The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 28, 1924, Page 1

coca aN SRA RI aE A THE DAILY WORKER. Entered as Second-class matter September 21, 1923, at the Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879. MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 1924 EP 10 Workers! Farmers! Demand: The Labor Party Amalgamation Organization of Unorganized The Land for the Users The Industries for the Workers Protection of the Foreign-Born Recognition of Soviet Russia THE DAILY WORKER RAISES THE STANDARD. FOR A WORKERS’ AND FARMERS’ GOVERNMENT vo Subscription Rates: By Mail, $6.00 per year. Chicago: By Mail, $8.00; by Carrier $10.00 per year. VOL. I. No. 324. Published Daily except Sunday by THE DAILY WORKER eg, FORLREING CO., 1640.N. Halsted St., Chicago, Ilinois. Price 3 Cents TWO MINE BLASTS TAKE 87 LIVES Daughertyi in Flight to Florida as Oil Expose Threatens Joh Alarm Spreads Thru Official Washington Circles as Senate Probe Links Cabinet With Oil (Special Correspondence to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, D. C.—The hasty departure of Attorney- General Daugherty for a Florida resort, the statements of Sena- ter Walsh and others calling attention to the failure of the attorney-general to act, the recalling of Archie Roosevelt to the stand, the now irrefutable proof that Senator Fall lied to the investigating committee concerning the passage of money be- tween himself and Sinclair, the offer of Doheny, thru his attoy- ney, to surrender the oil leases from which he admits he expect- ed to make $100,000,000 and the growing conviction here that the end of the sensational disclosures is not yet in sight has the capital in a fever of expectancy. More official reputations are due to be shattered as the investigation proceeds is the belief here. The recovery of Sena- tor Fall and his tesimony is anxiously awaited. INQUIRY INTO TEAPOTSTEAL ISLURID PROBE New Sensations Keep Capital on Tiptoes a. Daily Wérker) WASHINGTON. _ ag eens tracking over the long, devious trail of false and half-true testimony already; given concerning the Teapot Dome and other naval oil leases, the senate | investigating committee today Was on the eve of new discoveries and more sensational disclosures. Albert B. Fall, the central figure in the biggest scandal since the Bal- linger-Pinchot case, was still sick in bed at the home "of J. W. Zevely, Harry Sinclair’s man who testified | yesterday he gave Fall a total of! $35,000 in June 1923. Some of the senate committee pre- dicted that Fall, convicted already of having — lied several times in his testimony will be too sick to testify Monday. These developments were in pros- pect today in advance of the senate committee’s meeting at 2 p, m. New Developments 1.—Disclosure by Archie Roosevelt} and G. D. Wahlberg, former em- ployes of Harry Sinclair, of the full} story of the “$68,000 cancelled check” | or the “six or eight cows” Wahlberg and Roosevelt had a con- versation about before they both re- signed from Sinclair’s employ. 2.—Possible decision by the senate committee to put one and possibly two members of the cabinet on the witness stand. i 3.—Probable examination of Sen- ator Smoot, Utah, by the committee on a number of points including his) reason for opposing the swearing of / Fall when the latter testified before! Ahe committee. 4.—An intimation that if Fa!l ever. takes tha stand yong he will deny he got the $100,000 L. Doheny told the committee he Tank Fall. 5.—Warning by Senator Walsh, ag of the investigation, that un- Harry Sinclair returns volun-; itty from Europe to answer ques- bre ai mother will be put on the Smoot to be Grilled The probable ‘tioning of Smoot, who en pratt mye ofa and of the two cabinet officers, Den- by, secretary of the navy, and Daugherty, attorney-general, excited «9 Baan except ‘the ree appearance of Fall himself. Senator Walsh wants to know why os bid not ack Bat under oath when he it time. It was then|’ Food nina fyi yi ‘|LENIN MEMORIAL | heny, jhe obtained the leases—$100,- aa ‘was submitted to the commit- which | TUESDAY, JAN. 29TH, 8 P. M. DOHENY WILL’ RETURN ALL OF THE LOOT Panic-Stricken Looters Ready 7 to bo WASHINGTON Ee. sy Do- lessee of two naval oil reserve lands offered today’ to cause cancellation of his con- tract leases at any time con- gress may desire. Doheny testified on Thursday that he loaned former secretary of the interior Fall—from whom '000 on a personal unsecured note. The offer to cancel was made in a statement read to the sen- ate Public Lands Committee thi afternoon by Doheny’s counsel, Gal-| 4 vin McNab of San Francisco, After McNab had presented Do- heny’s offer, the note which James W. Zevely said yesterday he obtained from Fall in return for a $25,000 THE BRITISH LABOR PARTY TAKES POWER “The outgoing and incoming ministers (Baldwin, Tory, and MacDonald, Labor) went tothe palace and the seals of office were exchanged and all kissed the king’s hand.”