Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 19—(By Associated Press)—Eight companies of North Carolina National Guardsmen are entraining for Spencer this morning, where it is reported serious outbreaks are threatened. Captain Melvin Caldwell of Hornets Nest Company here, is marshaling troops to leave at once on a special train.
Troops Entrain
Aug. 19—(By Associated Press)—Adjutant J. Vann B. Metts announced this afternoon that the following companies of National Guardsmen had been ordered to entrain immediately for Spencer:
Charlotte, Concord, Burlington, Mt. Gilead, Infantry; Durham machine Gun Company, Lincolnton and Hickory troops of Cavalry, and a medical detachment from Graham. The infantrymen will be in command of Col. Don C Scott and the cavalrymen in command of Major Wade Bowman.
To Avoid Tragedy
Raleigh, N.C., Aug. 10—(By Associated Press)—Declaring that the situation is still tense and that he had “become nervous and afraid that a tragedy may take place at Spencer, in spite of the cooler heads, and that the honor of North Carolina may be degraded” were the reasons given by Governor Morrison in a statement this afternoon for ordering troops to entrain immediately for duty in connection with the strike of shopmen at the shops of the Southern Railway there. The Governor’s statement follows:
“I ordered troops to Spencer this morning about 9 o’clock. I do not mean by this action that I think Mr. Ellis and the leaders of organized labor there did not exert themselves to uphold the law yesterday, but the situation there is still tense, according to my opinion.
Many Tragedies
“Tragedies are happening all about. Last night a man was beaten in the city of Raleigh and his piteous cries for help heard in the nearby homes. An outrage was reported from Rocky Mount.
“Mr. Miller, Vice-President of the Southern Railway, last night urged me to give them protection at Spencer, and said they could not undertake to operate the railroad without protection. He detailed to me an incident there, which I investigated and did not find the strikers censurable for to the extent the railroad authorities thought they were, but I have become nervous and afraid that a tragedy may take place at Spencer, in spite of the cooler heads and that the honor of North Carolina may be degraded.
To Uphold Law
“I have ordered troops there and they go under the same instructions they went to Rocky Mount and to Concord a year ago. They are instructed to uphold the law as I understand it, and respect every right of the striking laborers, protect life and property, and keep the peace.
“I do not think it just in me to leave upon the shoulders of the heroic sheriff of Rowan County longer the full responsibility of unholding the law and keeping the peace there. The troops are sent there simply to uphold the law and the rights of all parties. They will be under the command of upright and honorable officers and will do no injustice, I am sure, to any man’s rights.
“I ask for the sympathy and support of all the people of North Carolina, who respect the law and want to see order and argument prevail in the state. It is in my honest judgment unwise to risk further the honor and good name of North Carolina at Salisbury and Spencer in the tense situation there, without having the law represented by adequate forces to uphold it.”
From the front page of The Fayetteville Observer, Aug. 19, 1922. The last story listed above carried a dateline of Aug. 10, but this must be incorrect, as the governor’s statement was issued on the 18th.
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