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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1918)
e Omaha Daily Bee THE WEATHER Snow DAY MORNIKG, FEBRUARY 19, 1918 TEN PAGES. Un Trl, at Hetilt. Ni sunit, ttt., it. SINGLE COPY TWO CENTS. Prominent Characters in Clark-Lynch Ouster Suit Hearing Now on in Douglas County District Court KAISER LAUNCHES FIRST THRUST AT VOL. XLVII. NO. 211. . OMAHA, JF ; , , , r-, IT LOCH WITH uit Former Saloonkeeper on Stand Denies Accused Commissioner Had Interest in Peters Wrestling Match. Tetew Loch, former wrestling pro moter and proprietor of a saloon op posite the court house, who said he had been the intimate friend of Coun ty Commissioner "Johnny" Lynch for the last 20 years, submitted to a gruelling cross examination at the hands of Frank Howell, attorney for Sheriff Clark, when he took the stand in behalf of Lynch in the Lynch Clark ouster suit, Monday afternoon. Loch admitted he had had conver sation with "Billy" Nesselhous and Tony Hoffman at his house and at Hoffman's office in the city hall the day the Clark-Lynch case came up for trial. "Didn't Nesselhous say to you upon one of those occasions, 'Above all things. Loch, don't tamper with the jury?"' Attorney Howell demanded. "And . didn't you , reply, 'Billy, you know I'm one of the best little jury fixers in this town, and -I've fixed many of them for Johnny? " LOCH DENIES. Loch denied that he had made any such reply. "Didn't Nesselhous say to you, H you are forced on the witness stand what are you going to swear to?' and didn't you reply, 'I am going to swear to the truth?' " Howell asked. "Yes, and that's what I am doing." '. "And didn't Nesselhous further say at that time, 'If you do, you know you've got to swear to seeing Johnny in that gym room with women and that thee was liquor served over there, and about Johnny's connection with Lakeside?" . "I never did." . ., ... - "Didn't that conversation take place between you4 arid ',' Nesselhous" and in ilie,pr.ese-i'Tony Hoffman, nd didn't Nesselhous say to you, 'Tony tells,, me you areoff of Johnny?'" ,, ; 1 Further Denials. V "NoV I said" I didn't know whether they coatd use. the; statement I made to Lynch's attorneys or not." - "Didn't Billy Nesselhous ask you what the statement was, and didn't you answer 'It is a lot of lies and I am not going to get up on the stand; nd swear to them?'" ,; "I did not." ' "In ., that conversation with Tony Hoffman at the City hall, didn't you show him a check for $2,400 from J. J. Hess and company of Council Bluffs?" r did.- - - "Didn't they say to you, 'Pete, what defense has Johnny got in this case?' 1 and didn't you answer, 'I don't know?'" "No." "They did ask you that question, didn't they" "Yes, they did, and I said, 'No.' : . Saw No Woman. On direct examination by' J. A. C. Kennedy, attorney for Lynch, Loch denied flatly that he had ever seen any women in the "gymnasium," and said he had never been served beer there and had never ordered Glenn, his bar keeper, to serve beer to Lynch in the gym. . ' ; S He maintained. that the wrestling at and gymnasium . apparatus be longed to him and that he merely ob tained Lynch's permission to "store it" in the northeast corner basement room of the court house when they began tearing down the Crounse block where it had been formerly used. No Interest in Lakeside. "Did you ever have any proprie tary interest in Lakeside?" Kennedy, Lynch's attorney, asked. Continnrd on Fae Two, Column On.) The Weather Temperatures t Omnh Yesterday. ... . Hour. Dear. i a. m 3 a. in 29 7 a. m... ...... 2 S a. in.....,". " 9 a. in :.. 3 10 a. m 35 '11 a. m 35 15 m '. 41 1 p. m 41 2 p. m 44 3 p. m 4 4 p. m 4 5 p. m. . 44 ' fi p. m 37 7 p. m 19 S p. m. .. 2 Comparative Jxtnl Record, i 1S18. 1917. 19lC. 1915. Highest yesterday .. 46 23 43 45 Lowest yesterday . . ?6 30 3 Mean temperature . . 36 16 36 42 Precipitation .00 .00 .00 .05 Temperature and precipitation departure from the normal: Normal temperature !4 Excess for the day....... 12 Total deficiency since March 1 ,....637 Normal precipitation -.02 inch Deficiency for the - day . .. .02 Inch Total rainfall since March 1 ... 23.34 Inches Deficiency since March 1 7.11 Inches Deficiency for cor. period, 1916 13.0 Inches Deficiency for cor. period, 1915.. .79 inch Beporta from Stations at 7 P. H. Station and Slate Temp. High- Hain- of Weather. 7 p. m. estfall. Cheyenne, cloudy 8 46 .00 Davenport, cloudy...... 40 40 .00 Denver, cloudy 26 68 .00 Dea Molnrs, cloudy 3 .40 .00 Dodre C"y. pt. cloudy.. 51 60 .00 lander, cloudy 1 .0 North Platte, clear .... 14 26. .00 Omaha, eloudy 29 46 .00 Pueblo, pt. cloudy 56 62 .00 Rapid City, cloudy .... 