he Omaha Sunday
Bee
PART ONE
NEWS SECTION
PAGES 1 TO 16 .
THE WEATHER
Fair; Warmer
VOL. XL VI I NO. 27.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 16, 1917. FIVE SECTIONS FORTY-SIX - PAGES.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
AGAIN A
KS PEACE:
FORMER RUSSIAN
EMPEROR FLEES
SIBERIAN PRISON
Special Train Manned by Sailors Dispatched From Petro
grad in Hot Pursuit of Deposed Monarch; Confirms
Recent Report of American Consul; East
May Shelter Royal Family.
(From a Staff
Nicholas Romanoff, former emperor of Russia, deposed
last March by the revolutionists and for several months in con
finement at Tobolsk, Siberia, is reported to have made his
escape. A special train manned by sailors has been dispatched
from Petrograd for the pursuit of the former emperor. ,
As the report, unlike previous rumors to this effect, came
4 through the Bolsheviki headquarters in Petrograd, the an
nouncement may be regarded as official, but a few hours later
it was officially denied by Bolsheviki leaders that Nicholas had
escaped.
SIBERIA SAFE ASYLUM. Q-
Previous reoorts of the escape olCOrmtr VZar IVlCflOlOS
Nicholas had Kim making his way
uui vi taiucua iiuuugu naiuui, wwr
churia. The route to Harbin is a long
one, however, and he would have 4,
000 miles to travel before reaching the
Pacific coast from Tobolsk, although
that place itself is some 1,500 miles
east of Moscow. There remains the
possibility that Siberia itself might be
a safe asylum for him for .the time
being, as that vast province was re
ported last month to have declared its
independence and to have named
Nicholas as its emperor.
REDS GAIN POWER.
The effect of the escape upon Bol
sheviki plans for the future course uf
Russia could scarcely be even sur
mised, so enigmatic in many ways lias
been the recent course of the Lenine
Trotzky government in Petrograd,
which now appears to be retting tbe
upper band in many parts of the coun
try outsitie the northern centers, over
coming the opposition of the more
conservative, elements. '
Some English correspondents in
Petrograd, indeed," iTave latterly come
to take the view that the Bolsheviki
leaders were planning eventually to
put nionarchial form of government
r in force after they had established
their sway by drastic measures,
coupled with their hold on tin
proletariat through the popularity of
their land reform and peace .meas
ures. The American consul at Tiflis; in
the Russian Caucasus, recently sent a
t 1 :.. 1 ..I.
jripori which was icieiveii m tvaau-
- ington on December 8, stating that a
rumor was in circulation that former
Emperor Nicholas had escaped. The
message made it clear that there was
no confirmation and there has been
nothing since received confirmatory
of'the report until the Petrograd ad
vices today.
. Confined in Monastery.
For 'some time alter the outbreak
of the revolution and the monarch's
deposition, he, with his family, was
confined in the royal palace at Tsar-skoe-Selo.
On August 19, however,
the Russian' provisional government
announced that1 he had been trans
ferred to Tobolsk, together with the
members of his family and his suite.
At iirt he was quartered in the gov
ernor's palace in the town of Tobolsk,
. but on uctooer u it was given out
4. that he and his family had been trans -
ierreu tv a monastery suuaicu auuui
20 miles outside.
Shortly after the recent escape of
General Korniloff and almost concur
rently with the rumor from Tiflis that
Nicholas Romanoff, as the emperor
has been known since he was deposed,
has effected his escape, one of the
Bolsheviki government organs in Pet
rograd announced that several de
tachments of sailors of the Red Guard
had been sent to Tobolsk to guard
him.
Report Siberia Independent.
One of the many rumors that were
current at about the time the Tiflis
report was in circulation reached Lon
don by way of Zurich and was to the
f . i ....i i i. 1
ettect mat isicnoias nau maae nv
way out ot aioeria tnrougn
Harbin
and had arrived in Japan. The route
through Harbin was regarded as the
most natural one for him to lake, and
this may have given rise to the rumor
that he actually had traveled this road
i out of his former domain. The diffi-
If-(Continued on fage Four, Column Two.)
The Weather
I'or Nebraska Fair
and wan
imaha Y
in' r.
