PLATTSMOUTH SEMI - WEEKLY JOURNAL
PAGE FTVX
Mffitary Orbit
of Philippines
basin would be used as a naval har
bor. -
The cost of the new works is esti
mated at about $4,250,000. Further
credits totaling $2,250,000 are being
sought for the construction of vast
petrol dumps half a mile from the
port. These are to be partly under
ground and protected by concrete
domeSj There will be underground
pumps and distributing machinery.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1938.
GLOUCESTER HAS FALL
Further Ban
of Jews in Ber
lin Announced
Pajama Girl
LONDON, Dec. 3 (UP) The Duke
of Gloucester, brother of the king,
was injured today when his horse
fell in Jumping a brook on a hunt
in Rutlandshire. It was believed the
duke's collar bone was broken. He
9
Seen Grooving
s ' --r
was taken by automobile to his
Will Be Barred From Many Places
in the German Capital Seen
Forerunner of Ghetto.
hunting lodge near Melton Mow
bray.
St Louis Hopes
to Erase Bow
of Mississippi
Airport and Playground Proposed on
Land Thus Gained Rail
road Opposes Move.
ST. LOUIS (UP) This city hopes
to "reclaim" from the Mississippi
river a site upon which to build,
close to the heart of the city, an air
"Open Door" Controversy in China
Leads to Revaluation Manila
Defense Are Strong. -
WASHINGTON (UP) Military
and naval experts, scrutinizing the
Far Eastern situation and the possi
bility that China's '"Open Door" may
be permanently closed to the western
world, have indicated that the Philip
pines would e an important factor
in determining the ultimate policy
of the United States toward China.
The Philippines, experts said, con
etitute an available hostage to the
Japanese, if the western powers
should seek to enforce protests
against Japanese policy in China.
The Philippines, on the other
hand, "might be a valuable military
and strategic base whose strength
ening would place the United States
in a potent position in the Far East
ern military picture.
These factors are said to influence
high government officials in mapping
their approach to the Chinese situ
ation. It is extremely doMbtful, in
formed sources indicated, whether
any drastic steps would be taken
in the Far Eastern situation, until
careful evaluation of possible even
tualities had been made.
Plans Are OverhatJed
Military men are overhauling their
plans and studies of possible action
in the Far East as an indication to
policy-making officials of what would
happen in case diplomatic approaches
proved useless.
Some officials are said to have
urged that no drastic diplomatic ac
tion be taken without some backlog
of assurance that the military be
theoretically capable of ' resisting
"overt" action.
In this connection the Philippine
national defense program once again
is being studied by military experts
here. The plan, which will not be
completely realized until 1946, in
dicates an available Philippine train
ed reserve of 500,000 men and an
intricate system of defense highways
to enable speedy mobilization at any
required point in the archipelago.
This defense program, whose de
tails were developed by Gen. Doug
las MacArthur, former chief of staff
of the army, would enable the Philip
pines to act as a "time buffer in any
military emergency."
Manila Defenses Strong:
Military experts believe the Philip
pines will be able to present a strong
defense for a short time against any
inland invasion. No attempt would
be made to hold coastal cities where
naval guns would be effective, with
the exception of Manila where -the
mighty harbor fortress of Corregador
would make a successful naval attack
against the Philippine metropolis ex
tremely difficult. .
Military experts said that the
Philippine plan of defense would be
similar to that developed by Gen
eralissimo Chiang Kai-ssbek in his
"cushion campaign" against the Jap
anese. It likewise is planned to trans
plant large numbers of Philippine
families from the densely populated j
areas of Mindanao and other strate
gic islands. j
The importance of the Philippines
as a factor in the diplomatic cam
paign to maintain a commercially
free China scarcely can be overem
phasized, some military experts said.
The United States ahd Great
Britain must both look to the Philip
pines as the first military onsider
ation in dealing with possible in
volvement in the Far East these ex
perts believe.
If it should be decide! to refortify
the Philippines and to strengthen
naval bases and establish new ones
in the archipelago, those Bteps would
strengthen the hand of the western
powers in demanding equal access to
the vast Chinese market, experts believe.
