St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 53

LAST OF 111 MINERS' BODIES FOUND, ARE BEING REMOVED INSPECTOR BLAMES MEDILL, SA YS HE 'TOOK CHANCE'; ILLINOIS MINERS WON'T WORK TILL MINES ARE SAFE 'Have to Take That Chance1 'DIM MONDAY' IN MINE AREA AS TONS MOURN FOR 111 DEADINBLAST I I ft i if By a Fot-IMpt Staff Phntorrnphfr. ROBERT M. MEDILL. director of the Illinois State Department of Mines and Minerals. Driscoll Scanlan, state mine inspector, told the Post-Dispatch that Medill replied to his prediction of a dust explosion at the Centralia Coal Co.

Mine No. 5 and a request to close the mine by saying: "We'll just have to take that chance." MEDILL DENIES SOME OF CHARGES MADE BYSCANLAN Asserts He Doesn't Recall Warning Inspector Said He Gave at Belleville Meeting. I Reprinted from the Pout-Dispatch of March 31 By a Staff Correspondent of the Post-Dispatch. CENTRALIA, 111., March 31 Robert M. Medill, director of the Illinois State Department of Mines and Minerals, today denied some of the charges leveled against him by State Mine Inspector Driscoll Scanlan, in connection with the Centralia mine disaster, and declared that Scanlan could have closed the mine himself.

"Just remember this," Medill said, "Scanlan has the power under the law to shut any mine down that he deems hazardous-' without consulting me or anyone else." Asked about the Incident reported by Scanlan, when Scanlan said he. visited Medill at Belleville to plead that the Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5 be closed, Medill said he couldn't remember that conversation. "I remember attending a safety meeting at Belleville," Medill said, "and I recall Scanlan being there.

I don't remember what was said, however." "Outright Medill Says. Medill denied flatly that, as reported by Scanlan, he had said "those damned hunks at the Centralia mine wouldn't know the conditions of the mine" if Scanlan didn't bring it to their attention. "Scanlan was outright lying when he made that statement," Medill said. "I didn't call any miner in that mine in Illinois or anywhere else a 'damned Medill added, however, that "I did say the probabilities are there are a lot of men in that mine who can't read English and they would naturally become frightened at Scanlan's reports." The Department of Mines director, commenting on Scanlan's statement that Medill had demanded that he (Scanlan) reduce the size of his reports, said: "I called him and said, 'Driscoll, you could say everything you wanted to say regarding conditions at that mine in good deal less Practice to Consult Him. In an interview before Scanlan had made his public statement, Medill had stated that, although state mine inspectors theoretically have the power to close unsafe mines, it was the practice in his department for inspectors to consult with him before they acted.

"They prefer to have my support," he said. Medill said he called a conference of his Inspectors shortly after he took office, in 1941. "I told them," he said, "to close the mines if they had to, but to try to iron out their difficulties with the operators first." "Can you appoint Inspectors without conferring with Gov. Dwight H. Green of Illinois? Medill waa asked.

"What would you do?" he asked in reply. "He's the boss." who is one of the 31 survivors of the disaster, today spoke in of the order of John L. Lewis for a week's stoppage of mining. "It is a good Idea," Rowekamp said. "I hope it will call to the attention of the public the appalling conditions under which coal miners must work." In additiou to the Inquiry to be begun tomorrow by the Governor's investigating commission, of which Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles Thompson of Harrisburg is a member, Inquiries are pending by committees of the United States Senate and the Illinois Legislature, and by the Washington county grand jury.

While the mourning period proclaimed by John L. Lewis does not begin until midnight tonight, local miners' unions throughout Illinois had called for a work stoppage and mourning, period today, before Lewis's announcement was made. Thus it happened that, according to an announcement made by the Illinois Coal Operators' Association at its headquarters in Chicago, about 60 per cent of the state's coal mines wer' idle today. The 60 per cent figure is believed to be an underestimate, as the Progressive Coal Miners are observing this one day by cessation of work in respect for the dead. The mines named by the operators as being closed today are: Peabody Coal Mine 47 at Harco; same company's th.ee mines at Taylorville.

Consolidated Coal Lake Creek Mine at Johnson City; same company, mine at Chicago, Wilmington Franklin Mine No. 2 at West Frankfort. Bell A Zoller Mining two mines a Zeigler. Franklin County Coal two mines. Old Ben Coal three mines in Franklin county.

