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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1917)
The Omaha Sunday PART ONE. NEWS SECTION PAGES ONE TO TEN THE WEATHER Fair VOL. XLVI NO. 52. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 10, 1917 FIFTY-SIX PAGES SEVEN SECTIONS. SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS. STOLEN CHIL 36 PERIS ER MUM Jtviv MURDERED; COPP It WORST DISASTER IN HISTORY OF BUTTE DISTRICT Fire Which Starts in Specu lator Copper Workings Quickly Fills Levels With Smoke, and Gas. Butte, Mont, Tune 9. A statement by officials of-the North Butte corn- pany, issued just before noon today, gives thirty-six known dead as a re suit of the Speculator mine fire, 167 missing and 212 known to have been saved. The list of missing now in eludes, only such men as are believed yet to be in the min. , The fire broke out in the lower lev els of the mine late last night, starting trom a broken power cable that car lied electricity to the underground pumps. Lower levels of the mine quickly filled with smoke and gas. There were 415 men on the night shift. Of these 213 escaped through levels con necting with other mines. The gas spread to the? Diamond mine and took further toll ot lije m that property. Helmet Men at Work. Helmet men mine rescue crews and -afety-first squills from all the mines in Buttte undertook to penetrate the eas-filled workings of the Speculator, the Diamond and Hisrh Ore mines in the hope of finding the larger body of miners, tor whom tvope ot escape was not given up today. Officials said that if the 167 missing miners are not found to have made their way to the High Ore mine workings they are doomed. Suck Ah From Hose. lohn Coffemetten and John Boyce, who were the first two men to be taken from the shaft alive, told a thrilling tale of sustaining their lives by cutting the air hose and sucking tnc air by turns until tne rescue party arrived. They were on the 700-foot level at the outbreak of the fire. The men were ordered to report to the timekeeper as they emerged from the mine. Two hundred and eleven men had so reported soon after the rescue work started out of the -415 who went down in the night shift. Report Forty-eight Dead. Two men who were workinr on :lte 700-foot level reported that forty- oight had perished on the level where ihey worked, they alone being saved. All ambulances in Butte and all physicians in the city were summoned to the scene of the accident imme diately to co-operate with National 'Juardsruen and rescuers composed of miners. Every safety-first expert in ihe district has also been summoned and it is estimated that within a few hours 220 safety-first men, trained to I. -.:n v .!. c mine rescue worn, win ue at me oyc. ulator and Granite Mountain shafts. The Speculator is a tramway mine ,-ind runs through Granite mountain. Men equipped with safety-first hel mets to withstand tne enects ot smoke and fumes entered the Specu lator shaft first, but were compelled to retire soon after. Fifty Bodies Recovered. Fifty bodies had been recovered iroin the Speculator and Granite mountain properties of. the North Butte Mining company late this after r.oonand 148 more of the 412 miners who went on shift last night before the fire was discovered were still miss ing. Hope of finding these men alive has virtually been abandoned. Starts for Carbide Lamp. The Granite mountain shaft, where the fire started on the 2,400-foot level from contact of a carbide lamp flame with the frayed, tar-soaked cambric insulation and gas being fanned out of the miles of underground workings is pouring out of the collar of the shaft. Rescuers Work Sixteen Hours. The mine's rescue- organization of Butte has been in service now for sixteen hours. Every agency of city and county government has been placed at the disposal of the mine management. Flags ace at half staff and all public amusements have been suspended because of the disaster. Three Million Dollars Loaned by U. S. to Serbia Washington, June 9. Loans of $3, 000,000 to Serbia and $75,000,000 to Great Britain were made today by the Treasury department. The Weather For Nebraska Fair: warmer. 1mpratnrfB mt Omaha, Yesterday, Hour. Peg. 6 a. 6 a. m. 6 7 a. fti GS 1917, 191. 1914. Hlrhest yeaterday. . .. 78 77 8T Lowest yesterday & ti 47 f7 Mean temperature. .. . 66 C4 . 59 . It Precipitation ft .00 .05 .4 Temperature and precipitation departure from the normal: Normal temperature 7b Deficiency fur thj rtuy 4 Total deficiency hIiico March J 210 Normal precipitation , 17 inch Deficiency for th tiny. 17 inch Tola! rainfall since March 1 . . . .IS 14 tnrhe Excess since March 1 2.71 Inrhe:. Deficiency for cor. period, 1518.. 3. 