FRANCE STARTS PORT FOR .
NAVY AT CASABLANCA
CASAELANCA (UP) Plans to
turn Casablanca, the itiportant com
mercial port on the Atlantic ' coast
of Morocco, into a navs.l port for the
French Atlantic fleet have been
drawn.
The present harbor, which is en
tirely artificial, consists .of a, large
breakwater sheltering two basins.
These are large enough to accommo
date the entire Atlantic fleet with
out interfering with commercial traf
fic, but when this happens the maneu
vering of shipments becomes some
what difficult. '
It is proposed to extend the main
breakwater and construct a third
besin, seaward of the others, project
ed by a transverse jetty. This third
Murder Veiled
Since 1913 Now
Yields Clews
Evidence Shows Wife Vanished, Hus
band Wed Her Sister Work
on Two Theories.
By HRACH TATARIAN
VISALIA, Cal. (UP) Miles of
desert and mountain country be
tween Visalia and Los Angeles are
being searched by authorities who
hope to find the body of Mrs. Lucinda
Jane West and the complete solution
of a baffling 25-year-old murder mys
tery. It was in 1913 Mrs. West and her
husband, Jacob Clinton West, set
out from Los Angeles for the lonely
trip to their Tulare county ranch
200 miles to the north. Their friends
and members of their family never
saw them again.
During the intervening quarter
century, Tulare county peace officers
made sporadic but unsuccessful ef
forts to determine what happened to
the couple. The two daughters of
the Wests, Mrs. Elizabeth Antony
and Mrs. Mamie Higgins of Los An
geles, despaired of learning the fate
of their parents and became recon
ciled to a 6imple theoryof disap
pearance. Then in 1936 they heard that a
rancher named Jacob Clinton had
died in a little mountain community
south of San Francisco. They sus
pected and finally learned definitely
that Jacob Clinton and their father
Jacob Clinton West; were the
same person.
Married Wife's Sister
From that one fact, officials un
wound one of the most bizarre stories
in the history of crime in California.
They learned that less than a year
after the disappearance, West as
sumed the name of Jacob Clinton and
married his wife's sister, Mrs. Hattie
Downhour.
They learned that West constant
ly reassured Mrs. Downhour there
was no danger of bigamy because
they "would never again hear from
Lucinda" the first Mrs. West. West
explained his assumed name by say
ing he was a fugitive from Los An
geles authorities who wanted him on
a forgery charge.
Then, Mrs. pownhour told the au
thorities, when West was dying two
years ago he called her to his bed
side.
"Hattie," he told her, "I have
something to tell you, something
about Lucinda. I swear by my God
I paid $2,500 to a man to get rid
of her."
Mrs. Downhour said that was her
first inkling she had that her sister
had met with foul play at the bands
of the man who then was her hus
band. From that dying statement,
Mrs. Downhour said, she understood
why West refused to be given opiates
when he suffered violent heart at
tacks because he feared that in the
resulting delirium he might utter
self-incriminating words.
With this evidence, officials have
established that Mrs. West was mur
dered either by her husband or by a
hired assassin. They now want to
learn where the body was hidden.
They are faced with two possi
bilities. First, the body of a woman
found in the King's river near
Visalia the year after the disappear
ance may have been' Mrs. West. Sec
ond, the murdered woman may have
been buried somewhere beside the
lonely read between Visalia and Los
Angeles. Since there are no records
to reveal the identity of the body
found in the river, they are working
on the second theory.
TO REDUCE NUMBER
OF JEWS IN POLAND
WARSAW. Poland, Dec. 3 (UP)
The government party shortly will
introduce a law limiting the per
centage of Jews in trade, industry
and the professions, General Skwar
czynski, leader of the party, an
nounced in the Sejm (parliament)
today.
