The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 20, 1926, Page 10

PORKY (The writer of this story is a fur worker, member Ms = 1, Joint Board of Furriers’ Union of New ork, DARKNESS cast its ebony shadow over the slumbering city of Charleston as a mother spreads a blanket over a sleeping child. The hour was past midnight and the rain was still falling. After six hours of continual.downpour the wet drops continued to pit-pat on the low roof tops. bs The narrow, winding streets were deserted on this pluvial night as a cemetery in the wee hours. If an occasional pedestrian darted out of a darkened hallway, and hurried down the street, he seemed as a ghost from the grave. The uncanny emptiness of the night was un- expectedly broken by the approach of what ap- peared to be a huge caterpillar crawling down the street. This was not an illusion of one’s imagination, but a caravan of army trucks slowly rolling down the wet pavement, like a procession of elephantsion circus parade. (THESE four-wheeled caissons of destruction were carrying emissaries of the national guard, enroute to Malden, a mining town of West Virginia, some eighty miles south of Charleston. There was a strike of coal miners there, and “trouble was feared.” At the re- quest of the mine operators the governor of that state proclaimed martial law, and this was the militia on its way to preserve law and or- der. These puppets of the favored class were again being called upon to perform their “bur- lesque on efficiency” for the advancement of some corpulent mine Owner. In command of one of the squads was top sergeant Jim Kelly, better known amongst his buddies as “Porky.” Porky was a_ strong, broad shouldered fellow. His face was blowzy, savagely rugged and in color not unlike the ap- pearance of an unpealed carrot. A broad, flat nose and squared-off jaw rhymed symetrically with his bull-like neck, which exposed a long, vivid scar under hs right ear. Porky was a soldier, and as true a son of war as ever slung : a musket.under his right arm. Three citations anda year in the hospital were his spoils ofthe world war. Never would he forget the battle of St. Mihiel, when Porky (so they say), alone and armed with only two hand grenades, in- vaded and. captured by sheer force of fury an entire nest of “Huns.” That was a day’s work to be proud of. Porky walked with a slight limp. Alas, it takes two to make a fight, and the enemy is also armed. A piece of shrapnel from an exploding bomb had pierced his left leg. For two hours he had lain unattended in “No Man’s Land,” bleeding and unable to move. But Porky had never winced, not even when the doctors thought they would have to amputate his foot. .To him that was all a part of the game. ON being sent to Malden, Porky was as jubi- lant as a child who visits a circus for the first time. Here fate presented him with a long awaited opportunity to call on his sister Ann, whom he hadn’t seen-since she married and settled somewhere in that town. Lordy, he thought, but won’t she be glad to see me— “Big Jim,” Ann always called him. No, he won't telegraph; a surprise would be better; besides, Ann always did sort of like surprises. Memories began running thru Porky’s mind as an express train runs past a local station with- out stopping. That is how reminiscences of other days flickered thru his head. Just a peep into.some forgotten episode, and on with the game. Porky never was strong on thinkin’ “fancy stuff” as he called it; he left that for others. His profession was protecting his coun- try. To see that the fair fragrance of democ- racy was safely preserved in five and ten-cent vials. H{IPDEN safely away in his kit, Porky car- ried a gift. A gold watch and chain. This was a present for Jeff, Ann’s husband, whom Porky. had never met. The gift set him back more than two months’ wages, but it was worth it. Porky was under an obligation to Ann’s husband. Never would he forget the time Jeff sent him a loan of forty dollars to cover a gambling debt. That was one favor in Porky’s life he would never forget, and ser- geant Jim Kelly knew how to appreciate fa- vors. As the caravan rolled on, Porky became drowsy, and knowing he still had about seven hours of journey, he arose from a_ stool, stretched his clenched fists sidewards, yawned wearily and threw himself heavily to the floor. / ee nnn ha mint sentaerenesmtanlinmen sent nonee tinct merente bir vert = By Propped halfway between the back of a buddy and feet of another, he dozed off. It wasn’t long before Porky completely lost his way in the wilderness of dreams. What an easy road to forgetfulness. At first a distant vision of a little garden seemed to rotate about his subdued senses. It appeared:so far away, and always turning—turning as tho it were glued on to a fastly spinning merry-go-round. The hallucination soon faded away, and a men- tal image of a little cottage entered upon the stage. The picture was indistinctly blurred, it seemed to him as tho the tiny house rocked unsteadily; as a rowboat lost in a storm. Sud- denly the ‘walls disappeared, and entering the unenclosed house, he dreamt of clasping his sister tightly in his arms. A cold smile crossed his immobile lips as he imagined Jeff thanking him for the gift. This irregular chain of scenes was abruptly broken by the shrill clarion of a familiar bugle call, which instantly brought Porky to his feet. é ATthe outskirts of Malden the soldiers alighted, formed ranks and another par- ade enfolded itself into the city. Upon cross- ing a wooden bridge the footsteps of the marchers echoed in the distance like the simul- taneous cracking of a thousand whips in the hand of a giant Goliath. Arriving at the heart of the business district these apostles of de- struction broke ranks, and like so many well- trained automatons, began their performance. 