VP
Omasa
jm Be!
THE WEATHER
. Fair
VOL. XLVII. NO. 124.
OMAHA, FRIDAY ifORNING, NOVEMBER 9, 1917. FOURTEEN PAGES.
Or Tralst, t Htl,
Ntwi SUsdi. Eta. I.
SINGLE COPY TWO CENTS
radica:
' U.
MISS JJ
PETROGRAD
9
FLOYD CLARK KILLS SELF
ON 000HSTEP OF FIANCEE
WHO TOOK POISON SUNDAY
Broods Over Death of Woman to Whom He Wa Bethroth
ed and Puts An Entf To His Life In Spite of the
EffoVts of Friends to Cheer Him Up;
Children Are Destitute.
While a litttle 3-year-old boy played horse and asked,
"Where's mamma?" "Where's Floyd?" a white-haired old lady
tried to plan yesterday for the future of three children, vic
tims of the double tragedy this -week, the suicides of Mrs.
Bertha Breckingham and her fiance, Floyd Clark.
Monday Mrs. Breckingham and
Clark were to have been married. To
day she lies in the cemetery at Platts
mouth and he is dead at St. Joseph's
hospital, as a result of a lovers' quar
rel Sunday night, Clark was found
unconscious on the doorstep at 1021
North Twenty-third street andr died
during the night at St. Joseph's hos
pital. "I never saw my daughter so happy
is she was Sunday," said Mrs. Helen
Brooks, I02i North Twenty-third
street. "I went over Sunday after
noon and she and Floyd, who had
been boarding with, me, were planning
MANY DELEGATES
ARRIVE TO JOIN
STATE TEACHERS
jmimunMimliaiii iiiiMmim,lii i
'
MR?. BERTHA BRECKINGHAM.
iheir wedding for the next day. . She
had been working in a restaurant and
supporting the two youngest boys, but
Floyd was going to do that here
ifter. Must Be They Quarreled.
"I left at 5 o'clock and an hour
after she was dead, having committed
suicide by taking carbolic acid. Some
thing must have happened soon after
I left a quarrel or something to post
pone the wedding, I believe. We don't
know what it was.
"But Floyd was wild from that time
onX He almost collapsed at the
funeral. He had to be watched con
tinually to keep him from taking his
o?n life. Yesterday he felt better
and went to work Hie worted for the
People's Ice and Storage company.)
He came home early in the afternoon
in a terrible state and was hystercial
here. I called up my son, Clyde
Brooks, at the office. He came right
home and seemed to have a soothing
influence on Floyd. We then sent
him down to the drug store to get
a prescription filled for his nerves.
Found at Doorstep.
"Instead of that he got carbolic
acid, and later when my grandson
went out to get a paper he found him
unconscious at the door."
Mrs. Brooks said she and her
Continued on rase Ten, Column Six.)
The Weather
lr Nebraska Fair.
Temperature at Omaha Yesterday.
j lour. ueg.
5 a. m 45
r 6 a. m 44
7 a. m. .-. 45
8 a. m i. 47
I a. m 49
10 a. m . 63
11 a. m 58
12 m 64
1 p. m 68
3 p. m. 71
3 p. rn 73
4 p. m..... 71
- e p. m a
6 p. m 66
7 p. m. 62
8 p. m 58
Local Record.
117. 1916. 1915. 1J14.
. 72 46 52 48-
. 4 .18 58 29
. 64 42 45 28
. .00 .12 .00 .00
ComparatlTe
Highest yesterday
lowest yesterday.
Mean1 temperature
Precipitation .....
Temperature and precipitation departures
from the normal:
Normal temperature 41
Kxcess for the day .17
Total deficiency since March 1 .368
Normal precipitation 05 inch
Deficiency for the day 05 Inch
Total rainfall since March 1.... 21.24 Inches
Deficiency since March 1 .6.45 inches
Deficiency for cor. period, 1916. .12.10 inches
Deficiency for cor-period, 1915.. 3.42 Inches
Reports From Stations at 5 P.M.
Station and Stat Temp. High- Patri
ot Weather.. T p. m, . swt. . , till.
Cheyenne,, clear 46 68 .00
Davenport, clear 43 v42 .00
Denver, clear 66 62 (.10
Tie Moines, cloudy.... 44 46 .00
Dodfre City, clear 62 79 .00
t-ander, cloudy :. 46 14 .00
North Platte, clear 62 --72 . .,09
Omaha, clear 62 '' 72 .00
Pueblo, clear 60 68 .00
Rapid City, pt. cloudy.. 56 64 .90
Salt Lak. City, clear.. 48 52 .18
Santa Fe, clear 52 56 .00
. Chicago, clear 48 48 .00
Stonx City, clear 60 64 .06
' , Valentine, clear 60 70 .00
- h. A. .WELSH, Meteorologist
. I
Knitting for Soldiers 'Proves
Popular Pastime; AlterTat
' tag Convention City Amend
ment Given Severe, Jolt.
