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Show MILITARY BOARD PROBES ILLINOIS MINE MASSACRE Williamson County Authorities Authori-ties Closely Questioned on Alleged Laxity in Preparation Prep-aration to Prevent Killings STRIKERS RESENT STATE INTERFERENCE Ruthless Slaying of Strikebreakers Strike-breakers Viewed by Miners Min-ers as Purely Personal Affair; Af-fair; More Bodies Found AUKIOAN, IU. June 14 (By A. .) Qevernor Lsn Smell announced te-dey te-dey that he would immediately order the dembillsatin ef the etato na-tienel na-tienel guard unit, held In readin etnee Friday mernina for eoealbl Si-peteh Si-peteh t the disturbed mine sens ef southern Illinois. HI"S1IN, III. Juns 24 (By A. r.) Mejer General foreman today tele-ehnd tele-ehnd Adjutsnt Oenorel Slack thst he "aaw need for treepe In thie tlen new." Oenorel Foremen mad the call after he had lletened t atatemente from va. rieua official and made a preliminary survey af the fight area. He refueee! te dieewse It further. j CHICAGO, June 34 ( A. R.), Ceuneel fee the Southern llllnole Ceel eempany, whaee strip mine wee burned Thureday and the nonunion workers slsin by striking miner and sympathisers, today eent a tale ram te Adjutant Oenorel Carlae K. Bleak at eeingfield, reojueotlnf, thet treepe be sent ta Wllllameen county. The attorncye charged that the eheriff of the eeunty wee etlll refualng te de hie duty end that there wes danger of further outbreak. . NOIANAsoi,v . June ?4 (By A. .)-Thr)niUd Mine W6rkrs ef America and all officers and membore ef the enien were made defendente In e cult fee an Injunction filed In United State dietrlet court here today by Clare Meceen. owner ef the -cock eeel mine in Kneai eeunty, Ind. HETRRIN, 111, June 14 (By A. P.) A cuts military Investigation of the Lea-tor Lea-tor mine maaaacra, which took between twenty-five end forty llvee. wee begun today by a board headed by Major General Milton Foreman of the cute militia, acting under orders from Governor Gov-ernor Len Smell, laaued when the chief executive became aroused over failure of local 1 of f Iclale to take any etepe egainst the miner who captured end killed the majority of strikebreakers working In the strip mine. General Foreman and his committee arrived at I o'clock thla morning, mo- tnrlng from Carbondale after reaching there by train at 4 a. m. They were met by Colonel Bamuel Hunter of the adjutant general'a office, who wad here during the mseaacre. His orders to return to Springfield today were cenoeled and he Immediately became a guide for the military board. General Foreman and the board proceeded immediately im-mediately to Marlon, the county eeat, where conferencea with Bute's Attorney Attor-ney D. U Duty snd Sheriff Melvia Thaxton were planned. A tour of tha area of the fight was made and It waa expected that numer-cue numer-cue supposed wltneese of the dleor- -dre would be called before the board. MANY QUESTIONS ASKED. General Foreman had been Instructed In-structed particularly to learn why the state' attorney had not uken atepe toward convening a special grand Jury, why tha coroner's Inqucct had not been held, and why theae officials repeatedly repeat-edly refused to authoriss Colonel Hunter to call for troops, even after an indlgatlon meeting of the miners wss held ths day before the fighting started and even after the miner had marched on the mine. Ho lo had been Instructed. It wss underatood, to learn why Sheriff Thaxton had Ignored Colonel Hunter's requeat that some special preparation for aa emergency be mode, Fcllure of local official to Bend out enough deputleethe night th fighting began and during the following day when almost unheard of deeds of cruelty and brutality were committed, also waa a point to be Inveetlgated. Another matter to be looked into waa why numeroua requesta from the governor gov-ernor for Information after the trouble started were Ignored by county au-, au-, . (Continued on page 1.) , . MILITARYBOARD (Continued from page 1.) thorltles and why, when ba was receiving re-ceiving scores of telegrams from private pri-vate cltlaena tailing of tha outrages ha wag continually informed by tne au i thorltles that the situation "waa well In hand," and that tha troops wara not i needed. I KILLINGS PRIVATE MATTER. I There waa little doubt that the hoard would not recelva a cordial welcome i from the county ae a whole. Ninety I per cent miners In population and 10 j per cent unionised, Williamson county has shown a decided disinclination to welcome any outbid Interference In the massacre, which Is looked on as a personal affair, to be Ignored by the rest of the world. I'eraons on the street have been heard repeatedly to remark that If troops had been sent their guns would have been taken away from them. Comment On the atreeti expressed resentment over the a'ndtng of the military hoard, elthousjh officials auld they would gladly rooperHte with It. Colonel Hunter, who, the governor said, might have been Influenced wrongly by local officials because he la a native of Marlon, raid tnat ha waa rert.iln the board would not aim any Investigation at him. "1 did my duty and even eiceeded It at times," he aalil "I hsva given almost al-most continuous reports to my superiors supe-riors at Hprtnsjfleld. I have repeatedly stated thai the local officials were laji In their preparations for tha trouble expected and In the Investigations of It. I am glad the governor has taken this step, for It will bear out my own official reports." Hherlff Thaston and Mr. Duty both pmmld cooperation. CARETAKERS QUIT POST. The situation In the county was made considerably more tense for a short time last night when caretakers guarding the mines during the strike through agreement between owners and unions, quit work under threats from groups of miners. Hhortly afterward after-ward Hugh Willis, district board member of the union, and other officials offi-cials persuaded them to return after union miner guards had