'n an instant a rigid cordon was thrown about he city. In pairs they began patrolling the most deserted streets. On each corner a sen- f Alex J ackiiwen In an instant the rest of the soldiers like a pack of wolves rushed up and with the points of their bayonets corraled the miners into a circle. The flesh could almost feel the cold of the steel. The fallen leader now arose. Blood was streaming from his head, to the delight of Pofky who yelled wildly; “You muck eatin’ bum; walk quick, or I'll plug you full,of holes.” . Paying no heed to Porky, the spokesman of the miners, his head in a daze, raised his right arm in a beckoning gesture and cried to his eomrades, “Come on boys, don’t let ’em stop us,” aiid once more he attempted to step for- ward. Porky, completely enraged, his red face now redder than ever, with jaw thrust forward and eyes leering, once more struck the speaker with the butt of his revolver. The miner’s knees again sagged, unsteadily he reeled and fell to the ground; but he arose immediately. How wilfully people underestimate the spirit of re- bellion! By this time Porky’s pent up rage let itself loose in a paroxysm of fury. Foam was stream- ing from his open mouth. A myriad of flames danced madly in front of his eyes. The smile of the helpless, beaten leader served as so much fuel to the conflagration raging in Porky’s head. » This time Porky’s left arm reached out savagely and, seizing his prey by the throat, he dragged the man close to him while with his right arm he clubbed the head now bobbing up ——"t gor on @ eaao me Oo ST a Wd ao — Oo inel was posted, and machine guns were plac- sd within easy reach. Every available sharp- shooter was assigned a roof top with orders to shoot at the least semblance of a crowd. Porky was detailed a picked squad and or- dered to guard the property of the United Mine Company, where a demonstration of striking miners was expected. In normal times the population of Malden was about twenty thousand, but now after months of bitter industrial strife many families had niigratea’ to! neighboring deities.» Almost daily one could see along the state road a never ending exodus of vehicles carrying what little furnishings the fugitives possessed. Leading stores were closed because of a lack of busi- ness. Most of the natives kept indoors; what few people sauntered about the streets did so aimlessly, just shuffling along from nowhere to nowhere. At home the kids kept lookin’ at you with their hungry little eyes protruding inquisitively; but quiet, never saying a word. A precocious intuition seemed to inform them that something was wrong. And in the streets the stench of uncleaned gutters was unbear- able. The, very rows of the two-story dwell- ings seemed to sag under the weight of black fumes emanating from their chimneys. To a stranger it would seem as tho a plague had struck the town—and one did; an industrial plague. ARRIVING at the pit-head of the mine, Porky scattered his men about the premises. Propped his gun against a fence, rolled a ci- garette and began perambulating leisurely up and down the wet grounds. What fools these people were, he thought; always striking, al- ways kicking. ‘What in hell did they want, anyhow?” : Porky’s cogitations were abruptly arrested by the approach of a crowd of miners from F the west side. Face after face appeared in an irregular procession. Lean, hungry looking men, they were, for the most part. : Il-fitting clothes hung loosely on théir shrunken frames. Their faces bore a grim determination—the de- termination of hunger was indelibly stamped upon their foreheads. Spying the soldiers around the pit, the min- ers stopped and instantly one of the crowd arose upon a box and began addressing them. lHe hadn’t spoken long when Porky approached with drawn revolver and commanded cockily: “Go'’wan, get along. This ain’t no place to park.” ' Sy _ The speaker alighted-from the box and with- out appearing to notice the intruder, said to his comrades, “Come along, boys, we’re going on.” Seeing them about to move ahead Pork’s arm reached out and with the butt of his re- sort struck the leader a glancing blow on the ead. At the compact of the blow the man sagged groggily to his knees. 8 Swe THE SLAVE .v Pay the Costs of the Bosses’ War and down in his grasp like a loose piston rod. | 0 The rest of the miners turned their heads. Th steel of bayonets is a hard wall to scale. The gore on Porky’s hands brought back to him memories of France—France, that fertile land of the poppies, which posterity will always remember as the great school-room where mil- —_ of youths received their first lessons in The flesh in Porky’s hand grew rigid, and then limp. Porky dropped it as one drops a hot iron accidently picked up. It still wriggled, and to complete the task he emptied a chamber ofJead into the corpsé at his feet. — E tempest of the strike episode blew over ~ before the day was-done, and the stillness of the October afternoon settled peacefully @Qem smn nmnaomooee<(“Re = 2 GP ao a a 4 7