7 Inches deficiency for cor. period, 1916.. .98 inch 3 p. m 78 - ' 4 p. m 11 ag- & p. m 7B ETfr jFfcf 6 p. m 77 r 1 ' 7 p. m 78 Cominratlve Loral Htcoril , 1816 77 Novel Scheme to Avoid Draft Fails to Work A novel scheme to avoid army draft was tried by a young man at Valentine, Neb. The federal author ities soon will arrest him. He regis tered under an assumed name and received a registration certificate. Under this plan if the name he gave was drawn, he could claim that he was not drawn. He failed to con sider that the officials would note that his real name did not appear on the registration list. WILSON STATES POSITION OF THE UNITEOJTATES President in Strong Terms Out lines Attitude of the Amer ican People in Note to Russians. Washington, June ??. President Vfilson, in a communication to the new government of Russia, has made ilain the war aims of -the United States and its position on "no annexa tions; no indemnities. "No territory must change hands, except for the purpose of securing for those who inhabit it a fair chance of life and liberty, says the communication. "No indemnities must be insist ed on except those that constitute payment for manifest wrong done. "No adjustments of power must be made, except such as will tend to secure the future peace of the world and the future welfare and happiness of its people." In unmistakable terms President Wilson declares against Germany's proposal to restore the "status quo" before the war. "It was the status quo ante, out of which this iniquitous war issued forth," he says, "the power of the imperial German government within the empire and its widespread domina tion and influence outside ot that em pire. that status must be altered in such fashion as to prevent any such hid eous thing from ever happening again." Text of Message. The president's communication was delivered to the Russian government by Ambassador Francis at Petrograd. In tull it is as follows: In view of the approaching visit of the American delegation to Russia to express the deep friendship of the American people for the people of Russia and to discuss the best and most practical means of co-operation between the two peoples in carrying the present struggle ior the freedom of ail peoples to a successful consum mation, it sems opportune and ap propriate that I should state again in the light of this new partnership the objects the Lnited Mates has had in mind in entering the war. those objects have been much be clouded during the last few weeks by mistaken and misleading statements and the issues at stake are too momen tous, too tremendous, too significant for the whole human race-to permit any misinterpretations or misunder standings, however slight, to remain uncorrected for a moment. Kaiser Using All Means. The war has begun to go against Germany, and in their desperate de sire to escape the inevitable ultimate defeat, those who are in authority in Germany are using every possible in strumentality, are making use even of the influence of groups and parties among their own subjects to whom they have never been just or fair or even tolerant, to promote a pro paganda on both sides of the sea, which will preserve for them their in fluence at home and their power abroad, to the undoing of the very men they are are using. Ihe position of America in this war is so clearly avowed that no man can be excused for mistaking it. It seeks no material profit or aggrand izement of any kind. It is fighting for no advantages or selfish object of its own, but for liberation of peoples everywhere from the aggressions of autocratic force. The ruling classes in Germany have begun of late to (Continued on Fare Two, Column One.) New York's Registration Is Nearly One Million Albany, N. Y., June 9. New York's total selective draft registration was 992,834, Governor Whitman tele graphed Provost Marshal General Crowder today. The indicated pos sible exemptions were 451,315. State's eligibles-cstimated at 1,100,205. Pershing and Staff Presented to King London, June 9. General Per shing was received this morning at Buckingham palace by King George. He was presented to the king by Lord Brooke, commander of the Twelfth Canadian infantry brigade. General Pershing was accom panied to the palace by his per sonal staff of twelve officers. After the audience the officers paid a for mal call at the United States em bassy. A further contingent of American officers arrived at a British port to day on the steamer that brought ' Foreign Secretary Balfour. The offi cers were met by representatives of the American embassy. HAIG'S MEN MAKE NEW ADVANCE ON MESSINES FRONT . - British Troops Againmash German Line, Penetrating for Distance of Half . ' Mile. (Associated Trans War Summary!) General Haig's determination to give the Germans no rest was exem plified last night when the British penetrated German positions around Lens to a depth of more than half a