Skarczyuskl said the party's alm'ia
to reduce the number of Jews in
Poland- Since the colonial powers
do not allow immigration to the col
onies, he declared, the limitation of
the Jewish percentage In the pro-,
fessions is imperative. Jews in Po
land number 3,500,000 or 10 per
cent of the population.
port, beaches and recreational facil
ities including even a golf course.
U. S. army engineers now have
under consideration a tentative pro
posal for which, if approved, the next
session of congress will be asked to
appropriate funds.
The suggested project consists of
shifting the channel of the Missis
sippi along a seven-mile edge of the
northern half of the city.
For more than 100 years the
course of the river along northern
St. Louis has resembled 'the outer
side of a huge, looping arc. The
channel once was a straight line
along the Illinois bank of the river,
like the string of a bow. Several
thousand acres of shifting sandbars
and untenanted islands now lie be
tween the present channel and the
old, unused river-bed.
Since 1929, when tae city plan
commission first pointed out the
possibilities of the area, plans have
been advanced to divert the Mis
sissippi into its former channel and
fill in the Gandbars and islands with
earth to make a riverfront airport
and recreation spot accessible to the
downtown business district and to
north St. Louis, which would be
twice as large as the city's nationally
known 1,300-acre Forest Park near
the western city limits.
Postmaster Rufus W. Jackson has
endorsed the proposal because of its
airport possibility. Mail could be
sent to the proposed flying field in 20
minutes, he estimated. At present,
air mail deliveries between the post
office and Lambert-St. Louis Airport
require nearly, an hour.
In addition to the recreational de
velopments it would provide, the
channel diversion would improve
river shipping conditions by removal
of the treacherous sandbars in the
course.
It also would make Visible a har
bor for Granite City, 111, north of
St. Louis across the Mississippi. A
riverfront with its accompanying
barge traffic would be a tremendous
asset to Granite City's heavy manu
facturing industries. It is estimated
that if the channel is changed, Gran
ite City will eventually receive near
ly 10,000,000 tons of iron ore an
nually by barge from Minnesota.
Railroad Opposes Move
Opposition has been voiced by St.
Louis firms, notably the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy railroad and
the Portland Cement Co., whose
property adjoining the river would
diminish in value if the channel Is
moved eastward.
Mayor Bernard Dickmann, while
not objecting to the project, pointed
cut that diversion of the channel will
necessitate extension of intake con
nections with the city waterworks a
financial expenditure St. Louis can
not afford.
Illinois residents on the eastern
side of the river also have opposed
the plan to some degree because of
the possibility it may weaken a
levee system on the east bank. In
times of flood, the Mississippi now
overflows into island floodways.
Throwing the entire stream into the
channel would eliminate, the flood
ways and place too much pressure on
the Illinois side of the river dur
ing high water, it is contended.
Army engineers studying the pro
posal said that if accepted it prob
ably will include provisions for
ctrengthening the Illinois levees.
Another possible drawback of the
project is the theory that smoke from
St. Louis' downtown factories and
from East St. Louis industries across
the river will make the air so hazy
that an airport in that section would
not be feasible.
The army board of engineers
studying the proposal will consider
arguments pro and cbn before mak
ing a deport to congress.
INDIAN TROUBLES ON HIGHWAY
LINCOLN,, Dec. 1 (UP) Captain
R. F. Weller of the Nebraska high
way safety patrol is having Indian
troubles. Returning from the Winne
bago Indian reservation in northwest
Nebraska, Captain Weller said:
"We must figure out some way of
keeping these Indian . pedestrians
from walking down the middle of
highways and especially keeping
them from going to sleep on the
highways when they get tired."
Phone news items to ft.. .
;r ' 7 ' - y
- - k . ' ':J
' ' "J A' - 1 ' !
' f r -
-' ''
i t
A flattering combination of sim
plicity and femininity marks the
pictured dusty pink crepe pajamai
Frances Mercer wears In RKO
Radio's "The Mad Miss Manton."
The trousers are made with a back
less baiter top'fand are worn with
i modified redingote-styled Jacket
trimmed in nink alencon laca.