Seymour Mining mine in Franklin county. Vaiier Coal mine in Franklin county. Freeman Coal Mining mine in Williamson county. In addition, the Chicago office was informed, about one-half thr men of the Union Colliery Mining Co. mine at Dowell near Du Quoin were out.

Also reported idle was tha United States Coal Co. Bunsen-irille mine, near Georgetown. Mayors of Centralia and Surrounding Towns Proclaim a Day of Mourning. Reprinted from the Post-Dispatch By HARRY WH.ENSKY A Staff Correspondent of 1h-ront-nupatrh. CENTRALIA, III, March 29 Double crews of workers went down into the-dangerous gas-swept passages of the Centralia Coal Company's mine No.

5 tonight to begin the task of cleaning up some of the debris left by last Tuesday's explosion that took the lives of 111 men trapped in the workings. Meanwhile, other workmen were busy bringing the bodies of the last group of 17 trapped miners to the surface. This group, foun.t late today, were in the far reaches of the south passage. Mine Inspector Driscoll Scanlan said removal of the bodies would not be completed until sometime tomorrow. Officials' of the State Department of Mines and Minerals said records showed that the blast at mine No.

5 took the heaviest toll of livs of any mine disaster in Illinois since a similar explosion at Cherry Nov. 13, 1909, in which 259 were killed. The only body not yet reached by the rescue crews was that of Clifford Copple, which lay on the other side of a huge pile of debris. Scanlon, who has been working with the reFCue crews in the mine for the last four days, said Copple was working with John Lorenzine, one of the 31 men who escaped following the blast. Lorenzine escaped by ripping off his shirt, soaking it a pail of water and holding it against his nose for protection against the deadly fumes as be ran for the main shaft.

Copple, Scanlan learned, ran the other way, apparently in search of his brother, Frank, who was in another section of the mine. Frank's body has been recovered. The announcement that all the bodies had been found came to the surface from a communication tube Into which a rescue squad boss shouted: "General search completed all bodies recovered but one." A few moments later, William P. Young, vice president of the company, told reporters, "all found, all dead." Only a handful of survivors were nearby when the announcement came. One or two, women, whose hope apparently had been shattered, touched handkerchiefs to their eyes and turned away.

A hush seemed to fall over the mine entrance. Shortly, the people there started to drift away by ones and twos. And the center of attraction for the last four tiresome days took on an air of emptiness, the entrance yawning darkly. Twelve funeral cervices were held today, 11 more are scheduled for tomorrow and 13 for Monday. These services include double services for two sets of brothers who perished in the mine and another double service for Martin Freeman 39 years old, and his son.

Martin Freeman 19, who died in the mine together. Andrew and Joseph Spinner, brothers, are to be burled Monday. Funeral processions are common sights these days in Centralia and surrounding communities. Mayors of Centralia and the surrounding towns Central City, Wamac, Sandoval and Glenrid'ge have proclaimed Monday "A Day of Mourning" for those killed in the disaster. Schools will close and most of the stores, with the exception of drug stores and some groceries, will close.

A memorial service will be held in the Centralia high school gymnasium at 11 a.m. Monday. Contributions to the fund for the families of needy victims of the blast, collected under the auspices of the Mayor of Centralia, reached a total of $10,774 tonight. When all the bodies are removed from the mine. Scanlan told the Post-Dispatch, the mine will be closed and fresh air will be pumped continuously through the workings until all the poisonous and inflammable gases are forced out.

"There will be a tremendous amount of repair work to do if the company reopens the mine," Scanlan said. "Passageways to abandoned workings that had been sealed up were blown open by the explosion, roof sections, tracks and electric wires were torn The mine communication system was wrecked. That's what I know about now. There may be more damage. It will be several days after the gas has been blown from the mine before a complete Investigation can be made." There was some question about conducting the Inquest, because the mine reaches into Marion county from Washington county.

This was settled by State's Attor-new Wilbert Holt, who said, after a study of maps, that there was no question that the men died in Washington county. Dr. George Green, coroner of Washington county, told the Post-Dispatch that he would charge his regular $5 for a death certificate, which undertakers must secure before a body can be burled. At this rate he will receive $555. He will charge the prescribed $16 for the entire inquest, he said.