mile. The field of this attack lies from fifteen to twenty miles south of that of the big drive made by the British in Belgium on Thursday, which re sulted in the capture of the command ing Wytschaete-Messines ridge and its retention despite desperate Ger man counter attacks. The two fields of attack constitute points from which the great manufac turing district of northern France, centering in Lille, may be subjected to alternating pressure. The British success today is taken to mean that the fall of Lens, the great French coal city, is near and that another great blow is about ready to be struck towards clearing the Germans from their long held and miich prized French possessions in this area. King Congratulates Haig. London, June 9. It1 was officially announced today that King George has sent to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. comniander:in-chief of the Brit ish forces in France and Belgium, the following message: "We rejoice that, thanks to the thorough preparation and splendid co-operation of all inns, the impor tant Mcssincs ridge, which has been the scene of so many memorable struggles, again is in our hands. "Tell General Plumer and the sec ond army how proud we are of this achievement by which in a few hours the enemy was driven out of strongly entrenched positions which had been held by it for two and a half years. "CEORGE R. I.". Counter Attacks Beaten Off. British Headquarters in" France, June 9. (Via London.) With their overwhelming weight of massed guns, and in hand-to-hand fighting at some points, the British have beaten off all German counter attacks upon their newly won positions beyond the Mes sines ridge. Prussian and Bavarian troops, driven forward under a storm of fire poured upon them from ad vanced British batteries positions, suffered frightfully. As this dispatch is written they had succeeded in re capturiug and holding only one Brit ish post at Klein Z'llebeke, which had been pushed well forward of the con solidated main British line. Beaten back in the center, the Ger mans apparently have massed toward the flanks of the front on which the British advanced. They attempted several times to organize heavy coun ter attacks in the direction of Warne ton, but the British guns upset their Elihu Root and Party At Irkutsk, Siberia Irkutsk, Siberia, June 9. Elihu Root and the other members of the American commission to Russia ar rived today enroute for Petrograd. The commission was enthusiastically greeted at the larger stations along the route,- Twins . . : , . Iowa Municipality Buys Liberty Bonds Webster City, la., June 9. (Spe cial Telegram.) The city council this morning made application for $10,000 worth of Liberty loan bonds to be paid for with municipal funds. Webster City is a municipal owner ship town, owning the electric light and power plant and water works. There is $40,000 on hand in the elec- . trie light fund, and it is planned to take more Liberty bonds when the next call is issued. Webster City is the first town in Iowa to invest in these boiyis. PROPAGANDA OF FALSEHOOD TO ALARM PEOPLE Persistent Reports of Big Dis aster to U. S. Navy Result of Teuton Conspiracy, Says Sec. Daniels. Washington, June 9. Widely cir culated false reports of naval battles and disasters to American and en tente forces have reached the point where Secretary Daniels has concluded that they are the result of an organ ized conspiracy to alarm and distress the American people. Today the sec retary issued the following statement: "The country is being poisoned by rumors of battle and disaster that arc without the slightest foundation. "Among most persistent of these false reports is one that a naval en gagement has taken place between the German fleet and the combined fleets of England and the United States, and that in this battle sixty English and American ships were sunk or dis abled, two of the number being the Pennsylvania and the Texas. , No Ship Lost. "No such engagement has taken place. The American fleet has not been in action. No ship has been lost. The derlared policy of the Navy department is one of absolute open ness. If disaster comes no effort will be made to minimize it. "The people of the United States arc asked to trust in this pledge and to aid in stamping out this campaign of rumor that is so plainly the prodTict of disloyalty." False Statements in Berlin. Copenhagen, June 9. (Via Lon don.) The Continental Times, a sub sidized newspaper, appearing in JMig lish in Berlin, prints as a New York report a statement that the Ameri can senate has made arrangements to intern all Oermans who arrived m the United States during the last three years. Washington. June 9. The state ment attributed to the Continental limes is obviously inaccurate and is regarded as another evidence of the persistent