Evening star., 1946-04-15
Montana's S Governor
May Ask U. 5. Aid in
Stopping Butte Riots
BY the Assoeioisd Press

BUTTE, Mont, April 15.-Gov.
Sam Ford disclosed today he was
considering asking the Federal
Government for help to stop riots
in Butte that left scores of houses
wrecked, two youths wounded
and an unannounced number of
mobSterS under arrest.
Declaring in Helena that he would
talk with Butte peace officers
greatly outnumbered by depredators
before deciding whether to ask for
Federal assistance, the Governor
aid:
"They (peace off1cers) assured me
yesterday they had things under
control, but apparently they didn't"
Miners Homes Damaged.
AS the tense mining CEN
ter-"richest hill on earth"-sur-
vel Jed the wreckage from a second
niN Nnt of unbridled violence, labor
leaders and public officials pleaded
for cessation of destruction. The
rowing bands centered their attacks
on homes of workers who did not
join a miners strike, city authorities
reported.
Sheriff AL Mcleod refused to say
how many persons were being held,
reporting they're all juveniles" and
that they had been arrested for
looting. He indicated several were
girls.
Other authorities said the van
dals-including one mob of about
500-were mostly women and young
children.
Saturday night and again last
night gangs of men, women and
teen-age bcys-armed with axes
and travelling by truck and auto
mobile-roved the streets, stopping
at private homes to bash in win
dows and doors and throw wrecked
furniture into the yards.
Union Denies Responsibility.
Most of the homes damaged, Po-
lice Chief Bart Riley and Mayor
Barry OLeary said, were occupied
by miners who stayed on their jobs
after strike of $500 members of
the CIO International Union of
Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers
began Tuesday.
The Union Strike Committee, how
ever, declared that neither the union
nor its members was responsible for
the disorders. A committee state
ment called on both union mem
bers and the general public to help
maintain order.
Officials of the Anaconda Copper
Mining Co., against whose mines
the strike was called in a dispute
over retroactive pay, had no COM
ment on the disorders.
Robert c. Williams. Federal labor
coneiliator, declared the disorders
had endangered mediation" at a
time when progress was being made,
appealed to law enforcement au-
thorities, striking miners and Ana
conda for "all collective efforts" pos
sible to allay the outbreaks of v:o-
lence.
ALI Officers on Duty.
Every available peace officer was
on duty. Women and children were
removed from many homes. Both
Saturday night and last night, hum
dreds of householders telephoned for
protection, and many said they had
been warned by anonymous tele-
phone callers that they were marked
for visits by the mobs. -
A crowd of 5000 or more witnessed
one of the house-wreckings last
night.
The two wounded youths are
James Guidoni, Is, seriously wound
ed by rifle shot in the back as he
walked along a Butte street a con-
siderable distance from the nearest
disorder last night, and Raymond
Butala, IA, wounded in the eye by q
bullet that crashed through the
windshield of his parents automo-
bile Saturday night.
The strike followed a company
offer Of an 1872 -cent-an-hour raise
or SLAB day-effective April l. The
union insisted that the increase be
retroactive to October l, expiration
date of the last contract