—News Item. “The note was offered by G. T. |Stanford, counsel for Harry F. Sin- clair, who leased Teapot Dome. It read: “Twelve months after date I prom- ise to pay James W. Zevely the sum of $25,000.” Senator Walsh of the investigating committee insisted that the note be left in.jossession of the committee * r a few days. Jim McLachlan, Imprisoned Mine Leader, from Canadian Prison Cell, Had Great Influence on Convention INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—James McLachlan, veteran leader Nctea’t that ieaneendl.” Meh tord nk: of the coal miners of District 26, Nova Scotia, refused bail while Py ntord Pro- | awaiting action on his appeal from a two year prison sentence “No,” said Walsh, “we have the | following conviction on a charge of “seditious libel” preferred note and we-will keep it for a while | by tools of the British Empire Stee] Company attacked by the ge ange cardio’ it.” ith Lewis machine, from his lonely cell influenced the rank and file chase of a aes ee Zavalay ath delegates to the Indianapolis convention to such an extent that (Continued on Page 3) (Continued on Page 3.) Two Million Jobless, BERLIN.—Two million workers are out of jobs in the occupied area of the Rhine and Ruhr valleys. In the unoccupied area, too, the | situation is a desperate one. There’ are now 1,447,000 unemployed and 1,825,000 part-time workers. .The un- employment doles amount to only about 60-89 gold pfennigs (15-20 cents), Jobless, Starving, Nearly Freezes to Death from Exposure at St. Louis ST. LOUIS.—John Stevens, 58 years old, was picked up on the street in an unconscious condition by the police and taken to the city hospital, where he died shortly afterward. Physicians said death had resulted from hunger and exposure to the extreme cold. He told the police he had been tramping the streets in a vain search for work. - Additional evidence will be required to convinced Oliver Hunt, a laborer, that a wave of prosperity is sweeping this country. He is in the city Hospi- tal receiving treatment for badly frozen feet. Hunt said his feet were frozen in an unsuccessful hunt for a job. He was penniless when taken to the hospital. Zero weather threatens many other unfortunates in St. Louis whose “right to work" seems to have been abrogated. first instalment of “A Week”, the great epic of the Russian revolution, by the brilliant young Russian writer, lury Libedinsky. It will start soon. To Be Held Watch the “Daily Worker” for the |t° its leader—shook the air. All Russia Is SilentasLenin Is Laid to Rest (Special te The Daily Worker) MOSCOW.—The_ body of Nicdlai Lenin was interred today in a. tem- porary mausoleum. in the Red Square where sleep the heroes of the revolu- tion. Every ‘form. of activity ceased for five minutes throut of, the vast territory that was once the czar’s, but now belongs to the workers and peasants of. Russia, while the body was placed in its resting place. phones cecked operation while the oom of a hundred guns—the salute | of the Red Army and the revolution | | larger cities fired one hundred guns, twenty-five rifle shots were fired in the towns and. in the villages, and thus all of revolutionary. Russia at (Continued on page 3) In the ASHLAND AUDITORUM Ashland Ave. and Van Buren St. Funeral March by Freiheit Singing Society and Englewood Orchestra. FILM PICTURING LENIN IN ACTION |of the world’s greatest revolutionist | All. trains, telegraphs and tele-| Eighty-seven Miners Slaughtered By Company Greed In Terrific Gas Blasts in Illinois and Pennsylvania Lives of 87 more workers in the hazardous coal industry have been snuffed out in two terrible gas explosions in {William- latest reports, son county, Illinois, and Indiana County, Pennsylvania, dis- patches to