Trmmrsturra at Oma
Hour.
i a. m.
7 a. in.
S o
S a
JO a
11a
ni. .
m.
l-: in 3 'i
l p. in il
. in l"
?, p. ill 14
p. m M
T. p. in 14
i p. in 14
7 p. n . . . 3 4
Comparative
l.oonl K'onl.
1I7. Mi. 1913. 191 .
J5 27 -
1 27
S JH 28 2
T .("I T T
Wsheat yesterday
lowest yesterday
Moan temperature
Precipitation
Temperature and precipitation departures
from the normal:
Normal temperature
DtttMency for the rt;iy
Tota'i deficiency !noc March
2
2rt
471
.03 Inch
.i)3 inch
Jl.'tti nchefl
7.02 Inches I
Normal precipitation .'. . .
Iflcieney for the day...
Toia rainfall since March
TiefleJency. aince March 1
i.. .
IHflcleney for cor. period
illicitae? tor cor. period
191S..U.S4 inoho
ioi.. i.!4 inches
ml
&
Correspondent.)
Who Has E8CdD(l
fuel shortage :
THROWS 100.000
MEN OUTOF WORK
Hundreds of Cleveland's Large
Manufacturing Plants ; , Are
Forced to Shut Down, De
laying War Orders.
Cleveland, O., Dec. 15. One hun
dred thousand men were out of work
and hundreds of Cleveland's largest
manufacturing plants were shut down
today because f the shortage of coal.
The companies affected, many of
them turning out rush orders of war
materials, depend upon the Cleveland
Electric Illuminating company for
electric power. Late yesterday the
coal shortage caused the illuminating
company to- shut off electric current
1 10 an
! ..i-hik'
big industrial manufacturing
The idle manufacturing plants will
resume operation -Monday morning,
provided coal now being rushed to
the illuminating company's plant' is
not delayed.
Conditions Serious in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, Pa.', Dec. IS. The most
serious coal shortage in the history
of Pittsburgh and vicinity prevails at
this time, with no immediate relief in
sight, according to D. W. Kuhn, local
fuel administrator. Dealers who re
ported to the administrator stated
that if no relief is secured today, more
than half the city will be without
fuel.
Shortage Due to Lack of Cars.
Washington. Dec. 15. After a rnn.
Terence with Fuel Administrator Gar-
field today. Chairman A. W. Thorno.
son of the operating committee of the
easterii railroads declared the coal
famine was due more to a shortage
of transportation facilities than short
age of coal.
r I ''If
Ca rrier Pigeon, Wearing Band
Of Code, Shot Down in Iowa Town
4 1 Is " it possible that some of the
! thousands of pigeons imported to
Germany before the war. are return
ing to United States soil? It is
a known fact that prior to the war
there was a brisk demand for car
rier pigeons for shipment to Ger
many. '
A little aluminum band with the
monogram "AV" and "G 3411 16"
printed on the surface, which was
taken from the leg of a pigeon shot
by Ray Gardner at Herndon, la., a
few days aco. is believed to be a
German code 'signal. It is nossible
that the pigeon was taken to Ger
many, v lierc it was kepi long enough
to familiarize itself with its sur
roundings and then shipped to New
-i. . . . .,. ... , ,
i 'or or some oiuer point to oe usea
; as a messenger to carry notes con-
o fTJn" 1 ; ; o -
r. L )fe.V; i
GERMAN GUNS NOW THUNDER
VAINLY AT ITALIANS' LINE
Fierce Fighting in Progress
Brenta River; Three-dayJleavy Bombardment
Concentrating Hundreds of Shells at Vari
; ous Points Fails to Break Through.
Italian Headquarters in Northern Italy, Dec. 15. Heavy
60'hting is in progress today on the mountain front in the north,
east of the Brenta river. The enemy is attempting to advance
his positions, as he has those west of the river, which would
give him two lines of approach to the Brenta valley and the
open plain.
The chief Au'stro-German effort is centering about ,Monte
Beretta. There the enemy succeeded in advancing a short dis
tance in the repeated attacks, in which he suffered large losses.