A special train from Lincoln yes
terday brought 250 Lincoln teach
ers for the convention of - the Ne
braska State Teachers' association.
For a long period there was a solid
column of Lincoln teachers register
ing at the booth in the Hotel Rome
and these were followed by other
teachers coming on later trains from
other parts of the. state. Thus reg
istration was kept brisk until noon
and still they came.
By ,10:30 last night the registration
had reached 3,510, or 983 above the
total at the close of the enrollment
Wednesday night
Hundreds of the teachers brought
their knitting "with them and are im
proving their spare moments knitting
sweaters for the soldiers. One teacher
sat in the front row at the Auditorium
last night and knitted briskly at a
gray sweater while she cocked one
ear intently in the direction of the
speaker. One teacher was seen knit
ting on Sixteenth street tfc;s morning
as she, hurried from the Hotel Rome
to the place where her sectional meet
ing was being held. Miss Doris
Goethe, assisting in the registration,
is knitting a sweater during the mo
ments when she is not busy punch
ing tickets and passing1 out compli
mentary tickets for theFriday even
ing entertainment at the Auditorium.
German Section Quiet.
The most sorry-looking 'sectional
meeting of the whole association yes
terday was the German section, held
in the banquet room of the Hotei Cas
tle. Last year the German section
was held here and the meeting was
so large that an open air overflow
meeting had to be held. This morn
ing there were scarcely 35 sprinkled
around in the great banquet room 'tak
ing the instruction in this language.
The movement to inject an amend
ment into the constitution of the as
sociation, providing that the conven
tions shall be held alternately in Lin
coln and Omaha from year to year,
is not yet dead, though it got a severe
blow when Superintendent F. F. Gor
don, Emerson, tried to get it endorsed
by the superintendents and principals
yesterday- He is still circulating his
petition for the necessary 100 signa
tures to get the proposition on the
ballot which will go out to all the
teachers within 30 days. It is under
stood that he has practically obtained
the necessary 100 signatures, but in
order that the constitutional amend
ment may carry, it must receive two
thirds of the votes when the election
takes place in 30 days by mail.
GERMANY CALLS
LAST RESERVES
IN FINALEFFORT
London, Nov, 8. Germany called
up its last reaves within the last
few days, according to the Central
News corespondent at Zurich, tele
graphing under Wednesday's date. All
men who previously had been rejected
were ordered to present themselves
for re-er.amination and within 24
hours all not utterly incapacitated
were on their way to 'the training j
centers. This action, says the cor
respondent, is attributed to the inten-1
tion jfthe central powers to make a
final effort on the western front be
fore America's help bdeomes ef
Government Presents
Evidence in Matters Case
The government's evidence in the
trial of Thomas H. Matters for aiding
rresident Luebben ot the rirst .Na
tional bank of Sutton to issue cer
tificates of deposit unlawfully was all
in yesterday afternoon. The attorneys
for the defense moved that the indict
ment against Matters be dismissed,
but after presentation of their reasons
Judge Wade overruled the motion.
Adjournment was taken until this
morning, when the trial will proceed.
AMfcklN STEAMER
ROCHESTER IS SUNK
ARRIVES ABROAD
KERENSKY IS FUGITIVE
London, Nov. 8. The American steamship Rochester was
torpedoed and sunk at dusk on November 2r
Four sailors are known to have lost their lives in the sink
ins of the Rochester. One boat with the second mate and 13
men is missing.
The captain and 22 men have been landed at Bunrana.
One' lifeboat with nine survivors reached Rossport, in the
County of Mayo, yesterday.
Receiving His Orders
( You ate
Jra ait J so J
L . '. . QVtt X
TORPEDO HISSES
FREIGHTER; SUB
SHELLED AND SUNK
American Naval Gunner Sinks
U-Boat After Narrow Es
cape From Torpedo; Ger-v
man Crew Lost.
An Atlantic Port, Nov. 8. Infor
mation that an American shell fired
by an American naval gunner sank a
Teutonic submarine in the Mediter
ranean is contained in a report made
tJ the Navy department by officers of
an American freight steamship which
arrived here recently, it was learned
today. x
The vessel, of about 3,000 tons
gross, was returning from an Italian
porfr in ballast after taking a cargo of
war munitions from America to Italy.
