Henryetta Daily Free-Lance – 1922 (George Riley Hall, Editor & Publisher)

In police court this morning Mrs. Clara Kelly was charged with having possession of and furnishing whisky. The officers testified that they found a small quantity of whisky in a half gallon fruit jar and some in a goblet sitting on a table.

The woman had been called into court some months ago and was not fined, as it was claimed whisky found at her belonged to a man.

The mayor said he had given her a warning at that time. She said she had no money and could not pay a fine. She said she has four children, the oldest 14, and the youngest 7 years of age, that their father has left them and does not provide for them and that she is keeping boarders trying to get by.

Chief Stormont pleaded for her, but the mayor said he would impose a fine and did so, fixing it at the minimum, $50.

The woman said she was going to Texas on the 10:00 o’clock train tonight to get married, if she got her divorce today. The mayor gave her thirty days which to pay the fine on her promise that she would keep whisky out of her house.

In addition to this case there were three men charged with being drunk. All forfeited cash bonds when they did not appear in court.

Information has been filed in the superior court in the Case of the State vs. Lola Thrasher, perjury. It is charged in the information that on July 20, 1922, in the District Court of Okmulgee County, in the hearing of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Don O’Hara, who was charged with murder, before Judge Norman, the presiding judge, and after having been duly sworn to tell the truth, the defendant testified that on the night of the killing of John Gray, she was in the presence and company of Don O’Hara continuously from 7:30 o’clock in the evening until after the time of the killing, all of which testimony the state charges was false and untrue.

With the agreement reached yesterday and which is being written into contracts today, the soft coal fields will resume active operations. The states party to this agreement do not include Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, but these states constituting the southwestern field will naturally and immediately follow. This means immediate work here.

Nothing has happened for a long time that will bring so much joy as the resumption of work. It is not difficult to realize how vastly important this is to a coal town. Approximately twenty-five hundred men follow coal mining for a living in this field. The potential purchasing power of twenty-five hundred men, who earn in the neighborhood of seven dollars a day is seen at a glance. Not only does the product of these mines turn the wheels of industry in far distant places, and warm the homes of the city dwellers in many mid-western towns, but it supplies the volume of business here with a handsome trade.

From a purely selfish standpoint we could wish every miner made ten dollars a day instead of whatever scale is written into the new contract. This, from the viewpoint of the Henryetta business man, would be selfish, of course, for it would mean expensive fuel and power to other people. But the wage scale is probably that obtaining at the time of the shut down last spring.

The men have sought and found other employment in some instances, and it is possible that the total number employed last winter may not be here now to hear the whistle blow for work; but even if a percentage of them should not return to the mines it would be better for the industry as a whole. This is due to the fact that the high wages paid to miners during the past has induced many men to take up that occupation with the result that there are too many coal miners to be kept busy the entire year. This fact was made the basis for augment for a six hour day in the mines the figures showed that the men would mine all the coal the market demands in six hour shifts. So that if the total number of miners be reduced, there would naturally be greater number of days worked for the remainder.

But the prospect of immediate work is the best news coming here for a long time. While the settlement already made does not include this district, no one doubts that we shall all be busy in a short time.

Aug. 16, 1922

QUEBEC – Firemen searching the smoldering ruins of the boys orphanage at Shaw Bridge, Quebec, which was destroyed by fire late last night, placed the number of dead at 12.

Roll call was not answered by eight of the 55 young orphans who were inmates of the institution in addition to Thomas Legault, the caretaker, his wife and two children, imprisoned by the flames in lower rooms were burned to death.

Before the discovery of the fire, flames had cut off the escape of the orphans. They were marshalled quickly in top rooms. The older boys guarded the younger and made ropes of bed sheets. Then the flames crept through the corridors the little boys being let down first from an outside balcony and later the rescuers escaped by the same route.

Troop one of the Boy Scouts, under command of Albert Fellows as Scout Master, will leave at dawn tomorrow morning for a lake near Tulsa where they will go into camo in regular style.

The Rotarians are sponsoring the ten-day trip for Troop one, while the Lions are taking care of Troop two. Each troop will leave early Thursday morning in autos for the scene of the camp.

Railroad travel is not very satisfactory, safe or sure under the disturbed conditions that exist, and for that reason all these boys will be taken to their camp sites in autos, trucks coming along with the camp equipment and luggage.