2 1 T Salt Lake Citynow 28 S .06 Canta Fe. clear 44 61 .00 V Indicates trace or precipitation. r Indicates below xero. . . A. WSLSH, Meteorologist. il -'A wt if Skettff Jtikc Clatk. Jlatteck cS(ose Ccunset fit iAt Daen sr SENATOR WATSON ATTACKS WILSON RAILROAD BILL Questions Desirability of .Ex tending Government Rail Control for Period After War. Washington, Feb. 18. Provisions of the Overman bill, giving President Wilson' wide, powers to reorganize the wr. hranches of the government, were denounced as "unconstitutional" arid "autocratic" by Senator; James E. Watic'indiaria today in a speech in support of the senate draft of the administration's tailroad bill, "The 'Overman1 bill," declared Sen ator Watson, "confers upon the presi dent unheard of powers, but the most reprehensible feature of that measure, in my judgment, is the one that pro vides that this autocratic authority shall( continue for one year after the termination of the war. , Are Un-American. ' "Why this provision? Why seek in that measure, as in the railroad bill, to perpetuate power asked to prose cute the.war into the days when there shall be nb war? "These are war powers. They are asked for war purposes. They are not constitutional; they are not in harmony with the spirit of our in stitutions; they are irreconciliably op posed to every theory of our govern ment; they are un-American on any Other hypothesis. ; "I am willing to confer upon the president," the Indiana setator, con tinued, "all the powers necessary to win this war; I have voted for sev eral measures the necessity of which I doubted because he stated that the authority sought was essential to the successful prosecution of this con flict; but I am not yet convinced that in order to win this war it is neces sary to confer upon thu president these tremendous powers for a period of peace long after the conflict shall have passed." Watson Wants Limited Control. . Senator Watso.-. approved the pro vision in the railroad bill limiting government control over the rail roads to 18 months after the war, but opposed the administration1!, original proposal to leave this period indefi nite. In his opinion, Senator Watson said, the war will mark a r.ew era in railroad management. Adoption of the standard of com pensation provided in the bill was also urged by Senator Watson. He declared it "better under exist ing circumstances to deal generously with the railroads than to have $18, 000,000,000 of properties plunged into liquidation." Arrest French Senator. Paris, feb. 18. Charles Humbert, senator from the Meuse and proprie tor of the Journal, was arrested this morning. German Aliens May Yet Register; Delinquent Cases Reported United States Marshal Flynn says it is not yet too late for German aliens to register Iff accordance with the law, provided they may have failed to register during the prescribed period because of misunderstanding and not intentionally. Twelve cases have been reported throughout the state of Germans who failed to register. All these have been given permission to register. One man was born in Schleswig-Holstein and lived there until after Germany had annexed it. He thought himself a Danish subject. His lawyer has ad vised him that he is a German and he has been permitted to register. Postmaster Thomas of Seward wrote to the United States marshal asking for another blank to register vrwi x ajwt - v 4vri vv v r 11 1 w ja a i j an PERSHING MAKES OFFICIAL INSPECTION OF AMERICAN POSITIONS At THE FRONT V 1 . , ' Finds Sammies Contented With Conditions in Trenches; No Complaints About Food; Ranking Officer of U. S. Forces Slightly Injured ; Watches Batteries Hurling Shells at Foe. (By Associated Press.) With the American Army in France, Sunday, Feb. 17. General Pershing has completed a two days' inspection of the American sector, northwest of Toul. ' In a "tin hat" with a gas mask swung over his chest at the alert position, the American commander-in-chief walked through the first line trenches, splashing through mud and slipping on ice. He dropped into dugouts and visited batteries busy hurl ing "iron rations" at the enemy. SOLDIER SUES TO TEST RIGHT TO CAST VOTE (From a Staff Correspondent.) Lincoln, Feb. 18. (Special.) A test of the law prohibiting men in the regular army service from voting will be made in the state supreme court and the case by mutual consent advanced to an early hearing. James J. Simon, a member of the headquarters company of the 41st in fantry, stationed at Fort Crook, makes affidavit that he was born in South Omaha May 6, 1896, and resided in that city, now a part of Omaha, up to December 9, 1917, when he enlisted in the service of the United States. : He sets forth that when he went to registe that Harley G. Moorehead, election commissioner of Douglas county, refused to allow him so to reg ister, and he asks that the courts de termine his right a sa citizen of Oma ha and Douglas county, to register and vote in' the next election. The case was tiled in the supreme court this