99 WIDOWS, 78 CHILDREN UNDER 18, REPORTED LEFT BY MINERS KILLED IN BUST Ruvfl to ih Tost-Dtsitrl. CENTRALIA, 111., March 29. A compilation, made today by Hugh White, president of the United Mine Workers of Illinois, at Springfield, shows that 99 widows and 78 dependent children under 18 year of ape were left by the miners killed in the disaster here. White said the reason the number of dependent children is low was that most of the miners were elderly men, with the average age of those killed In the mine being B5 years. Reprinted Jiom the.

of March 20 P.g. 9 "He said that 'those damned hunks at the Centralia mine wouldn't know the conditions of the mine if I (Scanlan) didn't bring them to their attention When I left he told me. 'I think you understand now what, kind of reports I want to come In here When rescue operations were in progress last week at the mine, Scanlan said he had started crews working on eight-hour shifts. "Then MediU came in and ordered shifts cut to five hours he said. "This meant that there was a lot of time lost between shifts.

More time was lost because Medill and his men from Springfield kept arguing with the rescue crewti about conditions in the mine. Medill didn't know anything about it. "He was lost, half the time, looking at the mine map. But he made rescue crews come up every five hours and confer with him. "Then the Federal Bureau of Mines inspectors raised hell and Medill consented to have the crews work six-hour ahlfts." By staying in the mine with, his crew for seven hours, Scanlan said he managed to find IB bodies, put up four temporary wall sealing off parts of the mine already inspected, and do preliminary work enabling the next shift to find 15 more bodies.

For this, he said, he was called in and reprimanded by Medill. Scanlan said he wanted to talk to a Post-Dispatch reporter about MediU's record as head of the department while the rescue work was in progress. "I didn't dare, however." Scanlan said. "I was afraid he would pull me off the rescue job." Lays Delay to Medill. Scanlan declared that "if Medill and his department heads had not interfered with the rescue work we could have recovered those bodies at least 48 hours sooner," He said, however, that none probably could have been saved alive, expressing the opinion that "those men died between 6 p.m.

and 7 p.m. Tuesday." The explosion occurred just before 3:30 p.m., Tuesday-Scanlan, blaming the disaster it- self on "politics" and public indifference, declared that rescue work further was hampered by "two representatives of Mr. Krug (Secretary of the Interior Krug, under whose department the mines are operating). One of these representatives, he said, was Jones whom Scanlan also had said contributed to Gov. Green's political fund.

The two men from Krug's office, Scanlan said, were involved with Medill in the attempt to turn on the power machinery In the mine during rescue work. When Scanlan objected and the rescue workers refused to go into the mine if power machinery were used tests were made of the air in the mine and an explosive mixture was found to be present, which he said might have been ignited by sparks from the machines. All of this, he said, caused a delay of three or four hours. Scanlan. 43 years old, son of a mine foreman and a man whose mine experience began at the age of 16, has been a state mine inspector since 1941.

He made his statement to a Post-Dispatch reporter while resting at his modest frame cottage near the waterworks at Nashville, 111., where he lives on a salary of $3300 a year. He had taken a leading part in the rescue work at Mine No. 5 and is idolized by the miners there. At a press conference today Scanlan repeated to other newspapermen some of the things he had told the Post-Dispatch reporter previously. He criticised the political setup of the whole Department of Mines and Minerals, and of the lack of civil service status for inspectors and rescue squad members in particular.

Earlier, he had told the Post-Dispatch reporter this newspaper "deserves credit for having exposed poll i. teal contributions, of mine owners without waiting for the disaster." He said, however, that most newspapers and radio stations had begun reporting conditions in the mines only after the Centralia disaster had occurred. "If they had done it before," he said "this disaster probably could have been prevented." Rescue Squads Are Volunteers. Scanlan pointed out that rescue squads are volunteers, not full-time employes. It is difficult to round them up in cases of emergency he said, and when they are called at a mine they are paid by the mine, not the state.

He advocated that they be made full-time employes. "Some mine operators," Scanlan said, "put dollars ahead of the miners' lives. Some operators, however, do a good job and there are a lot of good superintendents, who do their best to take care of the miners." Since he was so' critical of so many persona involved In the Centralia disaster, Scanlan ssld he wanted to praise those 'Who deserved praise. "I want to praise the honest and qualified state Inspectors and there are a number of such men. I want to say that I had complete and excellent co-operation from every Federal Bureau of Mines inspector who assisted In this disaster.