EAST S CULTURE URGED IN WEST
MANILA (UP) Oriental culture
is needed to complement the Occident's
contribution to civilization, according
to Prof. Gregg M. Sinclair, director
of the University of Hawaii's Orent
al Institute.
Prof. Sinclair stopped here while
en route to India to visit colleges
and universities and study the ad
visabilities of establishing an Indian
department in the University of
Hawaii.
"India is the fountainhead of the
Orient's culture." he said in an in
terview. "The philosophy back of our
movement to establish an Indian de
partment in Hawaii is that the west
needs the culture of the east
"With a longer . history than any
country in Europe, with an ancient
literature greater in , quantity than
that of Greek and Latin literature
combined, the originator of one world
religion and a host of national ones
surely India has something worthy
of our attention. And yet only eight
American universities have chairs in
Sanskirt and not one has an ade
quate department in which the var
ious phases of Indian culture, liter
ature, history, political science, re
ligion and art are discussed."
Prof Sinclair said '.the University
of Hawaii has already Japanese and
Chinese departments. He said the
Oriental Institute was organized foi
two purposes; to train students in
the languages and culture of the
great living civilizations in Asia and
to do something to make the rich
cultures of the Asiatic peoples known
to the peoples of the Occident.
Prof. Sinclair said the idea of es
tablishing an Indian department in
Hawaii was inspired by Dr. Kalidas
Nag of the graduate division of the
University of Calcutta, which eh
plans to visit during his tour of India.
In an interview, Prof. Sincla;r waj
quoted as favoring establishment of
a Filipino department in Hawaii.
TO HOLD MARKETING MEETING
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UP) Sec
retary of Agriculture Wallace today
ordered a public hearing held De
cember 15 in Omaha on a proposed
milk marketing agreement.
Laughing Around the World
.With IRVTN S., COBB
A Question That Answered Itself
By IRVIN S. COBB
SCAMP MONTGOMERY, the character comedian, who died a few
years ago, made his first trip abroad on the Maaretania. The
weather was bad from the very outset and for three days Scamp
stayed below. ".' ,
On the fourth day he climbed out on deck. The big ship she wax
the largest in the world then was wallowing through the seas that ran
twenty feet high. -Scamp made his way to where two serious English
tourists were holding a private discussion in a sheltered spot and,
seizing one of them by the lapel of his coat, he gasped out:
"Say. bo. I put it to you-p-aint this some skin' and tome creek?
'jSweet Adeline;
Pines No More
in Barbershop
Song Lacks Refinement. S.F.E.B.Q.
S.A., Inc., Chapter Votes
Roper Gives Assurance.
ST. LOUIS (UP) It may be all
right for bar rooms, but when it
comes to barbershop harmonizing,
"Sweet Adeline" lacks refinement
and distinction.
At least, the St. Louis chapter of
the Society for the Preservation and
Encouragement of Barbershop Quar
tet Singing in America, in voting
on the 20 songs most appropriation
for rendition by the S.P.E.B.Q.S.A.,
selected such favorites as "There's
a Gold Mine in the Sky," "Frivolous
Sal." and "On Mobile Bay," but
didn't give "Sweet Adeline" a vote.
That's Just one indication that the
S.P.E.B.Q.S.A., despite its quixotic
title, considers itself an organization
of dignity.
Incorporated Fraternal Society
As a duly incorporated fraternal
i society with formally chartered chap
ters in a dozen large cities, it be
came indignant when the depart
ment of commerce wanted detailed in
formation about its membership, in
terstate affiliations and activities.
O. C. Cash of Tulsa, Okla., foun-
ider of the organization last May and
its national president, said in a let
ter to Dempster Godlove, president
of the St. Louis chapter, that he
would make the report as request
ed. "But," he protested, "I guess I was
mistaken when I thought that in
this age of dictators and government
control of everything, about the only
privilege guaranteed by the Bill of
Rights, not in some way supervised
or directed, is the art of barbershop
singing."
Roper Gives Assnrance
When Secretary of Commerce
Daniel C. Roper passed through St.