campaign of misrepresent ing conditions in America to the Ger man people. " Rousseau Named Manager Of the Fleet Corporation Washington, June 9. Harry L. Rousseau, civil engineer and member of the Navy department commission on additional navy yards, has been appointed assistant general manager of the emergency fleet corporation, succeeding K. A. Eustis, who was dismissed yesterday by General Goe-thals. coy exec OMAHA'S LIGHT PLANT IS SOLD TO NEW OWNERS . . , . ... Nebraska Power Company Has" Taken Over interest of omaha Electric Light and Power Company. It is now officially announced that the plant and property of the Omaha Electric Light and Power company have been purchased by the Nebraska Power company. The new owner institution is com posed of men extensively engaged in operating electric service companies in various parts of the United States and eminently successfuWin develop ing such .properties. The company's power plant has re cently been enlarged by the installa tion of a new steam turbine, giving it a total generating capacity of 44,000 horsepower, while further extensions are already preparing. "The development of territory he yond the limits of Omaha as well a: in Omaha will be pushed on an ex tensive scale and in an intensive man ner," said Vice President Davidson. "Our effort will be to add new indus tries to this city by imp cssing indus trial prospects with the electrical power advantages offered here. To Transmit Power. "Transmission lines will also carry current to many towns and communi ties and even to the tarms beyond the metropolis. Electric current, w hen available, is playing no small part in solving the labor problem on the farm. It is a vital factor in enabling tue tanner to market his produce at a reduced overhead expense. The possibilities of electric power on the tarm have not yet reached their limit. Tt is a twenty-four hour service and thus is its value enhanced many-fold. I There are churns, feed grinding ma chines, seprtHftors, milkers, pumps tor irrigation and mauy other kinds of apparatus which the farmer may op erate by touching a button; the little motor docs the re:t." See Lower Rates. The promise is held out that as the territory increases the tendency will be to lower rates, fyr the history of power plants shows that one central ('nntlnuril on Pag" Two, Column Five.) Russ Soldiers Denounce Kaiser's Peace Offer I'ctrograd, June 9. The council of Soldiers and workmen has made pub lic the fact that the German commander-in-chief on the eastern front sent a wireless, message inviting the Russian armies to a separate armistice and proposing that they enter into secret pourparlers with the German leaders. The council denounced the proposal. In the telegram the council's an nouiiceine. t states the German com mander proposed to how the armies a way toward an honorable peace and a means of ceasing to wage war without a rupture with the entente allies. U. S. Ship Virginian Has Fight With Submarine An Atlantic Port, June 9. A run ning fight with a German submarine, in which forty-two shots were fired, was reported today by the armed American steamship Virginian upon its arrival from a French oort. BODY OF KIDNAPED KEET BABY FOUND IN VELL ON FARM EIGHT MILES FROM SPRINGFIELD, MO. Child was Wrapped in Woman's Underskirt and Had Probably Been Dead Three Days; Farm Named by Alleged Suspects as Headquarters of Abduction Syndicate. BULLETIN. A report just received from Bolivar stated that the posse had captured and were returning with the prisoners. , No confirmation of the Bolivar report had been received at 7:45 p. m. Police report they received a message from Osceola, saying that the citizens' automobiles were less than a half mile behind the sheriff's machine. Springfield, Mo.', June 9. The body of Lloyd Keet, 14 months old son of J. Holland Keet, wealthy banker, was found in a well on the Crenshaw farm near here today, according to reliable reports. ' The report came by telephone from investigators who had gone to the farm in response to information, the source of which has not been revealed. The child was kidnaped more than a week 'ago. " The body, wrapped in a woman's underskirt, was partly decomposed and apparently had been in the well two or three f days, according to the report. ' 'I The Crenshaw farm, eight miles from here, recently was searched by authorities after it had been named in alleged statements given by seven suspects under arrest here. An old house there, deserted for several years, was said to have been ' chosen as the headquarters for the alleged "abduction syndi cate" which planned to kidnap C. A. Clement, wealthy jeweler . here, and a St. Louis munitions maker. ' , .'': ' ::- The Keet baby was stolen from the family hotni hero tho- night of May 30. His parents had gone to