A "report of its narrow escape from a
torpedo was recently made public,
but the fate of its attacker ws not
mentioned.
The torpedo was discovered ap
proaching from the starboard side an
hour before nightfall, and the crew,
expecting an explosion, hurried to the
port rail, arriving in time to see the
torpedo emerge from under the ship
and pass harmlessly on.
The nava! gunners had remained at
their posts. The periscope of a sub
marine appeared above the water, the.
U-boat captain apparently being un
aware trat the torpedo had gone
under the freighter, because with no
cargo it was riding high in the
water.
Three American shells fired from
the ship's bow gun and two from its
stern gun missed the submarine, but
the sixth shot from the stern gun
struck it at the base of the periscope,
according to the -officers' report.
There was an explosion which
shattered the submersible and it
sank wii i all on board.
Berlin Claims
Capture of Many
More Italians
Berlin, Nov. 8, Via London.
Austro-German forces in northern
Italy have crossed the Livenzt river,
army headquarters announced today.
Italian troops to the number of 17,
000 were cut off from the Tagliamento
and captured, the official statement
adds; The total number of prisoners
taken by the Austro-German forces is
now more than 250,000, it is asserted.
Rome, Nov. 8. Withdrawal of the
Italian line was continued yesterday,
the war office announced today. The
larger units retired unmolested.
MISSION TO VAR
COUNCIL BEGINS
WORK IN L
0 DO
Colonel E. M. House, Special
Ambassacjor, and Other Dis
tinguished Americans Reach
Europe for Conference."
London, Nov. 8. When the train
bearing the special American com
mission reached London, at midnight
the big metropolitan station which
usually is busy, was almost deserted,
but a long line of automobiles, the
majority in charge of khaki-clad
chauffeurs, attracted the attention of
the train hands and a few suburban
ites. '
CIVIL WAR IN
RUSSIA FEAR
OF OFFICIALS
t
Diplomatic Washington Silent,
But Armed Clash Thought
Inevitable; Allies Must
Change War Plans.
BULLETIN.
Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 8. "The
intent and .spirit of Russia at a
whole should in no way be judged
by the news from Petrograd," de
clared Boris A. Bakhmeteff, Russian
ambassador to the United States,
when shown Associated Press dis
patches relative to the reported
overthrow of the Russian provi
sional government. "Until just rtow
I did not have any personal or offi
cial information on the subject,"
said Mr. Bakhmeteff, "and, there
fore, you cannot expect any official
opinion." r
Washington, Nov. 8. Kercnsky's
fall and the collapse of his govern
ment in Petrograd into the hand's of
the Maximalists, who propose an
Uarmistice to the end of an immediate
and just peace is regarded here as
threatening Russia with the civil war
which all its friends hoped to see
avoided.
The State department, entirely
without official advices of its own, was
silent, wishing to avoid making any
statements until the situation could
be accurately assessed on the basis of
intimate reports from Ambassador
Francis at Petrograd.
The Russian, embassy, too, preferred
pot to make a statement until later
and until after there has been oppor
tunity for communication with Am
bassador Bakhmeteff, who was travel
ing in the sduih: " ' "
War ProgrsnvUpset.
The embassies of the entente allies,
realizing that 'the development means,
first of all, probably a rearrangement
,oi their war plans, were shocked, but
not disheartened, at what is consid
ered a triumph of insidious German
propaganda.
The general opinion -here among
those in position to be best informed
of Russian affairs is that Kerensky
and his followers probably will at
once set up a new government at
Moscow, leaving Petrograd to the
Maximalists and thbse troops who ad
here to them. i
Battle is Expected. '
An armed clash is counted anion g
the first probabilities, but it is' said
here that the greater part of the army
is expected to remain loyal to the
Kerensky government.
Whether the new revolt will go the
quick way of the Korniloff rebellion
no one here ventures to predict; the
realization is that it is infinitely more
serious. The outcome, and Russia's
part in the next years of the war while
she recovers her fightirtg power no
one here assumes to contemplate at
this time.
Problem for War Council
The ,war council of the co-belligerents,
just about to assemble in Eu
rope to arrange policies of co-ordination
of fighting forces, is now faced
with a new and great problem at its
very outset.
Coming close on the Italian re
verses the Russian debacle brings the
(Continued on Page Ten, Column Five.)
4-
(Contlnued on Pare Ten, Column Four.)
PROCLAMATION FOR PEACE
ISSUED BY REVOLUTIONISTS
Petr,ograd, Nov. 8. ("British Ad
miralty, per Wireless Press. )-The
military revolutionary committee of
the central council of soldiers' and
workmen's deputies, in a proclamation
to the army committees and to all
soldiers' and workmen's councils,
says:
"We have deposed without blood
shed the government which rose
against the revolution."