afternoon. Sixteen Killed in German Airplane Attack on London London, Feb. 18. Sixteen persons were killed and 37 injured in the aerial attack on London on Saturday, it is announced officially. Six German airplanes attempted to attack London Saturday night, but only one of them succeeded in reach ing the capital. This raider dropped one bomb in the southwestern district. One of the German airplanes fell into the sea. On Sunday night London was raid ed again, a number of bombs being dropped in the city. a German alien named Frank Grady. The marshal could hardly believe his eyes when he read it. He has written to the postmaster asking him to be very sure before he permits Mr. Grady to register that he really is a German. Never, says Mr. Flynn, has he heard of a German with that name. Three people came into the mar shal's office Monday with newspaper clippings of a Washington dispatch Stating that many German's have not yet registered their property. Federal officials here have received no instructions regarding alien prop erty registration. They know noth ing about it and advise aliens not to worry about that. When the govern ment orders registration of property of aliens due notice will be given. ;r Me fZainHff -p rnnv masATiRFTEn. In all places the general asked in numerable question of the men, espe cially with regard to food, how they were and how they like conditions. All except one cook agreed that they were perfectly satisfied with every thing. To the cook General Pershing said: "You are getting enough to at?" "No, sir," the cook replied. "What?" riid the general. "You the rook and do not get suf ficient food? .1 never heard of a cook in such a condition before." "Well, sir, I did not mean that ex actly. I mean not enough variety." General Pershing asked what he had had for dinner today. The cook re plied that he had roast beef, potatoes, onions, white bread, coffee and rice pudding. Wanted Green Vegetables. "That seems like a considerable va riety," remarked the general. "What else do you want?" "Well, I would like to have some green stuff, sir." General Pershing then turned to a long line of soldiers and asked: "Do you men get enough to eat out here?" "Yes, sir," was the reply. The trener.il next appeared in regi- i mental headquarters in a dugout in a fMvt. 'Mi-h has hi riflnlun hv chlle called for all trench and other orders and all papers. He sat down and read every one of them. In the dugouts General Pershing suggested some few changes here and there and in the trenched he also di rected that some small changes be made. Metz Visible from U. S. Sector. From a well-situated point through glasses General Pershing inspected Mont Sec and the German observa tion posts on top of it, from which the enemy has the American lines under observation for 20 miles when the visibility is good. Because of the haze the general was unable to see the spires of Metz, which are visible on clear days from a certain place. Many soldiers in line recognized the commander-in-chief as he passed them or stopped to questjon them, but others did not. One young infantryman, after Gen eral Pershing and the general in com mand of the particular brigade had passed, asked: "Who is that with the four stars on his coat?" Pershing Slightly Injured. A comrade informed him, where upon the inquisitive one replied: "Is that so? Whoever saw a commander-in-chief of an army walking around in a trench asking some pri vate whether he had enough to eat or his feet were dry? It is not being done." t It took a lieutenant to convince the doubtful soldier that it was General' Pershing he hai. seen. Throughout the inspection tour General Pershing limped a little, his ankle having been injured slightly a lew days ago. SVesselfioas CLOSING DANCE HALL WRONG WAY TO COMBAT EVIL Divorce From Liquor, Good Music and Trained Super vision Are Remedies, Says Welfare Worker. "Closing public halls is the wrong way to combat the dance evil. Di vorce from the liquor influence, good music and intelligent, trained super vision are the remedies." . sajd Miss Harriet Vittum' of Chicago?'' noted welfare worker, attending the state charities and corrections conference. "You in Omaha are fortunate to have the liquor problem settled; Now you must look to the music, which is of the greatest importance. The change in morale among dancers when the orchestra breaks from a Hungarian waltz into a ragtime tune is as pronounced as if a Puritan were to step into a house of ill-repute," she said. "Trained recreation workers with joy still in their hearts should super intend the conduct in dance halls, not from the point of view of the police department, but as hosts or hostesses." Dislikes Appointments. Miss Vittum is not wholly in fa vor of appointed policewomen. "Their success is questionable," she said. "Trained civil service appointees