a dane and th baby was left with a nurse and an older son. Three men were' ' believed to be the abductors and it is assumed they took the' baby from his crib and escaped in an automobile. ' " 1 " 1 . a Paul- O'Div. eountv Broucutor. OMAHA BABIES COME TO CLAIM LIBERTY BONOS Bouncing Gir! at Schoessler Home Gets Under. Wife for First Honors Fifteen Min utes Past Midnight. LET THEM COME. The promise of a Liberty bond for every baby born in Omaha Sat urday did not exhaust the possibili ties. "Suppose the family happenB to be blessed with twins or trip lets," someone asked. At the mere suggestion the patriotism of General Harries promptly rose to the occasion and he has offered an extra bonus of an additional $50 Liberty bond for each of the babies that arrive in Omaha during the day in twos or threes. "No limit to the number of applications," said the general. ,A baby girl born to Mr. and Mrs. Conrad H. Schoessler, 2415 South Nineteenth street, at 12:15 Saturday morning will be the first bab. born to claim a $50 Liberty bond. The lit lle stranger was immediately named "Liberty." The Omaha Liberty bond commit tee announced several days ago tlwit a $50 Liberty bond would be given to each and every baby born June 9. The Schoessler baby is not the only infant that will claim a bond. Many Others Arrive. ' A boy was lirn to Mr. and Mrs. Harry E. Gnstafson, 4515 Franklin street, at 5:15 this morning. This little chap will also get a bond. A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wayne E, Sawtell, 720 North Twenty-eighth street, at 5:30 this morning. Eleanor Ann, as she has been named, is entitled to a bond. "William McAJoo," sou of Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Harden, 1419 North Fif- (Contlnut(l do I'mre Two, Column Four.) Every Member of Last Year's Grid Champions Hears Call to Colors A record of vhich they may be justly proud has been set up by the Athletics' foot ball team, Class B champions of Omaha last year. Every member of the team and a number of the regular rooters have responded to Uncle Sam's call to the colors. . George Flannery, Albert Golden, Charles Greene, Joe Hasford, Joe Adams, Will Greene, Maurice Kahn, Ed Alpherson, Ed Callahan, Fritz Nygaard, Carl Lutes, Vern Mag ney, Harry Trembly and Albert Stahl have joined the quartermas ter's department. Elmer Small and Frank Kenni son have joined the regular army, while Tom Dineen, J. Kennedy, Jim Vickery, Tom O'Leary and Jim O'Leary r.ow are bluejackets in the navy. later went to the farm and Identified the body is that of the Keet child. Fearing possible mob violence, ev- ; ' era! prisoners held in connection with', the abduction here have been taken, hurriedly out of the city. Parents Identify Body. J. Holland Keet, wealthy banker, and his wife identified the body of their son,, which was wrapped in the same blanket in which the child slept when he disappeared. This was cov ered by a woman's underskirt. . The body was found on nearby de serted farm which previously had been searched on information that it was the headquarters of an "abduction syndicate," which also had planned the kidnaping of a rich Springfield jeweler and a St. Louis : munition! manufacturer, .. A coil of wire was tied around the body and death apparently was due to drowning. There was a slight bruise on the face, probably sustained when the child was thrown into the well. The body was found by friends of the Keet family, acting on private information. Abductors Forced to Flee. The belief is general that the baby had been thrown into the well when the abductors, fearing for their own safety, were forced to abandon the child. . Federal authorities today joined in the alleged abduction plot activities of the seven persons being held in connection with the kidnaping in the belief that they may have been con cerned in German plots to tie up the munitions traffic. Citizens Follow Close. Clinton, Mo June 9. A telephone call was received by a hotel keeper here late today stating that citizens, following the sheriff who is removing the prisoners who were held on ab duction charges at Springfield, Mo., would arrive here this eve. The citi zens requested that accommodations be reserved for them. It is not now known how far the citizens are be hind the sheriff's party. There is an unfilled demand for rooms of the better kind. 1 Hundreds of desirable peo ple are seeking Ju:f the kind of room you have vacant. Y,u will be doing thes ped-', pie a creat favor by supply ing them with a comfo rtable pleasant home. Then think of the additional income you will receive. Many of these folks 1 will , gladly pay $25 per month or more for a homelike room. Write an ad describing that spare room, or, better still, just phone Tyler 1000 and a competent d-taker will'assist you to tell what you want