The enemy has brought6 a large
number of his heaviest guns to the
Piave and northern fronts, and the
bombardment has taken on increased
rangend violence. Some of the shells
have reached Mancino, eight miles
back of the Piave, and a few miles
from the city of Trevisco. Four hun
dred of these monster projectiles were
concentrated on one point.
General Diaz, the Italian commander-in-chief,
sums up the results of the
struggle of the last three days in the
north by saying that, the enemy se
cured an insignificant stretch of
ground r.t the cost of an immense sac
rifice of blood. Although he lias ob
tained a lodgment on Monte Fantanel,
heretofore held by the Italians, this
does not represent any appreciable ad
vance toward the plains, which is! his
main objc.t, but merely a fluctuation
of the Italian line, of which Monte
Grappa is the dominating barrier.
Even below Grappa, formidable de
fensive works have . been constructed,
in event he enemy should reach the
plain, but each day of his futile pres
sure on .he north and, east and of
successful resistance by. the Italians
and their allies strengthens the be
lief that the enemy will not realize
this eventuality.
Sixry Divisions on Italian Front.
Washington. Dec. 15. The strength
of the Austro-German invaders in
Italy is placed by official dispatches
from Rome today at 60 divisions.
Otv the front line are 52, of
which 75 are Austrians and
seven German.
ccrning the movements of United
States soldiers or ships.
While the inscription on the band
is all Sanscrit to the average person,
it is believed to be of deep signifi
cance. One theory! is that it is a
code message to the Germans giving f
valuable inlormation and instead of
returning to Gert..any it turned
around and came back to its old
haunts in Iowa.
On the other hand, it is argued by
the sages of Herndon that the pigeon
may be the property of the United
States aviation corps, but all scratch
their heads in perplexity Alien it
comes to interpreting the monogram.
C. F. Gardner, fathei of Ray, will
keep the aluminum band as a sou
venir, although he has been urged to
forward it to Washington so that the
authorities may be able to locate the
place from which the pigeons are be
ing released. . .
on Mountain Front East of
ST. LOUIS MAN IS
HELD BY POLICE
IN RUSSIAN TOWN
C. S. Smith, Member of Staff
of American Railway Com
mission, Arrested ; and Am
bassador Intervenes.
Petrograd, Friday, Dec. 14.--Charles
S. Smith of St. Louis, . a
member of the staff of John F. Stev
ens, head of the American Railway
comnfssidn of Rtitsia, is reported to
have been arrested.
Mr. Smith is reported to have been
arrested at Tchita, Siberia, in com
ply with M. Oustrougolf, former
assistant minister of railways, who is
held by the Bolsheviki as a member
of the provisional governmc. t.
Ambassador Francis has tele
graphed to the American consuls at
Harbin and Vladivostok to intervene.
At the Smolny institute, the Bolshe
viki headquarters, it was stated that
if the American had been .'rrested it
was a mistake and he woi.Id be im
mediately 1 elea'-cd.
Was Missouri Pacific Engineer.
St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 15. The St.
Louis man whose arrest is reported
in a Petrograd dispatch apparently is
Charles H. Smith, formerly a valua
tion engineer for the Missouri Pa
cific railway. He went to Russia
with the American railroad commis
sion: High School Student
Dies Following Operation
Harold O. Kastman, 18 -years old,
died Saturday at the Inimanuel hos
pital following an operation for ap
pendicitis.. He had been ill three
weeks. Harold was a senior at Com
mercial high and prominent in school
social circles. Funeral services will
be held Monday afternoon at 2:30
o'clock at the home of his father, C.
G. H. Kastman, 1715 South Tenth
street. Interment will be in For est
Lawn cemetery.
The young man is survived by his
mother, father: three brothers," Al
fred, Henry, and Arthur, and two sis
ters, Ruth and Alma.
TEACHERS VOTE
TO MEET AGAIN IN
CITY OF OMAHA
Count of Referendum Vote Re
veals Their Decided Prefer
ence for Meeting Here;
Gregg Is President.
The Nebraska State Teachers' as
sociation will meet in Omaha next
year and the meeting will be. during
the first full week in November. This
was decided by the teachers them
selves. The vote cast by the Nebraska
cachcrs fixing the place for bidding
the next convention was canvassed
Saturday afternoon, with Omaha and
Lincoln contending. The vote stood:
Omaha, 1,273; Lincoln, 76.