It proclaims the authority of the
military revolutionary committee and
says officers who do not openly join
the movement must immediately be
arrested.
Uncertain military detachments, the
proclamation adds, must not be per
mitted to leave the front for Petro
grad Where persuasion fails, the
statement says, force must be used
without mercy.
The text of the proclamation of the
military revolutionary committee
leads': -
.Proclamation Issued.
"To the army committees of the.
active army and to all councils of
soldiers' and workmen's delegates and
to the garrison and proletariat of
Petrograd:
"We have deposed the government
of Kerensky, which rose against the
revolution and the people. The change
which resulted in the deposition of
the provisional government was ac
complished without bloodshed.
"The Petrograd council of soldiers'
and workmen's delegates solemnly
welcomes the ""accomplished change
ancr proclaims the authority of the
military revolutionary committee un
til the creation of a government by the
soldiers' and workmen's delegates.
"Announcing this to the army at the
front, the revolutionary committee
calls upon the revolutionary .soldiersi
to watch closely the conduct of the
men in command. Officers who do
not join the accomplished revolution
immediately and openly must be ar
rested at once as enemies.
"The Petrograd council of work
men's and soldiers' delegates consid
ers this to be the program of the new
authority:
"First, the offer of an immediate
democratic peace.
"Second, the immediate handing
Tver of large proprietorial lands to
the peasants.
"Third, the transmission of all au
thority to the council of soldiers' and
workmen's delegates.
"Fourth, the honest convocation of
a constitutional assembly.
No Armies to Leave Front.
"The national revolutionary army
must not permit uncertain s military
detachments to leave the front for
Petrograd. They should use per
suasion, but where this fails they
must oppose any such action on the
part of these detachments by force
without mercy.
"The actual order must be read im
mediately to all military detachments
in all arms. The suppression of this
order from the rank and file by army
organizations is 'equivalent to s great
crime against the revolution and will
be punished by all the strength of the
revolutionary law.
"Soldiersi For peace, for bread, for
land, and for the power of the people 1
(Signed),
"THE MILITARY REVOLUTION
ARY COMMITTEE."
GOVERNMENT GOES
DOWN BEFORE FIRE
OF MAXIMALISTS
- '
Winter Palace, Defended by Women's Battalion, Sur
renders; Kerensky in Flight and New Regime Will
Propose Immediate Peace-With Germany;
Fleets Now Support Workmen's Council.
Bulletin. 1
London,Nov. 8. Premier' Kerensky has fled , from the
capital, the semi-official news agency declares. Orders, it
states, have been issued for his arrest. Railway communica
tion with Petrograd is reported to have been interrupted, the
Copenhagen correspondent of the Exchange , Telegraph com-
pany cables.
GOVERNMENT SURRENDERS.
Petrograd, Nov. 8. (9 a. m.) Government forces'
holding the Winter palace were compelled to capitulate early
this morning under the fire of the cruiser Aurora and the can
non of the St. Peter and St. Paul fortress across the Neva river.
At 2 o'clock this morning' the woman's battalion which had
been defending the Winter palace surrendered.
T Q BESIEGE WINTER PALACE.
The workmen's and soldiers' dele
gates are in complete control of th
city.
Premier Kerensky was reported
last night at Luga, 85 miles southwest
of Petrograd.
Delegates trom the Baltic snd Black
Sea fleets have declared In favor of
the workmen's snd soldiers' council,
according to Reuter's Telegram com
pany, y . "
The same correspondent says the
First, Third and Fourteenth Cossack
regiments Informed Kerensky that ,
they were prepared whole-heartedly
to support the government, provided'
no Compromise was entered into. .
Late yesterday evening after the
government forces had been driven in
to the Winter palace, the palace was
besieged snd a lively fight of machine
guns and rifles began. The cruiser
Aurora which was moored at the
Niecolal bridge, moved up within
range, firing shrapnel. Meanwhile the
guns of, the St. Peter and St. Paul
fortress opened fire. '
t ' DEFEND PETROGRAD.
The palace stood out under the
glare of the searchlights of. the cruiser
and offered a good target for the'
guns. The defenders held out for t
four hours,' replying as best they
could with machine guns and rifles.