the DAILY WORKER relate. the total dead in the Johnston City, IIL, and 49 at Shanktown, Pa. The disasters came within 24 hours of each other. Thirty-eight men are disaster, according te Word from Indianapolis says the delegates to the United Mine Work- ers’ convention are stunned by the news. If the reports that these disasters are due to preventable gas conditions are borne out, the deaths of these miners are just another damning count in the indictment against the coal indus- try of America which slays its workers at three tim es the rate of the British mine industry, where unionism has enforced more adequate safety conditions. eee 8 Mine Owners’ Neglect Brings Big Toll of Dead (Special to The Dally Werker) JOHNSTON CITY, Ill. (Will- iamson County).—Thirty-two bodies lie stiff and stark in the morgue where they were drag- ged from the wrecked corri- dors of the Crerar-Clinch Coal company mine. Six more are believed to have been slain by the terrific blast and. rescuers are battling their way thru the shattered workings in search| of the remains of their fellow- workers. Dark rumors that the com- pany has been neglecting the usual precautions against gas are causing the miners to insist that a rigorous investigation be made. The county coroner and Martin Bolt, state director of mines, have com- | menced a probe. Died In Agony. Gas which flooded entries 11 and 12 a mile away from the 200-foot level of the east mine was respon- sible for most of the deaths. The contorted attitudes of the dead men tell of the agony with which they suecumbed to the suffocation which they vainly strove to avert by wrap- ping water-soaked coats about their faces. In three cases fathers and sons died together. Pete Keck and his son, Joe; Governor Smith and his boy, Rob- ert, and Marion Bryant and his son were found in the same workings, dead from suffocation. Tells of Smoke and Flame. So terrific was the blast that the memories of survivors are still com! fused as to just what happened. One| of the clearest stories comes from| Hubert Ponchel, who is lying badly! burned on a hospital cot: “I was at work with my step-| dither’ Louis Lucas, and two other men when the explosion came,” he cont ere was a blast and a gust of hoet ports and flames swept down | upon us, “We dropped to the floor. I grabbed my coat; wrapped it around my face and crawled on my stomach, inch by inch, for 150 feet, to get out of the danger zone, “IT reached the main entry but was) unable to go any further. My lungs seemed as if they would burst. My head had been burned and it throbbed like a trip-hammer. Calls from Dying Man. “As I collapsed and lay on the} floor I saw another miner about 50 feet away, He waved his hand feebly | and cried for help. I tried to get |up on my hands and knees and go All| to him but I couldn't make it. “Clouds of smoke and gas were slowly enveloping him as I killed the light in my lamp and tried again to go to him. I finally lost sight of (Centinued on page 3.) WILLIAM Z. FOSTER, WILLIAM F. DUNNE, ROBERT MINOR and MARTIN ABERN will speak on LENIN AND THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY Auspices: Workers Party, Local Chicago. ADMISSION FREE. CONVENTION IN SYMPATHY TOMINE DEAD Sorrow for Dead Bro'hers - Halts Internal Fight “fore be (Stef! Corresie, of The ay Worker) INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—Two coal mine disasters with their death toll of more than a hun- dred members of the organiza- tion has thrown a pall of gloom over the convention of the United Mine Workers here. For the moment the bitter- ness of the conflict between the Lewis administration and the Progressive Committee has been forgotten in the sorrow (Continued on page 3) OUR DEAD (Special to The Daily Worker) JOHNSTON CITY, Ill—Known dead and injured in the mine ex. plosion here, were announced to- day as follows: DEAD; A. H. McCulloch, Joseph Anskitis. Joseph Corbitt, Carl Duncan. Ollie Williams. George Phillips, Joseph Daniels, Antonio Caruso, LJ. Perkins. Clyde Caplinger, Wilson Caplinger, W. R. Bryant, Robert Bryant. James McCowan, James Cobb. Otte Fehrenbacher, Jesse Ford. James Keck, Robert Keck. Governor Smith. Robert Smith. Hugo Skryzpoce. E, Hopkins, Elbert Chandler. Charles Cook. INJURED; Cal Netti Caustier. Fred Pack. George Cook, Hubert Ponchel. David Babington. C. E. RUTHENBERG,