The proposition put up to the
teachers at their last annual conven
tion, held here in Omaha, that Omaha
and Lincoln alternate and that the
convention he held in Omaha one
year and in Lincoln the next, was de
feated by vote of 1,312 to 713.
F. M. Gregg of Peru normal was
elected president of the association
by a vote of 935. He defeated H. H.
Hahn of Wayne normal, who received
585 votes, and A. H. Dixon of Lin
coln, who received 586 votes. -
Elected to the executive committee
were: Jess Newlon, J. H. Bevcridge,
A. V. Teed,, R. R. McGee and R. J.
Barr.
New War Council in Charge
Of Supplies for U. S. Armies
Washington, Dcc. 15. Organiza
tion of a war council of the war de
partment to co-ordinate a)1 matters of
supplies for the armies at home and
over seas and the military relations
between the armies in the field and
the-department was announced today
by Secretary Baker.
Composing the council arc the sec
retary and assistant secretary of war,
the chief of staff, and Major General
Henry G. Sharpc, quartermaster gen
eral; Major General Krastus M. Wea
ver, chief of coast artillery; Major
General William Crozier, chief of ord
nance, and Major General Enoch H.
Crowder, provost marshal general.
Chicago Draft Men
Sent to Pacific Coast
Chicago, Dec. 15. A thousand
drafted men from Chicago were sud
denly informed today they would be
f ent to Fort Winlield Scott, San Fran
cisco, next week. The reason for dis
patching a part of Chicago's quota to
the Pacific coast was not announced
and the men had no warning that they
were to be called. This is the first
time in which Chicago drafted men
have been sent directly from their
homes to cantonments other than
Camp Grant at Rockford, 111.
County Board Rejects
Bids on County Hospital
County commissioners have re
jected all bids . for remodeling the
fourth floor of the county hospital
and have adopted instead a plan for
erecting a onc-story stucco addition
on the ground floor north of the
present buildmg.
The new addition will contain 17
wards, accommodating 136 patients. It
will be connected with the main cor
ridor of the, present building. It is
estimated the new building will tost
$15,000.
END OF WORLD WAR
TO BE SOUGHT A T
CHRISTMAS TIME
Message to Declare Blame for Bloodshed in 1918 Will Fall
Upon Enemies if They Fail to Accept Terms;
Russ Bolsheviki Orders Troops
Disarmed.
London, Dec. 15. Emperor William, in his Christmas mes
sage, proposes to make a final peace offer to his enemies.
In case of rejection, the kaiser says that upon them "will
fall the responsibility for bloodshed in 1918," recording to an
unofficial Berlin telegram forwarded from Geneva by the Ex
change Telegraph company today.
. o STRIKES AT RUSSIA.
DRAFT MACHINE
SETS WHEELS IN
MOTION HERE
hi
listments of Men Subject to
Selective Conscription End
at Noon; Begin Mailing
Out Questionaires.
At noon Saturday enlistments of
men subject to selective conscription
were brought to an abrupt ending
and the great draft machinery for the
classification of registered men for
the second draft was put in motion
throughout the United States.
Enlistments in the army of regis
trants were called olT in the middle
of the week, hut the naval depart
ment has received no Midi orders,
and as a consequence registrants have
been permitted to enlist.
"Registrants now cannot enlist for
any branch of naval service unless
their application be accompanied by
a certificate from their local exemp
tion -boards certifying that they are
not likely lo be in the quota of the
next draft call.
Call on Class 1.
Officials are in receipt of special or
ders uhich state that it is the desire
of the War department to fill all quo
tas after December 15 from Class 1
under the new registration system as
follows:
A Single man without dependent
relatives. ;
B Married man, with or without
children, or father of motherless chil
dren, who has habitually failed to sup
port his family. ,
('. Married man dependent on wife
for support.
D Married man. with or without
children, or father or motherless chil
dren; man not usefully engaged, fam
ily supported by income independent
of his labor.
F. Unskilled farm laborer.
F Unskilled industrial laborer.
