Comrade June W. Crandall, 31-year-old leading local Socialist, union officer, and laid-off coal miner working in the waterworks department of Bloomington, Illinois suffers his second injury, this time fatal, crushed while laboring in a ditch.

‘Socialist Victim of Cave-In’ from the Chicago Daily Socialist. Vol. 4 No. 265. September 2, 1910.

June W. Crandall, Crushed by Falling Earth; Was City Employee

Bloomington, Ill., Sept. 1. June W. Crandall; a prominent Socialist worker of this city, was killed by a falling mass of earth while working at the city water works. He and another workman were nearly buried by the falling masses from the sides of the big ditch in which they were working. Crandall was frightfully crushed about the chest and died shortly after the accident. This is the second accident that Crandall has been in within the last few weeks. The first time his finger was crushed. Both accidents were caused by poor safeguarding of the employes lives.

Thorough Examination Hard

Owing to the great shock of the crush it was impossible at first to make a thorough examination of the injured man It was seen, however, that his chest was crushed, and the seriousness of the hurt was problematical. He never rallied from the shock.

Crandall has been employed at the water works nearly the whole summer, while the big improvement work was going on. His regular trade is that of a coal miner, but since the closing of the mine in April he has sought for other employment. Only two weeks ago he was injured in a less serious manner, one of his fingers being nearly torn off.

In the affairs of organized labor in Bloomington probably no man has been so prominent for so many years as Crandall. A miner by trade, he has followed the occupation nearly his whole life and has filled any of the offices of the local miners union. He has attended several of the national conventions of the miners of late years as delegate from the Bloomington union.

Crandall was nominated for many of offices on the Socialist ticket at various times, ranging from city offices to congressman.

Socialist Candidate

June Crandall was 31 years of age. He was a native of Kentucky and came to Illinois some twelve or fourteen years ago. He lived for a couple of years at Atlanta, after which he came Bloomington. During nearly all the time he has lived in this city he has been employed at the shaft of the McLean County Coal company. He married eleven years ago in this city to Miss Mary Carlson, who survives him with one daughter, Beulah. He leaves two brothers, Clark Crandall, of Atlanta and Ernest, who travels on the road, and three sisters living in other places. The family resides in the 1100 block on West Grove street, where Mr. Crandall had erected a new home a short time ago.

The Chicago Socialist, sometimes daily sometimes weekly, was published from 1902 until 1912 as the paper of the Chicago Socialist Party. The roots of the paper lie with Workers Call, published from 1899 as a Socialist Labor Party publication, becoming a voice of the Springfield Social Democratic Party after splitting with De Leon in July, 1901. It became the Chicago Socialist Party paper with the SDP’s adherence and changed its name to the Chicago Socialist in March, 1902. In 1906 it became a daily and published until 1912 by Local Cook County of the Socialist Party and was edited by A.M. Simons if the International Socialist Review. A cornucopia of historical information on the Chicago workers movements lies within its pages.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/chicago-daily-socialist/1910/100902-chicagodailysocialist-v04n265.pdf