Scout Master Graham will command Troop two, and they will camp on the Illinois River. Their route lies east through Checotah, while the other troop will drive north through Okmulgee and Sapulpa.

These boys are headed for a fine time, and everybody concerned will hope that each youngster may come back with a little more training and a little more experience. Both scout masters are careful and trustworthy, and the greatest care for the safety and welfare of the boys is assured.

Mrs. M. A. Black has filed suit in the superior court against Lon Kuhn, the American Surety Company and J. F. Stubblefield for damages. She alleges in her petition that on February 16, 1921, the defendant Kuhn was Sheriff of Okmulgee County, that Stubblefield was his deputy and that the defendant company was surety on Kuhns official bond as sheriff and that on that date the defendant , Kuhn, received a writ of attachment from the District Court of Okmulgee County and passed it to his deputy, Stubblefield, who withheld upon a Cleveland Six automobile, the property of the plaintiff and that for five months pending the disposal of the case in the district court and before the car was returned to her, the defendants, and Stubblefield, appropriated the said automobile to their own use and used it during that time to her damage in the sum of $1,000 and for this asks judgment.

Henryetta people will get the latest from all over the United States now as there are some of the largest radios in the state located here.

Santee will get the ball games the same day they are played and they will be posted on his window. Last night he hears from the following places Omaha, Memphis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Waco, Texas; Denver, Davenport, IA.; Atlanta, and Wichita, Kan.

The First National Bank has one of the largest radios in the state and it is going in good shape.

The railroad strike does not seem to mend. Instead of getting better, it seems to be growing worse. The prospect for settlement is dim, indeed. In fact it begins to look like a finish fight between the roads and their employees. This means that the public, as always, will be the chief sufferer.

The public censuring of Dr. DeBarr seems to be all these fellows intend to do to him. As a matter of fact that seems enough. His only known defense was that if thirty years of faithful service leaves him in need of defense, he has nothing to say. Dr. DeBarr is one of our very brightest men, and if his connection with the university must tie his hands as a citizen, then we are the losers rather than he.

True enough there was a portion of this southwestern coal field included in yesterday’s agreement. We learn today that the Consolidated Company whose ownership is in the east, entered the contract. This is important for the reason that the Consolidated has three mines here, with a heavy daily tonnage. These people are at liberty now to begin work. As we understand it they were not members of the Southwestern association, and are therefore legally signed up. Doubtless there will be a general contract made immediately, and all the thirty or more Henryetta mines will resume operation.

Eleven of the eighteen planks in the Shawnee platform are incorporated in the new declaration adopted yesterday at Oklahoma City. The trouble is that some of the little good material in the Shawnee platform was amongst those planks left out yesterday. For instance that part of it which censured the looting of the bank fund was eliminated. Well, if this suits the real Democrats of Oklahoma we have misjudged them.

The attorney general at Washington shows signs of real intelligence when he tells President Harding that the I. W. W. bunch is taking an active part in the railroad strike. Those birds are never as happy as when they can find some pretext to harm the people who really work and make a living. To have the comforts of life, or leisure, or luxury, is, in the estimation of the “Wobbly” a crime beyond pardon, and only to be expiated in robbery and confiscation. This is the philosophy of the I. W. W., and a strike is his happiest condition. The striker may be honest, but the I. W. W. does the ugly stunt, and leaves the blame to rest on the striker.

Well, if the engineers, firemen and conductors strike now, and lose their seniority, the whole bunch will be in a fix. Then when they agree to come back on the job, there will be another seniority fight to adjust. Thus there is no end to the trouble. It looks as if the thing is calculated to force government control the very thing the public does not want. Politics would enter into any scheme for federal control, and while we Republicans might have the inside on such a thing, it is highly undesirable from the viewpoint of a mere citizen. The professional politician might be tickled about it, but business men fear it. What we want is more business in government instead of government in business.

Caught here last night after a search lasting a day and night and lodged in the county jail at Newkirk late last night, A. D. Clarke, charged with stealing an automobile, lead a jail delivery early this morning in which five prisoners escaped.

Jack Warren, also held for auto theft, arrested here last week and Will Pippens, Pedro Matthews and Ralf O’Brien held on larceny charges, also escaped.

It is believed that Clarke had a saw secreted in his clothing when Le was placed in jail, although Deputy Sheriff Mead claimed it was slipped to him by friends on the outside. Six cars have been stolen here in almost as many days.