Registrant by or in respect of whom
no deferred classification is claimed
or made.
Registrant who fails to submit qucs
tipnaire and in respect of whom no
deferred classification is claimed or
made.
All registrants not included in any
other division in this schedule.
Local exemption boards began at
noon to mail out 17,001) questionaires,
at the rate of 5 per cent a day for 20
days, or until January V, 1918.
Expediency Necessary.
Exemption boards are notified that
expediency is neccssr. to fill the first
quota with registrants of Class 1. Ac
cording to rules formulated by the
War department, the registrants must
do these, things:
Return the answers to the question-
(( nnllnnrd on I'hk Four, Column One)
The Omaha City Mission
Christmas Appeal to Its Friends
: fffftrffi-r.
frn U: u ii i
relief work, but wc must not forget our own long established institu
tions. We intend to make this a practical Christmas in the way of gifts.
There is so much real, pinching need that it seems a pity to present a
tin horn to a boy or a gaudy toy to a girl when they are shivering for
lack of warm mittens, caps, hoods, underwear, shoes or stockings.
"The CITY MISSION is admirably situated and organized for tin
work. While it is true it occupies its own building, without mortgage
debt, it is nevertheless dependent upon the generosity of its friends for
its maintenance.
"Some good people have already sent in their gifts and others need
only to be reminded of the expectant look on the faces of scores of
children for whom the money will be spent."
Remittances should be sent to A.'L. Reed, treasurer, r to. The Bee.
According to one version of Ger
many's separate peace terms reaching
Petrograd from Stockholm, Russia
must forever abandon her influence
in the Balkans, while Germany shall
have the fight to export manufactures
into Russia for 15 years without cus
toms duty. Germany and Austria
have made concessional rights to Rus
sia beginning from the day of the
signing of a peace treaty and running
for 40 years. v
The Petrograd . newspapers an
nounce that Germany has withdrawn
her demand for disarmament of the
entire Russian army.
Leon Trotzky declares, according to
a Petrograd dispatch that "the Ger
man government opened peace pour
parlerswith us because the discon
tent of its masses forced it to this
step."
Bolsheviki Disarms Troops.
The resumption of Russo-German
armistice negotiations is formally an
nounced. The communication says
they are now concerned with the
transport of troops from the front,
the question of the seas and condi
tions of fraternization.
Russia maintains her attitude in re
spect to transportation of German
troops to other front, contending
that the Germans should not send
men from the east to France and Bel
gium. Bolsheviki units at Kiev have been
disarmed by the Ukranians and sent
to their homes. In one instance the
Bolsheviki troops in Kiev resisted
disarmament and numerous casualties
resulted.
The Bolsheviki committee of the
Twelfth army corps has asked for
the recall of lajor Pichon, head of
the French military mission, for pro
testing against agitation in the army
against the entente allies.
Jt is noted that although the .Ger
man and Austrian governments an
nounced the resumption of armistice .
negotiations on Thursday and their
adjournment until today, the Russian
commissaries issued no report regard
ing these developments.
Peace Treaty Formulated,
Amsterdam, Dec. 15. A treaty be
tween Russia and Germany has been
formulated, according to an official
German statement received here today.
South Dakota Man is
Acquitted of Arson Charge
Sturgis, S. D., Dec. IS. (Special
Telegram.) Case of State vs Edward
Grosser on trial here in circuit court
the past two days resulted in a ver
dict of "not guilty." Grosser was
charged with arson, brought about by
the burning of property belonging to
George Coleman at Elms Springs, en
tailing a loss of $5,000.
Mexico Lays Embargo
On Export of Dyestuffs
Mexico City, Dec. 15. The treas
ury department announced last night
prohibition of the export of aniline
and coal tar eyes and natural and
artificial vegetable dyes.
"Hundreds of boys
and girls and scores
of families connect
ed with the various
departments of our
work are looking to
the OMAHA CITY
MISSION for their
Christmas, and they
must not be disap
pointed," said Mr.
Arthur Chase, ex
5 ecutive secretary of
the MISSION, which
4 V
w. located at 1204
Pacific 6treet.
"These are war
times and a gener
ous public has re
sponded liberally to
anneals for foreicrn
t