The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 20, 1918, Page 23

THE SILO THAT CHEERS The story comes from a dry county in southern Minnesota of a League_ farmer whose troubles were increased by the habitual drunkenness of his hired man. Where did the hired man get his liquor, was the question that troubled the farmer. With seeding on, the hired man had no opportunity to go to town to patronize a possible blind pig, yet there seemed to be no limit to his supply of the fluid that makes the world go ’round and ’round. The farmer became desperate. His » sober and hired men were hard to re- place. Finally the farmer decided to follow the methods “of . Sherlock Holmes. \ Late one evening, he saw his hired man, pan in hand, kneeling prayerfully : beside the silo. He heard a’ steady drip, drip. Here was the solution of the mys- tery. : Water poured into the silo in the fall had undergone chemical change through fermentation, and the drip- pings in the hired man’s pan proved to have a “kick” as hard as a Ford. TYRANTS AT COLBY, KAN. In one or two instances League or- ganizers have been driven from their territory in Kansas. One of these or- ganizers, writing from Colby, tells of 60_farmers meeting at the courthouse there to find out’the reason for the hostility of the sheriff. That official failed to appear. The only one to show up was one of the two who had chased- the organizer out of the county. on a previous occasion. He admitted that he-didn't do the right thing, but said the sheriff ordered him to. } “We have a good level-headed bunch of farmers,” the organizer writes. “They passed the hat around for the Red Cross and got $30. They appointed three men to draw up some resolutions and have them published in the county paper to warn the town people not to interfere with any of the men con- nected with the National Nonpartisan league or they would be dealt with according to the laws of Kansas. I think we will not be troubled again. It was a good thing, it happened. Many that refused to join before came to me and told me they were ready to join now.” : STOPS WORK WHEN LEADER i COMES : § Yuma, Col. Editor Nonpartisan Leader: - I am very well pleased with the Leader. When it comes through the mail, everything stops until I read it. I believe if every farmer and laboring man would read it for three months it ‘would be easy to get them to join the League. -We need more organizers and more speakers in this part ot the country. ROLLAND E. GORDEN. WOULD PUBLISH FUSSELL’S WORKS Fort Benton, Mont. Editor Nonpartisan Leader: I think it would be-a pity to have the historical articles by E. B. Fus- sell, which are appearing in the - Leader, lost like all of our newspaper “material and I suggest that they be published in book form after Mr. Fus- sell has completed his work. ° JOHN MEINEN. ADVERTISEMENT 70 PAY Simtor No. B Light Fars ning, = easy _cleaning, close 3 a leminf durable. Guaran- "~ Paegits itotime nda- Y -and farm hand was a good worker when . Where Is Washington’s Governor? “On the evening of April 29 I was conferring with Ed. J. Stevens, a prominent farmer and League member, near Sultan, Wash. As I left, at 10 o’clock, about 15 young thugs grabbed me by the wrists and said, ‘You are the man we want.’ They shoved me into an automobile and, accompanied by another machine, took me down the road, stripped off my clothes and covered my head and body with a coat of tar and feathers. They struck and kicked me while I was down, and hit me on the back of the head with a revolver. “They then ordered me to leave the county at once and never return, or to do any more organizing. They then got into their machines and left. “I managed to make my way through the cold night to the Stevens farm. It was dark, and I was suffering from the smart of the tar in my eyes. The next day I left for Seattle and went to bed, where I have had to remain for two days on account of the exposure, soreness and nervous shock. “The, farmers in this section all are very friendly to the Nonpartisan league, and about 90 per cent of them have joined that have been called upon. This in spite of the bitter attacks . made against the League by local and city papers. And I am - sure now they will be more determined than ever to organize and stick together. “JOSEPH 0. GOLDEN.” A Deed of Darkness in Washington (Continued from page 5) ach on a block of wood. his head down there,” some one shout- “Hold ed, “and be ready.” I was given the impression that somebody was going to hit me on the head. Another voice said: “Where is the dope?” And my back was stripped bare. Then the tar and cotton were put over it— feathers not being handy. “Put some over his head,” one voice said, and they poured it over my head and mix- ed in some cotton. - One man said: “Now Edwards next.” Another fellow suggested that Ed- wards was innocent. “It is this man Knutson we are after. He is stirring up all the trouble.” “Well, I believe we better put some tar on his clothes anyway,” another said, and they did. They raised me up and .one of them said: “Well, don’t you think you had better do' something for the govern- ment, rather than to organize the the Nonpartisan league? I guess you will hold your meeting tomorrow night all right;” reférring to that part of our conversation that had to do with the Grange meeting, May 2. I told him that I was interested in ~'smashing kaiserism and world autoec- racy. “Do ‘you hear that?” he asked, in- timating that I had said something before that wasn’t loyal. I added that it had always been my purpose to aid the government in the prosecution of the war and that I was a red-blooded American citizen. We were now taken to the garage. I was still blindfolded. Edwards’ car was taken out first. The mob told him to go south to California where he came from. Next my car was brought out. I drove to Chehalis, about 16 miles north of Winlock, ar- riving there about sunrise. Edwards drove to Chehalis by another road. Before leaving Mr. Edwards’. room they took away from him his organiz- ers’ list containing the signatures of League farmers, one receipt book, half used ‘and one check book containing 11 post-dated checks, each for $16, signed by farmers, in payment for League memberships. The mob did this outrageous work because they asserted that I made disloyal statements in my conversa- tion with Edwards. As stated before, no mention was made of the govern- ment and the war. It did not enter into any points of our talk. