Hide Article Text (OCR)
Thrown to Crowd by Staunton Police, Says Chicago Lawyer; Wonders He Survived Beating.DEYOwiAN WITHAttorney Trampled and Driven; anthFrom Mining Town Denies Connection With I, W. W.WhANANANANYOFIFYOOFANINANIFSOI YBUANANANANEVJohn L. Metzen returned to Chicago yo yesterday with the tale of the at- j lack made upon him by a mob at ; WI Staunton. 111. He had been kicked 1 and clubbed until almost unconscious.Before being chased out of town be had suffered the added indignity of having a pail of hot tar poured lover his head.He limped and reeled at his home at 551 Bolden av. as he told how for more than two hours he had been the plaything of the mob. His face' wasbattered •almost beyond recognition.CLIENT IS BKAT15X.The mob scene, he said, was The outgrowth of a labor case in which lie was representing Sezerion Ober-dan, an official of the United Mine Workers of Nokomis. 111.Metzen does not know what liasibe-r-nme of him, as they were driven from Staunton in different directions. * ! THThis isn't an I. \V. W. affair—although I have appeared ir. numerous cases for the 1. W. W.,’* Metzen said.The charge against Oberdan was bootlegging. 1 went to Staunton to tee about a defense fund being raised by the unions Tuesday night.UNION ME ARRESTED.The meeting resulted in a fight J I’Ll and forty union men were arrested.*1 went to the hotel with Obder-dan and his wife. All of the stores had been ordered closed by the police. . ^ '''‘ Some men came running into the hotel. They seized Oberdan and me. ‘Let’s make it a double lynching,’ they said.“They dragged me into the street.Some one knocked me down. For live minutes they kicked and struckme. \ *“Then some one yelled, ‘.Stop:’ Theydragged me to the police station.“They had taken Oberdan into the jiext room, and I could hear himScreaming.‘ Then some one said: ‘Let’s get ridof this one. too.’THROWN II VC'K TO THE MOB. j T“‘Feed them out to the crowd/ lagt pome one yelled, and we were simply “thrown out the door.“For half an hour the mob had its way with me. 1 was their football..1 kept wondering why they didn’t kill me. J couldn’t understand how a man could be beaten so and still be alive.“Then T heard the same voice I had beard before shout. ‘Stop. And again cliey stopped. I could hear them yelling, ‘Hurrah for Schaeffer.’ He must have been the leader.RUNS FOR LIFE.“Then I was dragged toward the Wabash tracks. Some onp snatched my coat. The next instant a pail of hot tar was poured over my head. I ran.“It seemed to mt.* I ran six or seven miles. Then I met some good fel-RejTthemyChilt;thirtotatrieONIAnaneneiacccPreidisttrarJrure«arepolialieO mar lay* to t a relows, who helped me take the tar i to coff.“They gave me some garments oftheir own*. I caught an interurban to the next town and took a trainfor Chicago.”I. W. W.’s at Staunton Forced to Kiss Flag.STAUNTON. 111.. Feb. I :L—Homes of hundreds of mining men here who arc members of the J. W. W. were visited to-day by the mob which Tuesday night attacked John L. Metzen,The men were dragged from their homes and forced to kiss the American flag and sing a verse of “The Star Spangled Banner.”William* Bechausen, ' former clerk of the County Court, refused to kiss the flag. He was shown a kettle of boiling tar and hastily complied. BAR MOTION ALLOWED.SPRINGFIELD, 111.. Feb. 13.—The Supreme Court, to-day allowed a motion of the Chicago Bar Association to file an information against John .L. Metzen, a Chicago lawyer, for alleged unprofessional r-onduct.hou tion HO1M chelt; coriuntito t * T1 the Chic Shel Tow Sum Hog S. CII yd HegKenM orlircfEng30thBurStoc(ir’nNewMtionther
Newspaper Details
Chicago Examiner
Chicago, Illinois, US
Thu, Feb 14, 1918
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Hayner P.
IL, USA 09 Aug 2021
Other Publications Near Chicago, Illinois
News Journal
Suburbanite Economist
Southend Reporter
Community Publications
Southtown Economist
