.-ENery day sees
new preparations of bloody cruelty
and torture against the Negro and
white miners who are oreanizina
against wage-cuts, starvation anc
blackisting. Each day is another
page in the story of ruthlessness anc
terror on the part of the "Iaw,s il7
the desperate attempts of the CD.
orators to smash the organization OF
the Negro and white workers into the
National Miners Union and to break
the defense which the International
Labor Defense is carrying on for the
Harlan miners. But the miners in
Harlan County are not going to give
up easily. They know their enemy
and are determined to fight to the
limit.
On Saturday, between and 8 pm,
four deputy thugs came to the home
OF Henry Thornton, a 6o-year-old Ne
gro miner, active in the National
Miners Union in Harlan. Two 1of
the thugs entered the house, threat
ened to kill him and ordered him
to come with them under the COM
mand: Get up and come on. We
are going to kill you" Nothing was
said about arrest and no warrant
was produced The deputies grabbed
Thornton and forcibly lodged him in
the car, cursing and manhandling
him. "a"
Two deputies were in the rumble
seat and Thornton sat between the
two In the front seat at they drove
away from the direction Of the jail
and out lonely road. While driving
him about three miles out of town,
they cursed him freely and said:
you didn't think that we saw, you
last Sunday going to that meeting"
The reference was to the Kentucky
Convention of the National Miners
Union held at Wallins Greek on
Aug. 2.
Threats to kill Thornton were re-
peatedly made. When he stated: ''I
haven't done anything" deputy or
dered him: "Shut up, or III blow
your damned brains OUT punching
Thornton's head with the barrel of
a pistol. When they came to stop
at dark spot on the road, the dep
utis jumped out of the car and told
Thornton, Come out of there and
Jerked him out, slugging him with a
solid object. Whether this was a
blackjack or pistol butt, he couldn't
tell. A two-inch cash was made in
his scalp above his left eye. He fell
to the ground and was unconscious
Tor a short time. When he struggled
to get up the thugs were standing
close by and one OF them slugged
him again, knocking him down. AS
soon as he would try to get UP he
was beaten down again with repeated
threats to kill him.
Then one Of the deputies said:
I'VE will let you go, if you will beat
it and never be seen in Harlan
County again" Thornton's reply
was cut short by curse from an
other thug and the statement, Hell,
no, we will take him to Jail and let
him stay there for go days" They
threw him back in the car and drove
him to the jail. He was thrown into
Jail at about pm. No doctors came
to dress his wounds. His head con-
tinued to pound with pain.
Thornton is so years OF age, has
been a miner for AZ years and has
lived in Harlan County since 1917,
where he is well known and liked
by his workers. In addition
to attending local meetings and the
convention at Wallins Creek, he was
one OF the Kentucky delegates to
the Pittsburgh Convention of the Ma
tional Miners Union. Threats of
death and brutal treatment at the
hands of the law Oily make him
more loyal to the union. Now he has
committed the most heinous of
crimes" in the eyes OF the opera
tors, that of organizing the Negro
and white workers together against
their common enemy, the coal
bosses.
- fgs<
HARLAN, Ky.-C. H. Walker. a
miner of Evarts, KY. was arrested
without a warrant by two deputies
on Saturday, Aug. 8. at about IL 80
am. Walker came into Harlan as
a witness, on a burial fund case
against the Black Mountain Coal Co.
and was In the court house at the
time OF the arrest.
The previous evening Walker with