would be better." Miss Vittum, who also is interested in prison reform, pronounced the Douglas county jail, which she vis ited, " a distinct disappointment.. "Your jail was so widely advertised as a model prison and it had so many possibilities, built on the top floor, as it is, where plenty of light and air would be accessible. I was disappoint ed, for most of the cells have not God's sunlight and air, since they are built on inside corridors." Speaks on Reform. Miss Vittum spoke on civil serv ice reform in connection with mu nicipal governments at this after noon's program, which was arranged by Mrs. F. II. Cole of the Omaha Woman's club, ller talk tonight in the Fontenelle will be on women's war work. Miss Vittum is director of -the Illinois women's committee, Council of National Defense. She is head resident of the Northwestern Settlement house at Evanston and a suffragist of national prominence. GERMANY WILL GET HER FILL John Masefield in Omaha Radiates Great Optimism in Speaking of Outlook of War. A VERS WAR POET OF THE HOUR John Masefield, war poet of the hour, who spent the day in Omaha, radiates great optimism on the out look for the war. "The Germans will get all that is coming to them before we are through," said he, and the author of "Gallipoli" and "The Battle of the Somme" smiled confidently. Masefield has been at the front in France, where he established his own field hospital and later went to the Dardanelles. Here his investigations were curtailed by a serious attack of illness and he was sent to a hospital in Egypt. He told many of his ex periences in his lecture before the Fine Arts society Mondav afternoon at the Hotel Fontenelle. "America is playing a great role in the world war. Furnishing the allies with the food and supplies they need becaise of the great withdrawal of man power from industries is a mag nificent work," was the tribute he paid to this country's part in the war. Dark as the Russian situation looms on the horizon, MasHidd believes the future most hopeful. It the rcvolu- SLAV PROVINCES Germans Renew War With Esthonia and Livonia, Immedi ate Objectives; May Push on Petrograd; Austria and Teutons Split on Renewing War; Warlike Press Scores a Point. (Br Awoclatcd TroM.) Stockholm, Feb. 18. The Germans resumed war meas ures against Russia today, the Social Demokraten states. Their first objective is the seizure of Esthonia and Livonia, it declares. "Within a week we will occupy Reval," General Hofmann, German military representative at the Brest-Litovsk peace con ference, is reported to have told the Russians late in January when they asked what would happen if they did not accept Germany's final terms. 4,000 KILLED IN STREETS IN BIG BATTLEJT KIEV Reds Clash With Ukraine Troops; Aviators Rain Bombs on Defenseless City; Odess Bombarded. (By AMocUted I'm.) Petrograd, Saturday, Feb. 9. (De layed.) -Kiev, one of the principal cities of the Ukraine, was captured by the Bolshevik! Friday after sanguinary fighting. The casualties are estimated at 4, 000 killed and 7,000 wounded. The streets were filled with dead and Injured while the fighting was at its height. 3 . Thursday the city wasbqmbsrded by Bolshevik! aviators. In a battle at Odessa Monday, Feb ruary 4, between the Bolshevik! and the moderates,, hundreds were killed. The. city was bombarded, by battle ships. Polish troops defeated the Bolshe vik! at Bobruisk, 85 miles southeast of Minsk. Other Poles are advancing toward Smolensk. Roumanians control the Akkerman district of Bessarabia and are threat ening Odessa. German soldiers at Qrodno and Kovno, according to a report received here from Moscow, have refused to obey a command to move to the French front. The troops have entrenched them selves under the protection of their own artillery and have defeated a de tachment of loyal forces which the German staff sent to punish them. This dispatch may be an scho of an earlier report of a mutiny of Ger man soldiers oh the Rusian front The Russian wireless news service sent out a message January 5 to the effect that 25,000 German soldiers m the region east of Kovno had re volted in consequence of the German government's drafting of all soldiers below the age of 35 for service on the western front. Germans Are Deserting. German deserters' were quoted as saying the men rebelled, marched out of the battle line and entrenched themselves with rifles and machine guns against other German units. The German military authorities were said to have been powerless against the mutineers and were en deavoring to cut off their food sup plies, one of the motives for the re volt, according to the German de serters, was that the sendinf of troops to the western front was a con travention of the Russo-German armistice agreement. tion had not taken place and the czar had not been dethroned it is certain he would