"Every mine rescue team which worked on this job deserves the highest praise, including the Bell Zoller team from Zeigler. John Lyons, Bell Zoller safety engineer is a fine man who did a good job. The utmost praise goes to the Navy boys (operating under the Department of Interior), the Army men from Scott Field, the Salvation Army, churches and the Red Cross." Gov. Green Saturday night ordered all mines in Illinois "operating in violation of safety regulations" to be closed immediately. Green said he had ordered Medill to "conduct a survey" to see what mines should be closed under the -order.

SCANLAN ASSERTS DIRECTOR ORDERED $25,000 LUG ON COAL OPERATORS Quotes Illinois Official as Declaring That Gov. Green Was 'Satisfied and 'Money Is Rolling In. Reprinted from the Post-Dispatch of March, St By HARRY WILENSKY A Staff Correspondent of the Post-Dispatch. CENTRALIA. March 31 A slashing and bitter attack on Robert M.

Medill, director of the Elinois State Department of Mines and Minerals, was made today by State Mine Inspector Driscoll Scanlan, who declared he had begged Medill to close the Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5, where 111 men lost their lives last week, predicting a dust ex-plosion that would "sweep from one end of the mine to the other." "We'll just have to take that chance," Medill was quoted by Scanlan as replying. Asked why Medill refused to close the mine to prevent the greatest mine disaster in the nation in 19 years Scanlan said, "It probably was due to favoritism to the coal operator." Medill, he said, was known as an "operators man." Medill was more interested in collecting political campaign contributions from mine owners than he was in enforcing mine safety rules, Scanlan said. Medill was quoted by Scanlan as telling the mine inspectors that Gov.

Dwight H. Green of Illinois was "satisfied" with the collection efforts, and that "the money is rolling in." Mine inspectors, as the Post-Dispatch revealed March 19, were used to solicit from mine operators funds for the Republican mayoral campaign in Chicago. Details of that collection effort were revealed by Scanlan today. In Chicago the Post-Dispatch learned that Medill solicited funds from the large coal operators himself, at the express order of Gov. Green.

The Gover-, nor, it was reported, called In his department heads and gave tnem instructions for collecting-political campaign funds. MedUl was reported to have visited the nine large coal firms with headquarters In Chicago. Each firm, it was reported, was expected to give $1000. "I considered this nothing more than asking for a bribe or extortion," Scanlan declared with heat. He said he had refused to participate in the political collection.

"I refused to play politics with the lives of the coal miners," he asserted. For this, and for his efforts to enforce safety regulations Scanlan said he was berated by Mr-dill for being "too and he felt his joh was In danger. "If we Inspectors were on a real civil service, Scanlan declared. "I'd have closed that mine half a dozen times. Or put It this way the first time I would have kept It closed.

They'd have known I meant business." "Who, In your oponlon. Is responsible for the death of these miners?" Scanlan was asked. "The operators of the mine," he replied, "and the State Mining Board, Including Director Medill and his assistant, Robert Weir." (The Mining Board Is under the Department of Mines; Medill Is a member of the board, but Is director of the department, and Weir Is his assistant.) Interference with mine safety work by Medill did not cease when the explosion last Tuesday ended the Uvea of the 111 men working in the mine as had been predicted Scanlan said. MedilTs handling of the rescue work delayed recovery of the bodies by "at least 48 hours he said, fiot on!) did MedUTs handling of the work precipitate a revolt of rescue workers, wbo felt their live were endangered by the state mine department head's orders, but MediU was In opposition there to Federal Bureau of Mines Inspectors, Scan lan said. Scanlan also charged there was a delay In starting a sufficient number of rescue teams to the site of the mine disaster.

William Funeral Processions Follow One Another Through the Streets and Church Bells Toll Almost Continuously. Reprinted from the Post-Dispatch of March 31 By a Staff Correspondent of the Post-Dispatch. CENTRALIA, 111., March 31 Illinois coal miners took matters into their own hands t6day, in the effort to prevent further disasters as the blast in Mine No. 6, which took 111 lives last Tuesday afternoon. Hugh White, president of District 12 ot the United Mine Workers, said here today that Illinois soft coal miners In the UMW would not return to work until the mines in which they are employed are reported completely safe.

"Any violation of mine safety regulations could have caused this explosion," White said. "We are not going to wait for two or three things to be wrong. The miners' won't go back until everything is-all right." Peabody Closes No. 18 Mine. The first mine to be closed was No.