Louis recently, representatives of the
S.P.E.B.Q.S.A. asked if he were not
a little skeptical of the good motives
of the organization.
The secretary assured them that
the information request was only
routine and that he "was very much
in favor" of good barbershop sing
ing and , barbershop conversation.
Officials of the St. Louis chapter,
heartened by the assurance,, imme
diately sent out a call for more good
tenor and bass voices. The group
now has a membership of about 25
men. The only membership quali
fications are the desire (not neces
sarily talent) to sing; price of din
ner at the bi-monthly meetings and
the urge for companionship.
MANY APPLY FOR INSURANCE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UP) The
agriculture department announced to
day that 23l",485 wheat growers
have applied for crop insurance next
year under the new wheat insur
ance program.
More than 103,000 growers had
paid premiums totaling 3,069,000
bushels of wheat as of December 1
to the federal crop insurance cor
poration, administering the pro
gram. The report indicated that the num
ber of farmers participating in the
program will reach the goal of 15
to 20 per cent of all producers set
last summer by crop officials.
t BAD DAY ON MOVIE LOT
SANTA CRUZ, Cal. (UP) The
M-G-M movie company that is turn
ing out "Stand Up and Fight" here
is using the local hospital. In one
afternoon one boy player was bitten
by a dog, and two women fell off
horses in a fox-hunting sequence,
necessitating hospitalization of all
three.
Funds for Grants
for County Assist-
ances are Low
State Treasurer Informs County
Treasurers That Funds Collect
ed by Head Tax Re Sent in.
LINCOLN, Dec. 3 (UP) State
Treasurer Walter H. Jensen informed
county treasurers today that avail
able funds for county assistance
grants are insufficient to meet De
cember payments but that if taxes
are received by December 15, funds
should be ample to provide for the
grants.
"We suggest that if head taxes col
lected under thi3 statute (LB 378)
are remitted to this office not later
than December 10, there probably
will be no delay in the distribution
of grants this month," Jensen's let
ter said.
The state assistance office Is short
of funds because of an error in the
appropriation bill enacted by the
last legislature which set aside only
8 per cent of the full 5c gasoline tax
instead of 10 per cent as specified in
the assistance measure. There is a
credit of $299,000 of gasoline tax
money which cannot be used until
the legislature meets and releases it
One reason why the assistance de
partment has so little margin in its
revenues and disbursements is the
fact that it has anticipated that the
legislature will correct the error as
soon as it meets.
Temporary
Employees Must
Have Numbers
Lincoln Office of Social Security
Sends Out Notice to Em- '
ployers and Employees.
A reminder that temporary em
ployees, hired by business and in
dustrial firms during the Christmas
holidays, should have social security
numbers was Issued today by Leo W.
Smith, manager of the Lincoln office
of the Social Security board.
"Wages earned by temporary em
ployees in commercial and Industrial
work count toward old age insurance
benefits," Mr. Smith Eaid. "In order
to make sure that the worker gets
credit for his wages, he should have
a social security account number and
this numbr should be reported im
mediately, to his employer."
Mr. Smith emphasized that it is
not necessary for the employee to
secure a new number each year.
The same social security number is
to be used by the employee during
his entire working life.
Social security numbers can be ob
tained without delay by calling at
or writing any office of the Social
Security board. In Nebraska, boa-d
offices are located in Lincoln. Omaha
and North Platte.
ENJOINS NEBRASKA CITY
LINCOLN, Dec. 3 (UP) Federal
Judge T. C. Monger today granted a
temporary injunction sought by the
Central Power company to prevent
the municipality of Nebraska City
from proceeding with acquisition of
the company's property there.
The decree remains effective until
the case for a permanent injunction
can be tried on its merits. The com
pany contended, among other alleg
ations, that the election, in which
Nebraska City residents voted to ac
quire the company's electric gener
ating and distributing system was
void because the question was not
submitted at a general city election
as assertedly required by iaw. The
proposal was' put to a vote at the
primary election August 9.