have made a separate peace with Germany more than a year ago. That would have been fatal to our cause. "Russia is the .greatest republic in the world. Anything may emerge from its mass of 170,0(10,000 of population." The war's influence on literature will not he evidenced for a long while, Masefield believes. "I predict the really great books on the war will not be written Until about 1960, when man's passions have been stilled and the grounds of human dis sension, settled," he said. "It's, a great thing to be. living in these stirring times. It's greater for tune still to be young so that one may not only have lived through these interesting experiences, but will have a front scat to witness the beginning of the next era," exclaimed the dis tinguished literary man. Masefield sold all his manuscripts and many origip&ls to raise money for Hcd.Ciofs work. O MOVE ON CAPITAL The Stockholm announcement in- dicates that Germany is moving to carry out this threat. Reval is the capital of the province of Esthonia. It is situated on the Gulf of Finland and has been one of the principal Russian naval bases for Baltic opera tions. It had a population before the . war of between 60,000 and 70,000. The Germans' occupation of Riga last fall and the extension of their, in vasion northward gave them posses sion of a portion of the province of Livonia, including virtually all the coast on the Gulf of Riga. Its area is 18,800 square miles. Immediately to the north bordering on the Gulf of Finland is the province of Esthonia, 7,800 square miles in area. Aim at Petrograd. These two provinces, together with the province of Courtland, which has for some time been in German pos session, comprise the Baltic provinces, possession of which by Germany in the peace settlement has been insisted upon by the ultraannexationist fac tion in the empire. Occupation of Reval would natur ally be one of the first steps to be taken were a military advance upon Petrograd in prospect. A railroad runs thence , along the coast "ts-Hhe capital, whiph is i about 200 miles distant. Split in Teuton Alliance. ; London, Feb. 18. -A deep, serious schism has been created between Germany and Austria-Hungary by, the termination of the armistic be tween the central powers and Russia and the renewal of a state of war, according to the Copenhagen corres pondent of the Exchange Telegraph company. The Austrian press continues the correspondent, is warning Germany against the re-opening of hostilities in which Austria does not wish to participate. Austria Out of It. Die Zeit, which has intiimate con nections with the Austro-Hungarian foreign office, is reported by the correspondent as contending that, Count Czernin, the former minister, . can continue to act as a negotiator with the west. "For our monarchy," : it says, "the war is in the main finished, and for one of our antagon ists it has virtually not begun. Mil lions of thinking people now point to Count Czernin and President Wilson." The article concludes with a sen t.nce which the correspondent in terprets as being plainly addressed., to Germany, reading: "From ous side the pre-disposition to positive negotiations has never" been interrupted and it is to be hoped that the negotiations will not be interrupted from the other side.". Pythian Veterans Body to Celebrate Anniversaries The Pythian Veterans' association of Nebraska will celebrate its 21st anniversary and the 54th anniversary of the order of Knights of Pythias at the Hotel Loyal Tuesday night. The dinner will begin a 6:30 o'clock. Vice President John M. Macfarland will preside and act as-toastmaster in place of President John Q. Goes of Bellevue, who will be unable to attend on account of frail health Herbert A. East of Lincoln, grand chancellor, will give the principal ad-' dress, after which there will be other short speeches. . Striking Shipyard Workers Have Returned to Work New York, Feb. 18. The strike by the carpenters in the Atlantic sea board shipyards engaged on govern ment contracts is over, John Rice, national organizer of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join ers, said today. Several thousand men who are still idle are expected to be at work to morrow morning. T. R. Likes Grandchild. New York, Feb. 18. Colonel Theo dore Roosevelt, who is convalescing in a hospital here, said he was "per fectly delighted'' when a long dis tance telephone message from Boston today brought word of the birth in that city of his eighth grandchild, a boy, born to Captain and Mrs. Archie Roosevelt. ' Congress May Apropriate ' $100,000,000 for Warships Washington.' Feb. 18. Supplemen tal appropriation estimates submitted to congress today include a new naval' emergency fund of $100,000,000. to ex- , pedite ship construction and for pur chase and construction of destroyers, submarines and similar craft.