There was spasmodic firing in other!
part! of the city, but the workmen's '
and soldiers' troops took every means
to protect citizens; who were ordered
to their quarters. The bridges and the
Nevsky Prospect, which early in the
afternoon were in the hands of the,
government forces wer rantnrcrl and'
held during the night by the work
men's and soldiers troops. '
The battle, at the palace which be
gan shortly after 6 o'clock, was a'
spectacular one, armed cars of thoj .
revolutionaries swinging into action'
in front of the palace gates, while
flashes from the $Jeva were followed
by the explosion of shells from the
guns oi me Aurora. . , ;, -Promise
Immediate Peace. "
London, , Nov. 8.- The Maximalist
have iubtaited control of Petrograd '
and issued a proclamation saying the
new government will propose SmmediJ
ate peace, the senii-officia1 Russian
news agency announces. N
Premier Kerencky has been de
posed.
The Maximalists were assisted by
the Petrograd. garrison, which made.
shed. , -
, Leon Trotzky, president of the ccn "
tral executive committee of the Petro
grad, council of soldiers' and work-!
mens delegates,. issued a declaration
WELCOME LENINE
ASRUSSGIVfOVER
RULE TQJEAD1CALS
Five , Hundred Sixty . Delegates
Attend General Congress of
N Workmen and Soldiers in
Petrograd.
Tetrograd, Noy, 8. The general
congress of workmen's and soldiers'
delegates of all Russia was convened
here last night with 560 delegates in
attendance. The chairman .'declared
that the time was not propitious for
political speeches and the order of
business of the congress approved was
as follows:
First Organisation of jiower.
Second Peace and war.
Third A constituent assembly.
Officers Elected.
The officers elected comprise 14
Maximalists, including Nikolai Leninc,
the radical socialist leader, and M.
ZnovierT, an associate of Lenine and
Leon Trotzky, president of the cen
tral executive committee of the Petro
grad Council of Workmen's aid Sol
dier's delegates. In addition, seven
revolutionary socialists were ap
pointed. A delegation was named to initiate
peace negotiations with the other
revolutionary and democratic organ
izations "with a view to taking steps
to stop bloodshed."
Official Statement.
The official news agency today
made public the following statement:
"The congress of the Council of
Workmen's and Soldiers' delegates of
all Russia, which opened last evening,
issued this morning the three follow
ing proclamations:
"To all provincial councils of work-
(Contlnued on Face Ten, Column Four.)
SEVEN DIE WHEN
THREE FLOORS OF
BUILDING DROP
New York, Nov. 8. Five , women
and two men arc believed to have
been killed in the collapse of three
floors of a building in Brooklyn oc
cupied by a concern supplying pro
visions to the United States govern
ment. Au explosion and fire fol
lowed. One body, that of Miss Josephine
Johanns, was recovered from the
ruins and firemen are searching for
others.
Corn Prpduction
Three Billion,
- Bushels in 1917
Washington, Nov. 8. Preliminary
estimates of farm crops announced
today by the Department of Agricul
ture in it November crop report fol
low: Corn, 3,191,083,000.
Buckwheat. 16.813.00Q.
Potatoes, 439,686,000.'
Sweet potatoes. 84,727.000.
Alfrido Gets Twenty
Years in the Penitentiary
Ulalio Alfrido was sentenced to 20
years in the penitentiary by Judge
Sears upon being found guilty on the
charge of statutory rape upon little
Grace Baskas, 8 years old, who testi
fied that he'had slept with her in her
parents' house on the South Side.
Alfrido was a roomer at the house.
h
to the effect thafthe provisional gov-j
ci mucin was iiu lunger in existence:
and that some of its members hadf
been arrested. The preliminary Par-4
liament has been-dissolved. - xfy
Capital at Moscow.
"The opinion is expressed in Rus
sran circles in London that M. Ke
rensky, who early was ; advised of
the intentions of Nikolai Lenine to
grasp power, removed Uie seat of
government to Moscow arid from'
there will endeavor to unite the Mod-
(ContlnuM on Pag- Ten. Column On.) i .
American Gunboat
Fired On by Chinese ,
Bandits; Damaged"
Peking, Nov. 8. The , American
gunboat Palos was fired upon today; v
by Chinese bandits on the Yang-Tse:
Kiang neat Chung King, in the prov
ince of Sechuan, The gunboat was
damaged slightly." y , '
The Pal. s n 100 Innc i'q nn nf
number of small gunboats which have
been in Chinese waters for stame tune.
In June tto Palos,- Monaicca, Samar,
Quiros and Villalobos were interned
in the harbor of Shanghai by the
Chinese government." ;They were re
leased subsequently when China
brokeoff diplomatic relations i with
Germany. " ' ' ( -
Chung King is about 800 miles upj
the Yang-Tse-Kiang from ShanghsX