NEWSPAPER MAN SECRETARY
MINDEN, Neb., Dec. 1 (UP)
Congressman-elect . Carl T. Curtis
has appointed Milton B Cox, editor
of the Clay "County Sun at Clay Cen
ter as his secretary, he announced to
day. Cox formerly was associated with
his brother Ralph in publishing the
Public Mirror of Arapahoe and has
been a fourth district publisher for
23 years.
Subscribe for the Journal
By FREDERICK C. OXNER
BERLIN, De;. 3 (U T) Police
cancelled the driving licenses of all
Jews today and forebad them to drive
automobiles am where in Germany.
The order was issued by Henrich
Himmler, head of the police.
Jews also were barred permanently
from certain streets and buildings in
Berlin.
Himmler3 decree applies to Jewh
of German nationality as well as fore
ign, forebidding the maintenance or
operation of automobiles.
The decree it was stated, was mo
tivated by "the cowardly murder (of
a German envoy in Paris) by the Jew
Grynzpan, which was directed against
the entire German people and which
indicated that Jews are unreliable
and unsuited for the maintenance and
operation of motor vehicles,"
The police ban included the Wil
helmstrasse, government quarters,
parts of the Unter Den Linden, the
capital's famous main thoroughfare,
all theaters, motion picture houses,
concert halls, museums, athletic
grounds and public and private baths.
The decreo also banned Jews from
skating rinks and from the intersec
tion of the Vossestrasse and Wil
helmstrasse where the new chancel
lery building is being erected.
Police announced that it would be
adviseable for Jews living in or near
principal streets to move to new
apartments on one of the strrcts in
the northeastern parts of Berlin where
the poorer Jewish population is con
centrated. It was expected that further orders
would be issued banning them from
the Kurfurstendamm, the Friedrich
strasse and all of the Unter Den Lin
den ard other principal streets.
It was not believed that the ban
would be extended to the quarters in
the central and eastern part3 of the
city where many Jews live.
Jews living in forbidden areas will
be required to obtain special police
permission before entering those
areas.
, The decree was interpreted by many
observers as the preliminary step to
ward establishment of an actual Jew
ish ghetto.
Jews were banned from all streets
today as Pariahs while Germany cele
brated the "day of national solidar
ity" created four years ago to aid
the Reich's neediest poor.
German Jews and Jews without
passports were ordered to stay in
their homes. Many foreign Jews join
ed them in their banishment, not be
cause they were forced to, but because
they feared trouble.
There were many Jews who have
been taking refuge at night in friend
ly Aryan homes, who would not re
turn to their own apartments.
They feared that the one day ban
of Jews from the streets might be a
convient method of "putting the fing
er on them" and that wholesale raids
would company the nation-wide col
lections for poor.
Foreign observers, believed, how
ever, that the ban was intended pure
ly to emphasize the social ostracism
of Jews which has been gradually in
creasing since 1933.
REAPPOINT GEORGE TURNER
LINCOLN, Dec. 3 (UP) The su
preme court today announced the re
appointment of George H. Turner as
clerk of the court and state librarian
for a. second rlx year term beginning
January 1.
lie assumed his present post in
May 1932, succeeding Judge Charles
F3. Letton, who died five months prior
to the expiration of his term. Turn
er then was named for a six year
term. He also serves as Eecretary of
the Elate bar association by court
appointment. His salary is $5,000.
Miss Elizabeth Mallalieu also was
appointed for a similar term as de
puty librarian in direct supervision
of the state law library. H. P. Stod
dart was renamed court reporter for
six yearB. Miss Mallalieu receives
52,400 and Stoddart $4,000. The
court formally approved t'ae appoint
ment by Chief Justice Robert G. Sim
mons of Miss Margaret Test of Lin
coln as the private secretary.
FOUR ARABS KILLED
JERUSALEM, Dec. 2 (UP) Four
Arabs were killed and 77 wounded
when British troops, searching an
Arab cafe near the ceutral polite
Ltation in Haifa returned the fire of
ambushers on nearby housetops. The
area was roped off and searched.