18 of the Peabody Coal Co. at West Frankfort. The company's superintendent at the mine, Robert McPhail, said today that the mine had been closed permanently, effective immediately, and that the 500 miners had been so notified. McPhail said the decision was due to the fact that "the property has for a long time been an uneconomical operation." He said some miners would be employed to remove the machinery, a 30-day to 60-day job. Four men were killed in mine accidents In Mine No.

18 in 1945 and 69 were injured in that year. Today was a day of mourning for Centralia and the four adjoining towns where the victims of the worst mine disaster in 19 years had their homes. Townspeople who shared the grief of the stricken families attended two general memorial services, a community gathering in the High School and a requiem high mass in St. Mary's Catholic Church. Here and in Wamac, Central City, Sandoval and Glen Ridge funeral processions followed one another through the streets, and church bells tolled almost continuously.

All but the most essential places of business in all the communities were closed. Mayor O. W. Wright termed the day "Black Monday." Memorial Services. The memorial services, sponsored by the Centralia Ministerial Alliance, at the high school began promptly at 11 a.m.

About BOO relatives and friends of the dead miners listened to 11 clergymen, 10 of whom were of Protestant denominations and one of whom was a Catholic priest. The Rev. Arthur Schmidt, pastor of the Lutheran Redeemer Church, presided. A chorus of 60 boys and girls of the Centralia High School sang The services lasted one hour. Net many children were in the One young boy was heard sobbing.

Many persons, as they emerged in the gray noon weather, were seen wiping their eyes. -Among places of business that stayed open until noon were drug stores, groceries and cleaners. "The cleaners," one miner said grimly, "had to stay open so miners who wanted to mourn could get their good clothes cleaned fast." A smaller crowd attended the special services at St. Mary's Church. There, as at the high school services, it was explained that the crowds would have been much larger but for the 'fact that many mourners were attending private funerals.

The fund for needy families of the mine victims was $12,150 from all sources, the Mayor The investigating commission named by Gov. Dwight H. Green is to meet In Centralia's City Hall at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. After the body of the last victim was taken from the mine yesterday morning, the mine was closed. Fresh air is being pumped Into the shaft continuously.

The litter of 414 days was swept out of the miners' wash houses yesterday. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army closed the canteens where they had dispensed food and drink since a short time after the- explosion, and the big shed was closed. Baskets of work clothing hung from, hooks in the rafters, but the baskets of the 111 men who died in their working garments were empty. Sleeping cars, in which rescue crews had slept between shifts, were pulled away from the siding on which they had been standing near the mine tipple. Instead of the thousands of persons about the mine during the search, there were only six around the tipple at 7:30 o'clock last night.

They were a miner, a hoisting engineer, a state highway patrolman and three sight-seer. William E. Rowekamp, recording secretary of the Centralia local of the United Mine Workers, 947 Williams, mine rescue superintendent at Springfield for the Department of Mines and Minerals, telephoned Scanlan's wife an hour and a half after the explosion, Scanlan said, and suggested she drive to the scene "to see it the teams really were needed." Williams later denied this. He said he "couldn't recall" the telephone conversation with Mrs. Scanlan.

Scanlan was bitter about the move to use mine inspectors as political campaign fund collection agents. At a meeting In MediU's office last Jan. 31. be said, Medill declared a "quota" of $25,000 had been set "by the boys" for the Department of Mines and Minerals. Later, last March 7, he said Medill called another meeting of mine Inspectors, at Springfield.

"Medill said the Chicago newspapers had been calling him about solicitations," Scanlan said. "He added that anything this big couldn't bo pulled off without publicity. "Medill ti Id us not to worry about It. He said as long as the boss was satisfied, we had no worries. By the boss' he aid he meant Gov.

Green." Scanlan quoted Medill aa stating he had told the Chicago newspapers he "hadn't heard a thing about the campaign collections himself, but would call in his inspectors and ask them about it." There was a good deal of laughter among the inspectors at this, Scanlan said. Medill also told the inspectors, Scanlan said, that he "had some newspapermen all taken care of." At the earlier meeting of Inspectors, when the department "quota" was announced, Scanlan reported "Medill said he himself would take care of the major companies. He said he already had called on four of these firms and that 'two have come through with SI 000 This account of MediU's personal activities in connect? witb the collection was verifit i by a Post-Dispatch reporter in Chicago. "Medill said one of the firms which contributed," Scanlan continued, "was the Peabody Coal which operates a group of mines in Illinois and has its headquarters in Chicago." The 1945 report on the Peabody Coal Co. Mine No.