been stationed to protect them. Had the men remained re-mained away, millions of dollars worth of mines would have been ruined through flooding within a few days. These caretakers are not mine union men. The fiict that Ihe men were being coerced Into quitting came to the attention at-tention of Colonel Hunter yesterday afternoon and he telegraphed Adjutant General Black aid would be necessary. Mr. Willis and Colonel Hunter, assisted as-sisted hy the sheriff and the state's attorney, worked until early thla morning morn-ing to assure the mines of protection. "The men have gone back to work 1 and they will stay hvk under the pro-tectlnn pro-tectlnn of the mine union," said Mr. ! Willis today. Hearch ftr bodies continued today nt some points In the county, nit hough the searching primes were few. Twen- i ly-two bodies had been recovered and . many more were expected. J PROPERTY LOSS 1100,000. Concerning the property loss, no: definite estimate could he made, but 1 It probably ran close to $100,000. Two freight care of food supplies were taken. The mine could be operated again, but no one could aay what It would coat to put It In shape, for no operator officials can he found here. The members of the commission, accompanied ac-companied by newspaper men, went at once by motorcar to the wrecked rueater mine, arriving shortly after o'clock. General Foreman looked over the wreckage of tha mine, where a car of coal waa atlll burning on a aiding. Krom the ruined mine the commission commis-sion waa guided hy Colonel Hunter down tho road of death, where forty-eight forty-eight hours ago tha victorious mob which stormed the mine dragged Its prisoners for two miles and a half before be-fore they were aho. Berryplckers were coming up tha dusty road thla morning. The commission was shown the place where C. K. McIowe!l, superintendent of the Ister mine, was clubbed to death with revolvers, because, hampered ham-pered by a wooden leg, he could not keep up with the man-hers. They saw the woods where the bulk of the prisoners pris-oners were slain. REPORTS BY TONIGHT. ' The commission Is now In session here and mlno union officials and peace officer of Williamson county are being questioned regarding events leading up to the outbreak. It will hold hearings also In Marlon, the county seat, and expecta to conclude It investigations and return to Chicago Chi-cago tonight. Colonel Samuel Hunter gave the commission a detailed account of hap-penlngs hap-penlngs preceding the slaughter from the tlma of hla arrival In Marlon last Sunday afternoon to tha time of the grisly slaughter In the woods. fltate'a Attorney Tuty, Hherlff Thax-ton. Thax-ton. Mayor Pace of H rrln and Hugh Willis, member of tha local district board of the United Mine Workers, are to be questioned aa well as police officers offi-cers of Herrin and Marion. At the ruined mine John Conroy, a farmer, sought General Foreman- "General." he said. "I'v got two horses that belong to thla company. They came to my place after tne riot Thursday and I've been feeding them What shall I do with them?" The sr I si led veteran, with the ribbons rib-bons of the distinguished service medal, tha French Legion of Honor and the World war on his breast smiled. "Keep 'em." he said. "Tou Just hold on to thoae horses till their riahtful owners turn up. Nobody can crltlclae you for feeding animals." Conroy appeared much relieved. Carbondale Report Miners Learing CARBONDALE. 111.. June J4 (By A P.) More than 1(0 miners from the Herri n district passed through here last night and early today, going out of the coal fields. They were believed to be union men. Thoss that could be approached would give no reason for this exodus. Ther were nd noticeable number of tranalenla from the coal mlnea In the two nlghta previous and It was only sfter the announcement that the gov-ernment's gov-ernment's commission would meet In Herrin todsy thst tha number Increased In-creased to such an .extent as to cause comment. of America, snld In a formal statement state-ment Issued h-ro today. BUme U Placed Squarely on Lester HKHKIN. 111.. June 24 (By A, P.l-A P.l-A statement charging that W. J. ..pester, ..pes-ter, chief owner nf the strip mm where mtrikchreukers were mass -tc red, was "legully an.l mitral ly" respnnslhie for the outhreak, was made totiay ny Charles Richard Kdrlngton, state Investigator In-vestigator of the Kast Ht, Iuts note In 1917. Captain In the government Intelligence service overseas In tne war and now state fire official, he has Just completed an Independent unofficial unoffi-cial Inquiry Into the maaaacra hare and his report waa placed before Major General Milton Foreman, head of the military Investigating board sent by Governor Small. t "There is no doubt In anyone's mind that Lester Is morally responsible for the massacre, because of hla act in sending gunmen down here to disrupt the teace of the community and to threaten private cltlaena. My investigation investi-gation convinces me he alao Is legally responsible and if Indictmenta are returned re-turned by any grand jury, hia name should head the list. "I am making no attempt to condone con-done the massacre or the terrible atrocities committed, but Lester really real-ly la responsible for them, for his actions ac-tions )Qclte the trouble. He refused to withdraw his gunmen, although urged to do so by state and county or finals." Mr. Kdrlngton's attitude was along tha line which Chicago officials took In connection with the labor war there recently that persons whose acts incite in-cite violence are aa responsible for tha violence aa tha men who actually commit com-mit n. " 4 Farrington Blames Mine Operators 8T. LOl'IH, June U (By A. P.). Tha trouble at the Lester mine, near Herrin, 111., was precipitated by the Coal company attempting to run the mine nonunion with Imported strikebreaker strike-breaker under armed guards. fYank Karrtngtnn, president of the Illinois branch of th Vnlted Mln Worker |