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR 'THIS OUTRAGE CAN BE LAID ON THE POLITICIANS IN LEWIS COUNTY. The League is getting pretty strong there, having already a membership of 500, and some of the _ politicians are afraid that they are going to.lose their jobs if the farm- ers continue te join the League. I believe it will be possible to spot at least two who were the instigators of the plot. T ‘can positively identify two who were in the crowd, the hotel- keeper and a bank cashier. lSe.ized by a Second Gang BY W. R. EDWARDS z]FTER having been taken from my room at Win- lock hotel on Liberty Day, April 26, and tarred #%| and driven from town at 4 a. m., and ordered not to return, I remained in seclusion at a hotel in Chehalis until Monday, ‘April 29. I then drove my car 10 miles east of Toledo, 16 miles east of Winlock. I visited: seven farmers and . secured six members. 3 I then made arrangements to stay - at the home of Jens Due all night. At 11 o’clock I heard noises and saw a mob approaching the house. It de- manded Edwards, declaring a sheriff was present. = Airne Due, also ‘a but was soon forced from the door and told the mob would take every- bady in the house if Edwards was not produced at once. ., = ¢ Upon hearing that and ‘ ‘_in-g ,thé'n 7 . autos stood. “. PAGE ‘TWENTY-THREE~ dressed somewhat, ah‘d not desiring " to further involve my farmer friends, I offered to give myself up to the sheriff. Several men held guns to my head and ordered my hands up. Every- thing in my pockets was taken from me. Vile.talk prevailed among mem- bers of the mob, although Mrs. Due was present. I was then marched between two men with revolvers to where eight I was placed in a car driven by Bush Merriman of Toledo. I was told I was going to be dropped into the river. Often the cars were stopped and a search was made for a suitable tree on which I was to be hanged. GRS Sy Preécher.'Rees of Winlock, a Meth- League member, sought to protect me odist, impersonated the sheriff, was addressed as and answered as such. . He was leader of the mob and ordered -a stop at B. P, Gleason’s house, whose - membership I had secured that day. Rees endeavored to cause Gleason to AT P IR demand his check returned. Gleason evaded the issue, but I returned the check. We drove 10 miles to Toledo, stopped on the bridge, my guards shooting past my ears and declaring I was to be hanged and ducked and let down by a rope about my neck to the river, 40 feet below. We drove on, stopped twice in Toledo streets, “shooting up the town” and gather- ing the bigger mob. Then a whispered conversation intimated Ike Schultz, deputy sheriff, would be sidetracked, so I would be taken where I would have no protection. I was whisked into a car and between Winlock and Toledo a fire was built, tar heated and demands made I leave the League. Definite threats were made by several that if I were caught again I would be hanged. I was compelled to prom- ise I would leave the countiy at once. Tar and feathers were applied to my naked skin, I having been com- pletely stripped by my clothes being roughly torn. Tar was plastered on me from head to foot. I was struck twice in the face with a stick and poked in the back by one especially vicious man who seemed to be drunk. After this I was told to dress and the Toledo mob left me in charge of the Winlock section of the mob. My be- longings were returned except the P. D. checkbook with five checks therein. : Banker Murray of Winlock then asked me if I wanted to go to Win- lock to clean up. I told them I would take care of myself if they were through with me. leaving me in the road with my car. I then drove to Forest, near Che- halis, some 15 miles, to the home of . a League member.. I aroused him at *3:30 a. m. and he prepared a hot bath and cleaned me up, giving me every care for several days, until it was safe for me to_ appear on the road. Later I saw District Attorney Allen of Lewis county. He became partially convinced that the act was inspired by political rather than patriotic mo- tives. He said he could do mothing without formal complaint. Allen said he would telephone C. E. Leonard to “lay off.” Leonard is a browbeating political officeseeker of Winlock, whom I feel is instigator of the mob. Leon- ard had insulted and deliberately mis- represented me twice in Winlock. He was present in the mob Tuesday, April 30. Doctor Webb of Winlock was spoken of as present in the mob. Banker Bell of Toledo was called by name and answered (Bell is son-in-law of Presi- dent N. B. Coffman of the Coffman- Dobson bank, Chehalis, leading poli- tician of southwestern Washington). I was told by the mob that at a meet- ing in Chehalis on the day of this af- fair the Winlock treatment of the or- - ganizers of the League was approved as just right and that N. B. Coffman was present. Of course, Coffman is .backed by the Seattle ring. Smithy, Ed. Castater, Doc Ackley, were others mentioned as in the mob. NO BLUFFING IN OKLAHOMA What a neighborhood of farmers who are determined to stand on their rights can accomplish is shown by the turn of events in Custer county, Okla. An organizer there was warned to leave at once by a gang in Custer City. The members of the League and other farmers proceeded right away to see where they stood. A commit- tee which was appointed to investigate talked to the county attorney and the members of the city council. Finding that the men who had driven out the organizer were without legal author- ity, they secured a guarantee of the law’s protection. The county attorney and the council of defense agreed to . put down any violence attempted against League activities, The farm- ers have requested a speaker be sent from state headquarters and are ar- ranging for a big meeting. They drove off, S g i | : 11