18 at West Frankfort, 111., in the Springfield office of the Department of Mines and Minerals, shows that four men were killed there in mine accidents. During the same year 69 men were injured in the mine. R. M. McPhail is superintendent of the mine; H.

C. Harris is local mine manager and James R. Mitchell is state inspector for the district. The Post-Dispatch revealed March 19 that Louis F. Lumaghi Jr.

of St. Louis, who operates a mine near Collinsville, had been solicited for political funds by an Illinois mine inspector, R. R. Schi-ber. Lumaght refused to contribute, writing Medill a sharp protest.

The St Louis coal operator pointed out in a letter to Medill that "the state mine inspectors in Illinois are entrusted with the duty of enforcing the mining laws to protect the lives of the men who work in the mines. Under these circumstances we do not consider it proper for them to solicit contributions from companies whose mines they inspect. Inspectors Got Small Firms- While Medill made political fund collections from the large mine owners, Scanlan said the inspectors were to solicit the small, independent companies "My first reaction," he said, "was to quit. However, I happened to know that Gov. Green was out of the state and it was possible he might not know what was going on, so I figured on staying to see what happened.

Later, however, Medill reported to the inspectors that he had discussed the matter with Mark Saunders, one of Gov. Green's aids. It was than Scanlan said. that Medill reported that Gov. Green was satisfied.

"I want to tell yon boys you are doing a good job," Scanlan quoted Medill as telling the inspectors. "The money is rolling In." Several of the inspectors shared Scanlan's resentment at being used as political collection agents, he said. "I told Medill that one mine at Centralia, the Marlon County Coal and Mining Corp- a co-operative mine, had had a lot of hard luck and couldn't afford to contribute," Scanlan said. "Medill asked me how many men worked at the mine. I told him about 115 or ISO.

He said, 'Good. Go out there and tell 'em to give you $1 apiece. He also said we could get $50 each from the mine managers and superintendents, in addition to the contributions by the firms. "Medill said he would contact the Bell Zoller Coel and Mining connected with the Centralia Coal Co. mine, although he would have preferred that 1 do it." In praising the collection efforts, Scanlan said Medill announced that "John E.

Jones, safety engineer for the Old Ben Coal had sent in his personal check for $50." Losing Fight for Safety. While Medill was concentrating his efforts on collecting political funds, Scanlan said he tried to enforce safety regulations. It had been a losing effort for some time, he said. March 14. 1945, he said, "I became so agitated over conditions in the Centralia Coal Co.

Mine No. 5 that I made a special trip to Belleville to see Medill, there attending a safety meeting. "His hotel room was full of mine operators when I got there, but I waited around until they left. Medill already knew how bad things were at the Centralia mine, from my previous reports, but I wanted to tell him in person. "I told him thts mine was In such a dusty and dirty condition, and insufficiently rock dusted, to keep the coal dust down, that if the coal dust was ignited an explosion sweep from one end of the mlno to the other, and that every man in the mine would be killed." It was then that Medill told Scanlan that they would have to "take that chance," Scanlan said.

"I begged him to let me shut down that mine," Scanlan said. "And later I took it upon myself, without MediU's permission, to order a partial shutdown, so the mine would operate fonr days a week and the other three days would be spent cleaning up. "I knew I was risking my job, but I got by with that because for some reason the company didn't complain. If the company doesn't complain they don't appoint a commission to overrule you." Scanlan said he doubted If Medill ever discovered that the Centralia Coal Co. mine had been ordered closed three days a week for three or four weeks.

Asked what Medill said when Scanlan urged him to close the Centralia mine, Scanlan said: "He said be would take It up with Mr. Toung (W. P. Toung, vice president of Centralia Coal president of the associated Bell Zoller Mining Co.) "Mr. Young promised he would clean the mine up 'in the near future, but they did no clean it up." 'Just Too Damned All the years he served under Medill, Scanlan said he was "in trouble with Medill from time to time.

He told me several times that I had a lot of ability and could go places in the coal indus- try, but I was 'just too damned honest'." Scanlan also said: "Medill called me to his office in Springfield March 13, 1946. I'm satisfied it was his intention to fire me. After giving me quite a lecture, he told me he wanted me to- cut down the size of my reports. St. Louis Wedneday, April 30.

I i.